Putin proposed direct peace negotiations with Ukraine in Türkiye on May 15
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready to meet Vladimir Putin in Turkey on Thursday after US President Donald Trump told him publicly to immediately accept the Kremlin leader’s proposal for direct negotiations.
Zelensky’s suggestion of a meeting with Putin ended a dramatic period of 48 hours when European leaders joined Zelensky to demand a 30-day ceasefire starting on Monday, just for Putin to make a counter-proposal to perform the first direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia since the early months of the 2022 invasion.
It was not clear, however, that Putin wanted to say he would attend personally. Putin and Zelensky have not met since December 2019 and do not hide mutual contempt.
“I’ll be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday. Personally,” wrote Zelensky on X. “I hope this time the Russians do not seek excuses.”
On Telegram, his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, added, “What’s putin? He’s afraid? We’ll see.”
The Ukrainian leader responded cautiously on Sunday, after the Russian President, in a night television statement that coincided with prime time in the US, proposed direct negotiations in Istanbul next Thursday, May 15.
Putin’s suggestion came hours after great European powers required on Saturday in Kiev that he agreed with a 30-day unconditional ceasefire or faces new “mass” sanctions, a position that Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, endorsed.
Trump requires the start of conversations
Zelensky also said that Ukraine was ready for negotiations, if Moscow agreed with the 30-day ceasefire.
However, Trump, who has the power to continue or cut the crucial supply of weapons from Washington to Ukraine, adopted a different line.
“President Putin of Russia does not want a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, but a meeting on Thursday in Turkey to negotiate a possible end to the bloodbath. Ukraine must agree with it immediately,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“At least they will be able to determine whether an agreement is possible or not, and if it is not, European leaders and the US will know where everything is and can proceed with it!”
Both Russia and Ukraine cut Trump.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, British Prime Minister Keir Stmerer and French President Emmanuel Macron visit the Ukraine Memorial Memorial Wall in Kiev, Ukraine, May 10, 2025. Stefan Rousseau/Pool via Reuters
Kiev is desperate to release more US military support, received from his predecessor, Joe Biden. Moscow realizes an opportunity to get rid of a flood of economic sanctions and get involved with the world’s largest economy.
Putin sent the Russian Armed Forces to Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and triggered the most serious confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cuba missile crisis in 1962.
But with the Russian forces advancing, the Kremlin head has offered few or no concession so far.
In his night speech, he proposed what he said would be “direct negotiations without any preview.”
But almost immediately, Kremlin’s senior advisor Yuri Ushakov told reporters that negotiations should take into account both the abandoned peace of peace of 2022 and the current situation on the ground.
This language is an abbreviation for Kiev agreeing with permanent neutrality in exchange for a security guarantee and accepting that Russia controls areas of Ukraine.
Ukraine says it agrees to the terms of the 2022 project would be equivalent to capitulation.
Putin rejects ultimatos
Putin rejected what he called an attempt to impose “ultimatos” in the form of demands from Western Europe and Ukraine for a ceasefire from Monday. His Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarified that negotiations on the causes of conflict must precede discussions about a ceasefire.
Trump, who says he wants to be remembered as a peacemaker and repeatedly promised to end the war, previously responded to Putin’s speech saying that this could be “a potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine!”
Although Russia has not committed itself, Zelensky said the Ukraine ceasefire plan for Monday is still standing.
“We await a total and lasting ceasefire from tomorrow, to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy,” he wrote at X.
In his night speech, Zelensky said he was still expecting an answer from the Russian side – and that the Ukrainian forces would respond the same way if Russian troops did not look at a truce.
The US embassy in Kiev issued an alert on Friday about a “potentially significant” Russian air strike in the coming days.
Originally published by Reuters on 11/05/2025
By Tom Balmforth
Report: Marina Poiled, Dmitry Antonov, Lidia Kelly, Anastasia Lyrchikova, Felix Light; Elizabeth Piper in Kiev and Huseyin Hayatsever in Ankara
Edition: Kevin Liffey
Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2025/05/11/apos-trump-zelensky-convoca-putin-para-dialogo-na-turquia/
