Ukraine war briefing: Putin rejects ceasefire; Starmer says only Russia blocking peace

Yahoo

12-05-2025

Vladimir Putin has rejected an ultimatum by European leaders to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine or face increased sanctions, but has proposed holding direct negotiations with Kyiv this week. Hours after Ukraine and European leaders called for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire to start on Monday, the Russian president proposed holding direct talks in Istanbul on Thursday. 'We don't exclude that during these negotiations we will be able to agree on new ceasefires,' Putin said on Sunday.
Hours earlier, European leaders issued the ultimatum to Putin. The leaders of the UK, France, Germany and Poland, together with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, made a joint phone call to Donald Trump prior to making the announcement. It was the first time the leaders of the four European nations had made a joint visit to Ukraine. 'We are clear the bloodshed must end. Russia must stop its illegal invasion,' the leaders said in a joint statement.
Zelenskyy told a news conference after their talks that the ceasefire should cover air, sea and land, and that if Moscow refused, it would face new sanctions, including the strengthening of punitive measures targeting its energy and banking sectors.
The Kremlin accused European countries on Saturday of making contradictory and confrontational statements, Interfax news agency reported. '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.
In an earlier interview with ABC News, Peskov said Russia would require a halt to US and European arms supplies to Ukraine during any potential ceasefire. 'Otherwise it will be an advantage for Ukraine. Ukraine will continue their total mobilisation, bringing new troops to front line.'
Keir Starmer has said there is 'absolute unity' of countries around the world on Ukraine. Speaking from Kyiv on Saturday, the UK 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 that '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 long-term stability. Speaking at the 'coalition of the willing' meeting in Kyiv on Saturday, he said 'securing Ukraine's future for the longer term' had been discussed, with measures including the resumption of flights to 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 claim. Ukraine says Russia has continued to attack it and has called Moscow's three-day 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 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.