<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Russian President </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/vladimir-putin" rel="" target="" title="Vladimir Putin"><span>Vladimir Putin</span></a><span> has proposed holding "direct talks" with Ukraine on Thursday in Istanbul, as European leaders and the United States attempt to put pressure on Moscow to agree to a 30-day ceasefire in order to bring an end to the three-year conflict.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We would like to start immediately, already next Thursday, May 15, in Istanbul, where they were held before and where they were interrupted," Putin said in a rare late-night televised address. He emphasised the talks should be held "without any preconditions."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We are set on serious negotiations with Ukraine," Putin said, adding they are intended to "eliminate the root causes of the conflict" and "reach the establishment of a long-term, durable peace."</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/federal-politics-senator-jacinta-price-announces-run-for-deputy-liberal-party-leader/d606ee12-b38a-4983-b966-074a1b6a4f3c" rel="" target="" title="Jactina Price confirms her bid for Liberal deputy leadership"><strong><span>Jactina Price confirms her bid for Liberal deputy leadership</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The proposal came just </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/russia-ukraine-conflic-european-leaders-visit-kyiv-and-tell-russia-30day-ceasefire-now-or-face-massive-sanctions/8eb5cf14-0afd-46de-aa03-9e582b6de127" rel="" target="" title="hours after the leaders of Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Poland told Putin to agree to a 30-day ceasefire"><span>hours after the leaders of Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Poland told Putin to agree to a 30-day ceasefire</span></a><span> starting on Monday or face possible "massive sanctions," according to French President Emmanuel Macron, on a highly symbolic visit to Kyiv.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The demand comes with the backing of the White House after a joint phone call with US President Donald Trump, the Europeans said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Shortly after the leaders called for a ceasefire, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is "resistant to any kind of pressure".</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/putin-says-russia-ready-for-direct-talks-with-ukraine-as-us-and-european-leaders-press-for-a-ceasefire/4c7cb46b-02bd-433c-b2d7-317673fe24b8" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Europe is actually confronting us very openly," Peskov said, adding that Putin supports the idea of a ceasefire "in general", but "there are lots of questions" about the recent proposal that still need answering. He did not expand on what these questions are.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Putin said on Sunday he would speak with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about holding talks with Kyiv.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>For two months now, Ukraine has said it wants an immediate 30-day ceasefire – a position promoted by Kyiv's key European allies, and also by Trump.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Russia has so far refused to commit, saying it supports the idea of a 30-day ceasefire in principle, but insists there are what it calls "nuances" that need addressing first.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>On Sunday, Putin denied that Moscow has refused dialogue with Kyiv and said the "decision now lies with the Ukrainian authorities."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We do not exclude that during these talks there will be a possibility to arrange some kind of new truce, a new ceasefire," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He called the proposed talks "a first step to a long-lasting stable peace but not a prologue to the continuation of an armed conflict after re-armament and re-equipping of Ukrainian armed forces and feverish digging of trenches in new strongholds."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Putin has often spoken about the need to address what he calls "root causes" – which are taken to mean, among others, the eastward expansion of NATO.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump wrote that "if the ceasefire is not respected, the US and its partners will impose further sanctions," adding to a sense he is growing frustrated with Russian stalling.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Peskov told </span><em><span>CNN</span></em><span> Saturday that Russia is "very grateful" for Washington's mediation efforts, but added that "at the same time, it's quite useless to try to press on us."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><strong><span>Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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