Zelenskyy ‘will be waiting for Putin’ in Turkey after Trump presses for direct negotiations

He added, however, that “the very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire.” “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 12th, and Ukraine is ready to meet,” the Ukrainian leader said on X.

Putin and Zelenskyy have only met once — in 2019.

In the war’s early months, Zelenskyy repeatedly called for a personal meeting with Putin but was rebuffed. After the Kremlin’s decision in September 2022 to illegally annex four regions of Ukraine — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, none of which Moscow fully controls — Zelenskyy enacted a decree declaring that holding negotiations with Putin had become impossible.

Macron said Sunday that Putin’s offer of direct negotiations with Ukraine is “a first step, but not enough,” signalling continued Western skepticism toward Moscow’s intentions.

“An unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations,” Macron told reporters at the Polish-Ukrainian border, according to French media.

Macron also warned that Putin is “looking for a way out, but he still wants to buy time.”

Moscow presses on with peace talks offer. Turkey says it’s ready to host

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in comments aired by Russian state TV on Sunday, called Putin’s proposal “very serious,” aimed at eliminating “the root causes of the conflict,” and said it “confirms a real intention to find a peaceful solution.”

Without directly mentioning Moscow’s proposal, Trump said in a social media post several hours after Putin’s overnight remarks that it was “a potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine!”

“Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never-ending ‘bloodbath’ hopefully comes to an end,” Trump wrote. “I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens. The USA wants to focus, instead, on Rebuilding and Trade. A BIG week upcoming!” he added.

In another post on Sunday, the U.S. president said Ukraine should accept Moscow’s offer “to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH.” He added, however, that he was “starting to doubt that Ukraine will make a deal with Putin.”

Putin spoke Sunday to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who expressed readiness to host the talks, the Kremlin said.

According to the Kremlin’s readout of the phone call, Erdogan “fully supported the Russian proposal, emphasizing his readiness to provide” a platform for the talks in Istanbul, as well as “all possible assistance in organizing and holding the negotiations aimed at achieving sustainable peace.”

Erdogan also spoke to Macron on Sunday, according to a statement from the Turkish presidential communications office, and said that a “historic turning point” had been reached in efforts to end the war.

Meanwhile, Russia resumed mass drone attacks in Ukraine early on Sunday, after its self-declared three-day pause expired.

Russia launched 108 attack drones and simulator drones from six different directions, Ukraine’s air force said. It said 60 drones were shot down, and another 41 simulator drones failed to reach targets due to Ukrainian countermeasures.

The Russian Defence Ministry on Sunday accused Ukraine of “violating” Moscow’s three-day ceasefire more than 14,000 times. Ukraine, which did not agree to the May 8-10 ceasefire, has also accused Russia of violating its own truce, with the Ukrainian foreign minister calling it a farce.

— Litvinova reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Thomas Adamson-Koumbouzis in Paris contributed to this report.

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