Putin calls for 'direct talks' with Ukraine to make 'peace'

Vladimir Putin has called for direct talks with Ukraine on May 15 in Istanbul that he said should be aimed at achieving a 'peace' just hours after Prime Minister Keir Starmer threatened Russia with sanctions.

Putin sent thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

In a rare late-night TV address on Sunday, he said Russia was proposing direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul in an attempt to 'eliminate the root causes of the conflict' and 'to achieve the restoration of a long-term, lasting peace'.

'It was not Russia that broke off negotiations in 2022. It was Kyiv. Nevertheless, we are proposing that Kyiv resume direct negotiations without any preconditions,' Putin said, referring to failed talks shortly after the Russian invasion of 2022.

'We offer the Kyiv authorities to resume negotiations already on Thursday, in Istanbul,' Putin said.