Latest news with #PutinZelenskyy
National Post
17-05-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Trump says he will call Putin, then Zelenskyy, to stop the 'bloodbath' in Ukraine
U.S. President Donald Trump said that he plans to speak by phone Monday with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, followed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and leaders of various NATO countries, about ending the war in Ukraine. Article content Trump said that the call with Putin will be about stopping the 'bloodbath' in Ukraine. Article content 'Hopefully it will be a productive day, a ceasefire will take place, and this very violent war, a war that should have never happened, will end,' Trump wrote Saturday in a post on his social networking site Truth Social. Article content Article content Article content Article content Trump's remarks came a day after the first direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in years failed to yield a ceasefire. Putin had spurned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's offer to meet face-to-face in Turkey after he himself proposed direct negotiations — although not at the presidential level — as an alternative to a 30-day ceasefire urged by Ukraine and its Western allies, including the U.S. Article content Also Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. During a visit to Rome, Rubio suggested that the Vatican could be a venue for Russia-Ukraine peace talks. Article content In Ukraine, a northeastern town declared a period of mourning after a Russian drone hit a bus evacuating civilians from front-line areas, killing nine people, Ukrainian officials said. The strike came hours after the Russian and Ukrainian delegations left Istanbul, after agreeing to what would be the biggest prisoner swap to date between the warring parties. Article content Article content Article content Article content The talks in Istanbul on Friday broke up after less than two hours without a ceasefire, although both sides agreed on exchanging 1,000 prisoners of war each, according to the heads of both delegations. Ukraine's intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said on Ukrainian television Saturday that the exchange could happen as early as next week. Article content But the Kremlin has pushed back against a proposal by Ukraine and its Western allies for a temporary ceasefire as a first step toward a peaceful settlement, and the parties remained far apart on key conditions for ending the fighting. Article content Since U.S.-brokered talks began in March, Ukraine's strategy has been to convince the Trump administration that Putin is unreliable, and that Kyiv is serious about peace. Trump has expressed frustration with the stalled talks and threatened to abandon his efforts if results aren't achieved. Article content The political theatrics are underscored by stark realities on the ground in Ukraine. In a war of attrition against Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine's position is poised to grow weaker as time goes on, unless powerful sanctions are imposed against Moscow and the U.S. continues arms deliveries.
Al Jazeera
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Istanbul talks highlight Turkiye's balancing act between Russia and Ukraine
There was hope that it would be Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting in Turkiye this week, for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. That wasn't to be, after Russia confirmed that Putin would not be travelling to Turkiye. But both countries still sent delegations – agreeing to a prisoner swap – and the meeting in Istanbul on Friday was the first direct talks since shortly after the war began in February 2022. Some of those talks in 2022 were also hosted by Turkiye, highlighting the central role the country has played in the search for a resolution to one of the world's most significant geopolitical conflicts. Turkiye is also poised to expand its influence in Syria, where the US has lifted sanctions on the Turkish-allied government, and has a significant win on the domestic front, after the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) announced this week that it was disbanding, ending a 40-year war against the Turkish state. A direct meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy on Turkish soil would have capped off a strong week for Turkiye, but analysts say that its central role to the process is a victory nonetheless. 'Turkiye stands to win diplomatically whichever way the talks go,' Ziya Meral of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) said, even if the analyst ultimately was sceptical of any peace framework emerging from the talks. 'It fulfils Ankara's desire to be a negotiator and key player in regional developments. The fact that Ankara is in a position to engage both with the United States and Russia, as well as Ukraine is indeed a diplomatic success.' Over the last 15 years or so, Turkiye has established itself as a significant diplomatic player, extending its influence across Africa and playing a pivotal role in the overthrow of long-term Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad, all while maintaining an intensely delicate balancing act between belligerents in the Russia-Ukraine war. 'There are many reasons why Turkiye is hosting the talks,' Omer Ozkizilcik, a non-resident fellow at The Atlantic Council, told Al Jazeera. 