Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed direct peace talks with Ukraine on May 15 in Istanbul, in an attempt to "remove the root causes of the conflict" and "achieve the restoration of long-term, lasting peace."
Russia carried out an aggression against Ukraine in February 2022.
"It was not Russia that broke off the negotiations in 2022. It was Kiev. However, we propose that Kiev resume direct negotiations without any preconditions," Putin said, referring to the failed negotiations shortly after the Russian invasion.
"Our proposal, as they say, is on the table, the decision is now up to the Ukrainian authorities and their guardians, who seem to be guided by personal political ambitions, not the interests of their people," Putin said, as reported by Index.
Major European powers on Saturday backed an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, backed by US President Donald Trump, and threatened Putin with "massive" new sanctions if he does not accept them within days.
"We are committed to serious negotiations with Ukraine. Their purpose is to eliminate the root causes of the conflict, to establish a long-term, lasting peace from a historical perspective," Putin said.
He also said that "Russia has offered peace initiatives several times, but the Kiev authorities have not responded to any of them."
Putin unilaterally declared a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine on Thursday that expired at midnight. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that attacks had not stopped during that period and accused Putin of only pretending to respect the ceasefire in order to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II with a huge military parade.
Europe issues ultimatum to Putin
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk were in Kyiv yesterday. They spoke with Zelensky and spoke by phone with US President Donald Trump, in a conversation that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiha called "fruitful."
They gave Putin an ultimatum and asked him to agree to a thirty-day ceasefire that would begin on Monday, May 12. If he refused, they said, Western countries would send even more weapons to Ukraine and impose new "massive" sanctions on Russia.
Bonus video:
