By Abiola Olawale
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed direct peace talks with Ukraine to be held in Istanbul on May 15, emphasizing negotiations “without preconditions” to achieve a “lasting peace.”
The announcement, made on Sunday, comes amid heightened diplomatic pressure from European leaders and the United States, who have demanded an unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting Monday, May 12. However, Putin remained silent on the ceasefire proposal.
Putin stated: “We propose to the Kyiv authorities to resume the talks that they broke off in 2022, and, I emphasise, without any preconditions.
“We propose to start (negotiations) without delay on Thursday, May 15, in Istanbul,” Putin said, adding that he would talk to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan soon to ask for his help to facilitate the talks.
This comes after France President Emmanuel Macron, who hours earlier had met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Kyiv in a symbolic show of support for Ukraine, warned that Putin was merely trying “to buy time”.
“An unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations, by definition,” he told reporters.
The European leaders, together with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, had pressed Russia in the Kyiv meeting on Saturday to accept a 30-day unconditional ceasefire starting on Monday, threatening Moscow with new sanctions if it did not comply.
“We have just now… decided to support a ceasefire which will begin next Monday, without any preconditions,” Macron told a press conference in Kyiv on Saturday.
