Headlines
Ukraine's Zelenskiy says only meeting Putin face-to-face can deliver peace
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 13, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 13, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Zelenskiy wants a direct meeting with Putin in Istanbul to negotiate a 30-day ceasefire, with Erdogan and possibly Trump attending.
KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday he wanted to negotiate an unconditional 30-day ceasefire face-to-face with Vladimir Putin at this week's talks in Istanbul because only the Russian leader could enact such a pause.
Accusing Putin of being "scared" of meeting him, Zelenskiy said he expected "strong sanctions" from the United States and European Union if the talks did not take place, adding a failed meeting would show that Russia was not ready for diplomacy.
Zelenskiy told reporters that because "absolutely everything in Russia" depends on Putin, the only way to secure a ceasefire and an end to the war was through direct talks with him.
"If he takes the step to say he is ready for a ceasefire then it opens the way to discussing all the elements to end the war," he said.
"I'm not even mentioning that he is scared of direct talks with me," Zelenskiy said, adding he would first meet Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara for talks and would head to Istanbul if Putin arrived there.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine had invited U.S. President Donald Trump to Thursday's meeting but had yet to confirm his attendance. Trump offered on Monday to join the prospective talks while he was travelling in the region.
The Ukrainian leader also said China had signalled it supported a 30-day ceasefire, which Zelenskiy says is necessary before any peace talks can happen.
(Reporting by Max Hunder, writing by Elizabeth Piper, editing by Christian Lowe)
The main topic is Zelenskiy's call for direct talks with Putin to negotiate a ceasefire and peace in Ukraine.
Turkish President Erdogan and possibly U.S. President Trump might attend the talks.
Zelenskiy accuses Putin of being scared of direct negotiations and avoiding face-to-face talks.
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