Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed Vladimir Putin's call for direct peace talks, but said that the meeting would not be held until Moscow agreed to an unconditional ceasefire starting on Monday.

However, the Kremlin insists that the three-year invasion of Ukraine by the Russian president is not prevented from holding talks on the "original cause" of the conflict.

Competing proposals show that the distance between Ukraine and Russia is still far from how to start the peace process when competing for the goodwill of U.S. President Donald Trump.

"We expect Russia to confirm a ceasefire - starting tomorrow, May 12, Ukraine is ready to meet, Ukraine is ready to meet," Zelenskyy said in a social media statement on Sunday.

He called Putin's proposal a "positive signal that the Russians finally began to consider ending the war."

"The whole world has been waiting for a long time. The first step to really ending the war is a ceasefire," he said.

Putin held talks in Istanbul on Thursday morning but rejected Ukraine's 30-day ceasefire proposal.

Although Russia and Ukraine have made it clear that neither side is ready to meet unless others agree to talk on their terms, Trump appears to welcome the beginning of the peace process after Putin’s statement.

"This could be a great day for Russia and Ukraine!" the U.S. president wrote on social media. "Think about thousands of lives that will be saved because this never-ending 'Bloodbath' is expected to end. It will be a whole new, better world. I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that this happens."

Putin insisted that after Russia's main demand for an end to the war, he would only hold negotiations on a ceasefire, immediately resuming combat operations in Ukraine. After he spoke to reporters in the Kremlin in the early hours of Sunday morning, the sirens spanned Ukraine as Russian drones attacked targets in several regions.

Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy adviser, told state television that Moscow wanted to take place on the battlefield based on the peace process in the early 2022 war and the "reality of the situation on the ground (…)".

Erdogan's office said Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Putin that Türkiye is ready to chair peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova said Ukraine "misread" Putin's statement. She told the state news news society, "Putin made it clear: about the initial cause of the war (the war), and then negotiated dialogue about the ceasefire."

Russia's demands include Ukrainian lawyer qualifications for NATO members, and recognition of Putin's annexation of four Southeast regions, as well as the termination of Western military support for Kief. The talks back to Istanbul will also involve Ukraine's commitment to neutrality, accepting the military cap and accepting Moscow's requirement to protect the country's Russian language.

Ukraine said the terms could almost end its existence as a modern state.

Russia's counterattack comes after a 30-day ceasefire proposal made earlier Saturday, after France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom visited Kiev to meet Zelenskyy.

The air defense situation interrupted the early morning silence in Kiev just hours after leaders from the Ukrainian capital by train.

European partners agree that stricter sanctions will be imposed on the banking and energy sectors if Russia wants to reject a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire.

French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters on Sunday that Putin's response was "the first step, but that was not enough", adding that it was a "no response" means to the ceasefire proposal.

"We have to be consistent with the Americans, saying the ceasefire is unconditional and we can discuss the rest after that," he said.

“For the Ukrainians, this is unacceptable because they cannot accept parallel discussions as they continue to be bombed.”

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also urged Russia to agree to an immediate ceasefire.

He wrote in an article on social media platform X on Sunday: "In response to our appeal, the Russians filed a peace talks starting May 15 from May 15. However, the world is awaiting a single-instance decision for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. Ukraine is ready. No more victims!"

Other reports by Raphael Minder and Anne-Sylvaine Chassany