President Vladimir Putin has offered to restart direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul, expressing hope for a ceasefire that will finally be respected.
This comes after Kyiv ignored Moscow’s proposed truce during Victory Day, marking the fourth failed ceasefire initiative this year, according to the Russian leader.
#Putin #Ukraine #RussiaUkraineWar #IstanbulTalks #Ceasefire #PeaceDeal #Diplomacy #VictoryDay #Russia #UkraineCrisis #Geopolitics #UkraineTruce #PutinSpeech #Kiev #Moscow #TurkeyMediation #Erdogan #Negotiations #ConflictResolution #RedSquare
This comes after Kyiv ignored Moscow’s proposed truce during Victory Day, marking the fourth failed ceasefire initiative this year, according to the Russian leader.
#Putin #Ukraine #RussiaUkraineWar #IstanbulTalks #Ceasefire #PeaceDeal #Diplomacy #VictoryDay #Russia #UkraineCrisis #Geopolitics #UkraineTruce #PutinSpeech #Kiev #Moscow #TurkeyMediation #Erdogan #Negotiations #ConflictResolution #RedSquare
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00:00At this hour, Vladimir Putin has proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul.
00:06He offered to begin the talks on Thursday.
00:09Kiev withdrew from the previous negotiations in Turkey back in 2022.
00:14The Russian president said that he hoped it would be possible to reach a ceasefire deal that Ukraine would stick to.
00:21We suggest to the Kiev authorities to resume the talks that they stopped in the end of 2022, to resume direct talks.
00:36And I would like to underscore this without any preconditions.
00:39We suggest to start, without further ado, next Thursday, on May 15th, in Istanbul, where they took place before, where they were seized.
00:52The main message that we received today from Vladimir Putin regarding Ukraine is that Moscow is ready for direct talks with Ukraine without any preconditions.
01:05The president says that basically the ball is now on the side of Ukraine and its Western patrons.
01:13He says that they're ready to talk as soon as by next Thursday.
01:19Moscow wants to see these negotiations to be held in Turkey.
01:24Vladimir Putin says that's where the first and previous round of talks with Ukraine,
01:30the only round of talks, really, with Ukraine, took place back in 2022.
01:35But was stopped by the Ukrainian side, perhaps on the orders of its Western patrons.
01:43And now Vladimir Putin says that Moscow is ready to continue these talks, perhaps even discuss temporary ceasefires, lengthy ceasefires.
01:54But the ultimate goal, according to the president, is to stop this conflict altogether,
01:59to have a permanent end of violence between the two countries, which would suit the populations of all of the peoples living in that part of the world.
02:11He says that just simply creating a short ceasefire right now probably wouldn't make sense.
02:19He listed all the violations conducted by Ukraine of all the previous ceasefires starting from the 30-day one,
02:28which was brokered by President Trump.
02:32Then there was the Easter one.
02:34Now there is this Victory Day one for three days.
02:36And the Russian president says it's constantly being violated systematically by the Ukrainian side.
02:43That's why they just want to start talking, finally, directly talking without preconditions.
02:49Now, besides that, Vladimir Putin has also listed all of the meetings that he had throughout the last four days.
02:56And truly, this was a marathon of one-on-one meetings and just meetings with other foreign delegations.
03:03He says that 27 heads of states from across the world gathered in Moscow to attend the festivities related to the 80th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War.
03:15We honor everyone who make contribution to our shared victory over Nazism, our allies in the anti-Hitler coalition,
03:28soldiers from China, participants of anti-fascist resistance in Europe,
03:35soldiers of liberation movement in Africa and Asian Pacific region,
03:40volunteers from Latin America, with our friends and like-minded people.
03:46We share memory and respect for history, for the exploits of true heroes who fought for their freedom.
03:54He sort of voiced his respect to those leaders who came,
03:59especially to the heads of the few, unfortunately, few European countries,
04:04which did have the political strength and courage, really, to come to Moscow,
04:11despite threats coming from other Western nations.
04:15Specifically, this goes for Serbia and Slovakia.
04:19Slovakia is the only member of the European Union present here.
04:23There were direct threats from senior EU officials,
04:26saying that if Robert Fetso, the Slovakian prime minister, were to come here,
04:31then he would face severe political consequences.
04:34And I would like to say that despite the blackmail, despite the threats,
04:40despite all the obstacles, despite trying to close the flight routes for some of the heads of state,
04:48people came from Serbia, from Slovakia, from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
04:52I understand what kind of pressure was exerted against them.
04:55That's why we appreciate sincerely their political valor, their firm position,
05:01their willingness to share this holiday with us,
05:04to pay the tribute of respect to the heroes of the great patriotic war and of World War II.
