Closing summary
It is approaching 6pm in Kyiv and Moscow. This blog will be closing shortly, but you can find all the Guardian’s Russia-Ukraine coverage here and Shaun Walker’s latest report from Kyiv below:
Here is a summary of the day’s developments:
Keir Starmer has said there is “absolute unity” of countries around the world on Ukraine. Speaking from Kyiv on Saturday, the prime minister was asked if he believed Vladimir Putin wanted peace and why he thought the threat of sanctions would work. Starmer replied: “There’s only one country that stands between peace, and that’s Russia.” Starmer said “all of us here, together with US, are calling Putin out”, adding that if the Russian president was “serious” about peace then “he has a chance to show it now by extending the VE Day pause into a full, unconditional 30-day ceasefire”.
Starmer also said UK experts and European partners were working to “boost Ukraine’s economy” in an attempt to support the invaded country’s stability long-term. Speaking at the ‘coalition of the willing’ meeting in Kyiv on Saturday, the UK prime minister said “securing Ukraine’s future for the longer term” had been discussed, with measures including the resumption of flights to Ukraine.
French president Emmanuel Macron called on Saturday for “direct talks” between Ukraine and Russia in the event of a ceasefire in Moscow’s three-year invasion. If there is a 30-day truce, as western countries have floated, “we will look to direct talks between Ukraine and Russia, we are ready to help,” Macron said in an interview with French news outlets TF1 and LCI while travelling to Kyiv to meet European leaders.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz warned Russia would face harder sanctions if it refused a 30-day ceasefire demanded by the west, in an interview published on Saturday by the Bild daily. If Putin does not agree to the truce, “there will be a massive hardening of sanctions and the massive aid to Ukraine will continue – politically, of course, but also financially and militarily,” said Merz.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday backed a proposed unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine and said that the EU is ready to impose further “biting” sanctions on Russia in the event of a breach of a ceasefire. “The ball is now in Russia’s court. We stand ready to maintain strong pressure on Russia,” said von der Leyen.
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte said on Saturday after joining a ‘coalition of the willing’ call with Kyiv’s partners that it was clear the group is committed and continues to stand with Ukraine.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had made four more attempts in the past 24 hours to break across the border into Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions, although Reuters could not independently verify the assertion. Ukraine says Russia has continued to attack it and has called the ceasefire a “farce”.
On Saturday morning, local officials in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region said Russian shelling over the past day had killed three residents and injured four more. Another civilian man died on the spot on Saturday as a Russian drone struck the southern city of Kherson, according to regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin. An Associated Press tally, based on reports from Ukrainian authorities, found at least 117 civilians had been killed and more than 1,000 injured in Russian aerial attacks since Ukraine announced on 11 March its willingness for a ceasefire.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said North Korea’s involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war was justified, calling it an exercise of sovereign rights in defence of a “brother nation,” state media KCNA reported on Saturday. He also said Pyongyang would not hesitate to authorise the use of military force if the United States persisted in military provocations against Russia.
Updated
Away from Ukraine for a moment, Valdimir Putin has attended a working lunch with the leader of Vietman’s Communist party, Tô Lâm, in Moscow today:
Keir Starmer has said that he and European allies “together with the US” are “calling Putin out”, reports the PA news agency.
Speaking from Kyiv, he said the five leaders in the Ukrainian capital on Saturday had agreed on the need for an “unconditional ceasefire”.
The prime minister said “all of us here, together with US, are calling Putin out”.
He said that if the Russian president is “serious” about peace then “he has a chance to show it now by extending the VE Day pause into a full, unconditional 30-day ceasefire”.
Starmer added:
No more ifs and buts, no more conditions and delays.
He also said:
Ukraine has shown the willingness to engage again and again, but again and again, Putin has refused.
So we are clear, all five leaders here – all the leaders of the meeting we just had with the coalition of the willing – an unconditional ceasefire, rejecting Putin’s conditions, and clear that if he turns his back on peace, we will respond.
