May 12, 2025 (EIRNS)—We are now in a short-term countdown for the meeting Thursday, May 15, in Türkiye, to resume talks between Moscow and Kyiv toward resolution of the Ukraine crisis, from negotiations which were broken off in April 2022, by British intervention. With the fast pace at which events are unfolding, this positive turn of events may itself be deflected. Nevertheless, there are grounds for hopeful expectation regarding this and other key opportunities.
Schiller Institute leader Helga Zepp-LaRouche, reviewing the world situation, stressed today that this is no time for being locked in ewig gestrigen, being stuck in “yesterday”-type thinking that no fundamental shift can happen. Now is a time for intervention. Look at the forces in motion, with the dramatic events of just the past few days, involving President Xi Jinping, President Vladimir Putin, and President Lula da Silva. Euphoria would be wrong. But Zepp-LaRouche said it is correct that there is an “historic wave toward a new paradigm.”
What gave rise to the May 15 meeting set to be hosted by President Erdoğan in Istanbul, in immediate terms, is that President Putin intervened with his statement to the media overnight May 10-11, after many meetings (some 23 bilateral talks) with world leaders in Moscow over May 7-10 for the May 9 Victory Day observance, and he called for unconditional resumption of Russia-Ukraine talks this week. He phoned President Erdoğan, who agreed to host them. May 15 was set. This initiative overrode the grandstanding in Kyiv May 10-11, by the leaders of the U.K., France, Germany and Poland, along with acting President Zelenskyy, taunting, that a 30-day ceasefire must begin May 12, or else. Today, more details on the May 15 meeting were discussed between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan.
Putin explained in his May 11 statement, now available in full: "Colleagues, I think it is obvious to everyone that the talks and meetings held in Moscow also touched on the issue of resolving the conflict in Ukraine. We are grateful to all our guests, our friends, for the attention they are paying to this conflict and for the efforts they are making to bring this conflict to an end….
“I would like to express my gratitude once again for the mediation services and efforts aimed at a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis undertaken by our foreign partners, including China, Brazil, African countries, the Middle East, and recently the new Administration of the United States of America….”
At some point soon, it is expected that the composition of the Russian delegation to Istanbul will be announced; and more of the response from Ukraine made known, after the first response from Zelenskyy, spouting Sunday evening, “I will be in Türkiye this Thursday, May 15, and I expect Putin to come to Türkiye as well. Personally. And I hope that this time, Putin won’t be looking for excuses as to why he ‘can’t’ make it.” President Trump this morning from the White House, commented positively that if the talks go well in Türkiye, “If I thought it might be helpful … I will fly there.”
The initiative of President Putin for restarting negotiations is in line with the explicit commitment he and President Xi spoke of at their meeting in Moscow last week. Their two countries have a special “responsibility in the world.” Positive expressions of this are two world conferences taking place in Eurasia this week. May 13 in Beijing will be the conference of China-CELAC (Community of Latin American & Caribbean States, with 33 member nations). May 13-18 in Tatarstan will be the Russia-Islamic World International Economic KazanForum 2025. Started in 2009, the KazanForum in 2024 had 84 countries represented in the 20,500 attendees.
In Gaza, meantime, the killings and imposition of conditions for mass death continue by the Netanyahu forces. Neither humanitarian aid nor commercial supplies have been allowed into the Gaza Strip for 72 days. There is desultory talk of new, private charity aid, with logistics provided through private contractors, and from the Switzerland-registered Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, for which, it is reported, Tony Blair is conferring—always a bad omen. This must stop.
What is required is immediate relief, initiating reconstruction in Gaza, and moving on the statehood of Palestine. The LaRouche “Oasis Plan” approach has been on the table for decades, and now is actively part of the process toward the June 2-4 meeting at the United Nations in New York.
President Trump’s first foreign trip in his second term is underway, now, to three nations in the Gaza and Persian Gulf region, but not to Israel. Today, Hamas released the hostage Edan Alexander, the young Israeli-American IDF serviceman, taken Oct. 7, whose release was conducted outside the Netanyahu regime. Egypt and Qatar undertook negotiations in recent days. President Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff flew to Israel today to be on hand for Alexander’s release. Witkoff then met with Netanyahu.
In this context, Israel went through the motions to announce today, it will resume sending a delegation to Doha for talks this week, though reiterating it is doing so “under fire,” not under ceasefire. Moreover, Netanyahu has pending his plan announced last week, that once Trump’s Southwest Asia trip is over, Israel intends to implement its military “conquer and hold” complete takeover of Gaza.
The watchword, again, is that warmongers are on the wrong side of history. Take action now. Mobilize with the International Peace Coalition, next Friday meeting May 16, and register for the international May 24-25 Schiller Institute conference.
