Ahead of Trump-Putin call, European leaders call for Russia to agree to 30-day ceasefire

Ahead of a scheduled call between US and Russian leaders, European leaders on Sunday held talks with President Donald Trump and called for Russia to accept a US-endorsed 30-day ceasefire proposal.

The European leaders who held talks with Trump included French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Macron said in a post on X that Putin “must show he wants peace by accepting the 30-day unconditional ceasefire proposed by President Trump and backed by Ukraine and Europe”. Starmer said that they “discussed the need for an unconditional ceasefire and for President Putin to take peace talks seriously”. He further said that they discussed the use of sanctions if Russia “failed to engage seriously in a ceasefire and peace talks”.

Trump on Saturday said that he will hold talks with Putin over phone at 10 am ET (7:30 pm India time) on Monday and then call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) countries — France, UK, Germany, and Italy are Nato members.

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Zelenskyy and European leaders have stressed that Putin must accept a US-endorsed 30-day ceasefire proposal as part of peace efforts. So far, Putin has rejected all three ceasefire proposals floated by Trump — including the 30-day ceasefire proposal. Zelenskyy has accepted all three proposals.

Zelenskyy meets Vance ahead of Trump’s call

Zelenskyy met US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of Pope Leo’s inauguration on Sunday. This was their first meeting since Vance shouted at Zelenskyy and berated him at the White House in February.

The meeting was aimed at preparing for a call between Trump and Zelenskyy on Monday, according to Guardian.

Zelenskyy described the meeting as “good” and said, “I reaffirmed that Ukraine is ready to be engaged in real diplomacy and underscored the importance of a full and unconditional ceasefire as soon as possible.”

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A senior Ukrainian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Guardian that Zelenskyy and Vance discussed “the situation on the front, preparations for [Trump’s phone conversations on Monday], the possibility of sanctions against Russia if there are no results, a ceasefire”.

Trump’s call with Putin comes after direct talks between Ukraine and Russia, the first since 2022, failed to produce a breakthrough in Turkey last week. After Putin refused to join talks and sent a low-level delegation, there were no expectations of a breakthrough.

Putin defies peace efforts with massive drone barrage

In defiance of Trump’s peace initiative, Putin launched the largest drone attacks on Ukraine on Sunday.

Russia launched a total of 273 drones on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday at Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Donetsk regions, according to Ukraine’s air force.

Separately, the Ukrainian military intelligence agency HUR has said that Russia is preparing to test-launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in yet another show of defiance amid peace efforts. It said that Russia is preparing to test-launch RS-24 Yars missile on Monday evening.

The nuclear missile will carry a non-nuclear training warhead for the purpose of the test-launch, according to the HUR.

The HUR has said that the purpose of the test-launch is to build pressure on Ukraine and its European partners.