Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has agreed to a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Turkey this Thursday, following direct encouragement from President Donald Trump to accept the proposal without hesitation.
Initially, Zelensky responded with caution to Putin’s televised late-night offer yesterday — timed to air during U.S. prime time — suggesting that both leaders meet for negotiations in Istanbul on May 15.
While Putin did not explicitly confirm that he would attend the meeting in person, Zelensky made his position clear in a public message. “I will be waiting for Putin in Turkey on Thursday. Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses,” Zelensky wrote on X.
Putin’s call for talks came shortly after European leaders, during a visit to Kyiv yesterday, demanded that Russia agree to a 30-day unconditional ceasefire or face severe new sanctions. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, voiced support for that stance the following day.
Zelensky had reiterated that Ukraine was open to negotiations, but only if Moscow first agreed to pause the fighting for a full month. However, Trump weighed in with a sharply different viewpoint.
“President Putin of Russia doesn’t want to have a Cease Fire Agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH. Ukraine should agree to this, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.“At least they will be able to determine whether or not a deal is possible, and if it is not, European leaders, and the U.S., will know where everything stands, and can proceed accordingly!”
The invasion that began in February 2022 has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and marked one of the most serious clashes between Russia and Western powers since the Cuban Missile Crisis. Despite the toll, Putin has shown little willingness to offer major compromises.
In his televised statement, Putin suggested engaging in “direct negotiations without any preconditions.”
Soon afterward, however, top Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov added a caveat, stating that any discussions must incorporate the terms of a now-defunct 2022 draft agreement and also reflect the realities on the ground. This essentially implies demands that Kyiv adopt a neutral stance and recognize Russian control over occupied Ukrainian territory.
Putin also pushed back against Western and Ukrainian calls for an immediate truce, rejecting what he characterized as “ultimatums.” Russia’s foreign ministry followed up by asserting that any talk of a ceasefire must be preceded by deeper discussions about the root causes of the war.
Trump, who has repeatedly pledged to end the conflict if given the opportunity and says he wants to be remembered for making peace, reacted to Putin’s statement by calling it “A potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine!”
{Matzav.com}