Zelenskyy challenges Putin to meet in person for peace talks
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has challenged Vladimir Putin to meet in person for peace talks in Istanbul on Thursday, in a dramatic gambit after a weekend of diplomatic flurry.
His comments came after Putin rejected a demand from Ukraine and European allies to sign up to a 30-day ceasefire, but said Russia was ready for direct negotiations with Ukraine. Putin said delegations from the two countries should meet on Thursday in Turkey.
Although European leaders insisted there should be no negotiations until Putin agrees to a ceasefire, Donald Trump put pressure on Zelenskyy to agree 'immediately' to negotiations this week in a post on Truth Social. Shortly afterwards Zelenskyy went public with his surprise offer.
'We await a full and lasting ceasefire, starting from tomorrow, to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy,' the Ukrainian president said in a statement. 'There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday. Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses.'
The two leaders have not communicated directly since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and there have been no publicly known talks between Moscow and Kyiv since March 2022, shortly after the war began.
Trump said in a statement on his Truth Social platform that Ukraine should 'HAVE THE MEETING, NOW!!!'.
He said: 'President Putin of Russia doesn't want to have a Cease Fire Agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH. Ukraine should agree to this, IMMEDIATELY. 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 demand for a 30-day ceasefire was set out on Saturday during a visit to Kyiv by the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland, who together with Zelenskyy made a phone call to Trump before holding a joint press conference.
Britain's Keir Starmer said that if Putin rejected the offer, 'we will respond, working with President Trump, with all our partners, we will ramp up sanctions and increase our military aid for Ukraine's defence to pressure Russia back to the table'.
Putin's response to the ultimatum came in the unusual form of a statement read out to journalists in a ceremonial Kremlin room at close to 2am local time. He accused Ukraine of breaking previous ceasefires, but said that 'despite this' he was suggesting the two parties meet for talks, which he said could take place in Istanbul this Thursday.
He did not say who would attend, though observers widely expected him to send his top diplomatic aides. 'We are ready for serious talks with Ukraine, and we want to solve the root causes of the conflict,' he said.
Putin's tone appeared carefully calibrated to reject Europe's demands but also make Moscow appear to be playing constructively in the eyes of the Trump administration, which has tended to be much softer on Moscow than on Kyiv until recent days. Putin made a point of thanking the new US administration for its efforts to resolve the conflict.
Trump's response suggests the tactic may have succeeded, delivering a significant blow to western unity. However, his Truth Social post also hinted at the frustration he has reportedly expressed in private in recent days over Moscow's hardline demands in the war in Ukraine.
By proposing a direct meeting with Putin in Istanbul, Zelenskyy appears to be seizing the initiative, putting pressure back on the Russian leader – who rarely travels spontaneously – to either attend or back down.
Prior to Trump's intervention, Zelenskyy and his chief of staff Andriy Yermak had both ruled out talks before a ceasefire. 'First a 30-day ceasefire, then everything else,' said Yermak.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, had also written on X on Sunday morning that no talks would be possible until Putin agreed to the ceasefire. 'There can be no negotiations while weapons are speaking. There can be no dialogue if, at the same time, civilians are being bombed,' he wrote.
The flurry of back-and-forth offers and ultimatums suggests fast-moving diplomacy around the conflict, but behind the rhetoric it is not clear how much of the fundamental positions of the two sides have changed.
Ukraine and its European allies want a full ceasefire, after which negotiations would start on a comprehensive settlement including a European 'reassurance force' inside Ukraine, the exact composition and duties of which are still under discussion among allies.
Putin, on the other hand, wants to keep fighting to increase the pressure on Ukraine to sign up to a number of Moscow's core demands, which have changed little since the start of the war. As well as territorial claims to the regions it occupies, Moscow is expected to demand guarantees over Ukraine's future political and military decisions. The Kremlin has already made it clear it would not accept western troops stationed in Ukraine.
A top Putin aide, Yuri Ushakov, said on Sunday that the previous first round of Istanbul talks, in spring 2022, should serve as the basis for any new negotiations. Leaked drafts of those discussions suggest that the Russian terms presented amounted to an effective surrender for Ukraine.
Trump's support for Putin's idea came after his Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, backed the European position, in a sign that the US president is often unpredictable even for his own team. 'As President Trump has repeatedly said, stop the killing!! An unconditional 30 day ceasefire first and, during it, move into comprehensive peace discussions. Not the other way around,' Kellogg wrote on X.
In the hours after Putin's address on Sunday morning, Russia launched more than 100 drones at Ukraine, as a three-day ceasefire unilaterally declared by Putin came to an end.