'Turkiye started a peace process independent of the US shortly after the invasion, leading to the Istanbul protocols of 2022. This is also a new model of negotiation, pioneered by Turkiye,' he said, referring to the draft peace agreement brokered between the two states that Russia has since accused Ukraine and the West of walking away from. 'Before, neutral states such as Switzerland with no stake in the conflict would mediate. Now, under a new model, Turkiye is successfully negotiating in conflicts where it does have diplomatic, economic and geopolitical stakes,' Ozkizilcik added, listing a number of disputes where Turkiye had played a mediating role, such as that between Ethiopia and Somalia, where Turkiye was able to negotiate in December a 'historic reconciliation' in President Recep Tayyip Erodgan's words. Turkiye has its own interests across these countries, including its supply of drones to Ukraine and a significant military presence in Somalia. However, it is still able to present itself as a reliable arbitrator in peace talks involving these countries. 'It's a new Turkish model that is seeing the country emerge as a regional diplomatic power,' Ozkizilcik said. The balancing act Turkiye has followed in negotiating between Russia and Ukraine hasn't been easy – particularly when Ankara has had to take into account its opposition to Russian expansionism in the Black Sea region and Moscow's support for parties opposed to Ankara in the Middle East and North Africa. Turkiye labelled Russia's invasion of Ukraine a 'war' early in the conflict, allowing it to implement the 1936 Montreux Convention – effectively confining Russia's military vessels to the Black Sea. Ankara and Moscow have also found themselves on opposing sides in Libya and Syria. In Libya, Turkiye backs the United Nations-recognised government, in contrast to Russia's support for armed forces in the insurgent east, while in Syria, Turkiye supported the ultimately victorious opposition forces against the Russian-backed al-Assad regime. Syria was the source of the biggest tension between the two when, in 2015, Turkiye shot down a Russian fighter jet near the Turkiye-Syria border. The incident triggered a severe deterioration in diplomatic and economic ties, but a Turkish statement of regret led to a rapprochement the next year, and relations have remained strong. Those strong ties have also survived Turkiye's supply of drones and other military equipment to Ukraine throughout the course of the war. Russia has seemingly turned a blind eye to that, and maintains 'economic, diplomatic and energy relations' with Turkiye, Ozkizilcik said. The benefits of good relations with Turkiye seem to outweigh Russia's unhappiness with some aspects of Turkish policy, and Turkiye's position as a member of NATO that Russia can still deal with is in itself useful. In 2022, Turkiye was prominent in opposing Western sanctions on Russia; describing them as a 'provocation'. And Turkiye has rarely been content to toe the NATO line, for a time opposing Sweden and Finland's entry into the alliance, and also agreeing on a deal to buy Russia's S-400 missile system in 2017. Turkiye's purchase of the missile system led to US sanctions, exclusion from the F-35 defence programme and accusations in some quarters that Ankara was 'turning its back' on the West as part of a pivot towards Russia. 'Both sides have learned to compartmentalise differences,' Ozkizilcik said. He referred to an attack in 2020 that killed more than 33 Turkish soldiers in Syria by regime forces acting in coordination with Russia. 'There were talks, both sides met and addressed the issue and they moved on. More recently, when Turkish-backed forces overthrew the Assad regime, Erdogan still called Putin on his birthday and congratulated him.' But Turkiye has been able to strengthen its relationship with the West in the years since, demonstrating its usefulness, particularly when it came to Ukraine. Turkiye was instrumental in brokering a deal in 2022 to allow Ukraine to export its grain by sea, and has also been firm in its stance that Russian-occupied Crimea – the homeland of the Turkic Muslim Crimean Tatars – be returned to Ukraine. Steven Horrell, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, believes that Ukraine 'appreciates Turkiye's past support to them', even if it has some qualms about its ties with Russia. Zelenskyy has repeatedly thanked Erdogan for his role in facilitating talks and in supporting Ukraine. On Thursday, the Ukrainian leader highlighted Turkiye's support for Ukraine, and even said that his country's participation in direct talks – despite Putin's absence – was 'out of respect' for Erdogan and US President Donald Trump. Earlier in the week, Zelenskyy had thanked Erdogan for his support 'and readiness to facilitate diplomacy at the highest level'.The emphasis on mutual respect and friendship highlights that for Ukraine, Turkiye is not an ally it can afford to lose. And that gives Turkiye some leeway in its ability to maintain close ties to Russia without any negative backlash from the West, and a chance to fulfil some of its own goals. 'Turkiye would certainly gain some prestige from hosting the talks, even more so if they are successful,' said Horrell. 'Turkiye views itself not just as a regional leader, but truly a leader on the global stage. They gain in both of the bilateral relationships with Russia and Ukraine if they help achieve the goals of peace.'
