Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed May 15 for direct peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, urging Kyiv to resume a dialogue it abandoned nearly three years ago.
🇹🇷 Turkey confirms its readiness to host the negotiations.
Despite a truce during the Victory Day celebrations, Ukraine reportedly violated it over 10,000 times, marking the third broken ceasefire this year, according to Putin.
🌍 Among the notable guests at the 80th anniversary parade was Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traoré, who gave an exclusive interview during his visit to Moscow.
#Putin #Ukraine #RussiaUkraineWar #IstanbulTalks #PeaceTalks #CeasefireViolation #VictoryDay #BurkinaFaso #IbrahimTraoré #Geopolitics #Russia #UkraineCrisis #Diplomacy #Turkey #Erdogan #RedSquareParade #May15Talks #TraoreInMoscow #RussiaAfrica #PutinSpeech
🇹🇷 Turkey confirms its readiness to host the negotiations.
Despite a truce during the Victory Day celebrations, Ukraine reportedly violated it over 10,000 times, marking the third broken ceasefire this year, according to Putin.
🌍 Among the notable guests at the 80th anniversary parade was Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traoré, who gave an exclusive interview during his visit to Moscow.
#Putin #Ukraine #RussiaUkraineWar #IstanbulTalks #PeaceTalks #CeasefireViolation #VictoryDay #BurkinaFaso #IbrahimTraoré #Geopolitics #Russia #UkraineCrisis #Diplomacy #Turkey #Erdogan #RedSquareParade #May15Talks #TraoreInMoscow #RussiaAfrica #PutinSpeech
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NewsTranscript
00:00Breaking news for you right here on RT, as Vladimir Putin has proposed direct talks with Ukraine.
00:05He set the stage for talks to be held in Istanbul this Thursday, May the 15th,
00:09exactly the place where negotiations broke down in 2022 after Kiev's Western partners urged Ukraine to fight.
00:17The Russian president said he hoped it would be possible to reach a ceasefire deal that Ukraine would actually stick to.
00:23We propose that the authorities in Kiev should resume the negotiations that they interrupted at the end of 2022 and resume direct talks.
00:34And I stress without any preconditions, we suggest starting without delay next Thursday, May 15th in Istanbul,
00:41where they were held earlier and where they were interrupted.
00:44The main message that we received today from Vladimir Putin regarding Ukraine is that Moscow is ready for direct talks with Ukraine without any preconditions.
00:58The president says that basically the ball is now on the side of Ukraine and its Western patrons.
01:05He says that they're ready to talk as soon as by next Thursday.
01:10Moscow wants to see these negotiations to be held in Turkey.
01:16Vladimir Putin says that's where the first and previous round of talks with Ukraine,
01:22the only round of talks really with Ukraine, took place back in 2022,
01:27but was stopped by the Ukrainian side, perhaps on the orders of its Western patrons.
01:35And now Vladimir Putin says that Moscow is ready to continue these talks, perhaps even discuss temporary ceasefires, lengthy ceasefires.
01:47But the ultimate goal, according to the president, is to stop this conflict altogether,
01:51to have a permanent end of violence between the two countries,
01:56which would suit the populations of all of the peoples living in that part of the world.
02:03He says that just simply creating a short ceasefire right now probably wouldn't make sense.
02:11He listed all the violations conducted by Ukraine of all the previous ceasefires,
02:17starting from the 30-day one, which was brokered by President Trump.
02:24Then there was the Easter one.
02:26Now there's this Victory Day one for three days.
02:28And the Russian president says it's constantly being violated systematically by the Ukrainian side.
02:35That's why they just want to start talking, finally, directly talking without preconditions.
02:41Now, besides that, Vladimir Putin has also listed all of the meetings that he had throughout the last four days.
02:48And truly, this was a marathon of one-on-one meetings and just meetings with other foreign delegations.
02:55He says that 27 heads of states from across the world gathered in Moscow
03:00to attend the festivities related to the 80th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War.
03:08We honor all those who contributed to the common victory over Nazism,
03:12including our allies in the anti-Hitler coalition,
03:16Chinese soldiers, participants in the anti-fascist resistance in Europe,
03:20fighters of the People's Liberation movements in Africa,
03:23the Asia-Pacific region, and volunteers from Latin American countries.
03:28Together with our friends and like-minded people,
03:30we share a common memory and respect for history,
03:33heroic deeds of true heroes who fought for freedom.