Working with President Trump, with all our partners, we will ramp up sanctions and increase our military aid for Ukraine’s defence to pressure Russia back to the table.
Keir Starmer has said UK experts and European partners are working to “boost Ukraine’s economy” in an attempt to support the invaded country’s stability long-term, reports the PA news agency.
Speaking at the ‘coalition of the willing’ meeting in Kyiv on Saturday, the UK prime minister said “securing Ukraine’s future for the longer term” had been discussed, with measures including the resumption of flights to Ukraine.
Starmer said:
We want to help Ukraine look to the future with confidence.
So we’re working to boost Ukraine’s economy and, as a vital step, I’m pleased that UK experts have been on the ground leading work to support the resumption of flights into Ukraine.
He added:
Once a ceasefire is achieved it will take time but this will be a huge moment in reconnecting Ukraine’s economy, boosting investor confidence, and helping to reunite families separated by this war.
Ukraine secure and thriving: that is what we all want to see.
With our 100-year partnership, the critical minerals deal with the US, and our coalition of the willing, we are building the framework for peace in Ukraine to support a better future for the Ukrainian people, and to pledge once again in all our interests and on this anniversary, that aggression will never prevail on our continent.
Updated
Kremlin says European countries' statements are 'confrontational' - Interfax reports
The Kremlin accused European countries on Saturday of making contradictory and confrontational statements, Interfax news agency reported, after European leaders backed a US plan for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine and threatened Russia with “massive” sanctions if it failed to comply.
“We hear many contradictory statements from Europe. They are generally confrontational in nature rather than aimed at trying to revive our relations. Nothing more,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying.
'Only one country that stands between peace, and that’s Russia': says Starmer in Kyiv
Keir Starmer has said there is “absolute unity” of countries around the world on Ukraine, reports the PA news agency.
The prime minister said it “must be Russia that now comes forward and accepts this 30-day unconditional ceasefire”.
Speaking from Kyiv on Saturday, the prime minister was asked if he believes Vladimir Putin wants peace and why he thinks the threat of sanctions would work. Starmer replied:
There’s only one country that stands between peace, and that’s Russia.
He added:
The position we’ve now got to today is absolute unity across a whole range of countries around the world.
Starmer also said the leaders were “clear absolutely there must be an unconditional ceasefire for 30 days. Clear that that means it must be without conditions”.
In Kyiv, UK prime minister Keir Starmer addressed Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying:
Volodymyr and the Ukrainian people, we stood with you in resisting Putin’s aggression but we must now stand with you in the fight for peace.
Putin has, in the last few hours, sought to put conditions on a ceasefire.
It’s really important that we make clear, an unconditional ceasefire is a ceasefire without conditions. We reject the imposition of conditions, and we need to be really clear about that.
It is for Russia to come to the table for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, and there must be clear sanctions if he fails to do so.
There is real unity on that. We need to be clear that that is one of the main outcomes we want from this meeting of the coalition of the willing, here this morning.
Volodymyr, you have our support in the fight that you have, you have our support in the fight for peace, as we go forward.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer said “one country started this illegal conflict” and “only one country stands in the way of resolving it peacefully” during a meeting of members of the “coalition of the willing” aimed at end the Russian invasion of Ukraine, reports the PA news agency.
Speaking from Kyiv, Starmer said:
It is an important moment because, as Volodymyr [Zelenskyy] has just said, there is this ceasefire-for-30-days proposal that is very clearly now on the table.
Volodymyr, I think you first – with courage – put forward this proposal probably two months ago now, as the way forward? Emmanuel [Macron] and I have been discussing it intensively, including this week, and pushing the case of 30 days.
Other allies in Europe have joined that, and of course the US position is now absolutely clear. So we have unity in relation to the proposal for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire.
That is a really important moment of this conflict that we should focus on in this meeting of the coalition of the willing, and remind ourselves that only one country started this illegal conflict, and that was Russia and Putin, and only one country stands in the way of resolving it peacefully, and that is Russia and Putin.
British prime minister Keir Starmer said in a meeting in the Ukrainian capital with European leaders that the so-called “coalition of the willing” shows “the strength of our unity”.