The ceasefire was pegged to the 80th anniversary of victory in the second world war, for which Putin presided over a military parade in Moscow on Friday with guests who included the leaders of China and Brazil. Kyiv rejected that ceasefire, saying it was a cynical attempt to avoid attacks on Russia during the set-piece parade, while Moscow continues to reject calls for a longer-term ceasefire.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
20 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
National Guard Troops Line up in Front of LA Protestors
National Guard troops arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday under orders from President Donald Trump, escalating a showdown with California leaders who say the federal deployment is politically driven and unnecessary. (Source: Bloomberg)
New York Post
20 minutes ago
- New York Post
Trump admin diverted 20,000 anti-drone missiles it promised to Ukraine and sent them to US troops, Zelensky says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Trump administration diverted 20,000 anti-drone missiles originally meant for Kyiv to American forces in the Middle East. Zelensky revealed Sunday that he had secured a deal for the missiles under the Biden administration to counterattack Moscow's deadly, Iranian-designed Shahed drones, which have been at the center of Russia's mass bombardment campaign. 'We have big problems with Shaheds,' Zelensky told ABC News' 'This Week.' 'We counted on this project — 20,000 missiles. Anti-Shahed missiles. It was not expensive, but it's a special technology.' Advertisement 5 Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Trump administration diverted anti-drone missiles originally meant for Kyiv to American forces in the Middle East. ABC News 5 A firefighter extinguishes a fire at a civilian plant following powerful attacks to Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. AFP via Getty Images The diversion of the weapons was first reported by the Wall Street Journal last week, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly issuing an 'urgent' call to redirect the weapons on June 4 away from Ukraine. The missiles were instead sent off to American forces in the Middle East as the US braces for possible conflict with Iran over the stalled nuclear deal, as well as the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, according to the WSJ. Advertisement The order also coincided with Hegseth's absence from the most recent Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting, which was the first time a DOD chief missed the conference since Russia began its invasion in 2022. Under Hegseth and Trump, the US has not approved any new military aid packages to Ukraine, with the administration previously putting a temporary halt on weapons shipments earlier this year. With Moscow ramping up its drone and missile strikes against Ukraine, Zelensky has called on the US to reaffirm its support for Kyiv and for President Trump to not give up on America's role mediating the strained cease-fire efforts. Advertisement 5 Under President Trump and Pete Hegseth, the US has not approved any new military aid packages to Ukraine. via REUTERS 5 Smoke billows after drone strikes in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, amid the Russian invasion. SERGEY KOZLOV/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock 'I am convinced that the president of the United States has all the powers and enough leverage to step up,' Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine already backs the 30-day cease-fire deal proposed by the US. He also rejected Trump's latest characterization of the war as 'two young children fighting like crazy' in a playground. Advertisement 'We are not kids with Putin at the playground in the park. This is why I am saying he is a murderer who came to this park to kill the kids,' he said. 5 'We are not kids with Putin at the playground in the park. This is why I am saying he is a murderer who came to this park to kill the kids,' Zelensky said. AFP via Getty Images Along with renewed military aid, Ukraine is pushing the US to join the rest of the world in imposing new economic sanctions against Moscow. Zelensky maintains that sanctions from the US will hurt Moscow the hardest as he backed a proposal from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to slap 500% tariffs on any nation that buys Russian energy products.
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump economic adviser ‘very comfortable' with a trade deal closing with China on Monday
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Sunday that he is 'very comfortable' with a trade deal closing between the United States and China after the two sides meet Monday in London. Hassett's comments on CBS' 'Face the Nation' come after President Donald Trump said last week that he had a 'very good' conversation with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and that talks with China are 'very far advanced.' Hassett said the United States is looking to restore the flow of 'crucial' rare earth minerals, which are used in the manufacturing of electronics, to the same levels before early April, when the US-China trade war escalated. 'Those exports of critical minerals have been getting released at a rate that is higher than it was, but not as high as we believe we agreed to in Geneva,' Hassett said. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will lead the negotiations in London, along with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who in May led a weekend of the trade talks in Geneva. But tensions between the nations escalated weeks later after Trump posted on Truth Social that China 'totally violated' its 90-day trade agreement, which had dialed back the tit-for-tat trade war. Under the agreement, the US temporarily lowered its overall tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, while China cut its levies on American imports from 125% to 10%. Under the agreement, China said it would suspend or cancel its non-tariff countermeasures imposed on the United States since April 2. Part of Beijing's retaliatory measures included export restrictions on some rare earth minerals, which are essential parts used in products such as iPhones, electric vehicles and fighter jets. The Trump administration on April 2 imposed sweeping 'reciprocal' tariffs on dozens of trading partners before pausing them for 90 days and lowering them to a 10% baseline. Hassett on Sunday declined to say what baseline tariffs could be in place moving forward as the Trump administration continues negotiations with trading partners ahead of the July 9 deadline. 'You could be certain that there's going to be some tariffs,' Hassett said. Lutnick told CNN's 'State of the Union' in May that 'we will not go below 10%' and to expect that baseline rate for the foreseeable future. The Trump administration has so far announced only one trade deal, with the United Kingdom. The Trump administration has touted that other countries, particularly China, will bear the burden of tariffs. Businesses and economists have warned otherwise, spurring uncertainty about consumer spending and fears of a potential recession. Amid those concerns, US inflation slowed to its lowest rate in more than four years in April. The annual inflation rate fell from a 2.4% increase in March to 2.3% as consumer prices rose 0.2%, according to Consumer Price Index data. 'All of our policies together are reducing inflation and helping reduce the deficit by getting revenue from other countries,' Hassett said. The Treasury Department reported that a record $16.3 billion was collected in gross customs duties in April, a sharp jump from the $8.75 billion that was collected in March. Since the start of the 2025 fiscal year, which began in October 2024, the United States has collected about $63.3 billion in gross customs duties — a more than $15 billion increase from the same period during the last fiscal year. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that increased tariff revenue, without accounting for effects on the US economy, could reduce total deficits by $3 trillion over the next decade. The US government deficit stood at about $2 trillion in 2024, or roughly 7% of gross domestic product, according to a June 2024 report by the CBO. Meanwhile, House Republicans' sweeping bill to enact Trump's policy agenda would pile another $3.8 trillion to the government's $36 trillion debt pile, according to recent CBO estimates. CNN's Matt Egan and Alicia Wallace contributed to this report. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
