President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi stated about the readiness to personally meet with the President of the Russian Federation Putin on Thursday, May 15 in Istanbul.
Zelensky announced that he accepts the Russian Federation’s proposal for direct negotiations in Istanbul on May 15 and will wait for Putin there personally. At the same time, he emphasized the expectation from Russia to fully observe “silence” from Monday, April 12 – in accordance with the statements of European leaders and Ukraine.
“We are waiting for a cease-fire from tomorrow – full and lasting, to give the necessary basis for diplomacy. There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will wait for Putin on Thursday in Turkey. Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for reasons why they cannot.” – stressed the President of Ukraine.
It will be recalled that on May 10, during a visit to Kyiv, the leaders of the “coalition of the determined” demanded that Russia cease fire unconditionally for 30 days from May 12. In case of refusal, they declared their readiness for new sanctions agreed between Europe and the USA. Before that, they had a phone conversation with Donald Trump.
In turn, Putin did not respond to the proposal for a 30-day pause in hostilities, but announced his intention to hold “direct negotiations” with Kyiv in Istanbul on Thursday, May 15.
French President Emmanuel Macron emphasized that European leaders, together with Trump, unanimously called for a truce to be implemented first, and only after that to proceed to negotiations. The same opinion was expressed by Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz, as well as a number of other European politicians.
