Here is our live coverage of efforts by the US President Donald Trump to secure a ceasefire for Russia-Ukraine war.

• US President Donald Trump is due to hold separate phone calls with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts amid efforts to reach a ceasefire deal in the war in Ukraine.
• Trump is due to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin at 14:00 GMT. After that, he will have phone conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO leaders.
• Zelenskyy on Sunday met top US officials and European leaders in Rome, insisting that Ukraine is engaged in “real diplomacy” to get a ceasefire.
• Separately, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom discussed in a call with Trump the need for an unconditional ceasefire and for Putin to take “peace talks seriously”, according to a UK government spokesperson.
• The diplomatic efforts come as Ukraine says Russia launched its largest drone barrage since the start of its full-scale invasion in February 2022, firing a total of 273 exploding drones and decoys at several Ukrainian regions.

Zelenskyy to push for ceasefire, renewed pressure on Moscow during his call with Trump

There are expectations Zelenskyy will ask for two things during his call with Trump.

First of all, an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.

Secondly, for pressure on Putin. We’re talking sanctions, and anything else that can get him to the negotiating table.

Zelenskyy has been making these points consistently over the past two weeks. He says that Putin has shown that he’s not serious about holding these talks, and that he knows that because Putin sent a low-level delegation to the talks in Istanbul – people who Zelenskyy says didn’t have the power to make any real decisions.

And Putin made demands that would have granted Russia essentially everything it wanted as a precondition just to getting a ceasefire.

As all this is happening, and Zelenskyy is pressing for diplomacy, Russia has been pressing militarily. It has been striking in the Donetsk region in the east, and here in Kyiv and elsewhere over the weekend it launched a historic series of drone attacks.

Putin appears to be maximising military pressure ahead of any kind of talks, and not agreeing to a ceasefire or serious negotiations without preconditions at all.

Russia believes it’s in ‘good bargaining position’ despite impact of sanctions

While Russia’s official position is that it has already withstood extensive international sanctions and won’t be swayed by new ones, the financial strain has caused problems – particularly with paying for commercial imports and managing supply chain logistics with Europe, according to Russian defence analyst Pavel Felgenhauer.

“Money does not move easily,” Felgenhauer told Al Jazeera.

“But Russia’s economy is still working. Russia still sees itself as in a good bargaining position,” he said.

Kremlin says ending war will require ‘painstaking’ work

In a statement issued just before Trump and Putin got on the phone, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says efforts to end the war would be “painstaking”.

“In some areas, it may be a long process,” Peskov was quoted by state media as saying. “The settlement involves a large number of nuances that need to be discussed.”

He added that Russia is ready to work on resolving the challenges.

Trump-Putin calls: A recent timeline

• The first publicly announced call between Trump and Putin following the former’s return to the White House on January 20 took place on February 12.
• The two leaders had another call on March 18, with the Kremlin saying it lasted for about two hours.
• Also in March, the Kremlin said there may have been more contacts between Trump and Putin than what has been officially announced.
• The phone conversations are held over encrypted lines, with translators also taking part.

Russian president believes talks with Trump can help resolve ‘root causes’ of war

Putin has been waiting for years for direct talks with the US.

He believes that the US, because of its power and influence, can resolve all of the existing issues. And he believes that, initially, the US was standing behind Ukraine in this conflict, masterminding it and instigating Ukraine.

He wants the US, together with Russia, to address the so-called root causes of the conflict.

Analysts who are trying to predict what the two leaders will be discussing think that Putin will try to convince Trump not to support a set-day ceasefire, and ask him to halt, or at least reduce, the supply of arms to Ukraine, and stop providing intelligence to the Ukrainian army.

They also expect him to raise potential joint business projects with the US, the lifting of sanctions against Russia, and a possible in-person meeting with Trump in the future.

Is Chechnya’s Kadyrov going to resign?

The health of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who earlier this month sought to resign, is deteriorating rapidly, sources and observers have told Al Jazeera.

But Putin does not want Kadyrov to be succeeded by his third son, Adam Kadyrov, who turned 17 last November.

The disagreement has led to a falling-out between the Russian president and the head of the Chechen Republic, two Chechen insiders familiar with Kadyrov’s government told Al Jazeera.

The sources requested anonymity, as rights groups have previously documented a harsh crackdown on dissent in Chechnya, including the persecution of Kadyrov critics and their loved ones.

Read more here.

More about Trump-Putin call

As we previously reported, a White House official has confirmed the call between Trump and Putin is under way.

Reuters is now reporting that Putin is speaking from Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi, while Trump is in Washington, DC.

Trump expected to ‘gauge Putin’s intentions’ during call

We’ve heard from US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio that a big part of Trump’s conversation is to really gauge Putin’s intentions – is he serious about [having this war] come to an end?

Vance also said that if Putin isn’t serious, then the US administration is quite happy to walk away from all these negotiations. So that’s kind of an ultimatum there.

But it’s not quite clear what it means – would the US then continue to arm Ukraine, or would it completely wash its hands of the conflict?

We know that European leaders talked with Trump on Sunday, calling for more sanctions on Russia. Trump said on his Truth Social platform said he would also be talking about trade with Russia during this phone call – that is thought to be about sanctions relief.

Trump-Putin call under way: Report

The two leaders are currently holding a phone conversation, according to a White House official cited by Reuters.

We’ll bring you more information as we have it.

Trump-Putin call: What each side wants

In his call with Putin, Trump will likely try to persuade Russia’s president to make key concessions by offering economic incentives, such as sanctions relief and new commercial projects, says Russian defence analyst Pavel Felgenhauer.

Putin, for his part, could be receptive to Trump because he wants to “build bridges” with the US, Felgenhauer told Al Jazeera.

Nevertheless, the two leaders’ telephone conversation “will most likely not be decisive”, he said, with key points following up on during an in-person summit.

Felgenhauer added that for Putin, a summit with Trump would help lift Russia out of isolation; and for Trump, he continued, it would reinforce the narrative that he alone “can do the trick” and strike a deal.

Sanctions on Russia: What to know

A record number of sanctions against Moscow has failed to bring a halt to the war in Ukraine so far.

Since the invasion in February 2022, other countries have placed more than 15,000 sanctions on Russia – the most ever imposed on any country.

The sanctions have targeted more than 1,600 individuals and 1,300 entities, including business leaders, officials and other figures linked to the Kremlin.

Major Russian banks have been shut out of the SWIFT international financial system, and some $300bn in foreign reserves have been frozen.

Meanwhile, the EU has banned Russian oil and gas imports, with its latest sanctions package also targeting 200 vessels suspected of dodging oil embargoes. Russian ships and aircraft have been banned from entering many countries’ ports or airspace.

