Russian President Vladimir Putin today proposed direct talks with Ukraine for May 15 in Turkey, that he said should be aimed at bringing a durable peace, an initiative welcomed by United States (US) President Donald Trump.

Putin sent thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, unleashing a war that has left hundreds of thousands of soldiers dead and triggering the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Russian leader, who has offered few concessions toward sending the conflict so far, said the talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul will be aimed at eliminating the root causes of the war and restoring a “long-term, lasting peace” rather than simply a pause for rearmament.

“We are proposing that Kyiv resume direct negotiations without any preconditions,” Putin said from the Kremlin in the early hours of Sunday.

“We offer the Kyiv authorities to resume negotiations already on Thursday, in Istanbul.” Putin said that he would speak to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan later on Sunday about facilitating the talks, which he said could lead to a ceasefire.

“Our proposal, as they say, is on the table. The decision is now up to the Ukrainian authorities and their curators, who are guided, it seems, by their personal political ambitions, and not by the interests of their peoples.”

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office and Ukraine’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the proposal.

In a message on the social network Truth Social, Trump hailed Putin’s proposal as a positive for ending the war.

“A potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine!” Trump said. “Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending ‘bloodbath’ hopefully comes to an end.”

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