Putin not personally ready for ceasefire, says Georgian analyst

Russian President Vladimir Putin is not personally prepared to end the war and will continue fighting as long as he has the means, according to Valeri Chechelashvili, Head of Political Studies at the Georgian Center for Strategic Analysis.

“Putin is not ready for a ceasefire on a personal level. He will continue the war for as long as possible,” Chechelashvili stated. He suggested that Putin's recent proposal to begin talks without preconditions was an attempt to seize the initiative, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy quickly countered it with a more decisive move.

“Zelenskyy immediately and wisely offered to meet Putin personally in Istanbul on May 15,” Chechelashvili noted, adding that this proposal exposed Putin’s unwillingness to pursue peace.

Following Zelenskyy’s offer, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed readiness to facilitate the negotiations, and US President Donald Trump also said he was willing to travel to Istanbul to assist the talks. However, according to Chechelashvili, Putin refused to engage, making it clear who was serious about ending the war.

“In light of this, it’s now obvious who wants peace and who doesn’t. I believe we will soon see a stronger alignment between the United States and the European Union, with increased pressure on Putin to agree to a ceasefire as a first step,” he concluded.