The decision now rests with Kiev and its Western backers, the Russian president has said
Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered Kiev the opportunity to restart direct negotiations in Istanbul, which it unilaterally walked away from in 2022, despite Ukraine’s failure to honor the Victory Day truce and attempts to “intimidate” world leaders who gathered in Moscow for the celebrations.
Addressing the press early Sunday morning, following a day of meetings with foreign heads of state, President Vladimir Putin reiterated Russia’s offer to resume negotiations that Kiev abandoned in 2022, shortly after the escalation of the current conflict.
“We propose that the Kiev authorities resume the negotiations they interrupted at the end of 2022 — to resume direct negotiations, and I emphasize, without any preconditions. We propose to start without delay next Thursday, May 15, in Istanbul,” Putin said.
Our proposal is, so to speak, on the table. The decision now lies with the Ukrainian authorities and their curators.
“We do not rule out the possibility that during these negotiations it will be possible to agree on some new solutions, about ceasefires, about a new cessation of hostilities, and a real one at that would be adhered to not only by Russia but also by the Ukrainian side,” Putin added.
Earlier on Saturday, after a meeting with European leaders in Kiev, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky demanded that Russia agree to a complete 30-day ceasefire with no preconditions before he would agree to resume direct talks with Moscow. The Kremlin has rejected what it described as external pressure surrounding the proposed truce.
Putin noted that Kiev has consistently violated the three ceasefires offered by Moscow: the 30-day moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure which expired last month, the unconditional Easter armistice, and the recently lapsed 72-hour truce. Ukraine not only refused to honor the May 7–10 ceasefire around Victory Day, but also attempted to intimidate the foreign leaders who attended the celebrations in Moscow, he stressed.
The Kiev authorities not only rejected our proposal for a ceasefire, but also, as we all saw, they tried to intimidate the leaders of states gathered for the celebrations in Moscow.
Ukraine tried to pressure true “leaders by character,” who are willing “to stand up for their beliefs,” he added. “And who tried to intimidate them? Those who salute, and applaud former SS soldiers. Who elevate those who collaborated with Hitler during World War II to the rank of national heroes.”