Russian high-tech exports, including semiconductors and aerospace components, along with dual-use items that could have a military purpose, have also been restricted.

Hold the line

It is now 14:00 GMT, the time that both the US and Russia have confirmed as when Trump and Putin will speak on the phone.

Stay tuned.

Trump ‘weary and frustrated’ with Russia and Ukraine: White House

We have some comments made by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s press briefing.

“He’s grown weary and frustrated with both sides of the conflict,” Leavitt told reporters a few minutes ago, referring to Trump.

“He has made it clear to both sides that he wants to see a peaceful resolution and ceasefire as soon as possible.”

Germany calls on China to help bring peace to Ukraine

Germany has joined Denmark in calling on China to exert its influence on Russia over the war in Ukraine.

The German foreign office said Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has had talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on how to shape the future of the relationship between their countries, noting the Ukraine conflict as a central concern.

“Russia’s war in Ukraine affects core European interests. China has a responsibility for global peace,” it said on X.

Earlier, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said he had had a “frank talk” with Wang about Beijing’s support for Russia, which he described as  “deeply problematic”.

Vance says Russia-Ukraine negotiations at ‘impasse’

We can now bring you some remarks from US Vice President JD Vance, who had sit-down with Zelenskyy yesterday in Rome.

Speaking to reporters on his way back to the US, Vance acknowledged that Russia-Ukraine negotiations have reached “a bit of an impasse”. Trump, Vance said, is likely to press Putin on whether he is seriously open to ending the war in their upcoming discussion.

“I think the president [Trump] is going to say to President Putin – ‘Look are you serious? Are you real about this?’” Vance said. “If you’re willing to stop the killing, the United States is willing to be a partner for peace.”

However, if Russia proves unwilling to engage in peace efforts, the US will have to walk away and say this is not our war, Vance added, according to Reuters.

EU to propose lowering of G7 price cap on Russian oil

European Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis has told reporters the European Union will propose to G7 finance ministers to lower the current $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne oil.

“This is something which we flagged from the Commission’s side in the context of the 18th sanctions package,” he said. “I would expect some interest also from other G7 partners in this regard and some discussion.”

Asked if he would make the proposal at the G7 finance ministers’ meeting in Canada later this week, he said: “Yes.”

Dombrovskis did not indicate the level to which the bloc would want the price cap lowered, but Reuters cited anonymous EU officials briefed on the discussions as saying the EU would propose $50 per barrel.

In January, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden had written a letter urging the European Commission to lower the $60 per barrel price cap, arguing it would reduce Russia’s revenues to continue the war in Ukraine while not upsetting the market.

If you’re just joining us

Let’s bring you up to speed with the main developments of the day:

• In about an hour, US President Donald Trump is due to hold a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine.
• After that, Trump is expected to call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a number of NATO leaders.
• Russia has banned Amnesty International, accusing it of “Russophobia” and of advocating on behalf of Ukraine.
• Ukrainian officials say Russian attacks on the southern region of Kherson have killed two elderly people.
• Russia’s Defence Ministry says its forces have captured a village in northeastern Ukraine’s Sumy region and another in the eastern region of Donetsk, both of which border Russia.

Lithuania files case against Belarus at the ICJ

In wider news from the region, Lithuania says it has filed a case at the International Court of Justice against Belarus, a close ally of Russia.

“Since 2021, Belarus has weaponized migration against Lithuania and the EU,” the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on X.

“Today, Lithuania filed a case against Belarus at the International Court of Justice over the migrant crisis orchestrated by the Lukashenko regime in violation of international law,” it added, referring to Belarus’s longtime President Alexander Lukashenko.

Could the Trump-Putin call lead to a ceasefire?

We’re less than 90 minutes away from the expected phone conversation between Trump and Putin.

You can read all about the significance of the call and what could come next in this piece put together by our colleague on Al Jazeera’s Explainers team Sarah Shamim.

Polish customs seize tyres for Boeing aircraft bound for Russia

Poland’s National Revenue Administration (NRA) says customs officials have seized 5 tonnes of tyres for civilian Boeing aircraft that were due to transit through Belarus and Russia.

“Officers … discovered during the inspection of a truck in Koroszczyn that the driver was transporting tyres used in Boeing civil planes instead of the declared car and bus tyres,” the NRA said, adding that such products are covered by EU sanctions imposed after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Koroszczyn is located in eastern Poland, close to the border with Belarus.

“The sender of the goods was a company from Spain, and the recipient was from Azerbaijan. Criminal fiscal proceedings were initiated in connection with customs fraud. The sanctioned goods were detained,” the NRA added.

There was no immediate comment from Boeing.

Denmark voices concern over China’s ‘problematic’ support for Russia

Denmark’s foreign minister, who is on a visit to Beijing, says he has had a “frank talk” with his Chinese counterpart about China’s backing of Russia.

In a statement reported by AFP, Lars Lokke Rasmussen said his discussions with Wang Yi included “stopping the deeply problematic Chinese support for Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine”, among other things.

Rasmussen also said he urged Beijing to use “its influence in Moscow to stop the war”, adding that it had a responsibility to do so as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Rasmussen’s meeting with Wang took place during a visit marking 75 years of diplomatic relations between the countries.

Russia’s preconditions ‘unacceptable’ to Ukraine

All of the preconditions that Putin is asking for are unacceptable to Zelenskyy and to the Ukrainian government here – they would be upset to accept those terms at the end of an agreement; for them to be preconditions is really a non-starter.

That’s why Zelenskyy has said that he was really disappointed with the meeting in Istanbul which, he said, was carried out with low-level officers who had very little room to make any kinds of decisions.

They did come out with a prisoner swap of 1,000 prisoners on each side but other than that, really nothing – and that is because of that tough Russian stance.

Meanwhile, Russia has accelerated strikes here in Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine, and all of that has really suggested to the Ukrainians that Russia is not serious about this process.

That’s what Zelenskyy has said and that’s likely to be what he will say in his own call with Trump a little later today.

How to achieve a lasting ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine?

It took three years to get officials from Ukraine and Russia in the same room. But President Vladimir Putin, who proposed the meeting, didn’t go to Istanbul and the talks ended in about 90 minutes.

The result: An agreement for a large-scale prisoner exchange, talks about their presidents meeting, and both sides pushing their vision of a future ceasefire. Yet, diplomacy isn’t narrowing the great gap between Russia and Ukraine.

So, is Putin agreeing to further talks to avoid more sanctions? And with Russia steadily advancing on the battlefield, can Zelenskky afford to push for peace, without further compromise?

Putin ‘confident of his stronger position’ in Ukraine

The Russian president is preparing for an upcoming call with the US president, and it seems Putin is confident of his stronger position in the Ukraine conflict.

