KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced his readiness to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin “personally” in Istanbul on Thursday, May 15, 2025, signalling a potential diplomatic breakthrough in the more than three-year-long war between the two countries.
“There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday. Personally,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) late Sunday, May 11, 2025.
The announcement came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump urged Ukraine to accept Russia’s proposal for direct talks in Turkey.
Trump, who has made ending the war a top foreign policy priority since returning to office, posted on his social media platform that Ukraine should agree to the meeting “immediately.”
“At least they will be able to determine whether or not a deal is possible,” Trump said. “Have the meeting, now!”
Zelenskyy has previously stated that Ukraine is open to negotiations, but only once a ceasefire is in place.
Reaffirming that position, he added in his post that “we await a full and lasting ceasefire, starting from tomorrow, to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy.”
The Ukrainian president’s public acceptance of face-to-face talks follows an intense weekend of diplomatic activity.
On Saturday, May 10, 2025, leaders from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Poland travelled to Kyiv to show solidarity with Ukraine and call for an immediate 30-day truce.
The delegation — UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk — later spoke with Trump to coordinate strategy.
At a joint news conference with Zelenskyy, the leaders warned of “new and massive” sanctions targeting Russia’s energy and banking sectors if Moscow fails to comply with the ceasefire demand.
The proposed truce would cover all hostilities “in the air, at sea and on land” and is scheduled to begin on Monday, May 12, 2025.
Putin responded late Saturday with a televised address, saying Russia is prepared for “serious negotiations,” and would not rule out the possibility of reaching “a new truce.”
However, he did not commit directly to the 30-day ceasefire, expressing concern that such a pause could allow Ukrainian forces to regroup and rearm.
“This would be the first step towards a long-term, lasting peace,” Putin said, “rather than a prologue to more armed hostilities after the Ukrainian armed forces get new armaments and personnel, after feverish trench-digging and the establishment of new command posts.”
Moscow has long maintained that Western military aid to Ukraine must cease before it agrees to a halt in fighting — a demand Western leaders have consistently rejected.
Direct talks between Russia and Ukraine last occurred in March 2022 in Istanbul, during the early weeks of the invasion.
Those negotiations collapsed without agreement and were followed by years of intensified combat and failed mediation attempts.
Now, over three years into the conflict, both sides have — at least in principle — agreed to return to the table.
Yet the gulf between their positions remains wide.
Ukraine insists on the full restoration of its internationally recognised borders, while Russia has shown no sign of relinquishing territory it currently controls.
Observers caution that while Thursday’s proposed talks in Istanbul are a symbolic breakthrough, the path to any lasting peace remains fraught with political and military challenges.
Still, international leaders have welcomed the prospect of renewed dialogue.
UK Prime Minister Starmer, speaking to the BBC after the Kyiv summit, said President Trump was “absolutely clear” that the ceasefire demand was non-negotiable.
“It is a demand that must be met,” Starmer said.
As of Monday morning, there has been no official response from the Kremlin confirming Putin’s attendance at the Istanbul meeting.
