Zelenskyy calls for meeting with Trump, Putin & Erdogan as Istanbul ceasefire talks fail a 2nd time
'We will be grateful if President Trump supports such an idea. I am confident President Erdogan will support. He told me during our meeting that he wanted a meeting of four leaders. President Erdogan, President Trump, me, and Putin. We are ready for such a meeting on any day,' added the Ukrainian President.
In a statement on X, Zelenskyy said, 'We are ready for the leaders' meeting. Any place. Istanbul, Vatican, Switzerland. We propose a meeting starting Monday and further. A ceasefire before is important. When we meet it will become clear if there is will for deescalation. If no, the ceasefire will end on the same day.'
New Delhi: Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy Wednesday called for a meeting between him, Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, as ceasefire talks in Istanbul failed for a second time.
The Ukrainian president made the comments a day after interlocutors from Kyiv and Moscow met at Istanbul. At the 2 June meeting, the two sides agreed to exchange the bodies of 12,000 fallen soldiers and severely wounded prisoners of war. However, there was no agreement on a ceasefire.
This was the second meeting between the two countries in Istanbul. US President Trump has been urging both sides to agree to a ceasefire, applying pressure on Kyiv in particular to ensure such an agreement is reached.
The two sides met in the Turkish capital in May as well but there was no agreement on a ceasefire.
Russia handed over a 'memorandum' to Kyiv during the 2 June meeting in Istanbul, outlining its demands to resolve the conflict, which includes the recognition of five Ukrainian territories it has partially occupied since the war began as a part of Russia, along with the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from these territories.
I spoke with media on the day of remembrance for Ukrainian children killed by Russia.
In Istanbul, Russians gave us an ultimatum, not a 'memorandum'.
Peace requires a meeting of leaders. I am ready to meet in the coming days with Putin, as well as presidents Trump and Erdogan. pic.twitter.com/3cOCKTB5tJ
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 4, 2025
The other demands include the abandoning of Ukraine's aspirations of joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), as well as a demobilisation of the Ukrainian armed forces. Russia called on Ukraine to retain its neutrality, and terminate some of its international agreements.
The territories Russia has called to be internationally recognised as Russian territory are: Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea.
The war has been ongoing for more than three years. It began in February 2022 with Russia launching a full scale military operation on Ukraine.
Also Read: Ukraine's Op Spider's Web shows novel drone tactics, offers lessons for India's modern warfare
Russian memorandum rejected by Ukraine
Zelenskyy rejected all Russian demands Wednesday. The Ukrainian President called the memorandum shared by Russia as an 'ultimatum', while asserting that Moscow is not interested in 'deescalation' of the conflict.
'Why I call what they gave us an ultimatum? Go no further than the first point: international recognition of five Ukrainian regions as Russian and the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from them. Absolute ultimatum. Contradicts the UN Charter, Ukraine's Constitution, and basic logic,' Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian president added, 'On NATO. Our document that we passed to the Russians clearly states that Ukraine's membership is a matter for all NATO allies to decide. They need to have unity both to invite us and also to decide not to invite us to NATO. Such decisions are also made by consensus of all allies.'
Zelenskyy referred to further demands from Russia as either 'spam' or 'useless items'. He also called for sanctions on Moscow, given there is no interest for a ceasefire emanating from the Kremlin.
The Ukrainian president called for the meetings between leaders as the current level of the delegation representing Moscow 'does not decide anything', a fact shared by the delegation itself, according to Zelenskyy.
The 2 June meet in Istanbul came a day after Operation Spiderweb was launched by the Ukrainian forces, which struck at multiple airbases deep inside Russia, destroying a number of Tu-95 and Tu-22 strategic bombers, as well as A-50 airborne radar and command planes. Ukraine claims it destroyed at least 41 military aircraft.
Russian leaders, including former President Dmitry Medvedev, have vowed 'retribution' for the attack by Kyiv, which included the use of 117 drones, including 34 which were smuggled into Russia, in a maneuver reminiscent of the Trojan Horse, from Greek mythology.
'Had there been a ceasefire before our operation, there'd be no operation. Wanting a ceasefire doesn't mean we do nothing in the meantime,' Zelenskyy said on Operation Spiderweb.
Ukraine has been clear that there will be no compromise on its territory and that it will retain the right to foreign policy choices as a sovereign country. In an exclusive interview with ThePrint earlier this year, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha made it clear that these are 'the red-lines' for Kyiv.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: How global & Russian media reported on Ukraine's Op Spiderweb, drone strikes on Russia's key airbases
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