Last night, Vladimir Zelensky, in response to Vladimir Putin's proposal to start negotiations without any conditions, made a counter-proposal to meet personally in Istanbul on August 15. "I will be in Turkey this Thursday, May 15, and I expect Putin to also come to Turkey. Personally. And I hope that this time Putin will not look for excuses why he 'cannot' come," Zelensky said in a video message. Earlier, Donald Trump urged him to do so to "determine if a deal is possible."
Instead of Putin, the Federation Council responded to Zelensky's proposal, stating that Russia rejects this proposal.
Vice Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev, in a comment for the "Russia 24" channel, called Zelensky's statement "comedy and spectacle." "Such high-level meetings, especially in such a complex situation, are certainly not organized this way," he said. In his opinion, "Zelensky does not need a meeting with the President of Russia at all. He should be afraid of this meeting."
Deputy Chairman of the International Affairs Committee in the Federation Council Vladimir Dzhabarov doubted that the President of Ukraine was "invited" to Istanbul. "Who invited him to Istanbul? Does he really think that our president will meet personally with someone who has stained his hands with the blood of innocent people, who betrayed the memory of the great feat of both Ukrainians and the entire Soviet people, the feat of his grandfather? Who is he to sit at the negotiating table with him?" Dzhabarov is quoted by the "Agency"*.
Russia also disagrees with the 30-day truce starting today, which is insisted upon not only by Ukraine and the EU but also by the USA.
Official representative of the German government Stefan Cornelius stated at a briefing in Berlin that if a ceasefire does not occur today, the EU will impose new sanctions and continue large-scale military assistance to Ukraine. "Time is running out, we have 12 hours left until the end of the day," Cornelius said. As Bloomberg writes, Donald Trump has been more actively coordinating his actions in recent weeks to achieve a peace agreement in Ukraine with European countries, and together they can exert additional pressure on Russia.
Kremlin representative Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia is "focused on a serious search for ways to achieve a long-term settlement on Ukraine," and the "language of ultimatums" is unacceptable for it. He emphasized that in his statement on the night of May 11, Vladimir Putin "clearly and unequivocally outlined our position on resuming direct negotiations in Istanbul without any preconditions."
* Recognized as a "foreign agent" in Russia.