U.S. President Donald Trump said at the White House this morning, that on May 15, “Thursday’s meeting with Russia and Ukraine is very important. I was very insistent that that meeting take place. I think good things can come out of that meeting.” He added: “If I thought it would be helpful, I don’t know where I’m going to be at that particular point. I’ll be someplace in the Middle East but I would fly there if I thought it would be helpful.”
After Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer of direct negotiations with no preconditions, made in his statement May 10-11, Trump on May 11 had told Ukraine’s acting president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, that “Ukraine should agree to this IMMEDIATELY.” And Trump was explicit that a temporary ceasefire was not involved. This directly countered the demand for a 30-day ceasefire starting today, made by Zelenskyy, and the four leaders in Kiev May 10 from the U.K., France, Germany and Poland. What happened May 11 is that Kiev spent the next many hours pretending that Trump had not said what he had, trying its best to change the conversation.
First, Zelenskyy posted: “It is a positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war.... And the very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire.... We expect Russia to confirm a ceasefire—full, lasting, and reliable,” starting May 12. Trump’s envoy to Kiev, Gen. Keith Kellogg followed suit, tweeting: “President Trump has repeatedly said, stop the killing!! An unconditional 30 day ceasefire first and, during it, move into comprehensive peace discussions. Not the other way around.” Then on May 11 the Head of Ukraine Office of the President Andriy Yermak, tried: “First a ceasefire for 30 days, then everything else…. The ceasefire is the first step towards ending the war and will confirm Russia’s readiness to end the killings.”
To be clear, not only does a “30-day ceasefire” have nothing to do with the direct negotiations, but they also have nothing to do with some showdown between Zelenskyy and Putin. Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s top aide, said that the Istanbul talks are simply a continuation of the talks that were sabotaged in April 2022, by then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Ushakov added that the Kremlin would announce the delegation members shortly.
Kremlin press spokesman Dmitry Peskov put the negotiations in the context of Putin’s many discussions with the 23 or so bilateral talks that he had in Moscow over May 7-10. This will be a resumption of the very same negotiations for a long-term solution; and that their approach was to achieve a real diplomatic solution. The leaders gathered in Moscow welcomed this and, Peskov added, such an approach was met with understanding on the part of Trump.
So far, Kiev has not mentioned anything about sending a negotiating team to Istanbul on May 15. Instead, in a second tweet yesterday, Zelenskyy added a new wrinkle, pretending that he and Putin are to have a man-to-man showdown in Istanbul: “A full and unconditional ceasefire, one that lasts long enough to provide a necessary foundation for diplomacy, could significantly bring peace closer. …
