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Trump says ‘hopefully … a ceasefire will take place’ after his calls on Monday with Putin and Zelensky
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Sir Keir Starmer and fellow European leaders have spoken to Donald Trump about a Ukraine ceasefire and further sanctions on Russia, ahead of the US president’s upcoming call to Vladimir Putin.
After peace talks in Istanbul ended without progress on Friday, Mr Trump announced he would speak to Mr Putin on Monday, followed by Volodymyr Zelensky and Nato leaders, in what could be a pivotal set of conversations after months of stalled attempts.
Vowing to try and “stop the bloodbath”, the US president said: “Hopefully it will be a productive day. A ceasefire will take place, and this very violent war, a war that should have never happened, will end.”
In a boost for Kyiv, Downing Street said Sir Keir Starmer – along with France’s Emmanuel Macron, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Germany’s Friedrich Merz – spoke to Mr Trump on Sunday night ahead of the US president’s call to Moscow.
A No 10 spokesperson said: “The leaders discussed the need for an unconditional ceasefire and for President Putin to take peace talks seriously.
“They also discussed the use of sanctions if Russia failed to engage seriously in a ceasefire and peace talks. The leaders looked forward to speaking again soon.”
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said on Sunday that Russia planned to conduct a “training and combat” launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile to intimidate Ukraine and the West.
The overnight launch was ordered to be implemented from Russia’s Sverdlovsk region, the GUR agency said, adding the missile’s flight range was more than 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles).
“In order to demonstratively pressure and intimidate Ukraine, and also EU and Nato member states, the aggressor state of Russia intends to make a ‘training and combat’ launch of the RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile from the Yars complex,” GUR said in the statement.
There was no immediate comment from Russia on the Ukrainian military intelligence statement. Russia does not answer questions about its plans to test launch nuclear missiles, the details of which it classifies as a military secret, although it issues statements after such launches.
Former veterans minister Johnny Mercer has said the spirit of ex-soldiers in Ukraine was “remarkable” after he paid a visit to Kyiv to support fellow veterans.
Mr Mercer was on a visit to help the veterans ministry and charities set up a platform to offer work and health services to the country’s war veterans.
While there are currently 1.2 million veterans in Ukraine, after the war it’s believed there will be up to six million.
Our reporter Alex Ross spoke to Mr Mercer about his trip – and how a drone landed near his hotel during his stay:
Sir Keir Starmer has held a phone call with Donald Trump and other European leaders ahead of the US president’s call with Vladimir Putin tomorrow about Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Downing Street said Sir Keir and Mr Trump – along with France’s Emmanuel Macron, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Germany’s Friedrich Merz – discussed “the situation in Ukraine, and the catastrophic cost of the war to both sides”.
A No 10 spokesperson said: “Looking ahead to President Trump’s call with President Putin tomorrow, the leaders discussed the need for an unconditional ceasefire and for President Putin to take peace talks seriously.
“They also discussed the use of sanctions if Russia failed to engage seriously in a ceasefire and peace talks. The leaders looked forward to speaking again soon.”
Mr Trump had initially announced that he would speak to Mr Putin on Monday and follow that discussion up with calls to Volodymyr Zelensky and Nato allies, but Western leaders said on Sunday they were pushing to speak to the US president prior to his call to Moscow.
Russia has detained a Greek-owned oil tanker today after it left an Estonian Baltic Sea port, the Estonian foreign ministry has said.
Estonia said it had alerted Nato allies to the incident, adding that the Liberia-flagged ship Green Admire had been leaving Sillamae port using a designated navigation channel that crosses Russian territorial waters. It left the port at 6:40pm GMT and by Sunday afternoon was anchored near Russia’s Hogland island, according to the Marine Traffic website.
The ship was bound for Rotterdam with a load of Estonia’s shale oil, said the Estonian Transport Administration. The navigation channel out of Sillamae through Russian territorial waters has been set up under an agreement between Estonia, Finland and Russia to avoid shallows in the Estonian waters, the administration said.
