US President Donald Trump has demanded that Ukraine should "immediately" hold direct talks with Russia to end the war, ignoring Kyiv's call for a cease-fire before any negotiations.
Trump made the demand on May 11 after Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed direct talks with Kyiv in Turkey after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, backed by European allies, called for a quick 30-day cease-fire.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump noted that Putin "doesn't want to have" a cease-fire agreement with Ukraine and instead wants direct talks to "negotiate a possible end to the bloodbath."
“Ukraine should agree to this, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump added. “At least they will be able to determine whether or not a deal is possible, and if it is not, European leaders, and the U.S., will know where everything stands, and can proceed accordingly!”
The US president said he was with Putin,” urging Kyiv to accept the meeting invitation, adding, "Have the meeting now".
Posting on Telegram after Trump’s comments, Zelenskyy reiterated his call for a “complete and lasting” cease-fire to “provide the necessary basis for diplomacy.”
“There is no point in prolonging the killings,” Zelenskyy wrote. “And I will expect Putin on Thursday [May 15] in Turkey. Personally.”
SEE ALSO: European Leaders, Ukraine Press Russia For A 30-Day Cease-Fire, Starting May 12Trump’s demand that Ukraine drop its precondition for a cease-fire and go straight into negotiations with Russia comes just hours after his Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, backed Kyiv’s call for a cease-fire.
"As President Trump has repeatedly said, stop the killing!!" he said on X. "An unconditional 30-day cease-fire first and, during it, move into comprehensive peace discussions. Not the other way around."
During a middle-of-the-night press briefing in Moscow on May 11, Putin ignored the cease-fire call in the Ukraine war and instead offered to hold direct peace talks with Kyiv, possibly in Istanbul on May 15, “without preconditions.”
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European Leaders Urge Russia To Agree To Cease-Fire
Speaking to Russian pro-Kremlin media, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed Kyiv's calls -- backed by its allies -- for Russia to pause the war, saying that Kyiv must have misread the Russian leader's message. "Putin made it clear in his statement," she said. "First talks about the root causes, and then we can perhaps talk about a cease-fire."
Zelenskyy's presidential adviser Andriy Yermak responded on Telegram to Putin's call for talks by saying: "First, a 30-day ceasefire -- then everything else."
"Russia must not disguise its desire to continue the war behind rhetorical constructions," he said. "A cease-fire is the first step toward ending the war, and it will demonstrate Russia’s willingness to stop the killings."
Later on May 11, Erdogan told Putin in a phone call that Ankara is ready to host negotiations for a cease-fire and permanent peace between Russia and Ukraine, the Turkish president's office said.
In a separate phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Erdogan said "a historic turning point" had been reached toward ending the war.
SEE ALSO: Ukraine's Cemeteries Fill Up As War Deaths Climb, Funeral Costs SoarMacron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Zelenskyy, and British and Polish prime ministers Keir Starmer and Donald Tusk announced the proposal for a cease-fire beginning on May 12 after a meeting in Kyiv on May 10.
They warned Moscow that it would face "massive" new sanctions if it balked at the proposed truce. They said they had spoken to Trump by phone following the talks.
Macron, speaking from the Polish border town of Przemysl on his return from Kyiv, described Putin’s offer of direct talks as “a first step, but not enough,” adding that “an unconditional cease-fire is not preceded by negotiations.”
Merz struck a similar note, calling the proposal “a good sign” but “far from sufficient.”
“First, the weapons must be silenced, then the discussions can begin,” he said in a statement.
Before their visit to Ukraine, Macron and the other European leaders promised they would "stand in Kyiv in solidarity with Ukraine against Russia’s barbaric and illegal full-scale invasion," now well into its fourth year.
In a statement published on the British government website, they reiterated their support for Trump’s call for an agreement to end the war and urged Russia “to stop obstructing efforts to secure a lasting peace.”
Speaking to RFE/RL after Putin's comments on May 11, John Hardie, deputy director of the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the Russian leader was continuing "to attempt to walk the line between placating President Trump and still refusing a cease-fire absent significant Ukrainian and Western concessions."
"Putin essentially proposed that Russia and Ukraine pick up where they left off with the 2022 Istanbul negotiations, where Moscow sought to impose harsh peace terms,” he said, adding that the US president has a decision to make.
“Will he continue to allow Putin to 'tap him along,' or will he follow through on his threat to turn the economic screws on Russia?” he said.