05:11Nevertheless, he was here just meeting with President Putin last night.
05:14The same goes for the president of Serbia.
05:17EU officials were saying that if EU would come to Moscow for these festivities,
05:21then your way, your route towards the EU, towards joining the Union, would be very, very, very difficult.
05:29Alexander Ruzic was here as well.
05:31And the president says that this was all seen by Moscow.
05:33And he says that, of course, they were discussing bilateral relations
05:37and the development of the new world order, the rise of the global south.
05:42But he says Ukraine, of course, was on the agenda at all the meetings.
05:46So to wrap up again, Moscow's move right now is that Russia is calling for direct talks with Ukraine
05:55without any preconditions as soon as by next Thursday and possibly in Turkey.
06:01And Vladimir Putin says now the ball is on the Ukrainian side and maybe on the side of its patrons.
06:08In a speech, Vladimir Putin noted that Ukraine had repeatedly violated previous ceasefire commitments,
06:16causing Russia to be wary of any future agreements with Kiev.
06:20The Kremlin spokesperson called out Ukraine's numerous attempts to attack Moscow
06:25despite a Victory Day ceasefire proposal.
06:28We haven't seen a real ceasefire.
06:32If you heard the words of the president, how many times it was violated by the Ukrainian side.
06:39Lots of Moscowites, lots of guests of our city witnessed the violations of the ceasefire.
06:49Attacks of the drones, closed airports, jeopardized air traffic.
06:54Weren't you witnessing it here?
06:57Sure.
06:58Vladimir Putin said that Russia has repeatedly put forward initiatives for a ceasefire
07:05and was always foretock with Ukraine.
07:08But all these things have been sabotaged by the Ukrainian side time and again.
07:14Now, the president added that the Kiev regime constantly violates all such agreements
07:20and uses all sorts of weapons to attack Russia during an established truce.
07:26Russia previously many times came up with initiatives on ceasefire.
07:31But these initiatives, time and time again, were undermined by the Kiev regime.
07:38For this sacred holiday, we declared ceasefire for the third time.
07:43And we passed it on to our colleagues in the West, to our counterparts in the West.
07:49And I believe they are sincerely looking for ways to resolve this crisis.
07:54So we explained our position to them regarding this matter, regarding the Victory Day ceasefire,
08:01that we do not exclude it, that we can extend the ceasefire in the future.
08:06But only after we analyzed what happened over these few days,
08:10after we see the reaction to our suggestion by the Kiev regime.
08:16And what do we see?
08:17What are the results?
08:19The Kiev authorities, and you can see it all perfectly with your own eyes,
08:25they did not respond to our ceasefire proposal.
08:29This was a long-awaited response to a meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing in Kiev.
08:36Leaders from France, UK, Germany and Poland joined Zelenskyy
08:40and declared that Ukraine is ready for a 30-day ceasefire starting on Monday, the 12th of May.
08:47According to Zelenskyy, if Moscow refuses, then tougher sanctions should be imposed on Russia's banking and energy sectors.
08:55Now, the countries there in Kiev also agreed to continue working on the use of frozen Russian assets.
09:02And they are planning to discuss this issue at the next G7 summit.
09:08Take a look at some of the comments said there in Kiev.
09:11Full and unconditional ceasefire in the sky, on land and at sea would be a starting point.
09:19An unconditional ceasefire is a ceasefire without petitions.
09:24Unconditional ceasefire means unconditional ceasefire.
09:28I think our common objective is to secure this unconditional ceasefire for 30 days.
09:34Always with Ukraine, never without.
09:37A day earlier, this so-called Coalition of the Willing decided to allocate another billion dollars to help the Ukrainian military.
09:47There are also reports that Donald Trump green-lighted the delivery to Kiev of yet another batch of long-range weapons.
09:56In fact, 125 ATACAM's missiles, along with 100 Patriot interceptor missiles, are reportedly already on their way.
10:06So, naturally, a question arises here.
10:09Are they really looking for a lasting peace, or is this yet another ploy to give Zelenskyy an opportunity to rearm and regroup once again?
10:18Well, judging from the not-so-distant history, it's the latter, because Ukraine is notorious for blatantly violating the terms of almost every single agreement.
10:31Now, plenty of examples with the Minsk and Istanbul Accords being the most obvious ones.
10:37Now, if Kiev was really striving for a long-lasting peace, then it would probably jump at any opportunity to stop the fighting,
10:46just like take the most recent 72-hour victory day truce unilaterally declared by Moscow.
10:55What could have been a catalyst for future negotiations turned into yet another futile and suicidal attempt to break through the Russian state border.
11:06Now, Zelenskyy's troops attacked Korsk and Belgorod regions at least 22 times, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
11:16The Victory Day truce was violated over 9,000 times by Ukraine since it began on the 8th of May.
