Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed restarting direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15, "without preconditions." Speaking to reporters in the Kremlin in the early hours of Sunday, May 11, Putin proposed to "restart" peace talks Russia and Ukraine held in 2022. His remarks came after leaders from four major European countries threatened to ratchet up pressure on Putin if he does not accept an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine that they offered on Saturday in a strong show of unity with Kyiv. The leaders of France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland said their proposal for a ceasefire to start on Monday was supported by US President Donald Trump, whom they had briefed over the phone earlier in the day.
Russia's own unilateral three-day ceasefire, declared for the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany, expired Saturday, and Ukraine says Russian forces have repeatedly violated it. In March, the United States proposed an immediate, limited 30-day truce, which Ukraine accepted, but the Kremlin has held out for terms more to its liking. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking to reporters alongside the European leaders in Kyiv, called their meeting "a very important signal."
In a joint statement, as published on Zelenskyy's official website, the five leaders called for a ceasefire "lasting at least 30 days" from Monday, to make room for a diplomatic push to end the war. "An unconditional ceasefire by definition cannot be subject to any conditions. If Russia calls for such conditions, this can only be considered as an effort to prolong the war and undermine diplomacy," the statement read.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that the US would take the lead in monitoring the proposed cease-fire, with support from European countries, and threatened "massive sanctions ... prepared and coordinated, between Europeans and Americans," should Russia violate the truce. Macron traveled to Kyiv with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Progress on ending the three-year war has seemed elusive in the months since Trump returned to the White House, and his previous claims of imminent breakthroughs have failed to come to fruition. Trump has previously pushed Ukraine to cede territory to Russia to end the war, threatening to walk away if a deal becomes too difficult . Since the start of US-mediated talks, Russia has kept up attacks along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, including deadly strikes on residential areas with no obvious military targets.
The ceasefire would include a halt to fighting on land, sea and in the air. The European leaders threatened to ratchet up sanctions, including on Russia’s energy and banking sectors, if Putin did not comply. The priority was to make it too costly for Russia to keep fighting in Ukraine, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.