Putin offers direct talks with Ukraine: Macron and Zelensky react

On 11 May, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed holding direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul. He said at a press conference that Russia seeks to eliminate the causes of the war in order to achieve peace.

According to him, the Kremlin has never refused to negotiate. He accused the Ukrainian authorities of disrupting the negotiation process.

‘We propose to resume the negotiations they interrupted at the end of 2022,’ the Kremlin leader said.

Following Russia’s offer of talks with Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron insists on a preliminary ceasefire.

‘There can be no negotiations while weapons speak. There can be no dialogue while civilians are being bombed,’ Macron wrote on the X service.

Following a proposal by US President Donald Trump, a 30-day ceasefire was put forward. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accepted it without setting any conditions of his own, Macron wrote.

‘Now we expect the same clear answer from Russia,’ he said.

Zelenskyy viewed the Kremlin’s offer to resume direct talks as a good sign.

‘The whole world has been waiting for this for a long time,’ he wrote on social media.

The first step to ending the war would be to stop fighting, but he insisted on calling for a ceasefire. He said it would be pointless to continue the killing for even one day.

‘We expect Russia to confirm the ceasefire – full, lasting and reliable – that comes into force tomorrow, 12 May, and Ukraine is ready to abide by it,’ the Ukrainian leader wrote.

Meeting of the leaders of the ‘coalition of the willing’ in Kyiv

On 10 May, Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) arrived in Kyiv by train, along with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Later, the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, joined them.

They discussed a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire. According to their ideas, this window of opportunity should be used for peace talks with Russia.

This demand was previously made by US President Donald Trump. Now he is supported by four Europeans.

At Kyiv’s Independence Square, the E4 team met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife Olena. Here, surrounded by countless grave candles and blue and yellow pennants, they remember the fallen – the number of whom no one knows.

The goal of the E4 visitors is a 30-day ceasefire to test whether aggressor Vladimir Putin really wants to negotiate peace, if not, politicians will increase the pressure. This historic visit aims to show that E4 is firmly on the side of Ukraine.

As a reminder, US President Donald Trump said it was time to make a decision on peace in Ukraine.