Kathmandu. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15, hours after Kiev and European leaders called for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting Monday.
The leaders of Ukraine, Britain, France, Germany and Poland threatened to impose new sanctions on Moscow and provide military support to Ukraine if Russia did not agree to the proposal in Kiev on Saturday.
In his statement from the Kremlin after 1:00 p.m. (2300 GMT Saturday), Putin did not explicitly address that call, instead offering a counter-proposal for fresh Russia-Ukraine talks.
“We “We propose to the Kiev authorities to resume the stalled talks in 2022, and I insist that such talks be held without any preconditions,” Putin said. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators held direct talks in Istanbul during the first week of the conflict, but failed to agree to a ceasefire. The conflict has continued since then.
“We propose to start (the talks) in Istanbul without delay on Thursday, May 15,” Putin said. He said he would speak soon with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to seek his help in facilitating the talks. He said he was “committed to serious talks with Ukraine” and wanted talks “to address the root causes of the conflict and establish a lasting peace.”
Russia’s references to the “root causes of the conflict” generally refer to alleged grievances with Kiev and the West, which Moscow has presented as justification for launching the invasion in February 2022. These include promises to “denazify” Ukraine, protect Russian speakers in the country’s east, push back against NATO expansion, and halt Ukraine’s geopolitical drift westward.
Kiev and the West have rejected all of these, calling the Russian invasion nothing more than an imperialist-style land grab. Since Russia began its offensive, tens of thousands have died and millions have been forced to flee their homes. “We do not rule out the possibility of some new ceasefire being agreed during these talks,” Putin said. He accused Ukraine’s Western backers of “wanting to continue the war with Russia” and – without mentioning the specific Ukraine-European proposal for a 30-day ceasefire – criticized European “ultimatums” and “anti-Russian rhetoric.”
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