Topline
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday said he is open to direct bilateral talks with Ukraine for the first time in three years, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushed for a moratorium on strikes against civilian targets, just days after Washington expressed displeasure about the lack of progress towards a peace deal between both sides and threatened to walk away from negotiations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during an awarding ceremony at the All-Russia’s Municipal … More
Key Facts
Speaking to state media reporters in Moscow on Monday, the Russian president said his government has “always looked positively on any peace initiatives,” adding that he hopes officials in Kyiv feel the same way.
Putin also claimed Ukraine agreed to the temporary Easter ceasefire after being pressured to do so by “someone smarter—most likely foreign handlers.”
In a post on X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy restated Kyiv’s push to extend the Easter ceasefire, saying it shows that peace was possible “when Russia chooses to reduce the killing.”
Zelenskyy said his country “stands by its offer” for an agreement to halt all strikes on civilian infrastructure and the “obvious, simplest, and most reliable way” to do that would be by stopping “missile and long-range drone attacks.”
The Kremlin’s top spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, later clarified Putin’s comments, saying the Russian president’s comments were “about the option of negotiating the issue of not striking civilian infrastructure facilities, [on] a bilateral basis…he was particularly referring to negotiations and discussions with the Ukrainian side.”
Despite Peskov’s comments and Ukraine’s offer, Putin ordered Russian forces to resume combat operations after the Easter truce.
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What Do We Know About U.s. Threats To ‘walk Away’ From Russia-Ukraine Talks?
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed frustration about the lack of progress in peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and said President Donald Trump’s administration is prepared to “walk away” from the negotiation table if significant progress is not made soon. After a meeting with European leaders in Paris, Rubio told reporters: “If it is not possible to end the war in Ukraine, we need to move on.” He added that the Trump administration would not “continue with this endeavor for weeks and months on end…So we need to determine very quickly now, and I’m talking about a matter of days, whether or not this is doable in the next few weeks.” The secretary of state also added that Trump felt very strongly about ending the conflict and has “dedicated a lot of time and energy to this,” but there were other “really important things” which deserve “just as much, if not more attention.”
What Has Trump Said About Russia-Ukraine Talks?
When asked about Rubio’s comments, Trump told reporters that if one of the two parties made peace negotiations difficult, “we’re just going to say: ‘You’re foolish. You’re fools. You’re horrible people,’ and we’re going to just take a pass…But hopefully we won’t have to do that.” Trump, however, stopped short of giving a specific deadline, saying he did not have “a specific number of days” in mind but wanted it done “quickly”. The president later followed those comments up with a Truth Social post early on Monday, saying he hoped both sides would “MAKE A DEAL THIS WEEK.” In an apparent bid to incetivize such a move, Trump added: “BOTH WILL THEN START TO DO BIG BUSINESS WITH THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WHICH IS THRIVING, AND MAKE A FORTUNE!” Later on Monday, Trump told reporters that he will share details of his peace plan for Russia and Ukraine “over the next three days,” adding that “we had very good meetings on Ukraine and Russia.”
Further Reading
US Prepared To ‘Move On’ From Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks If There Is No Progress Soon, Rubio Says (Forbes)