Vladimir Putin's "direct negotiation" proposal with Kyiv came hours after leaders from Britain, France, Germany and Poland went to Kiev to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

As my colleague Shaun Walker pointed out in this story, European leaders told the Russian president that an unconditional ceasefire was signed on Monday, or that it faced increased sanctions and weapons transfers to Ukraine.

They said the ceasefire proposal was supported by Donald Trump, who briefed them by phone earlier that day.

French President Emmanuel Macron It said that if European countries support it, the United States will monitor the proposed ceasefire with the support of European countries and threaten Russia's truce violations and threaten "massive sanctions … preparation and coordination."

Putin rejected a call for a ceasefire, but said he was ready for direct negotiations with Ukraine.

President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyyjust welcomed the direct negotiation proposal by Vladimir Putin in Istanbul on Thursday, but he said his team hopes Moscow will agree to a "lasting" ceasefire starting tomorrow.

Zelenskyy's post on X did not explicitly respond to Putin's invitation to give a speech in Türkiye:

This is a positive sign that the Russians are finally beginning to think about ending the war.

The whole world has been waiting for a long time. The first step to truly ending any war is a ceasefire. Even if you continue to kill someone for a day, it doesn't make sense.

We expect Russia to confirm the ceasefire from tomorrow, May 12 - fulfilling, durable and reliable, Ukraine is ready to meet.

Welcome back to our live coverage of Russia’s war on the Ukrainian.

Vladimir Putin If certain conditions are met, direct negotiations with Ukraine were proposed in Istanbul on May 15 to achieve what he claimed was “restoring long-term, lasting peace.”

The Russian president said in a late-night speech on the Kremlin that he wanted to resolve what he called the "root cause of the conflict", which could include Ukraine's request to never join NATO.

"We recommend that Kiev resume direct negotiations without any prerequisites," the Russian leader said.

Putin said he will talk to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan later on Sunday to facilitate the talks.

"As they said, our proposal is on the table. Now, this decision depends on the Ukrainian authorities and their curators, who seem to be directed out of personal political ambitions rather than because of the interests of the people."

Ukraine has not commented on Putin's proposal, but Donald Trump, who relies on military aid, said it could be a "great day for Russia and Ukraine" as he vowed to "continue to work with both sides."

Putin made a late-night proposal if Russia complies with an unconditional 30-day ceasefire from tomorrow after European leaders threatened new sanctions in Moscow. He refuted what he said was the attempt of some European powers to set the "last-to-end atums".

Moscow yesterday demanded that the West must stop arming Kiev before any ceasefire begins, which would put Ukraine in an extremely vulnerable position and could lead to Russia's progress on the battlefield.

Analysts say Putin is not serious about peace talks and does not agree to a ceasefire.

They believe his latest proposal is a way to make him appear serious about peace in Washington, but has further fallen into a wedge between the Trump administration, which hopes to end the war quickly, and Kyiv will be inflexible if he rejects the maximumist stance that Moscow demands.