Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
Trump says ‘hopefully … a ceasefire will take place’ after his calls on Monday with Putin, Zelensky and Nato leaders
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky met with US vice president JD Vance on the sidelines of the Pope’s inauguration, Kyiv officials have said.
The pair were seen shaking hands in their first encounter since their infamous White House clash earlier this year, which saw Mr Zelensky leave after a shouting match with Donald Trump and Mr Vance.
Mr Zelensky also met the new Pope Leo and said he was grateful for the Vatican’s offer to host direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow, and “for its clear voice to defend just and lasting peace”.
The meetings came ahead of what could be a pivotal phone call in the war, with Mr Trump speaking to Mr Putin on Monday morning. The US president will also speak to Volodymyr Zelensky and has claimed “a ceasefire will take place”.
Meanwhile, Russia launched one of its most intense drone attacks on Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion in 2022, firing a total of 273 exploding drones and decoys overnight, Ukraine’s air force said.
Ukraine’s military has reported another day of heavy fighting along the front line, with at least 70 clashes between Ukrainian and Russian forces reported so far.
Once again, the heaviest fighting was in the direction of Pokrovsk, according to Ukraine’s military, with Vladimir Putin’s forces making 25 attempts to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their positions in settlements near the Donetsk city, which has been central in Moscow’s sights for months now.
In its daily update, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said Ukrainian troops had already repelled 22 attacks on the Povkrovsk axis, with three more confrontations ongoing.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said that he, Sir Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Poland’s Donald Tusk are aiming to speak with Donald Trump ahead of the US president’s planned call with Vladimir Putin tomorrow.
Mr Merz said he had discussed the issue with US secretary of state Marco Rubio while the two men were attending the inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican. Mr Merz said he also spoke at length at the Vatican with Ukraine’s [resident Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“I spoke with Marco Rubio, including about the call tomorrow. We agreed that we will speak again with the four state leaders and the US president in preparation of this conversation,” the German chancellor told reporters.
Volodymyr Zelensky said he met Pope Leo following the new pontiff’s inaugural Mass at the Vatican, adding that Kyiv was ready for talks in any format to get real results in ending the war with Russia.
The Ukrainian president said on Telegram that he was grateful to the Vatican for its readiness to host direct talks between Ukraine and Russia and “for its clear voice to defend just and lasting peace”.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky and US vice president JD Vance met on the sidelines of the Pope’s inauguration, Kyiv officials have said.
Earlier today they were seeing shaking hands, in their first encounter since the infamous White House clash earlier this year, which saw President Zelensky leaving after a shouting match with Donald Trump and Mr Vance.
The pair smiled as they shook hands in the brief exchange. Mr Zelensky later met with Mr Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the mass, a source in the Ukrainian delegation told Reuters.
Both Mr Vance and Mr Rubio are Catholics, though the former clashed with the late Pope Francis over the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policies.
Russia wants western sanctions lifted but is sceptical that they will be lifted soon.
Even if the U.S. lifted sanctions, EU and other Western sanctions – such as those imposed by Australia, Britain, Canada and Japan – could remain for years to come.
Ukraine wants the sanctions to remain in place.
Reuters has reported that the U.S. government is studying ways it could ease sanctions on Russia’s energy sector as part of a broad plan to enable Washington to deliver swift relief if Moscow agrees to end the Ukraine war.
Moscow controls about a fifth of Ukraine and says the territory is now formally part of Russia, a position most countries do not accept.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Russian forces control almost all of Luhansk, and more than 70% of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, according to Russian estimates. Russia also controls a sliver of Kharkiv region.
In Putin’s most detailed public proposals for peace, outlined in June 2024, he said Ukraine would have to withdraw from the entirety of those regions – so even from areas not currently under Russian control. His negotiators restated those demands in the May 16 Istanbul talks, the Ukrainian source said.
According to Alexander Kots, a war correspondent for Russia’s Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, the negotiators also told their Ukrainian counterparts that Kyiv would need to drop all claims to the four regions and Crimea.
Under a draft peace plan crafted by the Trump administration, the U.S. would de jure recognise Russian control of Crimea, and de facto recognise Russian control of Luhansk and parts of Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Kherson.
Kyiv’s military intelligence agency said Russia was planning to conduct a “training and combat” launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile late on Sunday to intimidate Ukraine and the West.
The GUR agency said in a statement on the Telegram app that the launch was ordered to be implemented from Russia’s Sverdlovsk region, adding that the flight range for the missile was more than 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles).
Russia has repeatedly said that possible NATO membership for Kyiv was a cause of the war, is unacceptable and that Ukraine must be neutral – with no foreign bases. Zelenskiy has said it is not for Moscow to decide Ukraine’s alliances.
At the 2008 Bucharest summit, NATO leaders agreed that Ukraine and Georgia would one day become members. Ukraine in 2019 amended its constitution, committing to the path of full membership of NATO and the European Union.
U.S. envoy General Keith Kellogg has said NATO membership for Ukraine is “off the table”. Trump has said past U.S. support for Ukraine’s membership of NATO was a cause of the war.
In 2022, Ukraine and Russia discussed permanent neutrality. Russia wanted limits on the Ukrainian military, according to a copy of a potential agreement reviewed by Reuters. Ukraine staunchly opposes the idea of curbs to the size and capabilities of its armed forces.
Russia has said it has no objections to Ukraine seeking EU membership, though some members of the bloc could oppose Kyiv’s bid.
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in