He believes that Russia is capable of breaking through Ukrainian defences and establishing control over four regions that Moscow considers its own, even though they’re only partially taken under Russia’s control.

It seems Putin hopes to take them under control before the end of this year.

Russia is increasing its drone attacks on Ukraine as well as making advances on the battlefield.

Sources say that Russia is also planning to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile, which is seen as an attempt to intimidate Ukraine and the West.

Meanwhile, Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, has said that the conversation between the two presidents will take into account the results of the talks in Istanbul, which took place on Friday.

During the Istanbul talks, Russia put forward a number of demands to Ukraine in order to stop the attacks.

Those demands are the neutral status of Ukraine, that there should be no foreign troops or weapons of mass destruction in the country, that Ukraine should not claim war reparations from Moscow, and that Crimea and four other regions must be recognised internationally as part of Russia.

Ukraine must withdraw troops from these four regions that Russia considers its own territory, according to the Russian Constitution, but which Russia does not control entirely. Those regions are Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson, and Ukraine considers these demands unacceptable.

According to Peskov, a meeting in person between Putin and Trump will take place when both sides are ready. The meeting should be productive, and its timing should be determined by the leaders of these two countries themselves, he said.

Ukraine says Russian attacks on Kherson kill man and woman in their 70s

Ukrainian officials say separate Russian attacks have on the southern region of Kherson have killed two elderly people.

Local authorities and police in the regional capital of Kherson said a 75-year-old woman was killed and two people were wounded in shelling late on Sunday of a central area in the city.

Police also said a 76-year-old man was killed in a drone attack this morning on a residential area of the Kakhovka district of Kherson on the Dnipro River.

Photographs posted by the police on Telegram showed devastated buildings and vehicles after the attacks, which they said had damaged two apartment buildings, 17 private houses and a factory, among other infrastructure.

There was no immediate comment by Russia.

What happened at the Istanbul talks?

Trump’s calls with the leaders will take place three days after Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Turkiye for their first direct talks in more than three years.

The talks at Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace lasted less than two hours and ended without a ceasefire deal.

But the two sides did reach an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each in what would be their biggest swap since the war began.

Rustem Umerov, who headed the Ukrainian delegation, told reporters afterwards that Kyiv believed the next step should be talks between the country’s leaders.

Vladimir Medinsky, who led the Russian negotiating team, confirmed that both sides had agreed to provide each other with detailed proposals for a ceasefire and a meeting between their leaders. He also said Moscow was satisfied with the outcome of the talks and was prepared to continue talking to Kyiv.

A senior Ukrainian official told Reuters that Russian delegates had demanded that Kyiv pull its troops out of all Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow before they would agree to a ceasefire along with “other nonstarters and nonconstructive conditions”.

The source described Russia’s demands as “detached from reality” and “far beyond anything that was previously discussed”.

Zelenskyy, who had called on Putin to meet with him personally for talks, expressed his disappointment in the meeting, saying Moscow had sent “a low-level delegation that had no decision-making authority”.

The US had dampened expectations before the Istanbul talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying he did not expect any breakthrough until Trump and Putin engaged directly on the subject.

Russia bans Amnesty International as as ‘undesirable’ organisation

Authorities in Russia have designated the global human rights group Amnesty International as an “undesirable organisation”, a label given to groups deemed to undermine the country’s national security.

In a statement, Russia’s prosecutor general alleged that Amnesty’s London office was a “centre for the preparation of global Russophobic projects” and accused it of advocating on behalf of Ukraine.

It also alleged the rights group is “doing everything possible to intensify the military confrontation in the region. They justify the crimes of Ukrainian neo-Nazis, call for an increase in their funding, and insist on the political and economic isolation of our country”.

There was no immediate comment from Amnesty.

The “undesirable” designation means the London-based rights group must stop all work in Russia. A 2015 law mandates penalties of up to five years in prison for Russian citizens involved with designated groups.

Organisations previously banned as undesirable include the international environmental organisation Greenpeace and US government-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Zelenskyy hails ‘good meeting’ with Vance, Rubio

The Ukrainian president has given a positive assessment of his meeting on Sunday with US Vice President JD Vance in Rome – their first sit-down since Zelenskyy’s fiery encounter with Vance and Trump before the world’s media in the Oval Office of the White House in February.

In a Telegram post, Zelenskyy said the talks with Vance and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio went well.

“We discussed the talks in Istanbul, where the Russians sent a low-level delegation that had no decision-making authority,” he said. “I reaffirmed Ukraine’s readiness for real diplomacy and emphasised the importance of a full and unconditional ceasefire as soon as possible.”

He said the discussions in Rome also covered the need for sanctions against Russia, defence cooperation, a battlefield report and the upcoming prisoner exchange between Moscow and Kyiv as well as trade between the US and Ukraine.

“Pressure on Russia must continue until it is ready to stop the war. And, of course, we discussed our joint steps to achieve a just and sustainable peace,” he said.

“I thank the entire American people for their support and leadership in saving lives.”

US push to get elusive ceasefire in place

The Trump administration appears to be a mounting an all-out drive to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine.

President Trump will be holding a series of phone calls over the coming hours. He’ll be speaking to both the Ukrainian and Russian presidents, as well as European leaders.

Meanwhile, his special envoy to the region Steve Witkoff told ABC on Sunday that “we have to get to a ceasefire” and “most importantly, we have to get to a final peace deal”, expressing belief that “it’s going to be a very successful call”.

Vice President JD Vance has also had a series of meetings in Italy, including with Zelenskyy and European leaders, lending support to the concept that there is a massive Trump administration thrust under way to get that elusive ceasefire in place.

Russia says Putin-Trump call to take into account results of Istanbul talks

The Kremlin has confirmed that Putin will hold a call with Trump at 5pm Moscow time (14:00 GMT).

State news agency RIA cited spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying the discussion of Ukraine would take into account the results of talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul last week.

Peskov described the conversation between the two leaders as “important”, adding that Russia’s positions have already been communicated.

Russia claims control of 2 more Ukrainian villages

The Russian Defence Ministry says its forces have seized the village of Marine, in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, and Novoolenivka village in the eastern Donetsk region.

The announcement of the latest takeovers was made on Telegram.

There was no immediate comment by Ukraine.

Trump’s high expectations

Trump has said his goal in today’s calls is to “stop the bloodbath” that, he says, is killing 5,000 Ukrainian and Russian soldiers each week.

He said after his call with Putin is over, he will talk to Ukraine’s Zelenskyy and NATO leaders.

The order of that is less than optimal from the Ukrainian perspective, because it suggests that Trump will be relating Russian talking points, and of course, Zelenskyy wants to be right in on those discussions.

Trump somewhat undermined Zelenskyy when he said nothing really big is going to happen in these negotiations until he has a face-to-face meeting with Putin.