03:37He sort of voiced his respect to those leaders who came,
03:42especially to the heads of the few, unfortunately, few European countries
03:47which did have the political strength and courage, really, to come to Moscow,
03:54despite threats coming from other Western nations.
03:58Specifically, this goes for Serbia and Slovakia.
04:02Slovakia is the only member of the European Union present here.
04:06There were direct threats from senior EU officials saying that if Robert Fitsou,
04:12the Slovakian prime minister, were to come here,
04:14then he would face severe political consequences.
04:18I would like to highlight that despite threats, blackmail and obstacles caused,
04:23including the closure of airspace, the leaders of several European countries,
04:27Serbia, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, came to Moscow.
04:32I would like to reiterate, we understand the massive pressure they faced.
04:36And therefore, we sincerely appreciate their political courage,
04:40firm moral position, decision to share the holiday with us,
04:44and to pay tribute to the memory of the heroes of the great patriotic war, World War II.
04:50Nevertheless, he was here just meeting with President Putin last night.
04:53The same goes for the president of Serbia.
04:56EU officials were saying that if you would come to Moscow for these festivities,
05:00then your way, your route towards the EU, towards joining the Union,
05:05would be very, very, very difficult.
05:08Alexander Vucic was here as well.
05:10And the president says that this was all seen by Moscow.
05:12And he says that, of course, they were discussing bilateral relations
05:16and the development of the new world order, the rise of the global south.
05:21But he says Ukraine, of course, was on the agenda at all the meetings.
05:25So, to wrap up again, Moscow's move right now is that Russia is calling for direct talks with Ukraine
05:34without any preconditions as soon as by next Thursday and possibly in Turkey.
05:40And Vladimir Putin says now the ball is on the Ukrainian side and maybe on the side of its patrons.
05:46In the meantime, the Turkish president says his country stands ready to host the talks in Istanbul.
05:53In a phone call with Vladimir Putin, Recep Erdogan welcomed what he called a, quote,
05:57window of opportunity for peace.
05:59In Istanbul, our correspondent now with details, Yasen Eka.
06:02We are definitely observing some historic times.
06:05We understand the Russian side has been quite vocal and adamant in its position to negotiate peace talks
06:10and essentially put an end to this conflict.
06:12Well, Turkey has just been that much more vocal in hosting these suggested peace talks.
06:18And the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, essentially came forth and said that his nation as a whole
06:23is interested in sitting down at the table, negotiating this once and for all,
06:27and essentially throwing the ball in the court of Ukraine.
06:29And this is, of course, where Ankara comes into play.
06:32The Russian president did issue a statement suggesting that the talks would be held in Istanbul on the 15th of May,
06:38which is just days away.
06:40And the Turkish directorate of communications has confirmed the telephone conversation
06:45held between the two heads of state, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
06:49suggesting that Turkey will do everything it can to provide the means to ensure that the peace talks are held
06:55and also provide as much support as possible.
06:58Now, Turkey has been a mediating force over the past few years.
07:02We knew that Ankara was in a specific position to mediate a grain deal.
07:06Moving forward, there were also similar statements and sentiments that were shared by the Kremlin as well,
07:11suggesting Turkey will provide all the assistance necessary.
07:15And moving forward, it's going to be interesting to see whether the Western alliance or Ukraine
07:19will reciprocate the sentiments that are currently being put on display by Russia.
07:24We know that the Istanbul peace talks, of course, will be round two for the most part.
07:29The first round took place in April of 2022, which fell short of a signed document.
07:35Looking back at some of the statements, we knew that the Western alliance generally opposed Ukraine signing a deal with Russia.
07:43They did not want the war to end.
07:45There were statements by the Russian foreign minister as well as the Turkish foreign minister
07:49suggesting that the United Kingdom was not in the position to convince Ukraine to sign the deal.
07:55And we understand that Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, issued a statement suggesting that the two sides were just an hour away from signing the document
08:04and essentially moving forward with a pragmatic solution to this conflict.
08:09However, based on, of course, statements from Ukrainian officials,
08:13we understand that the former UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, essentially convinced Kiev to keep fighting.
08:20That is a direct quote.
08:21Keep fighting was the words that were used by the former UK prime minister.
08:26This was, of course, denied by Boris Johnson.
08:29But we understand that the statements and the sentiments that are currently being put on display by Russia
08:33may not be reciprocated by Ukraine or the Western alliance.
