Russia's Putin proposes direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15, 'without preconditions'

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed restarting direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15, “without preconditions," an offer that came in response to Ukraine and its allies urging Moscow to commit to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire or face additional sanctions.

Putin referenced the unsuccessful 2022 peace talks that took place in Istanbul in March, shortly after Moscow's full-scale invasion, and proposed "restarting" them without preconditions in remarks to reporters in the early hours of Sunday.

“We are committed to serious negotiations with Ukraine," Putin said, adding that he doesn't rule out agreeing to a ceasefire later, in the course of direct talks with Ukraine.

Putin's proposal came after leaders from four major European countries threatened to ratchet up pressure on Moscow if it does not accept an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine that they offered on Saturday in a strong show of unity with Kyiv.

The leaders of France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland said their proposal for a ceasefire to start on Monday was supported by U.S. President Donald Trump, whom they had briefed over the phone earlier in the day.

Trump has called for Ukraine and Russia to meet for “very high level talks,” saying they are “very close to a deal” on ending the bloody three-year war.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously said he was ready for peace talks, but only after a ceasefire is in place.

Putin said that Russia proposed several ceasefires in recent months — a halt on strikes on energy infrastructure, which Ukraine had agreed to, a unilateral 30-hour Easter truce and another unilateral ceasefire on May 8-10 that has since expired.

Ukrainian officials said Russia repeatedly violated all of those.

Putin on Sunday accused Ukraine of sabotaging “these initiatives time and time again" and launching multiple attacks on Russia.

In March, the United States proposed an immediate, limited 30-day truce, which Ukraine accepted, but the Kremlin has held out for terms more to its liking.

Putin on Sunday once again said the Kremlin needs a truce that would lead to a “lasting peace" instead of one that would allow Ukraine to rearm and mobilize more men into its armed forces.

He said he would speak to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and ask him to facilitate the peace talks on May 15.

Shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Turkey hosted unsuccessful talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators aimed at ending the hostilities. The proposed deal reportedly included provisions for Ukraine’s neutral status and put limits on its armed forces, while delaying talks on the status of Russian-occupied areas.

Moscow has blamed Kyiv and the West for the talks collapsing.

Putin said that "those who truly want peace cannot but support" his proposal to restart the peace talks.

Zelenskyy, speaking to reporters alongside the European leaders in Kyiv on Saturday, called their meeting "a very important signal.”

In a joint statement, as published on Zelenskyy's official website, the five leaders called for a ceasefire “lasting at least 30 days" from Monday, to make room for a diplomatic push to end the war.

“An unconditional ceasefire by definition cannot be subject to any conditions. If Russia calls for such conditions, this can only be considered as an effort to prolong the war and undermine diplomacy,” the statement read.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that the U.S. would take the lead in monitoring the proposed ceasefire, with support from European countries, and threatened “massive sanctions ... prepared and coordinated, between Europeans and Americans,” should Russia violate the truce.

Macron traveled to Kyiv with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

“This is Europe stepping up, showing our solidarity with Ukraine,” Starmer said.

Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, said Saturday that a “comprehensive” 30-day ceasefire, covering attacks from the air, land, sea and on infrastructure, “will start the process for ending the largest and longest war in Europe since World War II.”

Meanwhile, Putin on Saturday held a series of bilateral talks with foreign officials who had attended Moscow's own celebrations marking the defeat of Nazi Germany, in an apparent attempt to underscore the West’s failure to isolate it on the global stage. Putin's interlocutors included To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and the leaders of Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso and the Palestinian Authority.

Progress on ending the three-year war has seemed elusive in the months since Trump returned to the White House, and his previous claims of imminent breakthroughs have failed to come to fruition. Trump has previously pushed Ukraine to cede territory to Russia to end the war, threatening to walk away if a deal becomes too difficult.

Since the start of U.S.-mediated talks, Russia has kept up attacks along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, including deadly strikes on residential areas with no obvious military targets.