That would seem to cut Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians out and give them a secondary role – something Zelenskyy very much does not want to happen – and you can bet he will be pressing those points in his conversation with Trump after Trump talks to Putin.

But Trump says he’s hoping the call will lead to a ceasefire and, ultimately, to the end of the war.

Romania’s new president: Ukraine support ‘essential’

Nicusor Dan, the pro-European centrist who has just been elected president in Romania, has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine.

He campaigned on maintaining Romania’s backing for its northeastern neighbour, telling Reuters in an interview last month that “the war in Ukraine is essential for the security of Romania”.

By contrast, his hard-right, eurosceptic rival George Simion had pledged to end military aid to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy confident Romania will be ‘reliable partner’ after Dan win

The Ukrainian president has congratulated Nicusor Dan for his victory in yesterday’s presidential election run-off in neighbouring Romania.

The pro-European mayor of Bucharest won 54 percent of the votes to beat nationalist George Simion, who got 46 percent, according to official results.

“For Ukraine — as a neighbour and friend — it is important to have Romania as a reliable partner. And we are confident we will. By working together, we can strengthen both our countries and our Europe,” Zelenskyy said in a social media post.

“We will always have great respect for Romania and its people, especially given the support we received during the most difficult period in our history,” he added, expressing keenness to further develop “the strategic partnership” between the two countries.

Finland to supply Ukraine with ammunition using proceeds from frozen Russian assets

The Defence Ministry of Finland has said it will supply ammunition to Ukraine by using proceeds from frozen Russian assets.

In a statement, it said material worth 90 million euros ($101m) would be acquired from Finnish companies.

“Finland has been selected as one of the states implementing European Union measures to supply Ukraine with defence materiel using proceeds from frozen Russian assets,” it added.

There was no immediate comment by the Kremlin, which has repeatedly said  any move to seize or sell off frozen Russian assets would be illegal and challenged in court.

Finland ended seven decades of military non-alignment by joining NATO in April 2023, in a historic policy shift that was brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

After Putin sent troops into the neighbouring country in 2022, the US and its Western allies banned transactions with Russia’s central bank and Finance Ministry. The move blocked $300-350m of sovereign Russian assets, mostly European, US and UK government bonds held in a European securities depository.

And what happened yesterday?

• Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 273 drones at Ukrainian cities, destroying homes and killing at least one person, in the largest such attack since the start of the war.
• Russia said its forces had seized the settlement of Bahatyr in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, as well as downing 75 Ukrainian drones.
• On the diplomatic front, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom pressed the need for sanctions against Russia in a call with Trump before his telephone summit with Putin, according to the office of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
• Zelenskyy met US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Rome, on the sidelines of Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration, to discuss the latest developments on the ceasefire talks.
• Putin told Russian state television that he wanted to “eliminate the causes that triggered” Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and “create the conditions for a lasting peace and guarantee Russia’s security”.
  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets US Vice President JD Vance in Rome on Sunday

What’s happening today?

All eyes will be on US President Donald Trump’s phone calls with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Trump is expected to call Putin first, at 14:00 GMT, in less than six hours from now. It will be followed by calls to Zelenskyy and NATO leaders.

In a post on social media on Saturday, the US president voiced hope for a “productive day” today.

Trump also said his discussion with Putin would focus on stopping the “bloodbath” of “a war that should have never happened”, as well as trade.

Welcome to our live coverage

Hello, and thank you for joining our live coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Stay with our live team as we bring you all the latest developments, reactions and analysis throughout the day.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited Ukraine to take part in “direct talks” on 15 May, hours after European leaders urged Moscow to agree to a 30-day ceasefire.

In a rare televised late-night address from the Kremlin, Putin said Russia was seeking “serious negotiations” aimed at “moving towards a lasting, strong peace”.

Earlier on Saturday, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer travelled to Kyiv with counterparts from France, Germany and Poland to put pressure on Russia to commit to an unconditional ceasefire, starting Monday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said Moscow would “have to think this through” – but warned that “trying to pressure us is quite useless”.

In his own statement, Putin said he could “not rule out” the possibility that the talks could result in Russia and Ukraine agreeing “a new truce”.

The Russian leader said the proposed talks should be held in the Turkish city of Istanbul, as they have been before, and that he would speak to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday to discuss the details.

Kyiv has not responded to the invitation.

The Ukrainian capital played host on Saturday to Sir Keir, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz and Poland’s Donald Tusk, who form part of the “coalition of the willing” – a group of countries committed to supporting Ukraine.

Alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, they took part in a joint news conference.

The leaders warned that “new and massive” sanctions would be imposed on Russia’s energy and banking sectors should Putin not agree to the unconditional 30-day ceasefire “in the air, at sea and on land”.

They also said they had discussed the proposal with Donald Trump. Sir Keir later told the BBC the US president was “absolutely clear” that their suggestion of an immediate ceasefire was a “demand that must be met”.

After the meeting, Zelensky thanked the assembled leaders for “standing with” Ukraine.

“Today we will focus on how to build and guarantee real and lasting security,” he said.

Responding to the proposal, the Kremlin’s Peskov said: “It is a new development. But trying to pressure us is quite useless.”

Russian state media also quoted him as saying that statements from Europe were “generally confrontational in nature rather than aimed at trying to revive our relations”.

Moscow has previously said that before considering a ceasefire, the West must first halt its military aid to Ukraine.

Putin later made his own statement, with video showing journalists assembled in a hall inside the Kremlin.

“This would be the first step towards a long-term, lasting peace, rather than a prologue to more armed hostilities after the Ukrainian armed forces get new armaments and personnel, after feverish trench-digging and the establishment of new command posts,” he said.

“Who needs peace like that?”

Putin also accused Ukraine of having repeatedly failed to respond to multiple ceasefire proposals from Moscow, including a 30-day halt in attacks on energy infrastructure and last month’s Easter truce.

Another ceasefire Putin flagged was one he ordered in April to coincide with World War Two commemorations. It ended on Saturday at midnight local time (21:00 GMT).

Kyiv had rejected the unilateral, three-day ceasefire, calling it a “theatrical show”. Instead, Zelensky reiterated calls for a longer truce of at least 30 days.

While it saw a decrease in fighting, each side accused the other of breaches.

On Thursday – the same day the supposed ceasefire took effect – Ukraine accused Russia of more than 730 violations and said it was responding “appropriately”.

Russia’s defence ministry insisted the truce was being observed, before accusing Ukraine of 488 violations.

“In spite of everything, we are offering the Kyiv authorities to resume the negotiations… resume direct talks, and I stress, without any preconditions,” Putin said on Saturday.

