Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed direct talks with Ukraine on May 15 in Istanbul that he said should be aimed at bringing a durable peace and eliminating the causes of the war.

Putin sent thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, unleashing a war that has left hundreds of thousands of soldiers dead and triggering the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.

He said Russia was proposing direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul in an attempt to “eliminate the root causes of the conflict” and “to achieve the restoration of a long-term, lasting peace” rather than simply a pause for rearmament.

“We are proposing that Kyiv resume direct negotiations without any preconditions,” Putin said from the Kremlin in the early hours of Sunday. “We offer the Kyiv authorities to resume negotiations already on Thursday, in Istanbul.”

Despite public and private pressure from US President Donald Trump and repeated warnings from European powers, Putin has offered few concessions towards ending the conflict.

Putin said that he would speak to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan later on Sunday about enabling the talks, which he said could lead to a ceasefire.