“Today’s incident shows that Russia continues to behave unpredictably,” said foreign minister Margus Tsahkna. “I have also informed our Allies of the event.”
On Thursday, Estonia said Russia had sent a fighter jet into Nato airspace over the Baltic Sea after an attempt to stop a Russia-bound tanker thought to be part of a so-called “shadow fleet” used by Moscow to evade sanctions.
Estonia’s prime minister Kristen Michal has expressed hope that Donald Trump will raise the threat of fresh sanctions in his phone call with Vladimir Putin on Monday.
“I hope that he will continue this line, that the pressure is mounting,” Mr Michal said in an interview with Reuters.
Estonia will keep checking Russian “shadow fleet” vessels, prime minister Kristen Michal has vowed, days after Russia deployed a Su-35 fighter jet as Estonia attempted to alter the course of one such ship.
Estonia said the jet briefly breached Nato airspace during the Baltic country’s attempt to inspect a Russian-bound oil tanker, thought to be part of a so-called shadow fleet defying Western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
Last week’s incident “doesn’t change a thing”, with Estonia determined to continue checking suspicious tankers, Mr Michal told Reuters on Sunday.
“I would say that everybody – Estonians, Finns – will be monitoring these kind of ships, and if there’s something suspicious we will ask about it. Everybody will do that,” he said.
Mr Michal said the Estonian Navy had no plans to board the suspect tanker, which then sailed into Russian waters, escorted by the Su-35 and an Estonian patrol boat. Estonia detained another shadow fleet tanker, Kiwala, in April.
Russia receives an estimated 60 per cent of its oil revenues via shipments by the “shadow fleet” to buyers in countries such as China and India, according to Estonian estimates.
After a night of air alerts, Ukraine’s air force said that – as of 8am – Russia had launched 273 drones at Ukrainian cities, more than the previous record Moscow had set in February on the war’s third anniversary.
In the ruins of her family home in the Obukhiv region west of Kyiv, Natalia Piven, 44, told Reuters of how she squeezed into a cellar with her son after an air raid warning, just in time to survive a first wave of drones.
They then ran out to a bomb shelter at a kindergarten, before another wave of drones bore down on the village. Their house was completely destroyed.
A 28-year-old woman who lived next door was killed. Ukrainian authorities said three other people were injured including a four-year-old child.
“I cannot get over it. I simply cannot. I could clearly hear the drone flying right towards my house,” Ms Piven said.
Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a “good” meeting with US secretary of state Marco Rubio and vice president JD Vance, in their first encounter since the infamous Oval Office clash earlier this year.
The Ukrainian president released pictures of Kyiv and Washington officials sitting outside at a round table and smiling. Ukrainian media said the meeting lasted 40 minutes.
“I reaffirmed that Ukraine is ready to be engaged in real diplomacy and underscored the importance of a full and unconditional ceasefire as soon as possible,” Mr Zelensky said.
Ursula von der Leyen has said she wanted to discuss Ukraine with JD Vance, as the EU Commission chief and US vice president met to talk tariffs after attending Pope Leo’s inaugural Mass
With Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni also present, Mr Vance said: “Europe is an important ally of the United States … but, of course, we have some disagreements, as friends sometimes do, on issues like trade.”
He added: “I think we’ll have a great conversation, and hopefully it will be the beginning of some long-term trade negotiations and some long-term trade advantages between both Europe and the United States.”
Noting that the trade relationship between the EU and US was the largest in the world and worth more than $1.5trn a year, Ms von der Leyen said the two sides had exchanged negotiating documents outlining the various areas of future discussion.
“Everybody knows that the devil is in the detail, but what unites us is that at the end, we want together to have a good deal for both sides,” the EU Commission chief said, adding that she also wanted to talk to Mr Vance about Ukraine and defence spending.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky and US vice president JD Vance were seen shaking hands at the inauguration of new Pope Leo XIV on Sunday.
It was the first meeting of the pair following 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.
Our correspondent Rebecca Thomas has the full report:
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