Zelenskyy Says Ready To Meet Putin In Turkey, But Insists On May 12 Cease-Fire

By RFE/RL May 12, 2025

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he is ready to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Istanbul on May 15, but he insisted a cease-fire backed by his European allies begin on May 12, although Moscow has so far ignored that call.

"Starting tomorrow, we await a cease-fire," Zelenskyy said on May 11 on social media. "This proposal is on the table."

"A full and unconditional cease-fire -- one that lasts long enough to provide a necessary foundation for diplomacy -- could significantly bring peace closer. Ukraine has long proposed this, our partners are proposing it, and the whole world is calling for it.

"We await a clear response from Russia."

Zelenskyy said Kyiv has "absolutely no problem engaging in negotiations, and we are ready for any format."

"I will be in Turkey this Thursday, May 15, and I expect Putin to come to Turkey as well," the Ukrainian leader added.

The potential for the May 12 cease-fire -- to which Russia has not agreed -- or the May 15 talks in Istanbul remained uncertain as of late May 11.

Zelenskyy's comments follow remarks by US President Donald Trump -- who appeared to ignore calls by Kyiv and leading European allies for a cease-fire -- that demanded Ukraine "immediately" hold direct talks with Russia to end the war.

Trump made that demand after Putin proposed the direct talks with Kyiv in Turkey.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump noted that Putin "doesn't want to have" a cease-fire agreement with Ukraine and instead wants direct talks to "negotiate a possible end to the bloodbath."

"Ukraine should agree to this, IMMEDIATELY," Trump added. "At least they will be able to determine whether or not a deal is possible, and if it is not, European leaders, and the U.S., will know where everything stands, and can proceed accordingly!"

The US president said he was with Putin," urging Kyiv to accept the meeting invitation, adding, "Have the meeting now."

Trump's demand that Ukraine drop its precondition for a cease-fire and go straight into negotiations with Russia came just hours after his Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, backed Kyiv's call for a cease-fire.

"As President Trump has repeatedly said, stop the killing!!" he said on X. "An unconditional 30-day cease-fire first and, during it, move into comprehensive peace discussions. Not the other way around."

Speaking to Russian pro-Kremlin media, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on May 11 dismissed Kyiv's calls -- backed by its allies -- for Russia to pause the war, saying that Kyiv must have misread the Russian leader's message.

"Putin made it clear in his statement," she said. "First talks about the root causes, and then we can perhaps talk about a cease-fire."

Zelenskyy's presidential adviser Andriy Yermak responded on Telegram to Putin's call for talks by saying: "First, a 30-day ceasefire -- then everything else."

"Russia must not disguise its desire to continue the war behind rhetorical constructions," he said. "A cease-fire is the first step toward ending the war, and it will demonstrate Russia's willingness to stop the killings."

Later on May 11, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Putin in a phone call that his country is ready to host negotiations for a cease-fire and permanent peace between Russia and Ukraine.

In a separate phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Erdogan said "a historic turning point" had been reached toward ending the war.

Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Zelenskyy, and British and Polish prime ministers Keir Starmer and Donald Tusk announced the proposal for a cease-fire beginning on May 12 after a meeting in Kyiv on May 10.

They warned Moscow that it would face "massive" new sanctions if it balked at the proposed truce. They said they had spoken to Trump by phone following the talks.

Macron, speaking from the Polish border town of Przemysl on his return from Kyiv, described Putin's offer of direct talks as "a first step, but not enough," adding that "an unconditional cease-fire is not preceded by negotiations."

Merz struck a similar note, calling the proposal "a good sign" but "far from sufficient."

"First, the weapons must be silenced, then the discussions can begin," he said in a statement.

Before their visit to Ukraine, Macron and the other European leaders promised they would "stand in Kyiv in solidarity with Ukraine against Russia's barbaric and illegal full-scale invasion," now well into its fourth year.

Speaking to RFE/RL after Putin's comments on May 11, John Hardie, deputy director of the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the Russian leader was continuing "to attempt to walk the line between placating President Trump and still refusing a cease-fire absent significant Ukrainian and Western concessions."

"Putin essentially proposed that Russia and Ukraine pick up where they left off with the 2022 Istanbul negotiations, where Moscow sought to impose harsh peace terms," he said, adding that the US president has a decision to make.

"Will he continue to allow Putin to 'tap him along,' or will he follow through on his threat to turn the economic screws on Russia?" he said.

Trump ran for president on a promise to end the war quickly. In an interview with NBC News that aired on May 4, he expressed hope a peace deal could still be reached while also suggesting his patience with both Ukraine and Russia was limited.

In early May, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said if there isn't a real breakthrough on the war in Ukraine in the near future, Trump will have to decide how much more time to dedicate to the negotiation process.

With reporting by AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/zelenskyy-putin-erdogan- turkey-russia-ukraine-trump-ceasefire/33410776.html

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Zelenskyy Says Ready To Meet Putin In Turkey, But Insists On May 12 Cease-Fire