Russia proposes direct peace talks with Ukraine, hours after Kiev and European leaders called for 30-day ceasefire

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed holding direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15, hours after Kiev and European leaders called for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire to start Monday, according to The Moscow Times.

The leaders of Ukraine, Britain, France, Germany and Poland on Saturday threatened Moscow with fresh sanctions and military support for Ukraine if Russia did not agree with the proposal, the media reported.

Putin did not explicitly address that call in his statement, delivered after 1:00 am in the Kremlin, instead outlining the counter-proposal for fresh Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

“We are proposing that Kyiv resume direct negotiations without any preconditions," Putin said from the Kremlin in the early hours of Sunday. "We offer the Kyiv authorities to resume negotiations already on Thursday, in Istanbul," he said, Reuters reported.

“Our proposal, as they say, is on the table, the decision is now up to the Ukrainian authorities and their curators, who are guided, it seems, by their personal political ambitions, and not by the interests of their peoples,”

Moscow’s proposals

Putin said that Russia proposed several ceasefires in recent months — a halt on strikes on energy infrastructure, which Ukraine had agreed to, a unilateral 30-hour Easter truce and another unilateral ceasefire on May 8-10 that has since expired.

Ukrainian officials said Russia repeatedly violated all of those.

Putin on Sunday accused Ukraine of sabotaging “these initiatives time and time again” and launching multiple attacks on Russia.

In March, the United States proposed an immediate, limited 30-day truce, which Ukraine accepted, but the Kremlin has held out for terms more to its liking.

Putin on Sunday once again said the Kremlin needs a truce that would lead to a “lasting peace” instead of one that would allow Ukraine to rearm and mobilize more men into its armed forces.

He said he would speak to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and ask him to facilitate the peace talks on May 15.

Shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Turkey hosted unsuccessful talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators aimed at ending the hostilities. The proposed deal reportedly included provisions for Ukraine’s neutral status and put limits on its armed forces, while delaying talks on the status of Russian-occupied areas.

Moscow has blamed Kyiv and the West for the talks collapsing.