- 5/12/2025
Russian MP Leonid Slutsky criticizes Zelensky for blocking peace talks with Moscow, calling for a return to diplomacy and an end to the "clownery." With President Putin offering direct negotiations in Istanbul on May 15, Slutsky urges Ukraine to embrace this chance for peace. He emphasizes that negotiations are the only sensible path to end the conflict and restore stability. 🕊️🌍
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#Zelensky #Putin #PeaceTalks #LeonidSlutsky #Diplomacy #Negotiations #Ukraine #Russia #Ceasefire #ConflictResolution #Istanbul #GlobalPolitics #MultipolarWorld #USSupport #Trump #InternationalRelations #EndTheWar #UkraineCrisis #CeasefireTalks #StateDuma #PeaceProcess #GlobalUnity
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NewsTranscript
00:00And let's return to our top story. Donald Trump has expressed support for Vladimir Putin's initiative to have direct talks with the Ukrainians this Thursday in Istanbul.
00:11Trump said that Kiev should agree to negotiate, quote, immediately.
00:18And we're joined by Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the International Affairs Committee in Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma.
00:26Welcome to the studio, sir. What's your reaction to Vladimir Putin's proposal?
00:38Clearly, President Putin's proposal is very timely.
00:44Today, it's the only thing that could be perceived as a proposal that is grounded in common sense.
00:56Direct talks without preconditions is the most direct way to peace.
01:01We must remember our negative experience of 2022, when I was one of the negotiators from the Russian side, formed by President Putin.
01:16At the time, the Ukrainian negotiators let us down.
01:20In fact, we were very close.
01:22We formed a draft document, but the Ukrainian side was instructed by their handlers in the West, and so they binned that proposal.
01:35So, today, we don't have the right to have a similar result of the talks.
01:41We need to have direct talks.
01:42We need to concentrate on the subject at hand, on demilitarization of Ukraine,
01:48on making sure it's not part of any military bloc,
01:54making sure that Ukraine would never become a ground for Nazi ideology that must be eliminated fully from human history.
02:08Today is the moment of truth for all of us.
02:11And the scenario to achieve that goal was made by President Putin.
02:17It's very simple.
02:19Now, the ball is in Ukraine's court.
02:24They're talking about a 30-day truce and things like that.
02:27We believe that this approach is a deceitful one.
02:30It's destructive, because over that time, with the help of the Western forces that continue to support the Kyiv regime in its militant willingness to continue the hot stage of the conflict,
02:46they can rearm using that time.
02:49But if we wanted to have an actual end to the conflict, what we need to do right now, we need to start direct talks.
02:57Once Kyiv responds positively to the proposal of our president, Russia, in a matter of hours, will create negotiating teams,
03:09and all we will have to do is to travel to Istanbul.
03:13So we need to listen.
03:14They need to listen to President Putin.
03:16And in fact, they need to listen, they need to heed to President Trump.
03:20He just rightly said that he supports our desire to have these direct negotiations.
03:28So, again, it's up to Kyiv now.
03:31So I call on the Kyiv officials to react positively to this very timely and very correct proposal by President Putin.
03:42Now, as a member of the Russian delegation back in 2022,
03:48do you have any idea who could be in the new delegation, and would you be participating?
03:54This is not really that important.
04:03We have a lot of strong and professionals that could become part of that team, negotiations team on Russia's side.
04:15If President Putin gives me the honor to become part of that team again, it would be certainly an honor to me.
04:23But in any case, I believe that we have a great professional in Vladimir Medinsky.
04:32It's one of the candidates who could lead on that negotiations team.
04:39But let me emphasize that again, it's not important who is part of that team.
04:45There's going to be a team of professionals.
04:47And it's going to be a team that will hold those talks.
04:53We are ready to that.
04:54All that it takes right now is to get to Istanbul.
04:57We are ready to engage now.
04:58In fact, we are waiting for Kyiv to react, to respond.
05:06And if it's a destructive response, if Kyiv will try to mask its unwillingness to participate by asking us for this 30-day truce and using other deceitful ways,
05:25we will need to, all of us, us, the United States, all reasonable forces on the planet to do everything to make sure that Kyiv is convinced we need to get to the negotiations table without any preconditions.
05:41This is the moment of truth, like I said, to end this conflict.
05:45This is the moment of truth for the entirety of the international system on the planet.
05:52We need to destroy Nazi ideology from the face of the planet, wipe it from the face of the planet, from the global architecture of the 21st century that's being built right now.
06:05And right now, President Putin has made it possible that we have this moment of truth.
06:14It's very timely.
06:16It's a matter of hours, maybe days, on the 15th of May.
06:22Just a few days are left until then.
06:26And we are waiting for Kyiv to say that they are willing to negotiate, then we will announce our negotiations team, and then the team will go to Istanbul.
06:40So very little time remains.
06:41And again, I'd like to call on Kyiv to react to this only correct proposal, proposal by President Putin, that would lead to peace, not war.
06:59We need to come to the negotiations table on the 15th of May, the day we meet in Istanbul.
