Putin Proposes Direct Ukraine Talks, Quiet On 30-Day Ceasefire

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed direct negotiations in the coming days to end the conflict in Ukraine but did not address a 30-day ceasefire proposal drawn up hours earlier by European allies of Kyiv, reportedly with US backing. Putin proposed direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15 — hours after Kyiv and the leaders of France, Germany, Britain and Poland had called for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire to start on Monday. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators held direct talks in Istanbul in the first weeks of the conflict, but failed to agree to halt the fighting, which has been raging ever since. Putin says he was committed to serious negotiations with Ukraine and that he wanted talks to “eliminate the root causes of the conflict and to establish a long-lasting peace.

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