11:24According to the latest from the Russian Defense Ministry, Kiev used artillery, tank, and mortar attacks along the entire line of contact,
11:35as well as multiple launch rocket systems and aircraft-type drones.
11:40Meanwhile, the ceasefire, unilaterally declared by Moscow, has now officially ended.
11:46All right, let's get some more on this now and speak to advisory board member of the Gujarat National Law University Incubation Council, Ankit Shah.
11:58Ankit, it's nice to have you join me now.
12:01So, what is your...
12:02Namaste, yes, sir.
12:03So, what is your reaction to President Putin's offer to hold peace talks with Ukraine this week in Istanbul?
12:09Do you think that is what Kiev and its European allies were expecting from Moscow?
12:16Well, first of all, we would like to thank Russia for unconditional support to India in its fight against terror
12:26and the conflict that we are having with our terrorist neighbor.
12:30Second, President Putin has been a very authentic leader.
12:33He has reached out to Ukraine and other European countries time and again for a solid ceasefire agreement.
12:44And I think this direct talks is a positive direction that he has taken.
12:50What is concerning is how the Americans have, you know, fetched their own minerals deal with Ukraine
12:58and then not shown real interest in causing a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine after that.
13:05Right.
13:06Putin has proposed to hold talks in just four days.
13:10How would you explain what some people might say is in their haste?
13:15Did you find it surprising?
13:17No, I did not find it surprising because President Putin has always taken initiatives.
13:22As I said, he's a very genuine and authentic leader and he understands the interest of the region is in peaceful negotiations
13:33and closing this conflict as early as possible.
13:35We also understand the legitimate interest of Russian Federation with their erstwhile territory in Ukraine and the legitimate claims.
13:45I think it's another round of positive action from President Putin and Russia towards the European countries.
13:55I think they should catch hold of this opportunity and close the conflict as early as possible.
14:02All right. Ukraine backed out of previous peace talks.
14:06Do you think it will be any different this time?
14:09Well, I think the Western European nations are supporting the Ukrainian leader for far too long.
14:20And as long as this conflict stretches, it is harmful for the interest of Ukrainians and the citizens of that country.
14:28To my understanding, the peace efforts which President Putin is leading this time should be seen as with a light of confidence.
14:41And if they catch hold of whatever is being offered, I think this will be a best deal for Ukraine as well for a lasting peace in the region.
14:51If they don't catch hold of this deal, I think the aggression from the Russian side could, you know, damage Ukraine a lot.
15:01I think they should go for whatever is at offer.
15:04Yeah. In the light of that, Putin said he hoped that the negotiations in Istanbul would lead to a real ceasefire that wouldn't be violated.
15:14But how confident are you that that can be achieved?
15:17I think we are also witnessing an economic decline of the Western European nations.
15:24Let's not forget the background of the economic decimation that has happened because of lack of cheaper energy supplies from Russia to Europe.
15:34In that background, I think the confidence of President Putin makes sense that this is a deal that they should grab.
15:41We also need to understand that the American economy is also facing a little bit of dilution with talks of global recession.
15:50So it's questionable how far President Trump can also financially support this conflict.
15:57So in that background, the confidence does make sense that this conflict can end as early as possible.
16:05All right. Now, earlier, the so-called coalition of the willing presented Russia with an ultimatum while in Kiev demanding that Moscow agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting on May 12th.
16:19But in the light of this, what do you make of Putin's offer to start direct unconditional negotiations on May the 15th?
16:27Well, it is laughable that they can give a condition to Russia, given the entire history of this conflict and the consequences Ukrainians are facing.
16:40So it's just laughable.
16:43To my understanding, this extension of President's large heartedness towards the Ukrainian citizens, because Russia does consider as its erstwhile territory.
16:55So this opportunity should be grabbed.
17:00Now, Putin said in his speech that he feels that the new U.S. administration genuinely wants to resolve the war.
17:08But what do you think about all of that, considering all that has been going on so far in the last maybe one month?
17:15Well, well, President Trump really believes in his image of getting tough negotiations concluded.
17:27So we are also having a ceasefire being concluded in the region, in the Asian region, between India and Pakistan.
17:34And the Trump administration has played an important role in that negotiation.
17:43Now, how far Pakistan follows that ceasefire agreements or mutual understanding is for someone to guess.
17:51But I believe Ukraine and Russian conflict would close as early as possible if President Trump puts in real efforts to make Zelensky agree to the conditions of the Russian Federation.
18:07All right.
18:08We have to leave you here now, Ankit Shah, advisory board member at Gujarat National Law University Incubation Center.
18:16Thank you so much for your insight.
18:18Namaste.
18:19Namaste.
18:21Right.