07:06You've mentioned the new U.S. administration several times already.
07:10Indeed, Donald Trump has been supporting Vladimir Putin's proposal.
07:16He's calling on Kyiv to accept it, to sit down at a negotiating table.
07:21In fact, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is planning to head to Turkey next week or this week already to also support the peace efforts.
07:32How do you evaluate the new administration's peace efforts?
07:40The efforts of the current American administration are rather good and effective in terms of establishing dialogue with Russia,
07:54something that never happened under Biden.
07:56And that is Biden's fault and his administration's fault, because the two largest nuclear powers in the world cannot remain in a situation where we don't talk at all.
08:11Today, the dialogue is on the rise, it's getting better, getting more precise and hopefully more effective.
08:21The main agenda of these talks is to try to establish partnership between Russia and the United States.
08:34Of course, that the Ukraine agenda, the putting a stop to the Ukraine war.
08:38And today, the main obstacle we need to overcome is to achieve this partnership with the United States.
08:52We need to establish this negotiation process.
08:54And Russia is the decisive response without talking about the 30-day truce that they need not to talk, but for other goals.
09:11Only when we start negotiating, we will have a movement towards peace, not war.
09:16Unless that happens, all other steps from Kiev will be, unfortunately, a masquerade.
09:26They will be trying to amass their unwillingness to move to peace, to disguise this.
09:36They will try to continue to build up military confrontation as their handlers want.
09:45And if that happens, our reaction will be direct.
09:51Russia wants peace, we want to save lives.
09:53In fact, I'd like to, as I speak here at RT, I'd like to thank the leaders of the Persian Gulf States
10:03and the President of the United Arab Emirates and, of course, Prince of Saudi Arabia.
10:14I hope that I will meet him soon.
10:17We will meet him soon.
10:19They want people to live, to stay alive.
10:23We want to have exchanges of prisoners, of war.
10:31And thanks to Saudi Arabia, for example, they proposed a platform for first consultations between Russia and the United States.
10:41They are reliable partners to us.
10:43They set an example of how people need to, and nations need to, move towards peace.
10:50And so I wish President Trump a productive visit to Qatar, to the United Arab Emirates, to Saudi Arabia in the upcoming days.
10:58But for the upcoming few days, the main agenda is, of course, waiting for Kyiv's response and the start of the negotiations process.
11:09Direct talks without any preconditions.
11:12We expect this, we are ready to this, and our President calls for that.
11:22We expect these talks to actually happen on the 15th of May in Istanbul.
11:28This will be a start of a new stage of resolving the conflict in Ukraine, new stage in the special military operation as it's close, as it nears closure.
11:44So the ball is in Kyiv's court.
11:45We expect constructive reaction from Kyiv.
11:49So far, there hasn't been a lot of constructive things coming from them.
11:53But, as always, Russia believes that the best scenario would happen.
12:00This is what we call on the Ukraine to make sure.
12:05And this is our system of coordinates.
12:08We want peace, not war.
12:09We want to see conflicts end, and in this case, the conflicts in Ukraine.
12:19We need to enter this negotiations process.
12:23So, again, I urge Kyiv to listen to common sense to the proposal by President Putin.
12:31Now, as to the negotiations team, from our side, it will be formed quickly.
12:38It will be a strong and professional team.
12:42This is without doubt.
12:44And you've just mentioned Saudi Arabia.
12:46And, indeed, it has been playing an important role regarding the Ukrainian conflict,
12:51and also regarding the relationship between Russia and the United States,
12:56which Moscow and Washington are trying to fix right now.
13:00But why do you think Turkey has been chosen for the next round of negotiations?
13:08Again, I'd like to thank Saudi Arabia for helping us in prisoner swaps,
13:18in providing a platform for initial consultations between Russia and the United States.
13:22and, I'm sure, a lot more important talks will take place in Saudi Arabia,
13:31which is one of the leaders, not only of the Arab world, but of the Persian Gulf region,
13:38and it's a good partner of Russia.
13:41The king, Mohammed bin Salman, and the prince, they are our brothers.
13:51We treasure our relations with them,
13:53just as we treasure our relations with the leader of the United Arab Emirates.
14:00Now, as for Turkey, we need to go back to 2022 and recall the efforts by President Erdogan.
14:10He personally greeted the negotiating teams, the delegations, myself and my colleagues,
14:19who gathered in Istanbul back then to achieve goals that, at that point,
14:25not any fault of our own, was afforded.
14:30Those talks were afforded.
14:31And so we're going back to Istanbul to achieve a victorious new stage in this negotiations process.
14:41And I'm hopeful that on the 15th of May, delegations from Russia and from Ukraine
14:47will gather in Istanbul to have these professional talks in the interest of moving towards peace
14:54as quickly as possible and ending this conflict.
14:57And finally, do you think those Western leaders from the UK, Germany, France and Poland,
15:02who visited Zelensky recently, do they really want peace?
15:08Shortly, if you may.
15:13It is difficult for me to say, judging from their words, they probably do,
15:22but if we look at what they're actually doing, something different.
