Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed holding direct talks with Ukraine for the first time in years, a move that follows mounting pressure from the United States to show a real interest in peace. The statement comes days after Moscow’s one-day Easter truce failed to hold.
Speaking to Russian state television on Monday, Putin said Russia was still open to peace initiatives and could discuss refraining from strikes on civilian targets, even bilaterally with Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov clarified the comment, telling Russian media that Putin had in mind “negotiations and discussions with the Ukrainian side.” The remarks follow a short-lived, 30-hour ceasefire over the Orthodox Easter weekend, which both countries accused each other of violating.
Kyiv had largely dismissed the Russian truce as a political ploy. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instead proposed a 30-day ceasefire targeting civilian infrastructure — a proposal that has so far gone unanswered by Moscow.
"Actions always speak louder than words," Zelenskyy wrote on X, saying that Ukrainian forces would mirror Russia’s military posture: strikes would be met with strikes, and ceasefire with ceasefire.
Zelenskyy confirmed that a Ukrainian delegation would travel to London this week for talks with the United States, Britain, and France. The meeting follows last week’s gathering in Paris, part of a wider effort to secure a ceasefire and eventual peace. While the Ukrainian president made no direct reference to Putin’s offer, he said Kyiv was “ready to move forward as constructively as possible.”
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been leading Washington’s mediation effort, warned on Friday that the U.S. could pull out of talks if both sides fail to show progress. However, on Sunday he struck a more hopeful tone, saying a breakthrough could come "this week."
Moscow has yet to shift its demands, including Ukraine’s formal recognition of territories Russia claims to have annexed and a commitment to neutrality — conditions Kyiv continues to reject.
Despite Sunday passing without air raid sirens in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said Russian forces had violated the truce nearly 3,000 times, with the worst attacks focused on the Pokrovsk region. Russia claimed more than 900 drone strikes and hundreds of artillery rounds from Ukraine, saying civilians had been killed or wounded.
Though both sides are talking about peace, the battlefield tells a different story. Whether the upcoming London summit changes that remains to be seen.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday that the United States must recognise that the “rules of the game” i...
Operations at several energy facilities in Saudi Arabia were suspended on Tuesday after attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi forces injured more than 70 ...
Russia and Ukraine exchanged attacks overnight, with at least two people killed in strikes on Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital's Military ...
At least five people were killed and five others injured when an Amazon Prime Air cargo plane overran a runway and crashed while landing at Miami International Airport on Sunday, 6 September, local officials said.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday that the United States must recognise that the “rules of the game” in its war against Iran had changed “before it is too late”, a day after Washington struck several Iranian tankers in the Gulf.
U.S. special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff have held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Sunday on efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Seven Indonesian airports, including two serving Jakarta, remained closed early on Monday morning because of volcanic ash from eruptions at Mount Anak Krakatau, the transport minister said. One other airport in South Sumatra has been reopened.
Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has scored a historic victory in Saxony-Anhalt, emerging as the strongest party in the eastern state and putting it closer than ever to forming a regional government.
Russia and Ukraine exchanged attacks overnight, with at least two people killed in strikes on Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital's Military Administration said. Meanwhile, drones hit civilian infrastructure in Russia's southwestern Saratov region, Governor Roman Busargin said.
Female employees at the Eiffel Tower were asked to leave their workstations and step out of sight during a private visit by a Hindu religious delegation, prompting a staff protest and an investigation by Paris authorities.
Fresh off President Xi Jinping's state visit to Kyrgyzstan, project officials have announced the successful drilling of a key tunnel along the long-stalled China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) railway, making it the first construction milestone for a flagship Belt and Road project.
Russia and Germany are locked in their most serious diplomatic dispute since the start of the war in Ukraine, after Berlin accused Moscow of carrying out a drone attack on a key logistics airport in August.
Fourteen men are on trial in Paris on Tuesday over the 2021 drowning of more than 30 migrants in the English Channel, the deadliest recorded migrant disaster in the narrow seaway between France and Britain.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment