Ukraine war live: Zelenskyy welcomes Putin calls for talks but says Russia must agree to ‘full, lasting, reliable’ ceasefire

Key events

Show cardinal events only

Please crook connected JavaScript to usage this feature

Vladimir Putin’s connection for “direct talks” with Kyiv came hours aft leaders from the UK, France, Germany and Poland travelled to Kyiv to conscionable Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

As my workfellow Shaun Walker notes successful this story, the European leaders told the Russian president to motion up to an unconditional ceasefire by Monday oregon look accrued sanctions and weapons transfers to Ukraine.

They said the ceasefire connection was supported by Donald Trump, whom they had briefed implicit the telephone earlier successful the day.

France’s president Emmanuel Macron said that the US would instrumentality the pb successful monitoring the projected ceasefire, with enactment from European countries, and threatened “massive sanctions ... prepared and coordinated, betwixt Europeans and Americans” should Russia interruption the truce.

Putin rejected the calls for a ceasefire, but said helium was acceptable for nonstop negotiations with Ukraine.

Zelenskyy says it is 'positive sign' Russia is considering ending the war

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has conscionable welcomed Vladimir Putin’s connection for nonstop talks successful Istanbul connected Thursday, but said his squad is expecting Moscow to hold to a “lasting” ceasefire starting tomorrow.

In a station connected X, Zelenskyy, without responding explicitly to Putin’s invitation for talks successful Turkey, wrote:

It is simply a affirmative motion that the Russians person yet begun to see ending the war.

The full satellite has been waiting for this for a precise agelong time. And the precise archetypal measurement successful genuinely ending immoderate warfare is simply a ceasefire. There is nary constituent successful continuing the sidesplitting adjacent for a azygous day.

We expect Russia to corroborate a ceasefire – full, lasting, and reliable – starting tomorrow, May 12th, and Ukraine is acceptable to meet.

Putin calls for 'direct talks' with Ukraine aft rejecting ceasefire ultimatum projected by European leaders

Welcome backmost to our unrecorded sum of Russia’s warfare connected Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin has proposed nonstop talks with Ukraine connected 15 May successful Istanbul to execute what helium claims could beryllium “the restoration of a long-term, lasting peace” if definite conditions are met.

In a uncommon televised late-night code from the Kremlin, the Russian president said helium wants to code what helium calls “the basal causes of the conflict”, which volition apt see demands that Ukraine volition ne'er articulation Nato.

“We are proposing that Kyiv resume nonstop negotiations without immoderate preconditions,” the Russian person said.

Putin said that helium would talk to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan aboriginal connected Sunday astir facilitating the talks.

“Our proposal, arsenic they say, is connected the table. The determination is present up to the Ukrainian authorities and their curators, who are guided, it seems, by their idiosyncratic governmental ambitions, and not by the interests of their peoples.”

Ukraine has not yet commented connected Putin’s connection but Donald Trump, whom Kyiv is reliant upon for subject aid, said this could beryllium a “potentially large time for Russia and Ukraine”, arsenic helium vows to “continue to enactment with some sides”.

Vladimir Putin arrives to marque a connection to the media astatine the Kremlin. Photograph: Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik/Kremlin pool/EPA

Putin enactment guardant the precocious nighttime connection aft European leaders threatened Moscow with caller sanctions if Russia failed to comply with an unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting tomorrow. He dismissed what helium said was the effort by immoderate European powers to laic down “ultimatums”.

Moscow demanded yesterday that the westbound indispensable halt arming Kyiv earlier immoderate ceasefire tin start, which would permission Ukraine successful an highly susceptible presumption and apt pb to much Russian advances connected the battlefield.

Analysts accidental that Putin is not superior astir bid talks and volition not hold to a ceasefire.

They spot his latest connection arsenic a mode for him to look superior astir bid to Washington but thrust a further wedge betwixt the Trump administration, which wants to bring a speedy extremity to the war, and Kyiv, which volition look inflexible if it rejects maximalist positions demanded by Moscow the Kremlin knew it would not accept.