Zelensky reacted to Putin's proposal for direct talks

President Vladimir Zelenskyy has reacted to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's proposal to resume direct talks between Russia and Moscow from 15 May in Istanbul. According to the head of state, Moscow should first agree to a cease-fire from 12 May and only then a direct meeting between Kiev and Moscow is possible. This was written by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Telegram.

This is a good sign that the Russians are finally thinking about ending the war. Everyone in the world has been expecting this for a very long time. And the very first step in really ending any war is a ceasefire," he said.

According to him, there is no point in continuing the killing even for a day.

We expect Russia to confirm the ceasefire - complete, long-lasting and reliable - starting tomorrow, 12 May, and Ukraine is ready to meet," the Ukrainian president stressed.

For his part, the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, emphasised: first a ceasefire for 30 days, then everything else.

Russia should not disguise its desire to continue the war under verbal constructions. The ceasefire is the first step towards the end of the war and it will confirm Russia's readiness to end the killing," he wrote.

The day before, Ukraine together with its allies - France, Germany, Britain, Poland - supported a 30-day ceasefire without any conditions as early as 12 May. The USA made a similar proposal. In addition, Ukraine, the USA and the EU prepared a list of 22 conditions for ending the war, which they will hand over to Russia. If Russia refuses, Ukraine's partners threatened to tighten sanctions against Russia.

We would like to point out that during a night address on 11 May, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said that he was allegedly set for direct negotiations with the Ukrainian side in Turkey as early as next week. At the same time, he ignored the idea of a 30-day ceasefire. The Kremlin dictator said that Russia allegedly never refused to negotiate. He accused Ukraine of derailing the talks in 2022.