Trump urges Ukraine to agree to talks with Russia in Istanbul immediately

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. Photo: Kevin Lamarque

US President Donald Trump has said that Ukraine should accept the Kremlin's offer to hold direct talks in Istanbul on 15 May.

He published this statement on 11 May on his social media platform Truth Social.

Donald Trump said that he believes it is necessary for Ukraine to agree to Moscow's proposal to hold talks in Istanbul on 15 May. Despite the fact that Russia has rejected the demand of European leaders and Ukraine for a temporary ceasefire, the US president insists that direct talks should take place without delay.

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«Russian President Putin does not want a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, but instead wants to meet in Turkey on Thursday to negotiate a possible end to the bloodshed. Ukraine should agree to this, immediately. At the very least, they will be able to find out whether a deal is possible or not, and if not, European leaders and the United States will understand what the situation is and will be able to act accordingly,» Donald Trump wrote.

At the same time, he expressed doubts about the reality of an agreement between Ukraine and Russia, in particular because of Russia's celebration of the victory in World War II.

«I doubt that Ukraine will be able to make a deal with Putin, who is too busy celebrating his victory,» he added.

He concluded the post with a call in all caps: «Have that meeting, now».

As a reminder, on 11 May, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his desire to resume direct talks with Ukraine, which were suspended at the end of 2022. He also said that he planned to address Turkish President Recep Erdogan with a proposal to organise the talks.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on Russian President Vladimir Putin' s proposal for direct talks, calling it a «good sign». However, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that a ceasefire was needed first to really start a dialogue with Russia.

Turkish President Recep Erdogan accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer to hold talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul on 15 May.