Putin proposes direct talks with Kiev, and Zelensky says he wants to meet with him.

MoscowVladimir Putin's new move to buy time and make the decoration under Western pressure to accept a 30-day truce. The Russian president is making a counterproposal in Ukraine, which consists of holding direct talks next Thursday in Istanbul, where the last attempt at mediation between the two sides took place on March 29, 2022. That's why he spoke by phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who responded to Turkey.

And Zelensky has also responded, saying he is willing to meet directly with his Russian counterpart: "We expect a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire, starting tomorrow, to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy. There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will wait for Putin in Turkey. excuses." This is a challenge to Putin, because he has always refused to negotiate face-to-face with the Ukrainian president.

Before that offer, Putin had said that the negotiations would be "without preconditions," but at the same time he demanded that "the root causes of the conflict" be addressed, that is, his demands for maximum peace. He believes that Kiev cannot refuse and that the ball is in his court. "There is a war, and we intend to resume the negotiations that we did not interrupt. What's wrong with that? Those who truly want peace cannot stop supporting it," he asserted in an early morning appearance at the Kremlin.

Zelensky, however, insists on the need for a "comprehensive, lasting, and credible" 30-day ceasefire, starting today. This was the ultimatum shared with the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Poland who visited Kiev this Saturday and who enjoys US support.

However, Putin completely ignores Zelensky's request and points out that, in his view, any truce must be accompanied by a commitment that Ukraine will not rearm. At the same time, he "does not rule out" that a ceasefire could be agreed upon during the talks. In any case, the underlying problem remains the same as in recent months: Putin wants to negotiate while fighting continues and Zelensky does not want to sit at the table until they stop.

Trump celebrates the move

Once again, the target of all these moves is Donald Trump. In recent days, both he and his vice president, JD Vance, had expressed fatigue with the lack of progress in the talks and, as a last-ditch effort, had urged the parties to speak to each other directly. Trump even called Erdogan last Monday to invite him to participate in the mediation.

Putin has perfectly sensed the opportunity and has therefore fulfilled the wishes of the US president, who, unable to claim credit for having achieved peace, needs at least to be able to say that he has been able to bring both sides together to negotiate. No sooner said than done. In a message to Truth Social, the US president urged Ukraine to "immediately" accept Putin's proposal. "Russia does not want a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday in Turkey to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH," he said. And he continued: "Ukraine should accept this IMMEDIATELY. At least they will be able to determine whether or not an agreement is possible, and if not, European leaders and the US will know how things stand and can act accordingly!"

French President Emmanuel Macron, on the other hand, is skeptical. "It's a first step, but insufficient," he says. In his opinion, "an unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations" and believes that "Putin is looking for a way out, but wants to buy time."

Resumption of attacks

The Russian president is a repeat offender when it comes to diverting attention from a truce proposal in order to reject it without explicitly refusing it. Two months ago, on March 11, Kiev and Washington first proposed a one-month ceasefire. Two days later, Putin expressed his support, only to later bury it under conditions, and did the same with Trump's idea of a truce in the Black Sea, an initiative that no one remembers anymore.

This does not prevent the Kremlin leader from asserting that "Russia has repeatedly put forward initiatives for a ceasefire, but they have been sabotaged by Kiev." He is referring to the unilateral 30-day truce on energy infrastructure—which he accused Ukraine of breaking—the unilateral 30-hour Easter truce, and the recent unilateral three-day truce for Victory Day.

Putin accuses the Ukrainian army of having broken the ceasefire 14,000 times between May 8 and 10, although the reality is that Zelensky ordered an end to the drone barrage of the previous days. On the ground, both sides continued operations, and just minutes after midnight, when the truce had expired, Moscow resumed its usual nighttime airstrikes with more than 100 drones against Ukrainian territory.