Ukraine and allies push for a 30-day ceasefire that will begin on Monday, but Putin hopes to negotiate directly

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Saturday that Ukraine and its allies are ready for a “completely unconditional ceasefire” with Russia for at least 30 days.

Their comments came as leaders of four major European countries visited Kiev and put pressure on Moscow to truce and negotiate peacefully on ending nearly three years of conflict. They followed what Sybiha said was a “constructive” call between leaders of France, Germany, Poland, and Britain President Trump and his Ukrainian rival Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the group “had a conversation with President Trump. We agree with our shared view on further action.”

Putin said at a press conference on Saturday that Moscow repeatedly proposed a ceasefire initiative and claimed that Kiev had undermined them. He also raised the situation of resuming direct negotiations in Istanbul on Thursday on May 15.

Putin said direct negotiations would “eliminate the root causes of conflict” and “achieving a long-term, lasting peace recovery.”

Meanwhile, Saturday was the last day of a unilateral three-day ceasefire announced by Russia, with Ukraine saying Kremlin troops repeatedly underwent violations.

In March, the United States proposed immediate limited 30-day truceUkraine accepted this, but the Kremlin was already more satisfied.

Leaders from France, Germany, Poland and Britain arrived at the railway station in Kiev together and met Zelenskyy on the 80th anniversary of his birth at the end of World War II. They light candles in the temporary flag memorial of fallen Ukrainian soldiers and civilians.

The visit marks the first time the leaders of the four countries have traveled to Ukraine together, while Friedrich Merz has visited Ukraine as Germany's new prime minister.

Sybiha called Russia's truce a “farce” on Thursday, accusing Russian troops of violating it less than 700 times a day after formally taking effect. Both sides also said the attacks on the troops continued on Thursday.

“We reaffirm President Trump's support for the call for a peace agreement and call on Russia to stop obstructing efforts to ensure lasting peace,” the leader said in a joint statement. “In the United States, we call on Russia to agree to a complete and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create space for talks on just and lasting peace.”

Mr. Trump has urged the two sides to quickly reach a conflicting agreement, but Russia has not signed it yet despite Zelenskyy's agreement to the initial U.S. plan to stop hostilities. Instead, it has been attacking about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of frontlines, including a deadly strike on residential areas without obvious military targets.

On Saturday morning, local officials in the northern part of Ukraine Sumi said that in the past day, Russian shelling killed three residents and injured four more. Another civilian man died on Saturday in a Russian drone, according to regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in a speech at Kyiv reporter: “What happened to Poland, Germany and Britain is a historic moment of European defense and has moved to greater independence for our security. Obviously, for Ukraine, this is a new era for all of us. It is a new era. This is Europe itself is a force.”

Mr Trump said last week he suspected Russia's Putin wanted to end his battle in Ukraine and expressed new suspicion that a peace deal could be reached soon and hint at further sanctions on Russia.

In the months since Mr. Trump’s return to the White House, progress in conflict resolution has seemed elusive, with his previous claims about an upcoming breakthrough failing to come true. Mr. Trump had previously ceded Ukraine to Russia's territory to end the conflict, Threat to go away if the deal becomes too difficult.

Ukraine's European allies see the fight as the basis for security on the African continent, and pressure is now increasingly looking for ways to support Kiev militarily – whether Trump withdraws or not.

Ukrainian presidential aide Andrii Yermak, who met with European leaders at the main train station in Kiev, wrote in a telegram earlier on Saturday: “There is a lot of work and a lot of topics to be discussed. We need to end this war with a just peace. We need to force Moscow to agree to a ceasefire.”

Later in the day, leaders began a virtual meeting with Zelenskyy to introduce other leaders to the progress of the so-called “voluntary alliance” in the future, which will help Ukraine's armed forces after the peace agreement, and potentially deploy troops to Ukraine to Ukraine along with Russia's future peace agreement to Ukraine.