Japan Times
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Peace breakthrough unlikely as Putin declines to meet Zelenskyy in Turkey
Russia's Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face-to-face with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Turkey on Thursday, instead sending a second-tier delegation to planned peace talks, while Ukraine's president said his defense minister would head up Kyiv's team. They will be the first direct talks between the sides since March 2022, but hopes of a major breakthrough were further dented by U.S. President Donald Trump, who said there would be no movement without a meeting between himself and Putin. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later echoed that view, telling reporters in the Turkish resort of Antalya that Washington "didn't have high expectations" for the Ukraine talks in Istanbul. The head of the Russian delegation, presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, said he expected Ukraine's representatives to turn up for the beginning of discussions on Friday in Istanbul at 10 a.m. local time. "We are ready to work," Medinsky said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app. He said his delegation had held "productive" talks on Thursday evening with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Zelenskyy said Putin's decision not to attend but to send what he called a "decorative" lineup showed the Russian leader was not serious about ending the war. Russia accused Ukraine of trying "to put on a show" around the talks. "We can't be running around the world looking for Putin," Zelenskyy said after meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. "I feel disrespect from Russia. No meeting time, no agenda, no high-level delegation — this is personal disrespect. To Erdogan, to Trump," Zelenskyy told reporters. Erdogan meets with Zelenskyy in Ankara on Thursday. | Turkish Presidential Press Office / via REUTERS Zelenskyy said he would also not go to Istanbul and that his team's mandate was to discuss a ceasefire. A decree issued by Zelenskyy said Ukraine's delegation would be led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and include the deputy heads of its intelligence services, the deputy chief of the military's general staff and the deputy foreign minister. Ukraine backs an immediate, unconditional 30-day ceasefire but Putin has said he first wants to start talks at which the details of such a truce could be discussed. More than three years after its full-scale invasion, Russia has the advantage on the battlefield and says Ukraine could use a pause in the war to call up extra troops and acquire more Western weapons. Both Trump and Putin have said for months they are keen to meet each other, but no date has been set. Trump, after piling heavy pressure on Ukraine and clashing with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office in February, has lately expressed growing impatience that Putin may be "tapping me along." "Nothing's going to happen until Putin and I get together," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. Rubio, speaking in Antalya, later echoed that thought: "It's my assessment that I don't think we're going to have a breakthrough here until the President (Trump) and President Putin interact directly on this topic." Referring to the current state of the talks as a "logjam," Rubio said he would travel to Istanbul to meet with Turkey's foreign minister and Ukraine's delegation on Friday. The diplomatic disarray was symptomatic of the hostility between the sides and the unpredictability injected by Trump, whose interventions since returning to the White House in January have often provoked dismay from Ukraine and its European allies. While Zelenskyy waited in vain for Putin in Ankara, the Russian negotiators had no one to talk to on the Ukrainian side. Some 200 reporters milled around near the Dolmabahce Palace on the Bosphorus Strait that the Russians had specified as the venue. Ceasefire and peace talks The enemies have been wrestling for months over the logistics of ceasefires and peace talks while trying to show Trump they are serious about trying to end what he calls "this stupid war." Hundreds of thousands have been killed and wounded on both sides in the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II. Washington has threatened repeatedly to abandon its mediation efforts unless there is clear progress. Asked if Putin would join talks at some future point, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: "What kind of participation will be required further, at what level, it is too early to say now." Russia said on Thursday its forces had captured two more settlements in Ukraine's Donetsk region. A spokesperson for Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pointedly reminded reporters of his comment last year that Ukraine was "getting smaller" in the absence of an agreement to stop fighting. First talks for three years Once they start, the talks will have to address a chasm between the two sides over a host of issues. Russian delegation head Medinsky