Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has welcomed Russia’s offer for direct peace talks.

Zelenskyy, in an X post, said that it was a “positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war” and said, “the entire world has been waiting for this for a very long time.”

This came as Russian President, Vladimir Putin in remarks to the media in effect rejected a ceasefire offer and instead proposed restarting direct talks with Ukraine in Turkiye’s Istanbul on Thursday “without preconditions.”

He said a ceasefire might be agreed on during the negotiations.

United States President, Donald Trump reacted to Putin’s statement in a post on Truth Social.

“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.

“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!”
Donald Trump

The offer came after the leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom also called for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire and threatened to ratchet up pressure on Moscow if it does not accept it.

The leaders, who met in Kyiv on Saturday, said their call is backed by Trump as they threatened “massive” new sanctions on Moscow.

Putin slammed European “ultimatums” and “anti-Russian rhetoric” before outlining the counterproposal for renewed Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

Putin said that Russia was proposing restarting the talks in an attempt to “eliminate the root causes of the conflict” and “to achieve the restoration of a long-term, lasting peace” rather than simply a pause for rearmament. “We do not exclude that during these talks we will be able to agree on some new ceasefire,” he added.

Kremlin Spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, in comments aired by Russian state TV on Sunday, called Putin’s proposal “very serious”, aimed at eliminating “the root causes of the conflict” and said that it “confirms a real intention to find a peaceful solution.”

Zelenskyy Insists On Truce First

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy insisted in his social media post that there must be a full, temporary ceasefire in place before the negotiations proposed by President Vladimir Putin can start.

He asserted that the “very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire,” in a reference to his proposal to start a 30-day unconditional truce.

“There is no point in continuing the killing even for a single day. We expect Russia to confirm a ceasefire – full, lasting, and reliable – starting tomorrow, May 12th, and Ukraine is ready to meet.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Putin, whose forces have advanced over the past year, has faced increased public and private pressure from Trump as well as warnings from European powers to end the war.

However, he has offered few concessions and has stood firm in his conditions for ending the war.

In June, Putin said Ukraine must officially drop its NATO membership ambitions and withdraw its troops from the entirety of the territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed by Russia.

In his statement, Putin asserted that Russia had proposed several ceasefires, including a moratorium on striking energy facilities, an Easter ceasefire and most recently a 72-hour truce last week during celebrations marking 80 years since the Soviet victory in World War II. He accused Ukraine of repeatedly violating the ceasefires.

He said that during the May ceasefire, Ukraine had attacked Russia with 524 aerial drones, 45 sea drones, a number of Western missiles and Russia had repelled five attacks on Russian regions.

Ukraine, too, has accused Russia of repeatedly violating its own ceasefires.