In a rare late-night televised statement, Putin stated, “We would like to begin promptly, as early as next Thursday, May 15, in Istanbul, the location of previous talks that were halted abruptly.” He stressed the importance of engaging in discussions “without any prerequisites.”
Putin expressed his commitment to initiating substantive dialogues with Ukraine aimed at addressing the fundamental issues fueling the conflict and working towards establishing a lasting and stable peace.
Regarding these developments, Peskov remarked, “Europe is demonstrating quite an open stance towards us,” indicating that while Putin is generally supportive of a ceasefire, there exist numerous unresolved issues with the recent proposal that require clarification. However, he did not elaborate on the specifics of these pending matters.
Putin said on Sunday he would speak with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about holding talks with Kyiv.
For two months now, Ukraine has said it wants an immediate 30-day ceasefire – a position promoted by Kyiv’s key European allies, and also by Trump.
Russia has so far refused to commit, saying it supports the idea of a 30-day ceasefire in principle, but insists there are what it calls “nuances” that need addressing first.
On Sunday, Putin denied that Moscow has refused dialogue with Kyiv and said the “decision now lies with the Ukrainian authorities.”
“We do not exclude that during these talks there will be a possibility to arrange some kind of new truce, a new ceasefire,” he said.
He called the proposed talks “a first step to a long-lasting stable peace but not a prologue to the continuation of an armed conflict after re-armament and re-equipping of Ukrainian armed forces and feverish digging of trenches in new strongholds.”
Putin has often spoken about the need to address what he calls “root causes” – which are taken to mean, among others, the eastward expansion of NATO.
In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump wrote that “if the ceasefire is not respected, the US and its partners will impose further sanctions,” adding to a sense he is growing frustrated with Russian stalling.
Peskov told CNN Saturday that Russia is “very grateful” for Washington’s mediation efforts, but added that “at the same time, it’s quite useless to try to press on us.”
