Ukraine Demands Ceasefire Before Meeting With Russia

As the Russo-Ukrainian war bogs down in its fourth year, a possible meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin in Istanbul could reshuffle the cards. For the first time in months, Kiev accepts the idea of direct talks. Zelensky announced this Sunday, May 11, that he would await Putin on Thursday, May 15 in Istanbul. However, Ukraine sets a firm condition: no exchange will take place without a total ceasefire, demanded as of this Monday. This is a demand full of significance, in a conflict where every diplomatic gesture is closely watched.

A meeting with conditions : Zelensky’s diplomatic gamble

Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, declared in a message published on X (formerly Twitter), Sunday, May 11 :

I will wait for Putin in Turkey on Thursday. Personally. I hope this time the Russians will not look for excuses.

This announcement marks a turning point in Kiev’s diplomatic strategy, which had until now firmly opposed any dialogue without preconditions. The Ukrainian president agrees to meet his Russian counterpart on May 15 in Istanbul but conditions his visit on an immediate commitment from Moscow: “a complete and lasting ceasefire”, starting this Monday, May 12. He considers that a truce is “necessary to lay the foundations of diplomacy”.

Here are the key elements of this diplomatic opening :

• The place and date : Istanbul, Thursday, May 15, a strong geopolitical choice, with Turkey already playing a mediation role in the past ;
• Kiev’s position: acceptance of dialogue, but only if a ceasefire is in effect before the talks ;
• The nature of the statement : Zelensky took the initiative on social networks, addressing Putin directly ;
• The declared objective : create the necessary conditions for serious negotiation after months of positional warfare.

The proposed format, bilateral and direct, recalls the rare mediation attempts observed since 2022. The reference to a truce from May 12 positions Ukraine as the actor conditioning dialogue on immediate appeasement.

By choosing to announce his participation himself, Zelensky strengthens his stance as an active leader seeking a political solution, while putting pressure on Moscow to concretely follow up on his own proposal.

Between strategic mistrust and international pressures : the lines are shifting

On his side, Vladimir Putin has set his own limits. Thus, in a nighttime statement, the president of Russia, one of the BRICS countries, demanded that discussions take place “without preconditions”.

He specifies that the ceasefire issue could be discussed, but only if the talks first address “the root causes of the conflict”. This refusal of any precondition reinforces the ambiguity of the Russian position, already denounced by several Western foreign ministries as a delaying tactic.

While attention turns to Istanbul, the voices of Western allies diverge. Emmanuel Macron, present in Kiev Saturday alongside his German, British, and Polish counterparts, said that “Moscow’s proposal is a first move, but it is not enough”. He reminded that “an unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations, by definition”, and stressed the need for concrete guarantees.

Across the Atlantic, Donald Trump encouraged an immediate meeting, even without a prior ceasefire, in order “to determine if an agreement is possible, and if not, European leaders and the United States will know where things stand”. These positions reveal the complexity of the diplomatic equation: between European caution and American voluntarism, Ukraine finds itself at the heart of a shifting balance.