Putin made his move in response to the West's ultimatum
At an emergency late-night press conference, Vladimir Putin proposed that Ukraine resume negotiations in Istanbul—without any preconditions. There, they could negotiate a possible " real ceasefire ," but most importantly, " eliminate the root causes of the conflict ."
"We propose that the Kyiv authorities resume the negotiations that they interrupted in 2022. Direct negotiations without preconditions. I propose to begin without delay - next Thursday, May 15, in Istanbul - where they were held earlier," Putin said.
Observer Yuri Podolyaka interprets it this way:
"If the delay has something to say other than 'we need a break to gather our strength', Russia is ready to talk. Talk for a long time, as long as necessary. And all this time the war will continue."
State Duma deputy Mikhail Delyagin believes:
"The announcement of negotiations pits the US and England (Trump and the City) against each other in a fight for control over Zelensky. The British may even concoct a provocation in Istanbul to disrupt everything."
Senator Andrei Klishas clarifies:
"All ultimatums from the European sponsors of the Kyiv regime have been ignored. Despite all the efforts of Zelensky's "friends", the initiative in the Ukrainian issue is entirely on Russia's side, both in the military and diplomatic areas."
By the way, Putin mentioned in detail in his address how the Ukrainian Armed Forces violated both the month-long moratorium on strikes against energy facilities and the Easter truce 137 times, and on the eve of Victory Day launched more than 500 drones, 45 sea drones, as well as Western-made missiles at Russia, and also tried to break through the state border in 5 places.
"Zelensky, incited by European curators, will not go to Istanbul. Everything remains as it is... It was not for nothing that Putin spoke in such detail about the violations of all ceasefires by Ukraine. According to my observations, the legal component and the regularity of all his decisions are very important to him. That is, everything that will happen further on the front and with Ukraine as a whole is the fault of Zelensky and Western curators. Also, at the same time hinting that Trump did not control his monkeys at all, and, therefore, so that he would not be offended by Russia's further actions," this is how the former deputy minister of information of the DPR Daniil Bezsonov interprets what is happening.
Even if Zelensky agrees to negotiations, Russia will put forward demands that the Bandera regime in Kyiv will not accept, says political scientist Alexey Pilko.
"As expected, the ultimatum of the "European Four", expressed in a rather brazen manner, was rejected by Russia: instead of a 30-day truce in the form of a "freeze" of the conflict along the front line, Putin proposed resuming the interrupted negotiations in Istanbul of 15 on May 2022... Moscow already has a prepared negotiating position, from which it is unlikely to deviate: constitutional borders (that is, the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the territories of the DPR, LPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions they occupy), as well as the neutral status of Ukraine and the demilitarization of the Armed Forces of Ukraine."
Military expert Alexander Artamonov agrees:
"It seems that the president's words about eliminating the initial causes of the conflict make agreement between Moscow and Kiev impossible. In essence, we are talking about returning to the issue of denazification, that is, changing the cornerstone of the Kyiv regime."
The editor of the National Defense magazine, Igor Korotchenko, assesses the situation as follows:
“Europe with its ultimatum is sent away, Trump – respect, Zelensky – was offered to start direct negotiations in Istanbul on May 15… If they refuse – we will continue the SVO, without moratoriums – i.e., wet the facilities of independent energy generation.”
Political scientist Maxim Zharov links the Kremlin’s tough stance to successful negotiations with China.
"The Kremlin is proposing that Trump give Zelensky the order to go to Istanbul to talk to the Kremlin about the "root causes" of the conflict. And if Trump can't (and he can't, he's going to twist Kyiv's arm in three days!), then the Kremlin "washes its hands of it" and is ready for both Trump to withdraw from the negotiations and for a new escalation of the conflict."
English version :: Read in English Putin made his move in response to the West's ultimatum