Zelenskyy offers Putin a ceasefire before a personal meeting

Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Photo: The official website of the President

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has declared his readiness for a personal meeting with Vladimir Putin and offered Russia a temporary ceasefire before it.

The President made the announcement during a briefing on 4 June.

The Ukrainian side, according to the President, is ready for a dialogue as early as 5 June, and the meeting could take place in a neutral country such as Switzerland, Turkey or the Vatican.

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«We offer Russians a ceasefire before the leaders meet. My personal opinion is that we are ready to meet immediately. We can have a meeting in Istanbul, Vatican City or Switzerland. We offer a meeting from Monday on any day,» the president said.

He stressed that the purpose of the ceasefire is to check the real intentions of the parties to de-escalate. If it becomes clear after the meeting that there is no desire to end the war, the ceasefire can be cancelled on the same day. But if there is progress and a common vision of the next steps, the ceasefire can be extended.

«Why the ceasefire before the meeting of the leaders, because we will meet and if there is no understanding, no desire to de-escalate and no vision of how to complete it, the ceasefire will end on the same day,» Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy also stressed the importance of the role of the mediator, in particular the United States, as a guarantor of transparency and monitoring of the agreements.

«If we see that we can continue the dialogue and are ready for appropriate de-escalation steps, we will extend the ceasefire. With American monitoring, with American guarantees of mediation,» the Head of State said.

He added that the leaders of the United States and Turkey, Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had previously expressed support for such an initiative, so the international community could also join the process.

As a reminder, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that the goal of the talks with Ukraine in Istanbul is not a compromise, but «a quick and complete victory for Russia».