Putin proposes direct peace talks with Ukraine after three years of war

Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a statement to the media in Moscow on Sunday. | RIA NOVOSTI photo

by LIDIA KELLY AND MARINA BOBROVA
May 11, 2025

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed direct talks with Ukraine to take place on Thursday in Turkey that he said should be aimed at bringing a durable peace, an initiative welcomed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Putin sent thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, unleashing a war that has left hundreds of thousands of soldiers dead and triggering the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Russian leader, who has offered few concessions toward ending the conflict so far, said the talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul will be aimed at eliminating the root causes of the war and restoring a "long-term, lasting peace" rather than simply a pause for rearmament.