The last direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv took place in 2022, the year Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Zelensky said afterwards that he believed that “lasting peace can be achieved this year” under Trump’s leadership.

Possible US ownership of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants was also discussed, the White House said, although Zelensky later stated this was only about the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia facility.

The tone of the call seems to be in contrast to Zelensky’s visit to the White House last month, in which the two leaders – along with US Vice-President JD Vance – were involved in a tense exchange.

Wednesday marked the first time the two men have spoken since the meeting in the Oval Office – although since then, their teams have met in Saudi Arabia and negotiated a proposed 30-day ceasefire.

While it is backed by Ukraine and the US, Putin rejected the proposal for a widespread pause in the conflict during his phone call with the US president on Tuesday.

During his conversation with Trump, Zelensky said he was open to a partial ceasefire involving a halt on strikes on energy infrastructure, rail and port facilities that could be established quickly – but the Ukrainian president warned his country would retaliate if Moscow violated the terms of the ceasefire.

“I understand that until we agree [with Russia], until there is a corresponding document on even a partial ceasefire, I think that everything will fly,” he said, referring to drones and missiles.

Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said the call was aimed at aligning Ukraine and Russia “in terms of their requests and needs”, adding that ceasefire efforts were on track.

Later, in a more detailed statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump had agreed to help Ukraine source additional air defence systems, particularly in Europe.

The two leaders “agreed to share information closely between their defence staffs as the battlefield situation evolved”, he said.

Rubio’s statement also said Trump and Zelensky had discussed “Ukraine’s electrical supply and nuclear power plants” with Trump saying “the United States could be very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise”.

“American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure,” Rubio’s statement added.

Zelensky said the topic of power plants had been raised, but that they had only mentioned the Zaporizhzhia facility.

The developments will come as a relief for Zelensky, who described his conversation with Trump as “positive”, “frank”, and “very substantive”, during an online briefing to journalists on Wednesday.

“We believe that together with America, with President Trump, and under American leadership, lasting peace can be achieved this year,” he wrote on X.

During the video call with reporters, Zelensky said he believed Putin would not agree to a full ceasefire while Ukrainian troops remained in Russia’s western Kursk region, after Kyiv launched a surprise attack on the region in August last year.

While both Zelensky and Putin have said they would agree to halt attacks on energy infrastructure. However, both have since accused each other of continued attacks.

Trump said Wednesday’s call with Zelensky lasted about an hour.

“Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Technical teams from Ukraine and the US are expected to now meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days.

In the White House last month, Trump told Zelensky he was not thankful enough for US military and political support, and that he was “gambling with World War Three”.

The US temporarily then suspended military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, but diplomats were able to improve relations and on 11 March the two sides agreed on a ceasefire.

During his call with Trump on Tuesday, Putin agreed to halt Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

But he said a full ceasefire would only work if Ukraine’s supporters stopped giving military assistance – a condition Kyiv’s European allies have previously rejected.

Hours later both Ukraine and Russia launched attacks, with Kyiv saying hospitals had been targeted.

Officials in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar said that a Ukrainian drone attack sparked a small fire at an oil depot.

Despite the strikes, Kyiv and Moscow carried out an exchange of prisoners on Wednesday. Each side released 175 POWs.

Zelensky described the swap as “one of the largest”, adding that Russia included an extra 22 “severely wounded” soldiers.

Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said the call was aimed at aligning Ukraine and Russia “in terms of their requests and needs”, adding that ceasefire efforts were on track.

Zelensky described his conversation with Trump as “positive”, “frank”, and “very substantive”.

“We believe that together with America, with President Trump, and under American leadership, lasting peace can be achieved this year,” he wrote on X.

Speaking during an online briefing on Wednesday, Zelensky said he and Trump had discussed possible US ownership of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia power plant.

Zelensky admits that Europe’s largest power plant, which is on the frontline, could take more than two years to be made operational again and is vital for Ukrainians and Europeans.

He also said that a halt on strikes on energy infrastructure, rail and port facilities could be established quickly as part of a partial ceasefire brokered by Washington and Kyiv – but Zelensky warned that Ukraine would retaliate if Moscow violated the terms of the ceasefire.

“I understand that until we agree (with Russia), until there is a corresponding document on even a partial ceasefire, I think that everything will fly,” he said, referring to drones and missiles.

He told reporters that he believed Putin would not agree to a full ceasefire while Ukrainian troops remained in Russia’s western Kursk region, after Kyiv launched a surprise attack on the region in August last year.

Zelensky also told reporters that he had not been pressured by Trump to cave into demands from Moscow, saying: “There was none. And this is a fact. You know that I am an open person. If it was, I would have told you frankly.”

Both Zelensky and Putin have said they would agree to halt attacks on energy infrastructure. However, both have since accused each other of continued attacks.

Trump is seeking a wider truce, but in their phone call on Tuesday Putin rejected a full 30-day ceasefire backed by the US and Ukraine.

Trump said Wednesday’s call with Zelensky lasted about an hour.

“Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Later Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a more detailed statement, saying that Trump had agreed to help Ukraine source additional air defence systems, particularly in Europe.

The two leaders “agreed to share information closely between their defence staffs as the battlefield situation evolved”, he said.

Technical teams would meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to discuss broadening the ceasefire to the Black Sea, Rubio added, saying they agreed that this could be the first step towards fully ending the war.

Trump also raised the possibility of the US taking ownership of Ukraine’s power plants, adding that it would be the “best protection” for Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, Rubio said.

The apparently cordial mood of the conversation is in marked contrast to Zelensky’s visit to the White House at the end of February, in which the two leaders – along with US Vice-President JD Vance – were involved in a tense exchange.

Afterwards the US temporarily suspended military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, but diplomats were able to improve relations and on 11 March the two sides agreed on a ceasefire.

During his call with Trump on Tuesday, Putin agreed to halt Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

But he said a full ceasefire would only work if Ukraine’s supporters stopped giving military assistance – a condition Kyiv’s European allies have previously rejected.

Hours later both Ukraine and Russia launched attacks, with Kyiv saying hospitals had been targeted.

Officials in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar said that a Ukrainian drone attack sparked a small fire at an oil depot.

Despite the strikes, Kyiv and Moscow carried out an exchange of prisoners on Wednesday. Each side released 175 POWs.

Zelensky described the swap as “one of the largest”, adding that Russia included an extra 22 “severely wounded” soldiers.

“There’s a certain level of decorum that I expect from political leaders, especially in front of cameras,” Nate Vance – who spent three years volunteering with the Ukrainian military after Russia’s full-scale invasion – told the BBC.

It follows his earlier comment that Trump and Vance were acting like “useful idiots” for President Vladimir Putin in their handling of the conflict.

Last month US and Russian officials held direct talks on ending the war. US and Ukrainian officials are currently in Saudi Arabia for talks.