Sitting alongside Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish prime minister Donald Tusk, Starmer said: “It’s really good that we are hosting this meeting – the coalition of the willing – from Kyiv.
“It is a very important symbolic meeting showing the strength of our unity.
“And it’s timely because this awful conflict has been going on now for over three years, and this week we have been celebrating 80 years since the end of the second world war, VE Day has been celebrated across Europe.
“What the war was about were the values of freedom and democracy and the right of countries to make their own decisions, their sovereign right to do so.
“Those are the same values that we are addressing here today, and so it is timely, it is important and I pay tribute to the courage and resilience of the Ukrainians that have fought this conflict for three long years.”
European leaders issue ceasefire ultimatum to Putin
European leaders on a joint visit Kyiv have issued an ultimatum to Vladimir Putin: sign up to an unconditional ceasefire by Monday, or face increased sanctions and weapons transfers to Ukraine.
The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland, together with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, made a joint phone call to Donald Trump prior to making the announcement.
“All of us here, together with the US, are calling Putin out. If he’s serious about peace, then he has a chance to show it now,” said prime minister Keir Starmer at a joint press conference of the five leaders in Kyiv.
Starmer said the leaders were demanding “an unconditional ceasefire, rejecting Putin’s conditions, and [are] clear that if he turns his back on peace, we will respond, working with president Trump, with all our partners, we will ramp up sanctions, and increase our military aid for Ukraine’s defence to pressure Russia back to the table”.
Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz arrived in the Ukrainian capital on the same train on Saturday morning, while Donald Tusk travelled on a separate train. The leaders met with Zelenskyy for talks in central Kyiv.
It is Macron’s first visit to Kyiv since summer 2022, and the first visit for Merz as chancellor for Germany, having only taken office this week.
“All five leaders had a fruitful call with @POTUS focused on peace efforts,” Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, wrote on X, adding a picture of the five men gathered around a mobile phone on speaker mode.
Sybiha added: “Ukraine and all allies are ready for a full unconditional ceasefire on land, air, and at sea for at least 30 days starting already on Monday. If Russia agrees and effective monitoring is ensured, a durable ceasefire and confidence-building measures can pave the way to peace negotiations.”
Trump and the US administration have said a 30-day ceasefire could be the first step on the way to a sustainable peace deal. Ukraine has said it is ready to implement such a ceasefire but Russia has so far refused, saying it would only do so if all western weapons deliveries to Ukraine were halted.
In an early sign that Russia may not be receptive to the latest ultimatum, the hawkish former president, Dmitry Medvedev, wrote on X: “Macron, Merz, Starmer, and Tusk were supposed to discuss peace in Kiev (sic). Instead, they are blurting out threats against Russia … You think that’s smart, eh? Shove these peace plans up your pangender arses.”
Updated
French president Emmanuel Macron warned on Saturday that Russia would face “massive” coordinated European and US sanctions if it broke a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine proposed by Kyiv’s western allies.
“In the event of a violation of this ceasefire, we have agreed that massive sanctions will be prepared and coordinated between Europeans and Americans,” Macron told a press conference in Kyiv.
Updated
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters at the news conference after their talks that he and the visiting leaders “agreed on Monday, 12 May there must start an unconditional ceasefire”.
He added that it should cover air, sea and land, and said that if Moscow refused, it would face new sanctions, including the strengthening of punitive measures targeting its energy and banking sectors, Reuters reported.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying on Friday that Russia supported the implementation of a 30-day ceasefire, but only with due consideration of “nuances”.
In remarks to ABC that were aired on Saturday, Peskov suggested that western military assistance for Ukraine would have to stop in order for a temporary ceasefire to happen. “Otherwise it will be an advantage for Ukraine,” he said.
Ukraine and European leaders call for unconditional 30-day ceasefire from 12 May
Ukraine and European leaders agreed on Saturday to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire from 12 May with the backing of US president Donald Trump, threatening president Vladimir Putin with new “massive” sanctions if he failed to comply.
