MOSCOW, Russia — Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed holding direct peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday, May 15, 2025, signalling a possible breakthrough in the more than three-year war that has devastated large parts of Ukraine and destabilised the region.
In a rare televised address on Sunday, May 11, 2025, Putin said the proposed negotiations would take place “without any preconditions” and aimed to address the “root causes of the conflict” and establish “a long-term, durable peace.”
“We would like to start immediately, already next Thursday, May 15, in Istanbul, where they were held before and where they were interrupted,” he said.
Putin’s offer came just hours after a unified call from the leaders of Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Poland, who joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv to urge the Kremlin to agree to a 30-day ceasefire beginning Monday, May 12, 2025.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned that failure to comply could result in “massive sanctions.”
The ceasefire proposal has the backing of the United States. Former President Donald Trump, now back in office, expressed optimism on his social media platform, Truth Social, writing, “It was a potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine!”
He added, “I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens,” calling on the public to “think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved.”
While the proposal is being cautiously welcomed, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned that Russia is “resistant to any kind of pressure” and noted that Europe was “confronting us very openly.”
He said Putin supports the ceasefire “in general,” but emphasised that “there are lots of questions” to be answered — though he declined to elaborate.
Putin denied claims that Moscow had refused dialogue with Kyiv, stating that the decision to resume talks “now lies with the Ukrainian authorities.”
He also stressed that any truce must not be used as a tactical pause by Ukraine for rearming or repositioning.
“This is 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,” he said.
Ukraine and Russia have not held direct talks since the early stages of Russia’s 2022 invasion.
The Turkish city of Istanbul hosted some of those early rounds of negotiations, which ultimately collapsed without agreement.
Putin said he intends to consult Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of the proposed talks.
Erdogan, who previously served as an intermediary in grain corridor agreements, has remained one of the few NATO leaders maintaining open channels with both sides.
For its part, Kyiv has long called for a 30-day ceasefire — a position shared by key European allies and now explicitly supported by the Trump administration.
Yet, despite multiple diplomatic overtures, Moscow has so far declined to commit fully, citing what it terms “nuances.”
Despite the diplomatic flurry, officials in Washington remain cautious.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently warned that the US might reconsider its mediation role if no meaningful progress is achieved.
Although President Trump’s administration has offered significant concessions, it has struggled to secure agreement on even a temporary ceasefire.
Peskov, speaking to CNN on Saturday, May 10, 2025, said Russia is “very grateful” for Washington’s efforts, but added, “at the same time, it’s quite useless to try to press on us.”
The coming days are likely to prove pivotal as global leaders watch to see whether Thursday’s proposed talks in Istanbul will proceed — and whether they could finally lay the groundwork for a path out of the deadlock.
