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Moscow, May 11 (EFE).- Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed this Sunday to Ukraine to hold direct negotiations on May 15 in Istanbul to find a peaceful solution to the conflict after more than three years of war.
"Resume direct negotiations, I insist, without any preconditions. Start them without delay, as early as next Thursday, May 15, in Istanbul," Putin said during a press conference in the Kremlin broadcast live on television.
Direct Negotiations in Istanbul
Putin recalled that it was in the Turkish city where the Ukrainian authorities suspended negotiations with Russian representatives in March 2022, shortly after the beginning of the Russian military campaign in February.
"Our proposal, as they say, is on the table. The decision now rests with the Ukrainian authorities and their sponsors," whom he accused of wanting to "continue the war with Russia through Ukrainian nationalists."
While Moscow accuses the West of convincing Kyiv to suspend negotiations more than three years ago, some analysts point out that Russia demanded then, among other things, the reduction of the Ukrainian Army to below 100,000 troops.
He announced that he plans to make contact shortly with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to facilitate the holding of said talks in his country.
"I hope he confirms his desire to contribute to achieving peace in Ukraine," he said.
A la espera de la reacción ucraniana
Putin stressed that "military actions, a war, are now taking place, and we propose to resume negotiations interrupted not by us. What's wrong with that? Those who really want peace cannot but support it."
"We are determined to have serious negotiations with Ukraine. Their purpose lies in eliminating the original causes of the conflict, achieving a lasting and solid peace in the long term," he said.
Following this, Kremlin advisor on international affairs, Yuri Ushakov, stated that Moscow is now awaiting Ukraine's "reaction."
Putin added: "We do not rule out that during these negotiations we will be able to reach an agreement on some kind of new truce or ceasefire. By the way, about a real truce that is respected not only by Russia, but also by the Ukrainian side."
According to the head of the Kremlin, "this would be the first step towards a lasting and firm peace, and not the prologue to the continuation of the conflict after the rearmament and a new mobilization of the Ukrainian army".
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, assured in recent weeks that his mediation will not be successful if the two sides in conflict do not sit down to negotiate face to face.
However, according to experts, the positions are still irreconcilable, as Moscow demands, among other things, the recognition of the annexed territories, including the Crimean peninsula, something to which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly opposed.
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance himself stated this week that Moscow is asking for "too much", as its army does not fully control the territory of either Donbas or the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
No Rest for 30 Days
At the same time, Putin did not directly respond to the 30-day truce proposal that the leaders of Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Poland presented to him on Saturday in Kyiv, who discussed this initiative by phone with Trump.
European leaders warned Moscow that if it did not announce a one-month ceasefire on Monday, they would adopt strong sanctions against Russia.
Regarding this, the Russian leader assured that he communicated to those colleagues in the West who "sincerely" seek a settlement that Moscow does not rule out extending the deadlines for a future ceasefire, although only after analyzing what happened "these days".
"The Kyiv authorities and you yourselves have seen perfectly well that you did not accept our ceasefire proposal," he emphasized and accused some European countries of "anti-Russian rhetoric," "aggressive actions," and also of speaking to Moscow with "an ultimatum language."
Putin insisted in his intervention that the Ukrainian army violated in March-April the 30-day energy truce and also the 30-hour Easter truce unilaterally declared by the head of the Kremlin, but which were later supported by Kyiv.
He also accused Kyiv of refusing to support the 72-hour truce that Putin announced on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Red Army's victory over Nazi Germany, celebrations attended by some thirty foreign leaders, and which expired at midnight.
Putin denounced that during the last few days the Ukrainian army tried up to five times to penetrate Russian territory in the border regions of Kursk and Belgorod.
In addition, he asserted that before the aforementioned ceasefire came into effect, Kyiv launched a massive attack with 524 drones against targets on Russian territory, where they caused, particularly in Moscow, airport chaos that affected tens of thousands of people.