is a former culture minister who has overseen the rewriting of history textbooks to reflect Moscow's narrative on the war. It includes a deputy defense minister, a deputy foreign minister and the head of military intelligence. Key members of the team, including its leader, were also involved in the last direct peace talks in Istanbul in March 2022 — and Medinsky confirmed on Thursday that Russia saw the new talks as a resumption of those interrupted three years ago. "The task of direct negotiations with the Ukrainian side is sooner or later to achieve long-term peace by eliminating the basic root causes of the conflict," said Medinsky. The terms under discussion in 2022, when Ukraine was still reeling from Russia's initial invasion, would be deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv. They included a demand by Moscow for large cuts to the size of Ukraine's military. With Russian forces now in control of close to a fifth of Ukraine, Putin has held fast to his longstanding demands for Kyiv to cede territory, abandon its NATO membership ambitions and become a neutral country. Ukraine rejects these terms as tantamount to capitulation, and is seeking guarantees of its future security from world powers, especially the United States.
The Guardian
15-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Moscow and Kyiv to begin first direct talks since 2022
Good morning. The first direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in three years are expected to take place today in Turkey – but Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy will not meet, after the Russian leader declined to join the Ukrainian leader in Istanbul. Russia has instead sent a low-level delegation, which Zelenskyy dismissed as a 'theatre prop'. It is unclear what the Istanbul talks will look like at this stage. Zelenskyy will meet the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in Ankara, and is reportedly expected to decide about sending a delegation to Istanbul after the meeting. Will Zelenskyy go to Istanbul? He has indicated he will not travel unless Putin also agrees to attend. The US supreme court will hear arguments on Thursday in a dispute that could massively expand presidential power. While outwardly the cases appear to concern Donald Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship – which appears set to fail, as it directly contradicts the 14th amendment – his legal team is instead challenging whether lower court judges should be able to block presidential orders nationally. What is the administration asking for? It wants the scope of judges' injunctions to be reduced so they only apply to the people, organizations or states that sued. Donald Trump has said he wants the US to 'take' Gaza and turn it into a 'freedom zone', as the Israel-Hamas war continues to rage in the strip. 'I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good, make it a freedom zone, let the United States get involved and make it just a freedom zone,' Agence France-Presse reported the president as saying during a visit to Qatar, adding that he would be 'proud to have the United States have it'. Palestinian medics reported that Israeli military aistrikes on Gaza overnight killed at least 60 people; the civil defence agency later put the death toll at 82. The medics said most of the victims, including women and children, were killed in their homes and tents by strikes on Khan Younis in southern Gaza. What is the situation in Gaza? Israel's blockade is in its third month – as a result, nearly half a million Palestinians face possible starvation, according to findings from a leading food security authority this week. Elon Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot on X, Grok, has been repeatedly mentioning the far-right conspiracy theory of a 'white genocide' in South Africa in its answers to totally unrelated questions. Tulsi Gabbard, the US director of national intelligence, has fired the two most senior officials at the National Intelligence Council (NIC) after it contradicted Donald Trump's reasoning for invoking the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans without due process. The health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has refused to say whether he would choose to vaccinate his children today, as he told Congress that 'people shouldn't take medical advice' from him. Three New Zealand MPs who performed the haka, a Mãori ceremonial war dance, in parliament will be temporarily suspended, in what is believed to be an unprecedented punishment. Spanish bank Santander financed firms linked to beef, palm oil, soya and supply chains driving deforestation in South America's Gran Chaco region to the tune of $600m in 2024, according to international environmental and human rights organisation Global Witness. The bank, which is the 14th largest in the world, is financing what some Indigenous people described as 'ecocide'. Despite the dethroning of the 'Liver King' – a bodybuilder who claimed he had achieved his bulging physique through eating a diet of 'raw liver, raw bone marrow and raw testicles' – thousands