Media excited by Putin's proposal for direct peace talks on May 15

According to RIA Novosti on May 11, the world's leading media are extremely excited about Russian President Vladimir Putin's landmark proposal to Ukraine to hold negotiations in Istanbul on May 15.

Earlier, on the evening of May 10 (Moscow time), President Putin gave a speech to Russian and foreign journalists. In particular, he proposed that Kiev resume direct negotiations without any preconditions and start immediately in Istanbul, Türkiye on May 15. The Russian leader emphasized that he did not rule out the possibility of achieving a real ceasefire that Ukraine would comply with.

Spanish TV channel RTVE reported on President Putin's speech, saying that he proposed Ukraine hold direct talks in Istanbul on May 15 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict that began more than three years ago. The TV channel noted that the Russian president recalled that it was in Istanbul that the Ukrainian side suspended negotiations with the Russian delegation in March 2022.

According to the Washington Examiner, President Putin's speech contained "a hint of a ceasefire."

British TV channel GB News called Putin's speech important and noted that in it the Russian leader prepared the ground for possible negotiations with Ukraine.

According to the American television channel NBC News, President Putin used language in his speech to demonstrate his desire to conduct serious negotiations with long-term results, including sustainable peace.

The British newspaper Financial Times wrote that the talks could be the first high-level direct contact between Russia and Ukraine since efforts to end the conflict in the early months, also held in Türkiye, failed in the spring of 2022.

"Mr. Putin has opened the door to negotiations" - this is the opinion of the British Sun newspaper.

Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita calculated that President Putin's speech came about 10 hours after Ukraine announced its call for a 30-day ceasefire.

At the same time, the world media was divided on whether the Russian President's speech was a direct response from Moscow to this statement. The Guardian newspaper called President Putin's speech Russia's response to the ultimatum from European leaders.

"Thus, by proposing to resume negotiations, Mr. Putin responded to the 72-hour ceasefire declared by Russia on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Victory Day, and responded to the request of the leaders of France, Britain, Germany and Poland for a 30-day ceasefire," wrote the Spanish newspaper Vanguardia, emphasizing that "Mr. Putin did not publicly accept such a ceasefire."

Meanwhile, the Kuwait Times and the Spanish newspaper Mundo believe that Russian President Putin, in his statement about the negotiations, did not directly mention the call for a ceasefire by the Ukrainian leaders, nor did he directly respond to the European proposal.