Nate Vance told the BBC’s PM programme on Monday that he was “not happy” with the way in which the White House meeting had been handled by his cousin and Trump.

“I’m kind of attached to the Ukrainian issue but, looking at that, if it were some other completely neutral issue and I saw White House officials and hack journalists that are political belittling a foreign leader, I’d be like ‘what the hell is going on?'” he told the BBC.

The televised Oval Office meeting between the leaders quickly turned heated, with Trump threatening to withdraw support from Ukraine if a deal was not made and accusing the Ukrainian President of “gambling with World War Three”.

Vance called Zelensky “disrespectful” for “litigating” the dispute in front of the media and accused him of not expressing gratitude for America’s support during the war.

Nate Vance said that he did not agree that Zelensky had failed to show appreciation. “Zelensky does a daily or nightly address and thanks everyone who supports Ukraine on a daily basis,” he said.

He said that perhaps the Ukrainian leader had not shown “enough deference to Donald Trump” but that it would be “odd for my cousin and Donald Trump to ask for deference because they’ve been actively working against his initiatives for the past three years”.

Zelensky was eventually asked to leave the White House and a planned news conference was cancelled.

Following the meeting, the Trump administration halted military aid, satellite imagery and intelligence sharing to Kyiv.

The Ukrainian leader, who will be in the Gulf kingdom but not take part in the talks, said Kyiv was working to reach a “fast and lasting” peace.

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said the American team wanted to discuss a “framework” for peace to try to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

Last Friday, Zelensky and Trump were involved in a public clash at the White House – during which Trump said Zelensky was not ready to end the fighting. The US proceeded to pause military aid to Ukraine and stop sharing intelligence.

The Ukrainian president has expressed regret about the incident and tried to repair relations with the US – the country’s biggest military supplier.

On Thursday, Witkoff said Trump had received a letter from Zelensky that included an “apology” and “sense of gratitude”.

“Hopefully, we get things back on track with the Ukrainians, and everything resumes,” Witkoff said.

Zelensky has been under strong US pressure to make concessions ahead of any peace talks, while the Ukrainian president has been pushing for firm security guarantees for Kyiv.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and now controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.

The fighting continues, with Ukraine on Thursday night reporting a “massive missile and drone” attack on its energy infrastructure.

The Polish military also said it was forced to scramble fighter jets and activate ground-based air defence systems amid the attack, which threatened regions as far as western Ukraine.

Zelensky announced the US-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia in a series of posts on social media, after attending Thursday’s crisis summit in Brussels where European Union leaders endorsed plans for a boost in defence spending.

“Ukrainian and American teams have resumed work, and we hope that next week we will have a meaningful meeting,” he wrote on X.

“Ukraine has been seeking peace since the very first moment of the war, and we have always stated that the war continues solely because of Russia.”

Zelensky urged the global community to put more pressure on Moscow so it “accepts the need to end” the war.

He also made an apparent reference to a truce plan outlined earlier this week by French President Emmanuel Macron, which proposed a ceasefire in the air and at sea, and an end to attacks on energy and other civilian infrastructure.

Russia has not publicly commented on the French proposals.

On Thursday, Putin said Moscow was seeking a peace “that would ensure calmness for our country in the long-term perspective.

“We don’t need anything that belongs to others, but we won’t give up anything that belongs to us either,” the Kremlin leader added.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said he hopes a “fair, lasting, binding peace agreement that every side can accept” could be struck.

Russia annexed Ukraine’s southern Crimea peninsula in 2014, and claims another four Ukrainian regions in the south-east as its own – although Moscow doesn’t fully control them.

Ukraine and its European allies have in recent weeks expressed alarm over what many on the continent see as Donald Trump’s overtures to Russia.

Trump vowed during the US election campaign to bring the war to an end quickly, and preliminary US-Russian talks were held in Saudi Arabia last month – without European or Ukrainian representatives present.

The US’s decision to halt its military aid Ukraine has been cast by Trump administration officials as a means of getting Kyiv to co-operate with the US-led peace talks.

Any corresponding pressure the US has been putting on Moscow to make concessions has not been made public.

The US is “doing very well with Russia”, and “it may be easier dealing with” Moscow than Kyiv, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday.

Hours earlier, Trump had said he was “strongly considering” large-scale sanctions and tariffs on Russia until a ceasefire with Ukraine was reached.

Meanwhile, the US has temporarily suspended Ukraine’s access to some satellite imagery, space technology company Maxar told BBC Verify, after Trump had already paused military aid to the country.

It comes exactly one week after an extraordinary White House exchange, in which Trump berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for being “disrespectful” to the US.

That public dressing-down was followed this week by Trump pausing all US military aid and intelligence-sharing with Kyiv.

Russia then conducted a large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on Thursday night.

Trump’s threat of further sanctions on the already heavily sanctioned Russia was apparently in response to this attack. He said he was considering new tariffs because “Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now”.

But within hours, Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin was acting as anyone else would.

“I think he’s hitting them [Ukraine] harder than he’s been hitting them,” Trump said. “And I think probably anyone in that position would be doing that right now.”

He added that he believes Putin wants to end the war but he cannot say the same of Ukraine.

“I want to know they [Ukraine] want to settle and I don’t know they want to settle,” Trump said, when asked why he had cut off aid to Kyiv.

Trump’s direct diplomacy with Putin stunned Nato allies, because the West has shunned contacts with Moscow since Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Despite Trump’s row with Zelensky, the tone from his foreign policy team in the last two days has sounded more conciliatory towards Ukraine, after its arm-wrenching in the form of cutting off military and intelligence support.

The Americans want Zelensky to sign a deal that would give them a major stake in Ukrainian minerals, and for him to agree to a quick truce with Moscow.

Zelensky has been pushing for firm security guarantees for Kyiv, to be agreed as part of the deal. Speaking on Friday, Trump said such a security guarantee could be discussed later and would be the “easy part”.

Meanwhile, space technology company Maxar told BBC Verify on Friday that the US had temporarily suspended Ukrainian access to some high quality imagery from US satellites.

Satellite imagery is an important tool during a war as it allows armies to gather intelligence on their rivals.

Maxar, a US-based company, has contracts to provide satellite imagery to various governments and companies.

One of those is the Global Enhanced GEOINT Deliver (GEGD) program, which gives users access to high quality imagery collected by the US government.

“The US government has decided to temporarily suspend Ukrainian accounts in GEGD,” Maxar told the BBC. “Each customer makes their own decisions on how they use and share that data.”

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, part of the US Department of Defense, confirmed the suspension was “in accordance with the administration’s directive on support to Ukraine”.Watch in full: The remarkable exchange between Zelensky and Trump

Next week, Trump’s senior officials will travel to Saudi Arabia to meet Zelensky’s team amid growing pressure for him to sign up to Trump’s demands.