The announcement was made by the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Ukraine after a meeting in Kyiv, during which they held a phone call with Trump.
Updated
The symbolic show of European unity came a day after Russian president Vladimir Putin struck a defiant tone at a Moscow parade marking 80 years since victory in the second world war, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
In an interview with the US news channel ABC on Saturday, the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said arms deliveries from Ukraine’s allies would have to stop before Russia would agree to a ceasefire.
A truce would otherwise be an “advantage for Ukraine“ at a time when “Russian troops are advancing … in quite a confident way” on the front, Peskov said, adding that Ukraine was “not ready for immediate negotiations”.
Putin ordered a unilateral three-day truce from Thursday through Saturday. But a Ukrainian army brigade operating in the east told AFP earlier the intensity of fighting had remained “pretty much the same”.
Europe and Ukraine argue more pressure is needed on Russia to respond.
After meeting Donald Tusk in France on Friday, Emmanuel Macron called for the speedy drafting of a US-Europe plan for the 30-day truce that would be backed by “massive economic sanctions” if one side “betrays it”.
According to the PA news agency, the phone call between Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the European leaders visiting Kyiv and US president Donald Trump on Saturday, was unplanned and lasted about 20 minutes. Citing a UK source, the news agency reports that the call was described as “warm”.
Here is the full report from Shaun Walker in Kyiv:
Zelenskyy and European leaders hold phone talk with Trump during Kyiv meeting
The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland have travelled to Kyiv, and together with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a joint phone call to Donald Trump to discuss plans for a peace settlement.
Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz arrived in Kyiv on the same train on Saturday morning, while Donald Tusk travelled on a separate train. The leaders met with Zelenskyy for talks in central Kyiv.
“All five leaders had a fruitful call with @POTUS focused on peace efforts,” Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X, adding a picture of the five men gathered around a mobile phone on speaker mode.
Following the Coalition of the Willing meeting in Kyiv, all five leaders @ZelenskyyUa @EmmanuelMacron @bundeskanzler @donaldtusk @Keir_Starmer had a fruitful call with @POTUS focused on peace efforts.
— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) May 10, 2025
Ukraine and all allies are ready for a full unconditional ceasefire on land,… pic.twitter.com/MEfbtjtE4m
Sybiha added:
Ukraine and all allies are ready for a full unconditional ceasefire on land, air, and at sea for at least 30 days starting already on Monday. If Russia agrees and effective monitoring is ensured, a durable ceasefire and confidence-building measures can pave the way to peace negotiations.
The symbolic visit to Kyiv came just one day after Vladimir Putin hosted a set-piece military parade on Red Square, and just as the US warned of intelligence about a big impending air attack on Ukraine.
“We, the leaders of France, Germany, Poland [and] the United Kingdom will stand in Kyiv in solidarity with Ukraine against Russia’s barbaric and illegal full-scale invasion,” the four leaders said in a joint statement as the visit commenced.
At a later press conference in Kyiv, the four European leaders are expected to reiterate calls for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, something that Donald Trump and the US administration have said could be the first step on the way to a sustainable peace deal. Ukraine has said it is ready to implement but Russia has so far refused.
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte said on Saturday after joining a ‘coalition of the willing’ call with Kyiv’s partners that it was clear the group is committed and continues to stand with Ukraine.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had made four more attempts in the past 24 hours to break across the border into Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions. Reuters could not independently verify the assertion.
The ministry said Russia’s own troops were still abiding by a three-day unilateral ceasefire in Ukraine which expires at midnight (10pm BST/9pm GMT) on Saturday.
Ukraine says Russia has continued to attack it and has called the ceasefire a “farce”.
Here are some more details on European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s comments.
“We support the proposal for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire. It must be implemented without pre-conditions to pave the way for meaningful peace negotiations,” she said on X.
Von der Leyen posted her message as the leaders of France, Germany, the UK and Poland were visiting Kyiv to show solidarity for Ukraine and ratchet up the pressure on Moscow for a ceasefire.
