The German government is insisting that Russia first agree to a ceasefire before meaningful talks begin to end the war in Ukraine, DPA reports, quoted by BTA.
Torsten Frei, head of the German Chancellor's office, said on public broadcaster ARD that it is logical for a ceasefire to precede any peace talks.
Frei, a member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), stressed that recent events show how Russian President Vladimir Putin has not even kept his own ceasefire promises.
“Now we need a credible signal of real readiness not only to participate in negotiations, but also to achieve results from them,“ he said. Fry added that any talks in Istanbul on Thursday without a ceasefire would “make no sense.”
On Saturday, German Chancellor Merz, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, visited Kiev. Together with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, they called for a 30-day ceasefire without preconditions, starting immediately.
In response, Vladimir Putin proposed that direct talks between Moscow and Kiev be resumed in Istanbul on Thursday without preconditions. He did not comment directly on the ceasefire request, however.
President Zelensky later said on the social network X: “I will wait for Putin in Turkey on Thursday. In person. I hope that this time the Russians will not make excuses.”