Ukraine’s president has said he hopes the talks will be “meaningful”. On Friday, he said his country was “ready for peace as soon as possible” and had proposed “concrete steps” to achieve it.

“Every day, new Russian strikes and reality itself prove that it is Russia that must be forced to peace,” he added.

Zelensky has expressed regret in the days since his public clash with Trump and worked to mend relations with the US.

On Thursday, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said Trump had received a letter from Zelensky that included an “apology” and “sense of gratitude”.

“Hopefully, we get things back on track with the Ukrainians, and everything resumes,” Witkoff said.

UK officials have said around 20 countries are interested in joining a “coalition of the willing” to help Ukraine, as European leaders forge ahead with plans for much bigger military expenditure.

Fighting on the ground in Ukraine continued on Friday, with five people killed by Russian troops in the Donetsk region, according to local authorities.

Trump in response said he “appreciates” a letter he reportedly received from Zelensky, reading excerpts during an address to Congress that echoed the Ukrainian leader’s statement.

Their relationship had frayed when the US president accused his Ukrainian counterpart of being “disrespectful” and “gambling with World War Three” during the tense meeting on 28 February.

Zelensky, at times frustrated with the tone of the comments from Trump and his Vice-President JD Vance, attempted during the conversation to rebut the claims they made, and said there could be “no compromise” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But the Oval Office meeting was not the first time the two men have exchanged barbs.

Here is a look back at what the two have said to, and about, one another, and how their public relationship has developed over the years.

21 April 2019: On the day Zelensky is elected president of Ukraine, Trump, still in his first term, calls Zelensky to congratulate him. Trump says it was an “incredible election” and adds that “you will do a great job”.

2019: Allies of Trump begin stoking allegations that Joe Biden, then Democratic frontrunner for president, lobbied Ukraine to dismiss its top prosecutor to stymie an investigation into energy firm Burisma, of which his son, Hunter, sat on the board. The allegations were later found to be fabricated, and the prosecutor was removed from office for corruption.

25 July 2019: In a phone conversation that would become the basis for Trump’s first impeachment, Trump asks Zelensky to “get to the bottom” of the allegations. Zelensky says the evidence would reviewed later that year.

29 September 2020: In the first presidential debate between Trump and Biden, Trump alludes to the allegations, saying: “Once you became vice-president, [Hunter] made a fortune in Ukraine and China and Moscow and various other places.”

24 February 2022: Russia begins its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which Trump describes as “appalling”. He adds that Zelensky is “brave” for remaining in Kyiv, and claims the invasion “would never have happened” if he had been elected in 2020.

5 March 2023: “Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, I will have the disastrous war between Russia and Ukraine settled,” Trump tells a conservative conference. “And it will take me no longer than one day.”

May 2024: Zelensky’s term expires but he remains in office, as scheduled elections in Ukraine do not go ahead because the nation remains under martial law. He previously said that “now is not the time for elections”.

22 September 2024: Zelensky tells the New Yorker magazine: “My feeling is that Trump doesn’t really know how to stop the war, even if he might think he knows how.” He adds that “many” leaders have thought they could, but have been unable to.

25 September 2024: On the campaign trail, Trump accuses Zelensky of “making little nasty aspersions toward your favourite president, me”, adding: “Any deal, even the worst deal, would have been better than what we have right now.”

27 September 2024: Zelensky and Trump meet in New York. Zelensky says they have a “common view that the war has to be stopped and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin can’t win”, while Trump says he will resolve the war “very quickly”.

6 November 2024: Trump is re-elected US president. Zelensky is among the first world leaders to call to congratulate him, writing shortly after that he looked forward to a “strong” US under Trump’s “decisive leadership”.

22 January 2025: “It’s time to MAKE A DEAL,” Trump writes on Truth Social. “We can do it the easy way or the hard way.” He adds that without a deal, he will be forced to place further economic restrictions on Russia.

23 January 2025: Trump tells the World Economic Forum that Zelensky “wants to make a deal” but Putin “might not”.

15 February 2025: Zelensky writes that he has begun working with Trump’s team, adding: “The world is looking up to America as the power that has the ability to not only stop the war but also help ensure the reliability of peace afterward.”

18 February 2025: US-Russia talks about ending the war begin in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Zelensky tells reporters that the talks took place “behind Ukraine’s back”, adding: “Once again, decisions about Ukraine are being made without Ukraine.”

18 February 2025: After the talks, Trump says he was “disappointed” by Ukraine’s reaction and appeared to blame Ukraine for starting the war, adding that the country “could have made a deal” earlier.

19 February 2025: Zelensky says the US president is caught in a Russian “disinformation space”. He adds: “We are standing strong on our own two feet. I am counting on… the unity of Europe and the pragmatism of America.”

19 February 2025: Trump accuses Zelensky of talking the US into spending $350bn (£277bn), and of claiming that half of that money was now missing. Trump calls Zelensky a “dictator” who has “done a terrible job”.

23 February 2025: Zelensky tells a forum that he isn’t offended by Trump calling him a “dictator”. He says: “If I were a dictator, I’d be offended. But I take it. Well, okay, good.”

25 February 2025: Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says a major minerals deal with the US has been agreed. The same day, Trump says he is expecting Zelensky in Washington to sign the deal later that week.

26 February 2025: At a cabinet meeting, Trump says the presence of US workers extracting rare earth metals in Ukraine would provide “automatic security”. Zelensky says the success of the deal, formally backed by his government that evening, would depend on the outcome of his meeting with Trump.

27 February 2025: Asked by the BBC whether he sticks by his claim that Zelensky is a “dictator”, Trump replies: “Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that. Next question.” He also calls Zelensky “very brave”.

27 February 2025: After Trump’s talks with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at the White House, the US president tells reporters he predicts a “very good meeting” with Zelensky on Friday.

28 February 2025: Zelenksy arrives in Washington to discuss an agreement on sharing Ukraine’s mineral resources.

28 February 2025: In a tense public meeting in the Oval Office, Trump accuses Zelensky of being “disrespectful” to the US – something the Ukrainian leader rejects – adding: “Your people are very brave, but you’re either going to make a deal or we’re out. And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out.”

28 February 2025: Zelensky says of the war: “You have nice ocean and don’t feel now. But you will feel it in the future.” Trump responds: “Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel.”

28 February 2025: Trump ends the meeting by saying Zelensky is not being “very thankful” and that “this is going to make great television”.

28 February 2025: Trump writes on social media: “It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelensky is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE.”

3 March 2025: The US announces it is “pausing and reviewing” its military aid to Ukraine. A White House official tells the BBC’s US news partner CBS its reason is to “ensure that it is contributing to a solution… The President has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well.”