15:26But I wouldn't want to go into details or worsen our relations with these leaders
15:35who are, as it is, not at the best point in terms of our bilateral relations.
15:41If we look at the whole process historically, it's their own business.
15:46And today, on the planet, there is a new global majority
15:51that supports the ideas of President Putin.
15:55We stand for a multipolar world order,
15:59where each country, its history, religion, culture, national language, etc.,
16:03are separate points that create the new global politics of the 21st century.
16:16And this is the foundation, this approach is the foundation
16:20for humanity's movement towards peace,
16:24movement away from World War III, where no one would be victorious.
16:30And those who want to continue the conflict in Ukraine,
16:34those who are pushing the world towards World War III,
16:37thankfully, we're seeing fewer and fewer madmen like these.
16:41In fact, their numbers will soon be closer to zero.
16:50But the main matter in global politics right now, of course,
16:58is the talks that President Putin called for.
17:03It's the reason why they need to take in Istanbul.
17:07In fact, I believe that they will happen.
17:09We'll make sure everything to make sure they happen.
17:14And a stable process of movement towards peace will start.
17:20It's not going to be an easy one, but it will be effective.
17:23And Russia will do everything to make sure that this move towards peace
17:27goes as professionally, as effectively, and as quickly as possible.
17:32Now, also, if I may ask one more question.
17:36Zelensky now says that he will be waiting for,
17:39well, he says Vladimir Putin, but maybe the Russian delegation in Turkey.
17:44But considering that he himself legally banned any negotiations with Russia,
17:49do you think that he will then violate his own laws then?
17:53Well, yes, he banned talking to Russia.
18:05He banned himself from talking to Russia.
18:07He needs to remember his original profession
18:12and start being less of a clown when it comes to professional politics.
18:18Like I said, it's a moment of truth.
18:21It's a moment where we need to make serious decisions.
18:25And we expect that, despite all of this farce,
18:29all of this theatricality,
18:32and the fact that Kiev was clearly not ready for President Putin's proposal,
18:38today Russia and the United States, too,
18:41who actually support our position
18:44when it comes to launching negotiations in Istanbul,
18:47it's the only reasonable step forward
18:51that would move the peace process towards the constructive agenda.
19:01So, like I said, it's a matter of hours, maybe days.
19:05I urge Kiev to listen to the only correct position,
19:10the position of President Putin,
19:12and engage in negotiations.
19:14All we will have to do is to announce the delegation,
19:20go to Istanbul, it's not far away,
19:24and as our presidential aide, Mr. Ushakov, said,
19:28we are ready to engage in talks on May 15th,
19:32as early as morning.
19:34In fact, we are ready for those talks even right now,
19:38and I'm sure that we have all the capabilities to make sure that these talks,
19:43while not easy, that they became effective,
19:47an effective closure to the conflict,
19:50that they would lead to a real end to the whole part of this confrontation.
19:57This is in the interests of humankind,
19:59in the interests of the world,
20:01in the interests of all politicians,
20:04and all people across the nations of the world,
20:09that strive not for war,
20:11but for a peaceful future,
20:15a peaceful, secure global architecture,
20:18a balanced architecture of the 21st century.
20:21That's why I'm saying that President Putin's ideas of a multipolar world order
20:30is something that de facto support exists globally.
20:36There's a global majority.
20:37It's on the rise.
20:38In fact, it's very clear we need not shy away from this reality.
20:51It's the truth.
20:52It's the only true,
20:55the only reasonable common-sense approach
20:57by President Putin
20:59to go on May 15th
21:03to Istanbul and engage in negotiations process.
21:07And to all who hear me right now,
21:12I'd like to ask everyone to morally support this position.
21:18We need to all unilaterally strive towards...
21:23We need to all strive towards peace together.
21:29This is the only way forward
21:31if we want to achieve peace, not war.
21:35That is our position.
21:40That is the scenario that we see.
21:45These are the coordinates that we have.
21:50And the number of countries that support war
21:55is getting closer to zero,
21:58and this is a good thing.
21:59So let us start negotiations without preconditions,
22:05quickly, professionally.
22:09All of us need this.
22:11All of us want this.
22:13So let's strive for peace and not war.
22:17Let's do everything that each of us could do
22:21to make sure that this conflict comes to an end,
22:27whether it's by proposal by President Putin,
22:29if it's supported by the United States President.
22:33And I'm sure every common-sense person on the planet
22:36supports peace as well.
22:38So let's hope that this main intrigue of the upcoming days
22:45will come to a positive conclusion
22:48and will result in new talks in Istanbul.
22:51I'd like to thank you for your comments.
22:53Unfortunately, this is all the time we have.
22:55Thank you so much.
22:58This was Leonid Slutsky,
23:00International Affairs Committee Chairman
23:02of Russia's Lower House of Parliament,
23:04the state Duma.
23:05And earlier I discussed these developments
23:08with former Austrian foreign minister
23:10and current head of the Gorky Center
23:12at St. Petersburg University, Karen Kneisel.
23:15She thinks direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine
23:18would be a big step forward.
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