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Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski says he is ready to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin “personally” in Istanbul on Thursday to negotiate the war.
His post came shortly after Donald Trump asked Ukraine to agree with Putin’s proposal for direct conversations between the two countries in Turkey.
“There is no point in extending the killings. And I’ll wait for Putin in Turkis on Thursday. Personally,” Zelenski writes.
He said earlier that his country was open to talk with Russia, but only after there was a ceasefire.
Western powers Called for a 30-day pause in the fight to start on Monday After European leaders headed the so -called “Coalition of Desire” met in Kiev on Saturday.
Putin’s proposal for direct conversations followed this intervention.
Then on Sunday, Trump published on social media that Ukraine should agree with this “immediately” and will make it clear whether there is a way to end the war.
“At least they will be able to determine if a transaction is possible and whether it is, European leaders and the US will know where everything is and can go on accordingly,” he said, adding, “Have the meeting now!”
In his post on X Zelenski, he said he hoped Russia would agree to end the fire before the conversations.
“We expect a complete and permanent cessation of the fire, starting tomorrow, to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy,” he said.
At a late night on Saturday, Putin invited Ukraine to participate in “serious negotiations” during the war, which began with a full -scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine in 2022.
Putin said he could not “exclude” the possibility of conversations that Russia and Ukraine agreed “a new truce” – but did not turn directly to the calls for a 30 -day fire.
The Russian leader said: “This will be the first step to a long -term, lasting peace, not to a prologue of more armed hostilities, after the Ukrainian armed forces receive new weapons and staff, after feverish tingling and the creation of new command posts.”
Earlier, Moscow said that before Russia could consider the cessation of fire, the West must first stop its military assistance to Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine were last negotiations in March 2022 in Istanbul, shortly after Moscow began its invasion.
On Saturday, the Ukrainian president played host in Kiev to the United Kingdom Prime Minister Sir Kiir Starmer, France Emmanuel Macron, Germany Friedrich Mertz and Poland Donald Tusk, who later called Trump to discuss their plan.
Subsequently, Sir Cayer told the BBC that the US president was “absolutely clear”, that their proposal for an immediate ceasefire was “a request to be fulfilled.”
Appearing at a press conference with Zelenski, they warned that “new and massive” sanctions would be imposed on Russia’s energy and banking sectors, they must disagree on the unconditional 30-day termination of fire “in the air, in the sea and on the land.”