Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for “serious” and “direct talks” with Ukraine after the EU and US urged a 30-day ceasefire.
According to BBC, in a rare late-night address from the Kremlin on Saturday, May 10, 2025, Putin said that Russia and Ukraine should start direct negotiations “without delay, as early as 15 May."
He said, “We would like to start immediately, already next Thursday, May 15, in Istanbul, where they were held before and where they were interrupted. We are set on serious negotiations with Ukraine,” adding they are intended to “eliminate the root causes of the conflict” and “reach the establishment of a long-term, durable peace.”
Putin emphasised that the talks should be held “without any preconditions.”
The address came after the leaders of Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Poland stood alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and urged Putin to agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting on Monday.
European leaders including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met Zelenskyy on Saturday for ceasefire talks that also included a phone call to US President Donald Trump.
Trump reacts to Putin's address
After Putin’s proposal for the “direct” talks, Trump, on Sunday, May 11, 2025, hailed the Russian president's decision, saying that it was a “potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine!”
He wrote on Truth Social, “I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens,” and urged people to “think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved” from the “never-ending bloodbath.”
Although Ukraine has not yet commented on the Russian proposal, Zelenskyy previously said he was ready for peace talks, but only after a ceasefire is in place.
