Ukraine will meet Russia for talks if Moscow agrees to 30-day ceasefire: Zelensky
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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and France's President Emmanuel Macron pose for a photograph ahead of their meeting in Kyiv on May 10.
PHOTO: AFP
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KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 11 Kyiv would meet Moscow for talks in Istanbul on May 15, but Russia must first commit to a 30-day ceasefire starting on May 12.
“It is a positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war... and the very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire,” Mr Zelensky said on X.
He said he expects Moscow to commit to a 30-day ceasefire starting on May 12, and that Kyiv is “ready” for direct talks with Russia.
“There is no point in continuing the killing even for a single day. We expect Russia to confirm a ceasefire – full, lasting and reliable – starting tomorrow, May 12th,” he said.
Kyiv and its Western allies have said that an unconditional ceasefire to pause fighting is the only way to advance a diplomatic solution to the three-year-old conflict – Europe’s worst since World War II.
Mr Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said Kyiv would only meet if Moscow agreed to the ceasefire from May 12.
“First, a 30-day ceasefire, then everything else,” he said on social media. “A ceasefire is the first step towards ending the war, and it will confirm Russia’s readiness to end the killing.”
Speaking in the early hours of May 11 at the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered direct talks with Kyiv
“We are proposing that Kyiv resume direct negotiations without any preconditions,” Mr Putin said.
“We offer the Kyiv authorities to resume negotiations already on (May 15), in Istanbul,” he said.
“We do not exclude that during these talks we will be able to agree on some new ceasefire.”
However, he ignored a European-proposed 30-day ceasefire
Mr Putin dismissed what he said was the attempt by some European powers to lay down “ultimatums”.
On his way back from Ukraine, where he took part in a European announcement on the 30-day ceasefire proposal, French President Emmanuel Macron said Mr Putin’s proposal was “not enough” and accused him of wanting to “buy time”.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Mr Putin his nation is ready to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine that would lead to a permanent solution.
Mr Erdogan also told Mr Putin a comprehensive ceasefire would create the necessary environment for peace talks.
Drone attacks
Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine
Russia launched over 100 drones into Ukraine on May 11 after a Russia-initiated 72-hour ceasefire ended at midnight.
Kyiv has not reported any drone attacks since May 8, when the Russian-initiated ceasefire came into effect, although it did accuse Moscow of violating the truce hundreds of times.
Russia also accused Ukraine of not observing the ceasefire.
“On the night of May 11 (from 2am on May 11), the enemy attacked with 108 Shahed attack drones and various types of imitator drones,” Kyiv’s air force said, adding that it downed 60 of them.
US President Donald Trump, who says he wants to be remembered as a peacemaker and has repeatedly promised to end the war, said a great day was dawning for Russia and Ukraine if the “bloodbath” of the war could be ended.
“A potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine!” Mr Trump said on Truth Social.
“Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never-ending ‘bloodbath’ hopefully comes to an end.”
Mr Putin said that, during the May ceasefire, Ukraine attacked Russia with 524 aerial drones, 45 sea drones and a number of Western missiles, and that Russia repelled five attacks on Russian regions.
Ukraine accused Russia of violating the temporary truces, including the May 8 to 10 ceasefire.
Russia, Mr Putin said, has proposed several ceasefires, including a moratorium on striking energy facilities, an Easter ceasefire and, most recently, the 72-hour truce during the celebrations marking 80 years since victory in World War II.
Moscow remains firm
Mr Putin said talks should address the root causes of the war.
He said he would speak to Turkey’s Mr Erdogan later on May 11 about facilitating the talks.
“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,” he said.
Mr Putin, whose forces control a fifth of Ukraine and are advancing, has stood firm in his conditions for ending the war, despite public and private pressure from Mr Trump and repeated warnings from European powers.
Ukrainian soldiers fire a 122mm self-propelled howitzer toward Russian targets in the Donetsk region on March 22.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
In June 2024, he said Ukraine must officially drop its Nato ambitions and withdraw its troops from the entirety of the territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed by Russia.
Russian officials have also proposed that the US recognise Russia’s control over parts of Ukraine and demanded that Ukraine remains neutral, though Moscow has said it is not opposed to Kyiv’s ambitions to join the European Union.
Mr Putin specifically mentioned the 2022 draft deal that Russia and Ukraine negotiated shortly after the Russian invasion started.
Under that draft, a copy of which Reuters has reviewed, Ukraine should agree to permanent neutrality in return for international security guarantees from the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the US.
“It was not Russia that broke off negotiations in 2022. It was Kyiv,” Mr Putin said.
“Russia is ready to negotiate without any preconditions.” REUTERS, AFP
