Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for direct talks with Ukraine, saying it should start without delay, as early as 15th of May. In a televised address from the Kremlin, President Putin said, he would not rule out that in the course of the talks which he proposed should happen in Turkey’s capital Istanbul – Russia and Ukraine may be able to agree new ceasefires. The Russian leader said he would speak to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today to discuss the details. Kyiv has not commented on the proposal from Putin.

 

 

During his statement, Putin also accused Ukraine of having repeatedly failed to respond to three ceasefire proposals from Moscow. Ukraine has previously said Russian attacks continued throughout these periods. Russia has made similar claims about Ukraine. President Putin’s statement comes hours after European leaders including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron held talks in Ukraine with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an attempt to put pressure on Russia to agree to a 30-day ceasefire, threatening Moscow with massive sanctions if it refuses.

 

 

The demand was announced by the visiting leaders of the ‘coalition of the willing’ countries in a joint news conference with Zelenskyy. In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said Moscow would have to think this through but warned that trying to pressure them is useless.