08:36It's not more than 24 hours ago, leaders of Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Poland met with Zelensky
08:42to essentially issue an ultimatum, essentially threatening the Russian Federation,
08:47suggesting if a ceasefire is not on the table, peace talks will not happen.
08:51In fact, if that does not happen, then the Russian Federation will be met with more sanctions.
08:56They will supply Ukraine with more weapons.
08:59And moving forward, there's, of course, criticism in that sense posed at the Russian Federation.
09:02But let's not forget some of the biggest wars in our modern times, of course.
09:07It did start with peace talks, with no preconditions, much like the Russian president put on the table.
09:11No preconditions. Let's sit down. Let's discuss. Let's negotiate and put an end to this.
09:15Let's figure out how we can solve this.
09:17The Vietnam War, which started in 1955, lasted about 20 years.
09:21The peace deal was signed in 1973.
09:23But the initiative was started in 1968.
09:26It took about five years to put an end to that conflict.
09:28So the notion of putting a ceasefire as a precondition would only delay these talks.
09:34And now the Russian president has come forth, suggesting that these talks continue.
09:38They happen quickly and as soon as possible.
09:40And the date set is May 15th.
09:43In his speech, Vladimir Putin noted Ukraine has repeatedly violated previous ceasefire initiatives,
09:49causing Russia to be skeptical about any future agreements to be made with Kiev.
09:54Russia has proposed ceasefire initiatives on several occasions,
10:00but they, these initiatives, have been repeatedly sabotaged by Ukraine.
10:04Nevertheless, for the celebration of Victory Day, and we consider this to be a sacred holiday,
10:10we declared a ceasefire for the third time on this holiday, which is sacred to us.
10:15Incidentally, we conveyed to those of our colleagues in the West who, in my opinion,
10:19are sincerely looking for ways to settlement.
10:22Our position on this issue, on a ceasefire on Victory Day, and that in the future,
10:27we do not exclude the possibility of extending the terms of this truce.
10:31But, of course, after analyzing what will happen in these several days,
10:35based on the results of how the Kiev regime will react to our proposal.
10:39And what do we see?
10:41What are these results?
10:42The Kiev authorities, as you can see for yourself, did not respond at all to our ceasefire proposal.
10:47According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ukraine violated a three-day Victory Day truce over 14,000 times.
10:56Kiev even tried to invade Russian regions of the Russian regions of Kursk and Belgorod five times,
11:01but their attempts were stopped.
11:03The Kremlin spokesperson also highlighted Ukraine's numerous violations despite the ceasefire.
11:08We haven't seen a real ceasefire.
11:11If you heard the words of the president,
11:14well, how many times it was violated by the Ukrainian side.
11:19Lots of, lots of Moscowites, lots of guests of our city,
11:24they witnessed the violations of the ceasefire.
11:28Attacks of the drones, closed airports, jeopardized air traffic.
11:33Weren't you witnessing it here?
11:37For now, look at this video right here.
11:39Look carefully right there on the table.
11:41What is that white stuff?
11:42A bag of white stuff and a small spoon in front of the German Chancellor.
11:45Yeah.
11:46The cameras were rolling when a journalist busted in and the social media started buzzing
11:51because, look right there, Mertz takes the spoon and Macron hides the bag.
11:55What is he hiding?
11:56What are they doing?
11:58The video has gone absolutely viral on social media with users, not us.
12:02Many claiming it's all part of a celebration package.
12:05Yeah, just a short time after high fives and very friendly hugs with Mr. Zelensky.
12:14Well, even before this video was brought into question why these leaders seem so happy to be in Kiev,
12:19certainly being asked by social media users,
12:22U.S. radio and TV journalist Garland Nixon questions the motives of Ukraine and its sponsors in Europe.
12:28The first two things that come to mind is that it is, number one, it is a demonstration of good faith,
12:35wherein the demand that has been made by the Kiev regime and its backers clearly was not made in good faith.
12:41The fact that they negotiated with each other, they came up with a demand that the Russian government has repeatedly stated that they will not accept,
12:51demonstrates that the demand wasn't made in good faith.
12:54Basically, they are saying, we want to put more sanctions on Russia, but first we have to, we need a preface to do that,
13:02so we'll make an offer that we know that the Russians won't accept.
13:04I think it was a brilliant strategy by the Russian government to counter that, not to accept it as a demand,
13:11as an end of negotiations that it was either take it or leave it,
13:15but to, in fact, make a legitimate counteroffer that was in good faith.