“The ball is now in Russia’s court. We stand ready to maintain strong pressure on Russia and impose further biting sanctions in the event of a breach of a ceasefire,” said the commission president
The Kremlin has shown no signs of halting its invasion of Ukraine, despite US President Donald Trump pushing for a ceasefire. Moscow warned earlier there could be no truce unless the west halted arms deliveries to Kyiv (see 9.26am BST).
Von der Leyen said the overall aim was to forge a “just and lasting peace for Ukraine“, which would in turn be vital for security and stability across Europe.
EU Commission president says bloc ready to impose more sanctions on Russia if ceasefire breached
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday backed a proposed unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine and said that the EU is ready to impose further biting sanctions on Russia in the event of a breach of a ceasefire.
Ukrainian authorities claim to have busted a Hungarian spy ring operating on its territory, alleging that Budapest was collecting sensitive military data with one eye on a possible future incursion into the west of the country.
Hungary’s foreign minister dismissed the accusations as “propaganda” and announced the expulsion of two Ukrainians described as “spies working under diplomatic cover” at the Ukrainian embassy in Budapest.
The allegations will further test already fraught relations between the two neighbouring countries. While Hungary is a member of Nato and the EU, its prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has been an outlier among European leaders, strongly critical of Kyiv and neutral towards Russia.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said it had detained two Ukrainian military veterans as part of the operation, and claimed the network had engaged in the collection of information on military defences in the western part of Ukraine as well as sentiment among the local population. It published a video interrogation of one of the detainees in handcuffs, with his face blurred.
The SBU said the spy ring was run by a “staff officer of Hungarian military intelligence” and that the operation was designed to uncover information about vulnerabilities in Ukraine’s defence of western regions.
An Associated Press tally based on reports from Ukrainian authorities found at least 117 civilians have been killed and more than 1,000 injured in Russian aerial attacks since Ukraine announced on 11 March its willingness for a ceasefire.
On Saturday morning, local officials in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region said Russian shelling over the past day killed three residents and injured four more. Another civilian man died on the spot on Saturday as a Russian drone struck the southern city of Kherson, according to regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says participation in Russia-Ukraine war justified - KCNA
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said North Korea’s involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war was justified, calling it an exercise of sovereign rights in defence of a “brother nation,” state media KCNA reported on Saturday, according to Reuters.
He also said Pyongyang would not hesitate to authorise the use of military force if the United States persists in military provocations against Russia.
Updated
It is the first time the leaders of the four European nations (France, the UK, Germany and Poland) have made a joint visit to Ukraine, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“We are clear the bloodshed must end. Russia must stop its illegal invasion,” the leaders said in a joint statement, adding:
Alongside the US, we call on Russia to agree a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace.
They warned:
We will continue to increase our support for Ukraine. Until Russia agrees to an enduring ceasefire, we will ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine.
They are later scheduled to host a virtual meeting to update other European leaders on moves to create a European force that could provide Ukraine with security after the war.
Such a force “would help regenerate Ukraine’s armed forces after any peace deal and strengthen confidence in any future peace”, the leaders’ statement said.
Russia has said it will not tolerate any western military presence in Ukraine once the fighting ends and has warned the proposal could spark war between Moscow and Nato.
Updated
Germany warns Russia of harder sanctions if it refuses Ukraine ceasefire
German chancellor Friedrich Merz warned Russia will face harder sanctions if it refuses a 30-day ceasefire demanded by the west, in an interview published on Saturday by the Bild daily.
If president Vladimir Putin does not agree to the truce, “there will be a massive hardening of sanctions and the massive aid to Ukraine will continue – politically, of course, but also financially and militarily,” said Merz, who was visiting Kyiv on Saturday with the leaders of France, the UK and Poland.
Here are some images from Kyiv this morning coming in via the newswires:
Updated
Russia says western arms flows to Ukraine would need to stop during any ceasefire
Russia would require a halt to US and European arms supplies to Ukraine during any potential ceasefire, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with ABC News.
