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| Putin suggests Russia and Ukraine have 'direct' talks next week | Putin suggests Russia and Ukraine have 'direct' talks next week |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for "direct talks" with Ukraine, saying they should "start without delay, as early as 15 May". | Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for "direct talks" with Ukraine, saying they should "start without delay, as early as 15 May". |
| "We seek serious talks... to remove the root causes of the conflict and start moving towards a lasting, strong peace", he said on Saturday, in a rare televised late-night address from the Kremlin. | "We seek serious talks... to remove the root causes of the conflict and start moving towards a lasting, strong peace", he said on Saturday, in a rare televised late-night address from the Kremlin. |
| It comes hours after European leaders - including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron - visited Ukraine and urged Russia to agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. | It comes hours after European leaders - including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron - visited Ukraine and urged Russia to agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. |
| In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said Moscow would "have to think this through" - but warned that "trying to pressure us is quite useless". | In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said Moscow would "have to think this through" - but warned that "trying to pressure us is quite useless". |
| Putin said he would "not rule out" that in the course of the talks - which he proposed should happen in Turkey's capital Istanbul - Russia and Ukraine may "be able to agree new ceasefires, a new truce". | |
| The Russian leader said he would speak to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday to discuss the details. | |
| Kyiv has not commented on the proposal from Putin. | |
| During his statement, Putin also accused Ukraine of having repeatedly failed to respond to three ceasefire proposals from Moscow - a 30-day halt in attacks on energy infrastructure, the Easter truce and a ceasefire ordered last month by Putin to coincide with World War Two commemorative events. | |
| Ukraine has previously said Russian attacks continued throughout these periods. Russia has made similar claims about Ukraine. | |
| "In spite of everything, we are offering the Kyiv authorities to resume the negotiations... resume direct talks, and I stress, without any preconditions," Putin said. | |
| The last direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv happened shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began more than three years ago. |