President Putin proposes direct Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul on May 15

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15, "without preconditions" to achieve "lasting peace" and "eliminate the root causes" of the three-year conflict.

The offer, delivered early on Sunday, came hours after the leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom called for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.

The leaders, who were meeting in Kyiv, said their call is backed by United States President Donald Trump and threatened "massive" new sanctions on Moscow if it did not agree with their plan.

Putin, however, rejected that proposal, slamming  European "ultimatums" and "anti-Russian rhetoric" before outlining the counter-proposal for renewed Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

"We are proposing that Kyiv resume direct negotiations without any preconditions," the Russian president told reporters.

"We offer the Kyiv authorities to resume negotiations already on Thursday, in Istanbul."

Putin said that he would speak to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later on Sunday about facilitating the talks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says his country is ready to meet Putin for ceasefire talks, adding Russia's consideration of ending the war is a "positive sign".

Zelenskyy has previously said he was ready for peace talks, but only after a ceasefire is in place.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022, has left hundreds of thousands of soldiers dead and triggered the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

In the first weeks of the conflict, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators held direct talks in Istanbul, but failed to agree to halt the fighting.

Putin said Russia was proposing restarting the talks in an attempt to "eliminate the root causes of the conflict" and "to achieve the restoration of a long-term, lasting peace" rather than simply a pause for rearmament.