4 March 2025: Zelensky releases a statement on social media describing the White House row as “regrettable”. He says it is “time to make things right”, and he is ready to work under Trump’s “strong leadership” to achieve lasting peace.

4 March 2025: During an address to the joint houses of Congress, Trump says he “appreciates” a letter he says he received from Zelensky. Trump reads excerpts from the letter, which reportedly says “Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians… My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.”

“A very bad decision,” remarked blogger and army serviceman Yuriy Kasyanov, who thinks the US “won’t help Ukraine with anything” after this mineral deal is signed.

“The president behaved with dignity” said former MP Boryslav Bereza, who described Zelensky’s softening of tone as an “apology”.

Last night, Ukraine’s leader gave his evening address from the courtyard outside Kyiv’s Presidential Office. It was the same spot where he gave the now famous “we are all here” speech with his cabinet on the second day of Russia’s invasion.

Back then, he’d turned down offers to leave. Many in the West expected Russia to be in the capital within days, with the president being captured or killed.

Three years on, it seems his choice to keep fighting has gradually been taken away from him.

He said he was ready to work under Trump’s “strong leadership” and that it was “time to make things right”.

Washington’s hostile rhetoric, that Oval Office meeting and the “pausing” of US military aid have forced him to bend to Trump’s peace vision.

Up until last week, Zelensky had held firm that Ukraine would only agree to peace if its security was guaranteed, otherwise it would fight on.

He also accused Trump of living in a “disinformation space” after the US president repeated some of Moscow’s claims.

All of this served as a prelude to Friday’s fiery exchange with Trump and US Vice-President JD Vance, who accused Zelensky of having “disrespected” the US and ultimately told him to leave.

The Ukrainian leader had a warmer reception from European leaders at the weekend – but while they pledged to help secure Ukraine in the future, they made clear peace would still require US involvement.

Then, on Tuesday, Trump paused US military aid to Ukraine, raising concerns it may only be able to hold out for a matter of months – and leaving Zelensky to make his peace with the situation.

In a letter to the US president, he even gave specifics on what the first stage of a peace process could involve, including a naval and aerial ceasefire – proposals first suggested by France’s President Emmanuel Macron over the weekend.

Trump said he appreciated the letter, in a sign of cooling tensions between the two leaders, and that Zelensky had agreed to strike a peace deal.

What is more telling is Zelensky’s willingness now to sign a mineral deal without the security guarantees he is hoping for – and had portrayed as essential until very recently.

The US has suggested the presence of US companies mining for natural resources would be enough to put Russia off breaking a ceasefire. However, American businesses didn’t exactly put Moscow off from launching its full-scale invasion.

What’s even more telling are the lack of compromises Russia would seemingly have to make in any peace agreement.

Perhaps Zelensky has run out of political road, and with his European allies acknowledging that they still need the US, Washington seems still to be the only place for him to turn to.

The Ukrainian president described the White House showdown as “regrettable” in a lengthy social media post in the wake of the US announcing a pause in military aid to Kyiv.

Zelensky said “it was time to make things right”, after Trump had accused him of not being ready to come to the negotiating table.

The Ukrainian leader also outlined the first stages of how the war could be ended.

“We are ready to work fast to end the war, and the first stages could be the release of prisoners and truce in the sky – ban on missiles, long-ranged drones, bombs on energy and other civilian infrastructure – and truce in the sea immediately, if Russia will do the same,” he wrote.

“Then we want to move very fast through all next stages and to work with the US to agree a strong final deal.”

In his social media post, Zelensky said Friday’s meeting “did not go the way it was supposed to be”, adding: “It is regrettable that it happened this way,” he wrote. “It is time to make things right. We would like future co-operation and communication to be constructive.”

He also reiterated that Ukraine was ready to sign a minerals deal with the US, after the failure to do so at the Washington meeting.

Ukraine woke to the news on Tuesday that the US was “pausing and reviewing” its military aid to the country after a breakdown in diplomacy last week.

In his post, Zelensky offered an overt declaration of gratitude for the help the US has so far given to his country.

“We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence,” he wrote.

“And we remember the moment when things changed when President Trump provided Ukraine with Javelins. We are grateful for this,” he added, referring to the US anti-tank missile system sold to Ukraine during Trump’s first administration.

During Friday’s meeting in the Oval Office, Vice-President JD Vance accused Zelensky of being ungrateful for the military support the US had provided.

“Have you said ‘thank you’ once this entire meeting?” Vance said, before Trump told Zelensky he was not being “very thankful”.

Zelensky defended himself in the meeting, and began an interview with Fox News in the hours afterwards, saying: “I’m very thankful to Americans for all your support.”

The Oval Office meeting between Zelensky and US officials last week was due to conclude with the two parties signing a deal that would grant the US access to rare earth minerals in Ukraine.

After the clash, which saw Trump accuse Zelensky of “gambling with World War III”, the Ukrainian delegation left without signing the deal – Trump told Zelensky “come back when you’re ready for peace”.

Trump is due to deliver an address to Congress later on Tuesday, during which the Reuters news agency reports he plans to announce a minerals deal between US and Ukraine has been signed.

A number of Ukraine’s allies have commented on the latest from the Ukrainian president, including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who welcomed Zelensky’s “steadfast commitment to securing peace”.

It is “vital that all parties worked towards a lasting and secure peace for Ukraine as soon as possible”, a statement from No 10 said.

Likewise, French President Emmanuel Macron praised Zelensky’s willingness to “re-engage in dialogue” with Trump, the Elysee Palace said.

Days before his meeting with Zelensky, the US President had met with Macron, who travelled to Washington with a warning to Trump: “You can’t be weak in the face of Putin.”

While European leaders rallied behind Zelensky following the clash, Nato’s secretary general advised the Ukrainian leader to “find a way” to restore his relationship with Trump.

Speaking to the BBC the following day, Mark Rutte said he had told him “we have to respect” what Trump has done for Ukraine so far.

Zelensky’s statement falls short of an apology to Trump, which those in the US president’s camp had called for.

In Moscow, Vladimir Putin’s team earlier welcomed the US’s pause to military aid as likely to be the “best” contribution to peace.

“If the US stops, or pauses these supplies, this will probably be the best contribution to the cause of peace,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg.

Trump himself has not commented on the pause to aid, nor Zelensky’s response, however he did earlier berate the Ukrainian leader following his meetings with European allies at the weekend.

A Sunday summit – hosted by the UK prime minister – was intended as a show of support for Ukraine.

After the meeting, Zelensky said a deal to end the war between Ukraine and Russia was “still very, very far away”.

Trump described this as the “worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky”, in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be peace as long as he has America’s backing,” the president wrote.