Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to join peace talks scheduled for Thursday in Istanbul while questioning whether his Russian counterpart genuinely wants to end the war that has raged for over three years.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday urged his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, to help secure a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Türkiye on Thursday while accusing the Russian leader of not seriously wanting to end the war.
Zelenskyy said he wanted to negotiate an unconditional 30-day ceasefire as a step toward ending the war and that Putin should take part in talks because “absolutely everything in Russia” depends on him.
“We want to agree on a beginning to the end of the war,” Zelenskyy told a press conference. But he added, “He (Putin) is scared of direct talks with me.”
In a recent social media post on X (formerly Twitter), Zelenskyy stated, “Our team is now actively preparing a visit to Türkiye. Today, we have presented Ukraine’s position to all our partners in detail. Thank you for the support.”
Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky holds a press conference in Kyiv on May 13, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Zelensky urged the United States to levy its most hard-hitting package of sanctions on Moscow if Russian President rejects a call to meet in Turkey this week. (Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be in the US delegation at the talks in Istanbul, which “could have some pretty good results,” Trump said in Riyadh as he started a four-day Middle East trip.
Trump is also sending senior envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, three sources familiar with the plans said. Trump came to office in January promising a swift end to the war, but has become increasingly frustrated at what he sees as the failure of Kyiv and Moscow to compromise over the bloodshed. Trump said Monday that he was “thinking” about going to the talks.
The Kremlin has refused to say whether Putin will travel to Türkiye, after he himself proposed Russia-Ukraine talks in a weekend Kremlin address.
“This is his war,” Zelenskyy said, “therefore, the negotiations should be with him”. Any meeting between Russian and Ukrainian officials would be the first direct negotiations since the early months of Moscow’s February 2022 invasion.
Asked who would represent Russia at the talks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “As soon as the president sees fit, we will announce it.”
Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky holds a press conference in Kyiv on May 13, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Zelensky urged the United States to levy its most hard-hitting package of sanctions on Moscow if Russian President rejects a call to meet in Turkey this week. (Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP)
Zelenskyy urged the United States to hit Russia with its “strongest” ever sanctions should Putin not turn up, saying a refusal would be “a clear signal that they do not want and are not going to end the war.”
Putin’s spokesman refused to say who Moscow would send to the talks.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned Russia on Tuesday that it would face fresh European sanctions if there was no “real progress” this week towards peace in Ukraine, as he urged Putin to meet Zelenskyy.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that Europe would impose new sanctions if Moscow did not agree to the 30-day cease-fire. The European Union has already imposed 16 rounds of sanctions on Russia since Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky holds a press conference in Kyiv on May 13, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Zelensky urged the United States to levy its most hard-hitting package of sanctions on Moscow if Russian President rejects a call to meet in Turkey this week. (Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP)
Kellogg told Fox that Ukraine was willing to accept a “ceasefire in place” in which Ukrainian and Russian forces would each back up 15 kilometers (9 miles), creating a demilitarized zone.
International forces would be stationed west of the Dnipro River as a deterrent. Ukrainian officials have not publicly said what ceasefire terms they may accept. Russia has said it would not accept international forces in Ukraine.
Russia did not explicitly respond to Ukraine and the leaders of France, Britain, Germany, and Poland calling for Moscow to agree to a 30-day ceasefire, though the Kremlin blasted European “ultimatums” in an apparent rejection.
As the talks continue, Russian airstrikes killed two people in Ukraine’s eastern region of Kharkiv, which is on the border with Russia, authorities said. Russian bombs killed at least three people in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on Tuesday, a local official said.
Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky holds a press conference in Kyiv on May 13, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Zelensky urged the United States to levy its most hard-hitting package of sanctions on Moscow if Russian President rejects a call to meet in Turkey this week. (Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP)
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Russia would use the talks to address its key aims and the “root causes” of the conflict, the “de-Nazification” of Ukraine, and the “incorporation of new territories into the Russian Federation.”
Kyiv and the West reject those narratives, calling Russia’s invasion an imperial-style land grab.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying Moscow was ready for serious talks on Ukraine but doubted Kyiv’s capacity for negotiations.
The agencies quoted him as saying realities “on the ground” should be recognized, including the incorporation of what Moscow calls “new territories” into Russia—a reference to territory in Ukraine that is occupied by Russian forces.
The planned talks in Istanbul represent the most significant diplomatic effort to end the conflict since the early months of Russia’s 2022 invasion.
May 14, 2025 09:37 AM GMT+03:00
