Ukraine war briefing: Trump calls for ‘ideally a 30-day ceasefire’ backed with sanctions
www.theguardian.com
Fri, 09 May 2025 04:08:29 +0300
Ukrainians record 734 attacks despite Putins claim of threeday halt to fighting Britain further targets Russian oil shadow fleet.
What we know on day 1,171Donald Trump after a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for ideally, a 30day unconditional ceasefire.
If the ceasefire is not respected, the US and its partners will impose further sanctions, Trump posted.
Zelenskyy said after the call on Thursday that he told Trump that Ukraine was ready for talks on the war with Russia in any format but first Russia must show that it is serious about ending the war, starting with a full and unconditional ceasefire.The call between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday went very well, said a senior Ukrainian official.
The conversation lasted about 20 minutes and focused on diplomacy and the genuine ceasefire that the US and Ukraine are trying to establish, while the presidents also discussed the UkraineUS minerals deal, ratified on Thursday by the Ukrainian parliament.Ukraine has accused Russia of violating Vladimir Putins selfdeclared ceasefire 734 times within its first 12 hours.
Kyivs foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, called it a farce.
The Russian presidents unagreed ceasefire aims to protect parades and other proceedings on Russias biggest secular holiday, the 80th anniversary of victory over Germany in the second world war.In its opening hours, Russian bombs struck northeast Ukraine, killing at least one civilian, said Ukrainian officials who added that artillery assaults took place across the 1,000km 620 mile frontline, although with less intensity than in the previous 24 hours.
Russia carried out 63 assaults along the frontline.
Attacks took place near Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region.
Largescale missile and drone attacks abated for a short time, the Ukrainian air force said.
But Russian forces fired a missile in central Ukraines Poltava region, a top regional official said, damaging roofs of houses when air defences brought it down.The Russian defence Ministry accused Ukrainian forces of attacking its positions and said Russian forces would continue to mirror Ukraines actions during the Kremlins ceasefire.
The Russian regions of Belgorod, Lipetsk, Orenburg, Ryazan and Tambov issued drone alerts, but there were no reports of any drones being shot down or intercepted.
Russias civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia briefly imposed restrictions on flights to and from the airport in Nizhny Novgorod.Reuters journalists with a Ukrainian drone unit near the front in eastern Ukraine said a Russian infantry raiding party tried to advance on Thursday, but was stopped by drones.
The infantry are still coming, said one of the soldiers in the unit, a 33yearold who identified himself by his callsign Mikha.
A second person who identified himself as Nazar said in the six hours since the Russian ceasefire started there had been three strikes on his section of the front The facts speak for themselves.Germany said Trump voiced support for European efforts to end the Ukraine war in a first phone call with the new German chancellor, Friedrich Merz.
A German statement said Trump said he would strongly support Germanys efforts, together with France, Great Britain, Poland and other European partners, to achieve lasting peace.
Merz assured Zelenskyy of his support and remained open to arming Ukraine with Germanys Taurus cruise missiles, which the previous chancellor, Olaf Scholz, refused to do.Britain has announced further sanctions targeting Russias shadow fleet of oil tankers.
Keir Starmer, the prime minister, said his government was sanctioning up to 100 tankers responsible for carrying more than 24bn worth of cargo since the start of 2024.
The UK also said the ships are damaging critical subsea cables in Europe.Starmer is due to attend a meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force JEF in Oslo on Friday where Ukraine and Arctic security are on the agenda.
The Britishled military alliance is expected to announce further support for Ukraines armed forces including intensive training exercises and efforts to counter disinformation.
The JEF consists of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Netherlands, and Sweden, as well as the UK.
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