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11 May 2025 Reuters-Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted cautiously to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal for quick direct talks aimed at ending the war. Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready for dialogue, but only after Moscow agrees to a ceasefire.
Putin made his offer in a televised address at 1:30 Moscow time (22:30 GMT Saturday), coinciding with prime time in the US, where President Donald Trump is pushing for both sides to agree to at least a 30-day truce to end the three-year war. Trump, who is keen to go down in history as a peacemaker, called it “a potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine”.
However, Putin noted that any ceasefire should be subject to negotiations, which he proposed to hold in Istanbul on 15 May. Shortly afterwards, senior Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said that the talks should take into account both the draft 2022 peace agreement and the current situation on the frontline, which would see Kyiv agree to permanent neutrality in exchange for security guarantees and recognition of Russia’s control over parts of Ukraine.
Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, unleashing a conflict that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and triggered the most serious confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. With Russian forces advancing, Putin has so far offered no significant concessions, insisting on “direct talks without preconditions.”
Zelenskyy called Putin’s offer a “positive signal” but stressed that “the first step to a real end to any war is a ceasefire.” “We expect Russia to confirm a full, lasting and reliable ceasefire starting tomorrow, 12 May, and Ukraine is ready to meet,” he added.
Trump hopes to end “bloodbath”
Trump wrote in his post on Truth Social: “Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives saved when this endless ‘bloodbath’ is hopefully over.” Putin’s offer came hours after leading European powers demanded that he agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Kyiv on Saturday, threatening “massive” sanctions.
Putin rejected these demands, calling them “ultimatums”, and the Russian Foreign Ministry said that talks on the causes of the conflict should precede discussions on a ceasefire. French President Emmanuel Macron said that Putin’s proposal showed a search for a way forward, but could also be an attempt to buy time. “This is the first step, but it is not enough. An unconditional ceasefire does not precede negotiations,” Macron said.
The Kremlin said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had expressed his full support for Putin’s proposal and readiness to host talks in Istanbul in a telephone conversation. Meanwhile, Russia launched a drone attack on Kyiv and other regions of Ukraine, wounding one person and damaging private homes, Ukrainian officials said.
Putin insists on his terms
Putin, whose forces control a fifth of Ukraine and are advancing, has remained steadfast in his demands despite pressure from Trump and warnings from European powers. In June 2024, he said that Ukraine should formally abandon its NATO membership ambitions and withdraw from four regions claimed by Moscow. Russia considers Crimea, annexed in 2014, to be its inalienable territory.
On Sunday, Putin referred to a draft 2022 agreement under which Ukraine was to agree to permanent neutrality in exchange for security guarantees from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. “It was not Russia that stopped negotiations in 2022, but Kyiv,” he said.
Western leaders and Ukraine see the invasion as an imperial land grab and have repeatedly vowed to defeat Russian forces. Putin, on the other hand, calls the war a turning point in relations with the West, which he says has humiliated Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 by expanding NATO and encroaching on Moscow’s sphere of influence.
Authors: Marina Bobrova, Dmytro Antonov, Lydia Kelly, Anastasia Lirchikova, Felix Light; Elizabeth Piper in Kyiv and Huseyin Hayatsever in Ankara; Editor: Kevin Liffey
Source: Reuters
