Sir Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about ending Russia’s “brutal war” on Ukraine of their newest telephone name on Easter Monday, as Vladimir Putin stated he was open to bilateral talks.
The prime minister and Ukrainian president spoke on Monday afternoon, when Sir Keir “reiterated his iron-clad support for Ukraine”.
A Downing Road spokesperson added that the prime minister “said that the UK supports Ukraine’s calls for Russia to commit to a full ceasefire and that now is the time for Putin to show he is serious about ending his brutal war”.
“They discussed the latest developments on the Coalition of the Willing, and looked forward to further progress towards a just and lasting peace,” the spokesperson added.
Mr Zelenskyy later stated on social media that he had a “good and detailed conversation” with the prime minister, and added Ukrainian officers might be in London for talks on ending the struggle with Russia on Wednesday.
“We are ready to move forward as constructively as possible, just as we have done before, to achieve an unconditional ceasefire, followed by the establishment of a real and lasting peace,” he added.
The Ukrainian president added that the 30-hour Easter truce, which each Kyiv and Moscow accuse the opposite of violating, confirmed that Russia “are prolonging the war”.
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It comes as Mr Putin proposed bilateral talks with Ukraine on an extended ceasefire, which might mark the primary time Russia held such talks since a failed peace deal quickly after the invasion in 2022.
Talking to a state TV reporter, the Russian president stated: “We always have a positive attitude towards a truce, which is why we came up with such an initiative (the Easter truce), especially since we are talking about the bright Easter days.”
When requested about Mr Zelenskyy’s calls to increase the 30-hour ceasefire right into a 30-day pause on civilian targets, he added: “This is all a subject for careful study, perhaps even bilaterally. We do not rule this out.”
The Ukrainian president stated on Sunday night that the Russian military had “violated Putin’s ceasefire more than 2,000 times” through the day, and accused Russia of “failing” to “uphold its own promise of a ceasefire”.
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From Saturday: Why Putin provided an Easter truce?
It additionally comes after Donald Trump has stated he hopes Russia and Ukraine “will make a deal this week,” after he and his secretary of state Marco Rubio warned that the US will stroll away from efforts to dealer a peace deal except there are clear indicators of progress quickly.
The US president stated on his Reality Social platform that each international locations would “start to do big business” with the US after ending the struggle.
Final month, Ukraine accepted Mr Trump’s proposal for a 30-day truce, however Mr Putin refused to again a full 30-day ceasefire, saying essential problems with verification had not been sorted out.
He then stated he would agree to not goal Ukraine’s power infrastructure. Nonetheless, either side have accused one another of breaking the moratorium on assaults on power targets and at sea.
