Tentative Signals of Peace as Putin Opens Door to Talks Amid Renewed Strikes

[Social Media]

 

Tentative Signals of Peace as Putin Opens Door to Talks Amid Renewed Strikes

 

In a rare shift in tone, Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated a potential openness to direct negotiations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, marking the first such signal since the early days of the full-scale invasion that began in February 2022. Despite this overture, Russia continued a series of deadly strikes across Ukraine just hours after Putin’s remarks, casting doubt on the sincerity or viability of renewed diplomatic efforts.

 

In an interview broadcast by Russian state television on Monday, Putin said, “We have always looked positively on any peace initiatives. We hope that representatives of the Kyiv regime will feel the same way.” His comments appeared to reference Ukraine's recent appeal for a temporary truce and its ongoing call to avoid targeting civilians.

 

 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later clarified the Russian leader’s position, suggesting that Putin’s statement reflected a readiness to engage in direct talks with Ukraine specifically about limiting or ending strikes on civilian areas. “When the president said that it was possible to discuss the issue of not striking civilian targets, including bilaterally, the president had in mind negotiations and discussions with the Ukrainian side,” Peskov told Interfax news agency.

 

However, any optimism generated by Putin's comments was quickly undercut by a new wave of Russian attacks across multiple Ukrainian regions on Tuesday. In the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, a missile strike on a residential apartment building left one woman dead and injured at least 20 others, including four children. Farther east, in Kharkiv, local officials reported that a daytime drone assault wounded seven people. Additional strikes were confirmed in Odesa, Sumy, Donetsk, and Kherson.

 

A Monday night attack on a five-storey apartment block in Odesa left three people injured, according to local media. President Zelensky condemned the surge of violence, calling it “deliberate Russian terror” and asserting that it could be halted “by a single order.”

In his nightly video address, Zelensky stressed that Ukraine had proposed to prolong a ceasefire observed briefly during Easter, when no Russian airstrikes were reported. “This was proven by the short-lived Easter truce on Saturday, when there were no airstrikes in Ukraine,” he wrote on Telegram.

 

He reiterated a proposal, first introduced over the weekend, calling for a 30-day cessation of strikes using long-range drones and missiles on civilian infrastructure. “If Russia does not agree to such a step, it will be proof that it wants to continue doing only things that destroy people’s lives and continue the war,” Zelensky stated.

 

There have been no official direct talks between Russia and Ukraine since the early weeks of the war. Whether Putin’s latest remarks represent a genuine turning point or are merely rhetorical remains to be seen. For now, the ongoing strikes continue to blur the line between diplomatic possibility and the grim realities of a war with no clear end.

 

 

  Adpated by ASEAN Now from BBC  2025-04-24

 

 

 

[Jingthing]

Not bloody likely!