The ceasefire would include a halt to fighting on land, sea and in the air. The European leaders threatened to ratchet up sanctions, including on Russia’s energy and banking sectors, if Putin did not comply.

The priority was to make it too costly for Russia to keep fighting in Ukraine, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.

When asked how the monitoring mechanism would work, Sybiha told The Associated Press the details were still being discussed.

Addressing skepticism over whether fresh sanctions against Moscow, which has so far managed to keep fighting in the war, Merz said “almost all member states of the European Union and a large coalition of the willing around the world are determined to enforce these sanctions even if our initiative of the weekend should fail.”

The leaders also discussed security guarantees for Ukraine.

Building up Kyiv's military capabilities will be a key deterrent against Russia and require supplying Ukraine with robust quantities of arms to deter future attacks and investing in its defense sector. A force comprised of foreign troops could also be deployed as an added “reassurance” measure, Macron said.

He said details about potential European deployments to Ukraine were still being fine-tuned. No mention was made of NATO membership, still Kyiv’s top choice for a security guarantee.

Earlier on Saturday, the European leaders joined a ceremony at Kyiv's Independence Square marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. They lit candles alongside Zelenskyy at a makeshift flag memorial for fallen Ukrainian soldiers and civilians slain since Russia's invasion.

Russian shelling in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region over the past day killed three residents and wounded four more, local officials said. Another civilian died Saturday as a Russian drone struck the southern city of Kherson, according to regional Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv on Friday warned of a “potentially significant” Russian air attack in the coming days, without giving details.

Russia in November gave the U.S. brief advance warning before striking Ukraine for the first time with its Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile, an experimental hypersonic weapon that Putin claimed could travel at 10 times the speed of sound.

Ukrainian Telegram channels linked the embassy's warning to reports of an imminent flight ban by Moscow over the Kapustin Yar military training and rocket launch complex. A similar flight ban preceded November’s strike. There was no immediate comment from Russian officials.

Trump said last week that he doubts Putin wants to end his war in Ukraine, expressing new skepticism that a peace deal can be reached soon, and hinted at further sanctions against Russia.

Ukraine’s European allies view its fate as fundamental to the continent’s security, and pressure is now mounting to find ways to support Kyiv militarily, regardless of whether Trump pulls out.

Kullab reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Kozlowska reported from London. Associated Press writers Thomas Adamson in Paris, Philipp Reissfelder in Berlin and Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he speaks to journalists in the Grand Palace at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, May 11, 2025, after celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during World War II. (Sergei Bobylev/Photo host agency RIA Novosti via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and South Ossetian President Alan Gagloyev pose for a photo during their meeting in the Grand Palace at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, May 10, 2025, during celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Sergei Bobylev/RIA Novosti via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin enters a hall to meet South Ossetian President Alan Gagloyev in the Grand Palace at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, May 10, 2025, during celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Sergei Bobylev/RIA Novosti via AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, left, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, and French President Emmanuel Macron, center, talk during a meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 10, 2025. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP, Pool)

From left, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, walk in front of the memorial of fallen Ukrainian soldiers at independence square in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, May 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

France's President Emmanuel Macron, left, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, sit during a summit at the Mariinskyi Palace, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 10, 2025. (Ludovic Marin, Pool Photo via AP)

From left, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrive to put flowers on memorial of fallen Ukrainian soldiers at independence square in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, May 10, 2025. Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska Olena Zelenska is seen behind, second right. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

From left, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska Olena Zelenska,Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stand at the memorial of fallen Ukrainian soldiers at independence square in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, May 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, meets with French President Emanuel Macron, center, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz onboard a train to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv where all three will hold meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Friday, May 9, 2025. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, meets with French President Emanuel Macron, center, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz onboard a train to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv where all three will hold meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Friday, May 9, 2025. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool Photo via AP)

RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.

Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.

If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.

For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.

“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.

Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.

"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.

Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.

Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.

Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.

The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.

“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.

As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.

What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.

The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.

One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.

Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.

“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.

The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.

Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.

“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.

Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.

“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)