13:19The Russian government knows that.
13:20Vladimir Zelensky, a man who just a few weeks ago talked about how much he literally hates Russians,
13:26won't take that offer.
13:27But the offer was made in good faith because I'm sure that the Russian government is willing to show up in Istanbul,
13:33as they did before, and to continue with the discussion to diplomatically end the conflict.
13:40A lot of people recognize that and feel that Turkey would be a strong and trusted mediator.
13:46But at this point, how do you, in reality, how do you negotiate with neo-Nazis?
13:51Neo-Nazis are not good faith actors, and I think that's what we're up against.
13:56And I think, at some point, the West will realize, the Trump administration will realize,
14:02that they will have to denazify Ukraine themselves if they ever want to get a deal.
14:08An expression of respect and solidarity between Russia and Burkina Faso amid the day's long Victory Day celebrations.
14:15The leader of the West African nation arrived into the Kremlin in exchanging official salutes with a Russian military official
14:21and passed at the Gilded Doors to be greeted by Vladimir Putin.
14:24Ibrahim Troye's visit highlights his nation's growing ties with Russia.
14:29In their meeting, they discussed her security ties, particularly counter-terror efforts,
14:33as well as their country's shared history.
14:35We are very pleased to see you.
14:39I would like to once again thank you for your decision to take part in the events
14:43marking the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
14:48Your current visit to Russia for the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of Victory is highly symbolic
14:54and reflects the friendly nature of Russian-Burkanabe relations.
14:58I would also like to recall the contribution of your country to the defeat of German Nazism and its satellites.
15:05Around 30,000 residents of what is now Burkina Faso fought as part of the Allied forces in the formations of Free France
15:13under the leadership of the legendary son of the French people, General Charles de Gaulle.
15:18Today, we are united by a common goal, the fight against terrorism and extremism.
15:23We will continue to assist the Republic in restoring law and constitutional order,
15:28as well as in suppressing radical groups that remain in certain regions of Burkina Faso.
15:36We would like our cooperation to grow exponentially and take on new forms.
15:41We believe that the terrorism we see today stems from imperialism,
15:46and this is what we are fighting against.
15:48If we end this war, if we have a strong army, we will be able to focus on developing our homeland.
15:57We had the opportunity to speak exclusively with the leader of that West African nation
16:01from the significance of May 9th and a full range of other topics.
16:05Everything was on the table.
16:06You can watch the entire discussion on Monday, but for right now, here's a small preview.
16:11I think it's very symbolic.
16:18We learned a lot of things during this stay.
16:20It is a celebration of the victory of the world, so it makes a lot of sense to us.
16:26It was perfect, and it made us learn a lot of things.
16:29When we look through the machines that won the war,
16:32that is to say the T-34s and up to the modern equipment,
16:35it shows us the technological evolution of the Russian army.
16:38It also inspires us to put ourselves to work, so that we can develop in the same direction.
16:44And lately, I think there is a new weapon that's appeared in the Russian military arsenal,
16:49the Yeroznik, and I think that is very significant.
16:53Africans and Soviet soldiers contributed a lot to liberating the world from Nazism.
16:58If the world had not been liberated from Nazism, we don't know what would have become of it.
17:04Our ancestors fought a lot in the European theatre, mainly in France, Belgium and Italy,
17:10to free the world from Nazism.
17:12So it's a common story that we share.
17:14Relations are doing very well, and I can say that for two years now, they've been going very well.
17:25We are in a process of deepening the defence and security aspects,
17:28but also education aspects and commercial aspects.
17:32We have compiled the different components so that we can exchange a lot,
17:36share a lot of experiences, because we have a lot to learn about the educational side of Russia,
17:41especially in science.
17:43There are a lot of Burkina B students already here in Russia at universities.
17:48There's also an objective for us to set up similar universities in Burkina Faso.
17:53I think the health services are cooperating well to support humanitarian action services.
18:03I think they themselves have contributed to diminishing their influence,
18:08because they have a paternalistic view of our relations.
18:12And as long as they continue to see Africans like subhumans,
18:16who aren't capable of thinking, who aren't capable of innovating, of inventing,
18:21we can never be friends.
18:23They have to stop this, because by treating us like this,
18:27it's as if they see black people as subhuman.
18:30That's dangerous.
18:31They have to change their language.
18:33Until today, there are young Africans who still have their eyes closed,
18:38who believe their lie, the story of the Second World War.