“Otherwise it will be an advantage for Ukraine. Ukraine will continue their total mobilisation, bringing new troops to [the] frontline,” Peskov said. He added:
Ukraine will use this period to train new military personnel and to give a rest to their existing ones. So why should we grant such an advantage to Ukraine?
US president Donald Trump urged Russia and Ukraine on Friday to “get this stupid war finished”, as he pushed for a 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine says it is willing to agree to. But Peskov, in the interview, restated Russian concerns that Vladimir Putin had made public as far back as 13 March and set out in a phone call with Trump on 18 March.
“A ceasefire was supported by President Putin, but he asked several questions. He said that right now we have certain dynamics on the front, Russian troops are advancing, and advancing in quite a confident way,” he said, adding:
So if we speak about ceasefire, what are we going to do with shipments of weapons coming every day from the United States and from European countries?
According to Reuters, his comments underlined the lack of any shift in Russia’s position on a ceasefire since mid-March. During that time Trump, who previously had applied intense pressure on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has shown growing impatience with Russia and questioned whether Putin was “tapping me along”. Peskov denied that was the case, and said it was Ukraine that was refusing to enter direct negotiations.
“President Putin is doing whatever is possible to solve the problem, to achieve a settlement through peaceful and diplomatic means. But having no peaceful and diplomatic means at hand, we have to continue the military operation,” he said.
Russia hoped that mediation by Trump would help to bring “a little bit more flexibility, a little bit more political will and wisdom to the Kyiv regime”, Peskov said.
Analysis: are we heading for a third world war?
In a week in which former allies in a redividing globe separately commemorated the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war, the sense of a runaway descent towards a third world war draws ever closer.
The implosion of Pax Americana, the interconnectedness of conflicts, the new willingness to resort to unbridled state-sponsored violence and the irrelevance of the institutions of the rules-based order have all been on brutal display this week. From Kashmir to Khan Younis, Hodeidah, Port Sudan and Kursk, the only sound is of explosions, and the only lesson is that the old rules no longer apply.
This is forcing countries to rethink their relationships, writes Patrick Wintour in today’s Saturday read:
Updated
Slovak prime minister Robert Fico said on Friday his country wanted to develop relations with Russia, and he derided European Union detractors who created obstacles to his attendance at the second world war commemorations in Moscow, reports Reuters.
Fico broke ranks with the EU by visiting Moscow late last year, more than two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He met Russian president Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin late on Friday evening after the Red Square parade marking the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany.
China’s Xi Jinping was among several dozen leaders at the commemorations, but nearly all western leaders stayed away.
Fico arrived after a circuitous journey made necessary by EU members’ barring his aircraft from their airspace, reports Reuters.
“As a head of government, I want to assure you that it is in my interest to have pragmatic relations with the Russian Federation,” Russian news agencies quoted Fico as telling Putin. He said he opposed the creation of any new “iron curtain and pledge to do everything so that we can shake hands across a curtain”.
He added:
Let us consider as a childish joke all the technical problems we confronted, created by our European Union colleagues.
Putin said Russia appreciated Fico’s decision to attend despite the “logistical obstacles that were created. But you are nonetheless here.”
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, had criticised Fico’s attendance at the Moscow ceremonies. Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said attending the victory parade and “applauding President Putin … brings shame to everyone who is there.”
In a response to Kallas’ comments on Facebook, Fico said he was paying tribute to Soviet Red Army soldiers who had liberated Slovakia in the war. Kallas had no right to criticise him, Fico said, as it was normal to hold a dialogue with other leaders.
Fico also told Putin he was prepared to use a national veto to oppose plans by the 27-nation EU to phase out Russian energy purchases. Slovakia and Hungary had earlier voiced opposition to the plan. Fico described the proposal as “simply economic suicide”.
It is Emmanuel Macron’s first visit to Kyiv since summer 2022, and the first visit as chancellor for Friedrich Merz, who only took office this week.
The four European leaders visited Kyiv’s Maidan on Saturday morning, together with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife. Thousands of flags have been planted in the central square, to remember those who have been killed in the war with Russia. The leaders paid their respects and had a moment of silence, before heading to talks with Zelenskyy.
