Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed to Russian president Vladimir Putin to meet in Türkiye on 15 May, reaffirming Ukraine’s readiness for dialogue aimed at ending the war. Zelenskyy expressed hope that the Russian leader would not seek excuses to avoid the meeting.

This could become the first face-to-face meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian leaders since the war began more than three years ago.

“There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday. Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. 

On 10 May, Zelenskyy participated in a 15-minute call with Trump and several NATO leaders, during which they expressed readiness for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting Monday and confirmed Ukraine’s willingness to begin direct peace talks with Russia if a ceasefire materializes.

According to a Ukrainian official, Zelenskyy plans to be in Türkiye on the appointed date whether or not Russia agrees to the proposed ceasefire that was supposed to begin Monday, 12 May, Axios reports.

Russian President Putin rejected the Ukraine and EU-backed proposal for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire and instead offered to resume direct peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul starting 15 May, without any preconditions.

Putin framed these talks as a way to address the “root causes of the conflict” and suggested that a ceasefire might be agreed upon during negotiations, but he made no commitment to halt hostilities beforehand.

The French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot rejected Putin’s proposal, highlighting that negotiating “under drones” is impossible and a full ceasefire is required.

Hours before Zelenskyy agreed to meet Putin in Istanbul, Trump urged Ukraine’s president to accept the terms in a post to Truth Social, writing: “HAVE THE MEETING, NOW!!!”

Trump argued that participating in talks would allow Ukraine to determine whether a deal is possible, and if not, Europe and the US would “know where things stand and can proceed accordingly.”

According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine “has no problem” with conducting negotiations and is “ready for any format” to pursue an end to the war.

He also emphasized Ukraine’s expectation for an “unconditional ceasefire” while noting that Ukrainian forces would respond “in kind” to ensure fairness in implementation, stating:

“We are ready to talk to end the war.”

Zelenskyy mentioned that international partners repeatedly expressed willingness to impose additional sanctions against Russia should Putin reject the ceasefire proposal.

According to Pavlo Palisa, Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, Putin is using peace talks proposals as a tactic to buy time while planning a multi-directional military offensive against Ukraine, aiming to strike simultaneously from three fronts.