of fitness influencers continue to claim their enormous muscles are all natural. (Brian 'Liver King' Johnson turned out to be using $11,000 a month worth of muscle-building anabolic steroids.) With so many viewing the fitness industry as a way to make quick money, Joel Snape looks at this tale as old as time (or at least, as old as performance-enhancing drugs). The UK parliament will consider a bill that would target oil and gas firms with levies and scrap their subsidies, while also taxing the owners and users of luxury forms of polluting travel such as superyachts and private jets. While it appears highly unlikely to pass, its backers hope it will increase support for measures to make polluters pay. A Magna Carta document held by Harvard's law school library has been wrongly labeled an unofficial copy for nearly 80 years, it has been revealed after experts dated it back to 1300. The document is in fact one of just seven issued by Edward I that still survive – and the library bought what it believed was a copy for just $27.50 in 1946. First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you're not already signed up, subscribe now. If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@
Al Jazeera
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
‘Significant step': Russia-Ukraine talks in Turkiye
Russia and Ukraine are poised for talks in Turkiye on Thursday, even though the prospects of President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting directly for the first time in three years were dashed by the Kremlin late on Wednesday. United States President Donald Trump, who had earlier indicated that he might join the negotiations, will also not attend, according to American officials. Here's what we know about the talks, what prompted them, who's expected to attend, and why the negotiations matter: On Sunday, Putin proposed the idea of direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Turkiye, instead of the rounds of indirect talks that the US and others have tried to mediate between the neighbours at war. Putin referenced direct talks that took place in 2022 while pitching for their resumption. 'It was not Russia that broke off negotiations in 2022. It was Kyiv. Nevertheless, we are proposing that Kyiv resume direct negotiations without any preconditions,' Putin said on Sunday. In February 2022, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Shortly after, Russia and Ukraine held talks in the Turkish capital, Istanbul. According to Zelenskyy, the talks fell apart because Russia demanded that Ukraine concede the Donbas region, which spans Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions – parts of which Russia occupied during its invasion. Zelenskyy added that Russia wanted Ukraine to surrender long-range weaponry, make constitutional amendments to declare neutrality and significantly reduce its armed forces. 'There were never any negotiations; it was an ultimatum from a murderer,' Zelenskyy said at the time. While Zelenskyy had earlier held that any peace agreement would require Russia to give up Ukrainian territory it had occupied, in December last year, Zelenskyy said the 'hot phase' of the war could end if NATO offered security guarantees for the part of Ukraine currently under Kyiv's control. He added that the return of land that Russia has occupied could be diplomatically negotiated later. 'The pressure that the US has exerted to attempt to bring an end to the fighting in Ukraine has evolved over time,' Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow at the London-based Chatham House think tank, told Al Jazeera. 'It appears that the most recent elements in that evolution, particularly in terms of European solidarity with Ukraine, have led Russia to engage in direct talks.' Putin's recent push for talks came a day after Ukraine's four major European allies gave Putin an ultimatum to accept an unconditional 30-day ceasefire or face renewed sanctions. This ultimatum came after leaders of the European countries, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland, visited Kyiv. They gave Putin a deadline until May 12. On Sunday, May 11, Putin – without committing to a ceasefire – said: 'We are committed to serious negotiations with Ukraine. Their purpose is to eliminate the root causes of the conflict, to establish a long-term, lasting peace for the historical perspective.' The talks are being held in the Turkish city of Istanbul, which straddles the boundary between Asia and Europe. The four European leaders – Britain's Keir Starmer, France's Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Friedrich Merz and Poland's Donald Tusk – said that they had briefed Trump about their ultimatum to Russia over a phone call and suggested that he was on board. But after Putin called for direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow, Trump issued a statement on his Truth Social platform asking Ukraine to meet with Russia 'immediately'. Trump ran his campaign for the 2024 election on the promise to bring a swift end to the Ukraine war. The Trump administration held