Putin: Under pressure from Washington to show a willingness to make peace in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed bilateral talks with Kyiv on Monday for the first time in years, saying he was open to future ceasefires following a one-day Easter truce.
Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated that Kyiv will send a delegation to London on Wednesday to engage with the US and other Western countries.
The London talks are a follow-up to a conference in Paris last week where the United States and European countries explored ways to resolve the more than three-year-old conflict.
Putin told a Russian state TV reporter that violence had restarted following his surprise 30-hour Easter ceasefire, which he declared unilaterally on Saturday.
Both nations accused the other of breaking Putin’s truce, which Kyiv had derided from the start as a ruse.
Washington stated that it would welcome a continuation of the ceasefire. Zelenskiy, who has requested a 30-day truce on civilian targets, alleged that Russian attacks continued during Sunday’s ceasefire, demonstrating Moscow’s desire to extend the conflict.
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Putin stated that Moscow was willing to consider any peace plan and expected Kyiv to do the same.
“When the president said that it was feasible to discuss the issue of not striking civilian targets, including bilaterally, he was referring to negotiations and discussions with the Ukrainian side,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to Interfax.
Zelenskiy made no mention of Putin’s remarks on bilateral negotiations in his comments on X, which announced the Ukrainian delegation for the London talks.
“Ukraine, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States – we are prepared to move ahead as effectively as achievable, just as we have done before, to achieve an unconditional ceasefire, followed by the establishment of a real and lasting peace,” Zelenskiy wrote, adding that he had good discussions with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Zelenskiy stated
Earlier on Monday, Zelenskiy stated that his forces were told to continue mirroring the Russian army’s activities.
“The nature of Ukraine’s activities will remain symmetrical: ceasefires will be answered with ceasefires, and Russian strikes will be responded with our own defensive strikes. “Actions always speak louder than words,” he explained on X.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio both stated that if the sides do not make significant progress over the next few days, Washington may withdraw from the peace talks entirely. Trump took a more upbeat tone Sunday, stating that “hopefully” the two parties would reach an agreement “this week”.
Russia has refused to back down from its demands, which include Ukraine ceding all area that Putin claims to have conquered and accepting permanent neutrality. Ukraine claims that would be a surrender, leaving it defenseless if Moscow assaults again.
When asked about Trump’s comments about a potential peace accord, Peskov told reporters that he would make no comments, “especially about the timeframe”.
Putin open to negotiating a peaceful resolution.
“President Putin and the Russian side are open to negotiating a peaceful resolution. We are continuing to work with the American side and, of course, hope that our efforts will bear fruit.”
While there were no air raid alarms in Ukraine on Sunday, Ukrainian forces reported roughly 3,000 violations of Russia’s ceasefire, with the most severe attacks occurring along the Pokrovsk frontline, Zelenskiy said earlier on Monday.
Russia’s defense ministry stated on Sunday that Ukrainian forces had fired 444 shots at Russian positions and that more than 900 Ukrainian drone assaults had occurred, with civilians being killed and injured.
According to a report from the battlefield claims could not be independently verified.
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