Ukraine and its allies are ready for a “full and unconditional ceasefire” with Russia for at least 30 days from Monday, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrii Sybiha, said on Saturday, but Russian president Vladimir Putin is pressure for direct talks next week.
Their remarks came while the leaders of four major European countries visited kyiv, putting pressure on Moscow to accept a truce and launch peace talks by finishing the conflict of almost three years. They followed what Sybiha said they were a “constructive” telephone call between the leaders of France, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, President Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the group “spoke to President Trump together. We have agreed with our common vision of our other actions ”.
At a press conference on Saturday, Putin said Moscow had repeatedly proceeded to cease-fire initiatives and said kyiv had sabotaged them. He also proposed to resume direct talks without prerequisites on Thursday, May 15 in Istanbul.
Putin said that direct talks “would eliminate the deep causes of the conflict” and “to restore long -term and lasting peace” Reuters.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, on Saturday, marked a three-day unilateral ceasefire declared by Russia that Ukraine said the Kremlin forces have violated several times.
Evgeniy Maloletka / AP
In March, the United States proposed a 30 -day truceWhat Ukraine has accepted, but the Kremlin has brought the conditions more to its taste.
The leaders of France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom arrived together at kyiv station and met Zelenskyy shortly after to join a ceremony in place of kyiv independence marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. They lit candles during a makeshift flag memorial for the soldiers and Ukrainian civilians who have fallen.
The visit marked the first time that the leaders of the four countries went together to Ukraine, while Friedrich Merz paid his first visit to Ukraine as a new German Chancellor.
Sybiha described the Russian truce as a “farce”, accusing Russian forces of raping it more than 700 times less than a day after its entry into force. The two parties also said that the attacks on their troops were continued on Thursday.
“We reiterate our support for President Trump’s calls to a peace agreement and call on Russia to stop obstructing efforts to ensure lasting peace,” the leaders said in a joint statement. “Alongside the United States, we call on Russia to accept a full and unconditional cease-fire of 30 days to create space for discussions on just and lasting peace.”
Trump pressed both parties to quickly reach an end of conflict agreement, but while Zelenskyy accepted an American plan for a first 30 -day stop to hostilities, Russia did not sign. Instead, he maintained attacks along the front line of around 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers), including fatal strikes on residential areas without obvious military targets.
On Saturday morning, local officials of the northern region of Sumy in Ukraine said that the Russian bombing in the last day had killed three residents and had wounded four others. Another civilian died on site on Saturday while a Russian drone hit the southern city of Kherson, according to the regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
Addressing kyiv journalists, French President Emmanuel Macron said: “What is happening with Poland, Germany and Great Britain is a historic moment for European defense and towards greater independence for our security. Obviously, for Ukraine, but for all of us. It’s a new era. It is a Europe that considers itself a power. ”
Trump said last week that he doubted that Russian Putin wanted to end his fight in Ukraine, expressing a new skepticism that a peace agreement can be concluded soon, and has referred to new sanctions against Russia.
Progress in the resolution of the conflict seemed elusive in the months since Mr. Trump’s return to the White House, and his previous allegations of imminent breakthroughs have failed to materialize. Mr. Trump has already prompted Ukraine to sell the territory to Russia to end the conflict, threatening to leave if an agreement becomes too difficult.
The European allies of Ukraine consider the struggle as fundamental to the security of the continent, and the pressure is now rising to find ways to support kyiv militarily – that Mr. Trump retires.
The Ukrainian presidential aid Andrii Yermak, who met the European leaders of the main station of kyiv, wrote on Telegram earlier on Saturday: “There are a lot of work, a lot of subjects to discuss. We have to end this war with just peace. We have to force Moscow to accept a ceasefire. ”
Later in the day, the leaders began to organize a virtual meeting alongside Zelenskyy to update other leaders on the progress made for a future so-called “coalition of willingly” which would help the armed forces of Ukraine after a peace agreement and potentially deploy troops in Ukraine for police all the future peace agreement with Russia.