Zelensky agrees to meet Putin in Turkey

KABUL (Pajhwok): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has agreed to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Turkey on Thursday.

The Ukrainian leader voiced his willingness after US President Donald Trump told him to immediately accept Putin's proposal of direct peace talks.

On Sunday, Zelensky had responded cautiously to the proposal after the Russian president, in a late-night televised address, suggested that Ukraine and Russia hold direct negotiations in Istanbul on 15 May, Reuters reported.

"I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday. Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses," Zelenskiy wrote on X.

He described Russia's initiative to resume negotiations as “a positive sign”. He added: “The entire world has long awaited this moment and the first step toward truly ending any war is a ceasefire,”

Putin's proposal came hours after major European powers demanded on Saturday in Kyiv that Putin agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire or face "massive" new sanctions, a position that Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg endorsed.

But Trump, who has the power to continue or sever Washington's crucial supply of arms to Ukraine, took a different line.

"President Putin of Russia doesn’t want to have a Cease Fire Agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH. Ukraine should agree to this, IMMEDIATELY," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

kk/mud