18:42Through communication, they've managed to reverse history.
18:45The media should play a big part in helping us.
18:48But you see, even in our media, there are some outlets that are imperialist.
18:52There are plenty of media outlets in the country that even fight regimes like ours.
18:57And they also spend their time spouting the same nonsense that the Western media spouts.
19:02But it's shameful.
19:08When you look at our production, we had a very good growth in 2024.
19:13In 2025, we hope to do even better.
19:17These are quite courageous reforms.
19:19When you take, for example, agriculture,
19:21we decided through the initiative of the offensive
19:23to plough the fields of our peasants for free.
19:27So, last year, we did it.
19:29This year, again, there are a good many tractors that we've acquired,
19:32and mechanized cells will be made available in various departments
19:35to increase the areas planted.
19:38We've grown vastly in water management through a structure
19:41that the National Office of Dams and Hydro Agricultural Development
19:45has created to control the water
19:47and be able to produce at least two or three times a year.
19:51We've started to acquire mines.
19:53There are a lot of permits which allow our engineers
19:55to develop the necessary machines
19:57so that we could exploit our resources ourselves.
20:01And Russia is helping us with this.
20:03And in trades, too, things are going very well with Russia.
20:06There's no reason we can't delve into all this further.
20:09The terrorists are reinforced by many foreign fighters
20:17who come from elsewhere, who aren't actually...
20:21When I take the case of Burkina Faso,
20:24there are many criminals who are in Burkina,
20:26but who aren't Burkina B.
20:28They are also trainers who come from many countries
20:31to teach them many techniques.
20:33But it's not terrorism, it's imperialism.
20:35All the imperialist countries are funding these fighters.
20:39Their goal is to keep us in a permanent war,
20:42to prevent us from developing
20:43and continuing to plunder our research.
20:46All this is to continue to keep us
20:48in a situation of insecurity.
20:51But we're taking stock of the situation,
20:53we're adapting each time to their mode of action,
20:55and we'll continue the fight
20:57until we reclaim the entire Sahel.
20:59South Africa's defence minister
21:02was one of the dignitaries invited
21:04to the big Victory Day celebrations,
21:06and who says the parade is an essential part
21:08of ensuring that global history is never forgotten.
21:11It was breathtaking, I must say.
21:17It was very breathtaking.
21:20The parade was extremely well executed
21:22and very encouraging.
21:25But also what really made me happy
21:28was the fact that it's not only Russia
21:31that demonstrated itself as the only country
21:34that was involved in the 1945
21:37and invited all neighbouring countries.
21:39It acknowledged everybody.
21:41Because it was a global problem.
21:43So it was really, as I say,
21:49I found it gave me very deep emotions
21:53and deep feelings.
21:54And even coming here just also reminds me
21:57of where we come with Russia,
22:00but also where we come as the country.
22:04It is a world that we, at the end of the day,
22:07we all live in the same space.
22:08There's only one globe and we have to protect it
22:11and protect its people as far as we can.
22:13I think the geopolitical space has become difficult.
22:21It has lost its politics
22:22and has become very materialistic.
22:26So we move from narcissism,
22:28but now we go to materialism
22:31and the unipolar world.
22:33So it's very important for us also as the world
22:35to make sure that we remind ourselves
22:38of the dangers of the dangers of war
22:40and the dangers of disrespect
22:42for other people's cultures, values,
22:46and even their political space.
22:49So just this commemoration is very important
22:52to make sure that we don't rewrite history.
22:54We remind ourselves where we come from
22:56and are very cautious and respectful of each other.
23:03Now it's very important that all nations,
23:06despite these difficulties,
23:08find a way of working together for the global peace.
23:13So to get as many people as possible from the south,
23:16the countries which came from East Europe and West Europe,
23:20it's very important to really work for peace
23:22consciously and deliberately.
23:25And it should really be a matter for all of us,
23:28a matter of importance,
23:29because the commemoration of 80 years back
23:33reminds us starkly the pains of what would have happened.
23:38In South Africa, we still have unmarked graves
23:40of people who died in that process.
23:43We still are suffering the wounds of what would have happened
23:47because 90 years back, when South Africans joined the war,
23:51they were promised certain things of freedom.
23:54It didn't happen.
23:55So we had to fight ourselves to liberate ourselves.
23:58So all those broken promises,
24:02but also the importance of peace,
24:04should be at the center.
24:05And as a world, we should be conscious
24:07and deliberate about peace.