Later, Downing Street said the five would beam into a virtual meeting to update other leaders on progress being made for a so-called “air, land, maritime and regeneration force” that is planned to be part of a peace deal.
Macron calls for 'direct talks' between Ukraine and Russia
French president Emmanuel Macron called on Saturday for “direct talks” between Ukraine and Russia in the event of a ceasefire in Moscow’s three-year invasion, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
If there is a 30-day truce, as western countries have floated, “we will look to direct talks between Ukraine and Russia, we are ready to help,” Macron said in an interview with French news outlets TF1 and LCI while travelling to Kyiv to meet European leaders.
Saturday’s visit to Kyiv is likely to focus more on finding a common western position on Ukraine to take to Donald Trump, as European leaders try their best to keep the US onside. The Trump administration has so far appeared to be much tougher on Kyiv than Moscow, but there are some small signals that the mood in Washington might be changing, after a positive meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy in the Vatican on the sidelines of the pope’s funeral.
Even vice-president JD Vance, seen as the most sceptical of voices on support for Ukraine, has criticised Moscow’s stance in recent days. “Right now, the Russians are asking for a certain set of requirements, a certain set of concessions in order to end the conflict. We think they’re asking for too much,” he said earlier in the week.
Trump was asked by reporters in the Oval Office if he had a message for Putin on Friday, after the US embassy had released its air attack warning. “I have a message for both parties: Get this war ended,” he said, adding: “Get this stupid war finished. That’s my message for both of them.”
Leaders of UK, France, Germany and Poland arrive in Kyiv to push for 30-day ceasefire
The leaders of the UK, France, Germany and Poland have arrived in Kyiv for a symbolic visit to Ukraine, one day after Vladimir Putin hosted a set-piece military parade on Red Square. The visit comes as the US warned of intelligence about a big impending air attack on Ukraine.
Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz arrived in Kyiv on the same train on Saturday morning, while Donald Tusk travelled on a separate train. The four leaders met in the Polish city of Rzeszow on Friday night before departing. On Saturday, they will meet Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a show of support for Ukraine, Downing Street said in a statement issued late on Friday.
“We, the leaders of France, Germany, Poland the United Kingdom will stand in Kyiv in solidarity with Ukraine against Russia’s barbaric and illegal full-scale invasion,” the four leaders said in a joint statement.
Meanwhile, Tusk said that anyone attending the military parade in Moscow to mark the end of the second world war had brought shame on themselves, after Slovak prime minister Robert Fico became the only EU leader to attend.
“I try not to comment on the decisions and behaviour of leaders of states, especially from our community,” Tusk told a news conference.
“But there is no doubt in my mind that being at the victory parade in Moscow and applauding President Putin … brings shame to everyone who is there.”
Here is a brief summary of other key developments:
US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would like Putin and Zelenskyy to “get this war ended” in Ukraine as he pushes for a 30-day ceasefire. Trump, who departs on Monday on a trip to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, was asked what his message to Putin is in the wake of a warning from the US embassy in Kyiv about a “potentially significant” air attack in the coming days. “I have a message for both parties: Get this war ended,” Trump said of Ukraine and Russia. “Get this stupid war finished.”
Ukrainian troops have made further attempts to breach the Russian border in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, the Russian defence ministry said on Friday. The defence ministry said the attacks occurred during a three-day ceasefire running from 8-10 May that Russia has unilaterally declared to mark the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in the second world war. Ukraine has called the ceasefire a “farce” and on Friday documented scores of armed clashes.
Ukrainian authorities claim to have busted a Hungarian spy ring operating on its territory, alleging that Budapest was collecting sensitive military data with one eye on a possible future incursion into the west of the country.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said North Korea’s involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war was justified, calling it an exercise of sovereign rights in defence of a “brother nation,” state media KCNA reported on Saturday. Kim also said Pyongyang would not hesitate to authorise the use of military force if the United States persists in military provocations against Russia.
