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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday welcomed the indication that Russia may be considering ending the war, calling it a positive sign as he emphasised the importance of a full, lasting and reliable ceasefire as the first step towards peace. “It is a positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war. The entire world has been waiting for this for a very long time. And the very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire,” Zelenskyy posted on X.
It is a positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war. The entire world has been waiting for this for a very long time. And the very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire.
There is no point in continuing the killing even for a single…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 11, 2025
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This comes after leaders from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Poland travelled to Kyiv and called for a full and unconditional ceasefire starting May 12. Zelenskyy stressed that the ceasefire must cover all areas—land, sea, and air—and last for at least 30 days.
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk emphasised the importance of peace, sovereignty, and Ukraine’s future as a free and European nation.
“There is no point in continuing the killing even for a single day. We expect Russia to confirm a ceasefire – full, lasting, and reliable – starting tomorrow, May 12th, and Ukraine is ready to meet,” Zelenskyy added.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is ready for ‘direct talks’ with Ukraine, CNN reported. With the American and European leaders pressing for a ceasefire, President Putin has proposed holding “direct talks” with Ukraine on Thursday in Istanbul. “We would like to start immediately, already next Thursday, May 15, in Istanbul, where they were held before and where they were interrupted,” Putin said in a late-night televised address, according to the CNN. He insisted that the talks should be held “without any preconditions”.
“We are set on serious negotiations with Ukraine,” Putin reportedly said, adding they are intended to “eliminate the root causes of the conflict” and “reach the establishment of a long-term, durable peace.”
According to the report, Putin called the proposed talks “a first step to a long-lasting stable peace but not a prologue to the continuation of an armed conflict after rearmament and re-equipping of Ukrainian armed forces and feverish digging of trenches in new strongholds.”
The conflict between Ukraine and Russia has been ongoing for an extended period, resulting in significant human suffering and economic losses.
The Russia-Ukraine war, now in its third year, has become one of the most prolonged and devastating conflicts in Europe.
