Ukraine says will meet Russia for talks if it agrees to ceasefire

KYIV, Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Kyiv would meet with Moscow for talks in Istanbul on May 15, but that Russia must first commit to a 30-day ceasefire starting from Monday.

Zelensky, using rare language since Moscow invaded more than three years ago, described Russia’s proposal to convene direct peace talks as a “positive sign”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was “ready to host negotiations,” telling Russia’s Vladimir Putin in a phone call that a “window of opportunity” had opened for peace.

Moscow and Kyiv have not held direct talks since March 2022, shortly after the Kremlin launched its invasion in February of that year.

Those talks, which also took place in Istanbul, led to a now-aborted peace deal that would have seen Kyiv adopt neutral status and renounce any Nato ambitions.

Russia’s invasion has since dragged on, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of people, the destruction of Ukrainian cities and a total collapse in relations between Moscow and the West.

Moscow now occupies a fifth of the country and has claimed to have annexed four Ukrainian regions as its own, in addition to Crimea, which it seized in 2014.

“There is no point in continuing the killing even for a single day. We expect Russia to confirm a ceasefire -- full, lasting and reliable -- starting tomorrow, May 12, and Ukraine is ready to meet,” Zelensky said on social media.

“It is a positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war,” the Ukrainian leader said, in a break of tone.

“The entire world has been waiting for this for a very long time. And the very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire.”

Kyiv and its Western allies have said an unconditional ceasefire to pause the fighting is the only way to advance a diplomatic solution in three-year-old conflict – Europe’s worst since the Second World War.