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

There is no reason to think that Trump will acquiesce to Putin’s list of demands. In fact, he has repeatedly voiced frustration with the lack of progress in the talks and has threatened to walk away, as Russia continues to creep forward, inch by bloody inch, in a long war of attrition with no end in sight.

In a rare, late-night television address from the Kremlin on Saturday, Putin told Russians, “We seek serious talks... to remove the root causes of the conflict and start moving toward a lasting, strong peace,” adding that the talks should ”start without delay, as early as May 15.”