multiple meetings, starting February, with Russian and Ukrainian representatives separately in Saudi Arabia in attempts to broker a deal. Also in April, the Trump administration indicated that it was taking a step back from providing security guarantees to Ukraine. The Trump administration said it wanted Europe to take the lead in supporting Ukraine's defence instead, noting that the US had other priorities, including border security. In recent weeks, however, Trump and his team, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have expressed growing frustration at the lack of meaningful progress in negotiations and have threatened to walk out of efforts to mediate peace. Explaining his insistence that Ukraine join the May 15 Istanbul talks, Trump argued: 'At least they will be able to determine whether or not a deal is possible, and if it is not, European leaders, and the US, will know where everything stands, and can proceed accordingly!' 'I supported President Trump with the idea of direct talks with Putin. I have openly expressed my readiness to meet. I will be in Turkiye. I hope that the Russians will not evade the meeting,' Zelenskyy wrote in an X post on Monday. On Tuesday, Zelenskyy announced he will be in Ankara on Thursday, where he will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The talks with Russia, however, are supposed to be held in Istanbul subsequently. Trump has said he will send Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg to attend the talks in Istanbul. Russia on Wednesday night announced its team for the meeting. Vladimir Medinsky, a close Putin aide and former culture minister who also led previous rounds of unsuccessful talks with Ukraine in 2022, will lead Moscow's team. With him will be Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin and the director of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Igor Kostyukov. Trump's earlier offer to attend the talks himself had been welcomed by Kyiv. 'All of us in Ukraine would appreciate it if President Trump could be there with us at this meeting in Turkiye. This is the right idea. We can change a lot,' Zelenskyy had said. However, late on Wednesday, US officials clarified that Trump would not be attending. The US president is currently in the Middle East, where he spent Wednesday in Qatar, after visiting Saudi Arabia a day earlier. On Thursday, Trump will be in the United Arab Emirates before returning to Washington. Zelenskyy had earlier said he would be present at the talks only if Putin also attended. 'Putin is the one who determines everything in Russia, so he is the one who has to resolve the war. This is his war. Therefore, the negotiations should be with him,' Zelenskyy said in a post on X on Tuesday. With Putin now no longer poised to attend, it is unclear if Zelenskyy will personally participate in the talks or whether he will leave it to his team to join the negotiations. Yet, in many ways, Zelenskyy scored over Putin by throwing down the gauntlet and asking him to attend. 'Zelenskyy has presented a challenge to Russia to show that it has genuine interest; it is up to Russia whether it meets this challenge or not,' said Giles. Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had also pledged to urge Putin to attend the talks. It is difficult to predict what might specifically be discussed in the Turkiye talks. 'It would be rash to predict whether there will be any meaningful discussion at all, since the acceptable outcomes for both are still far apart,' Giles said. 'Russia wants to neutralise Ukraine as an independent sovereign state, while Ukraine wants to survive.' At the moment, Ukraine has proposed an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, while Russia has insisted that a series of its demands be accepted before it joins such a truce. Moscow said that it wants assurances over the monitoring mechanism for a ceasefire, and that a truce won't be used by Ukraine to rearm and mobilise more soldiers. Instead, Putin has announced brief, unilateral ceasefires in recent days that Ukraine says Moscow never actually adhered to. 'We do not rule out that, during these negotiations, it will be possible to agree on some new truces, a new ceasefire and a real truce, which would be observed not only by Russia, but also by the Ukrainian side. [It] would be the first step, I repeat, to a long-term sustainable peace, and not a prologue to the continuation of the armed conflict,' Putin said on Sunday. Giles said that if the talks happen, 'they will be a significant step forward'. He added: 'Anything that has been referred to as peace talks [ so far] has not been anything of the sort,' describing the two parallel discussions that the US has had with Russia and Ukraine. On March 19, the US, Ukraine and Russia announced a 30-day ceasefire on attacks on Russian and Ukrainian energy infrastructure, and on March 25, they agreed on a Black Sea deal, halting the military use of commercial vessels and the use of force in the Black Sea. Both sides, however, traded blame for violating the terms of those agreements, which have now expired.
