Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – US President Donald Trump called on Sunday for Ukraine to accept Russia’s offer of direct talks in Istanbul, saying a face-to-face meeting would determine whether peace was possible. Ukraine said earlier it was ready to take part in the meeting, but only once Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted a 30-day ceasefire proposed by Kyiv and its allies. Moscow and Kyiv have not held direct negotiations since March 2022, shortly after the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion in February of that year.
Moments after Trump’s message, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would be “waiting for Putin in Turkey on Thursday,” without saying whether he would attend if Russia did not accept a truce. “President Putin of Russia doesn’t want to have a Cease Fire Agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network. “Ukraine should agree to this, IMMEDIATELY,” he said.
Zelensky wrote on X later: “We await a full and lasting ceasefire, starting from tomorrow, to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy. There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will be waiting for Putin in (Turkey) on Thursday. Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses.”
– ‘First ceasefire’, then the rest – Kyiv and its Western allies have said an unconditional ceasefire to pause the fighting is the only way to advance a diplomatic solution in the three-year-old conflict — Europe’s worst since the Second World War. Russia’s assault has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people, the destruction of Ukrainian cities, and a collapse in relations between Moscow and the West.
On a visit to Kyiv on Saturday, the leaders of France, the UK, Germany, and Poland pressured Russia — with Trump’s support — to commit to an unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine starting from Monday. Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak suggested Kyiv would only come to the table if Moscow agreed to the ceasefire from Monday. “Russia must cease fire, then everything else. President Volodymyr Zelensky is ready to do everything to end the war and will wait for Putin on Thursday. And what about Putin? Is he afraid? We’ll see,” he added.
Russian and Ukrainian officials last met in Istanbul in March 2022. Those talks resulted in a now-aborted peace proposal that would have forced Kyiv to adopt neutral status and renounce any NATO ambitions. Since then, communication channels have only been open for exchanges of prisoners of war and bodies.
– Putin mute on truce – At a news conference after midnight in the Kremlin, Putin did not respond to the 30-day ceasefire proposal put forward by Kyiv’s allies. He instead suggested resuming the Istanbul talks scuttled in 2022. “We propose to the Kyiv authorities to resume the talks that they broke off in 2022, and, I emphasize, without any preconditions,” he said. “We propose to start (negotiations) without delay on Thursday, May 15, in Istanbul,” Putin said. “We do not exclude that during these talks we will be able to agree on some new ceasefire,” the Russian leader added.
But he also accused Ukraine’s Western backers of wanting to “continue the war with Russia.” And without mentioning the specific proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, he slammed European “ultimatums” and “anti-Russian rhetoric.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Putin in a phone call Sunday that Ankara was ready to host talks “aimed at achieving a lasting solution.” Returning from Ukraine, French leader Emmanuel Macron said he expected Russia to commit to the ceasefire “without setting any condition.” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Russia’s offer to negotiate directly was a “good sign” but “far from sufficient,” pressuring Moscow to agree to a truce.
© 2024 AFP
