Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated he is open to the prospect of direct talks with Kyiv, but his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says that will happen only after a ceasefire.
Putin told Russian state TV on Monday that he had a “positive attitude towards any peace initiatives” and he hoped Kyiv would “feel the same way”. However, his spokesman stressed on Tuesday that there are currently no concrete plans for talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Zelenskyy countered this later at a briefing on Tuesday, a day before key talks in London seeking a potential settlement in the Russia-Ukraine war. “After the ceasefire, we are ready to sit down in any format,” he said.
Moscow and Kyiv have held no bilateral talks since the immediate aftermath of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its neighbour. However, the United States has been raising the pressure on them to agree to a ceasefire.
Putin’s comments, which a spokesman said on Monday meant that he was open to direct talks, followed the expiration of a Russian-declared, 30-hour Easter truce, which each side accused the other of violating.
Zelenskyy did not respond directly to Putin’s comments, but he signalled in a nightly video address that Ukraine was “ready for any conversation” about a ceasefire that would stop attacks on civilians.
Now, after Easter, the whole world can clearly see the real issue — the real reason why the hostilities continue. Russia is the source of this war. It is from Moscow that a real order must come for the Russian army to cease fire. And if there is no such firm Russian order for… pic.twitter.com/jS9cTiRQqd
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 21, 2025
On Sunday, Zelenskyy had proposed a follow-up to the Easter truce that would “cease any strikes using long-range drones and missiles on civilian infrastructure for a period of at least 30 days”.
Putin said on Monday that Russia would “analyse everything and take the corresponding decisions” but questioned how it would work as he accused Ukraine of using civilian buildings such as restaurants and universities for military purposes.
Zelenskyy pressed Putin further, saying Ukraine stood by its offer – “at the very least, not to strike civilian infrastructure” – and that he expected a “clear answer” from Moscow.
‘Nuances’
The hint of the possibility of direct talks comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to walk away from efforts to broker a ceasefire unless progress is made. At the same time, the US leader continued on Monday to express hope that a deal is close and could even be reached this week.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov appeared to be seeking to backpedal on Tuesday as he clarified that no bilateral talks are currently planned and told reporters that, while Russia is ready to consider Zelenskyy’s proposal, the issue is complex.
“The president explained the complexity of this topic. … If we talk about civilian infrastructure facilities, we need to clearly differentiate in what situations these facilities can be a military target and in what situations they cannot,” he said.
Peskov added that if Ukraine wanted to talk, then it should take steps to “legally clear the obstacles to such contacts”, an apparent reference to a 2022 Zelenskyy decree barring negotiations with Putin, which he issued after Russia declared the annexation of four Ukrainian regions that its forces partly control.
Ukraine and its European allies have told Washington it should not be fooled into believing Russian claims that it is ready to discuss a ceasefire, insisting that Moscow is using delaying tactics.
Negotiators from the US, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and France are due to meet in London on Wednesday for another round of talks on ending the war, Zelenskyy said.
The discussions are a follow-up to a similar meeting in Paris last week.
At that meeting, Europe expressed its red lines over Ukraine to the US, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday.
He also suggested in an interview with France Info radio that the Easter truce had been a marketing operation designed by Putin and aimed at defusing Trump’s growing impatience over Russia’s failure to agree to a ceasefire.
Russian state media, meanwhile, quoted Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov as saying US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff was expected in Moscow this week on what would be his fourth trip since Trump took office on January 20.
Amid the push for an end to the fighting, in which Trump appears ready to accept many of Moscow’s demands and gains, Russia is eager to press home its military advantage on the battlefield.
Ukraine’s air force reported another overnight barrage of missiles and drones on Tuesday, saying Russia launched 54 drones.
Meanwhile, Russian media said the military had retaken the Gornal St Nicholas Belogorsky Monastery, one of the last positions held by Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk region.
