Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed he will personally attend landmark peace talks on Thursday with Russia in a direct ultimatum to Vladimir Putin.
Writing on social media on Sunday afternoon, Ukraine's President said he "will be waiting" in Istanbul for his Russian counterpart to sit down and negotiate.
But he said he would only attend the talks if a "full and lasting" ceasefire came into force on Monday.
Zelensky said: "We await a full and lasting ceasefire, starting from tomorrow, to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy.
"There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will be waiting for Putin in Turkey on Thursday. Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses."
Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed he will personally attend landmark peace talks on Thursday with Russia
REUTERSIt comes just a few hours after Zelensky said his country is "ready to meet" Russian representatives - but stopped short of confirming he would talk to them himself.
"We expect Russia to confirm a ceasefire - full, lasting, and reliable - starting tomorrow, May 12, and Ukraine is ready to meet," he said.
That in itself followed Putin's late-night address in which he confirmed the talks would take place on May 15.
The Russian premier called on his beleaguered neighbour to sit down with his own delegates in a bid to "eliminate the root causes of the conflict" and "to achieve the restoration of a long-term, lasting peace".
LATEST ON VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY'S UKRAINE:
Donald Trump called on both Ukraine and Russia to 'HAVE THE MEETING, NOW'
REUTERSAhead of Zelensky's Sunday afternoon statement, Donald Trump released one of his own on social media - which called on both Ukraine and Russia to "HAVE THE MEETING, NOW".
"President Putin of Russia doesn't want to have a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the bloodbath," Trump said.
"Ukraine should agree to this immediately. At least they will be able to determine whether or not a deal is possible, and if it is not, European leaders, and the US, will know where everything stands, and can proceed accordingly.
"I'm starting to doubt that Ukraine will make a deal with Putin, who's too busy celebrating the Victory of World War 2, which could not have been won (not even close!) without the United States of America.
"HAVE THE MEETING, NOW!!!"
After both Trump and Zelensky's comments, a source told Bloomberg that if Russia attacked Ukraine again tomorrow, onlookers should expect a strong European and US response, including sanctions as agreed on Saturday.
Their remarks do not change what was agreed, the source added.
PICTURED: Vladimir Putin makes late-night address and calls on Ukraine to attend talks on May 15REUTERSKremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov had told reporters after Putin's late-night address that the Turkey talks would take into account a draft peace deal, abandoned in 2022, as well as the current situation on the ground.
Just days after Russian forces began rolling into Ukraine in February 2022, the two countries met for negotiations in Belarus which later moved to Istanbul.
There, they wrote up a draft which set out a framework for a settlement - which became known as the "Istanbul Communique".
The talks then broke off in May, but Russian officials have long argued that a settlement can be reached along the lines of the communique.
