Zelensky says Russia talks offer is a 'positive sign'

Newshour

BBC

News, Daily News

4.4 • 984 Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

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Summary

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has given a cautious response to Vladimir Putin's offer of direct peace talks. Mr Zelensky said it was a positive sign that Russia was beginning to consider an end to the war - but again called on Moscow to commit to a ceasefire, starting on Monday. In a surprise late night statement, President Putin proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday. He said the talks would address what he described as "the root causes of the conflict." Also in the programme: As Pope Leo gives his first Sunday address at the Vatican, we speak to two young Catholics; and the South African jazz musician paying homage to a Zulu rain goddess. (Photo: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, welcome to the program. This is News Hour from the BBC World Service. We're coming to you
0:08.5	live from London. My name's Paul Henley. President Zelensky has said that the first step to ending
0:15.1	the war in Ukraine is a ceasefire after Vladimir Putin suggested that direct talks between the two sides could take
0:21.9	place in Istanbul this week. Mr. Putin didn't respond to calls for a 30-day pause in fighting
0:28.5	issued by European leaders yesterday. In a rare TV address from the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin
0:34.8	said serious negotiations could take place in Turkey, which could pause the
0:39.2	conflict.
0:43.3	We are determined to have serious negotiations with Ukraine.
0:47.6	Their purpose is to eliminate the root causes of the conflict and establish long-term, lasting
0:53.1	peace with a historical perspective.
0:55.9	We do not exclude that during these negotiations it will be possible to agree on some new
1:01.3	truces, a new ceasefire. Moreover, a real ceasefire that would be observed not only by the Russian
1:07.6	side, but also by the Ukrainian side. This would be the first step towards long-term sustainable peace.
1:14.5	The words there of Vladimir Putin, let's hear live from Arseni Yatsenuk, who is a former
1:20.0	Prime Minister of Ukraine, and the founder and chairman of the Kiev Security Forum as well.
1:25.6	He joins us from the Ukrainian capital.
1:29.8	Mr Yatzenyuk, welcome to the program. What is to lose from this Russian offer if the Ukrainians were to take it up tomorrow?
1:37.5	Look, Paul, you said that were criminal Vladimir Putin that he didn't respond to the offer that
1:43.5	my president did in getting
1:46.1	steady days' ceasefire. He actually responded. And he was crystal clear. He refused once again.
1:54.7	So his idea is to drag his feet and to drag all of us into a never-ending talks while fighting against Ukraine
2:03.4	and while getting some kind of incremental games on the battlefield.
	...

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