{"id":137949,"date":"2025-05-19T00:27:05","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T00:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-live-starmer-and-trump-discuss-sanctions-ahead-of-crucial-putin-call-the-independent\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T00:27:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T00:27:05","slug":"ukraine-war-live-starmer-and-trump-discuss-sanctions-ahead-of-crucial-putin-call-the-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-live-starmer-and-trump-discuss-sanctions-ahead-of-crucial-putin-call-the-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine war live: Starmer and Trump discuss sanctions ahead of crucial Putin call – The Independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Trump says \u2018hopefully … a ceasefire will take place\u2019 after his calls on Monday with Putin and Zelensky
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Sir Keir Starmer<\/a> and fellow European leaders have spoken to Donald Trump<\/a> about a Ukraine<\/a> ceasefire and further sanctions on Russia<\/a>, ahead of the US president\u2019s upcoming call to Vladimir Putin<\/a>.
After peace talks in Istanbul<\/a> ended without progress on Friday, Mr Trump announced he would speak to Mr Putin on Monday, followed by Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> and Nato<\/a> leaders, in what could be a pivotal set of conversations<\/a> after months of stalled attempts.
Vowing to try and \u201cstop the bloodbath\u201d, the US president said: \u201cHopefully it will be a productive day. A ceasefire will take place, and this very violent war<\/a>, a war that should have never happened, will end.\u201d
In a boost for Kyiv<\/a>, Downing Street said Sir Keir Starmer \u2013 along with France\u2019s Emmanuel Macron<\/a>, Italy\u2019s Giorgia Meloni<\/a> and Germany\u2019s Friedrich Merz<\/a> \u2013 spoke to Mr Trump on Sunday night ahead of the US president\u2019s call to Moscow<\/a>.<\/a>
A No 10 spokesperson said: \u201cThe leaders discussed the need for an unconditional ceasefire and for President Putin to take peace talks seriously.
\u201cThey also discussed the use of sanctions if Russia<\/a> failed to engage seriously in a ceasefire and peace talks. The leaders looked forward to speaking again soon.\u201d<\/a><\/a>
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said on Sunday that Russia planned to conduct a \u201ctraining and combat\u201d launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile to intimidate Ukraine and the West.
The overnight launch was ordered to be implemented from Russia\u2019s Sverdlovsk region, the GUR agency said, adding the missile\u2019s flight range was more than 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles).
\u201cIn order to demonstratively pressure and intimidate Ukraine, and also EU and Nato member states, the aggressor state of Russia intends to make a \u2018training and combat\u2019 launch of the RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile from the Yars complex,\u201d 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 \u201cremarkable\u201d 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\u2019s war veterans.
While there are currently 1.2 million veterans in Ukraine, after the war it\u2019s believed there will be up to six million.
Our reporter <\/em>Alex Ross<\/em><\/strong> spoke to Mr Mercer about his trip \u2013 and how a drone landed near his hotel during his stay:<\/em>
Sir Keir Starmer has held a phone call with Donald Trump and other European leaders ahead of the US president\u2019s call with Vladimir Putin tomorrow about Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine.
Downing Street said Sir Keir and Mr Trump \u2013 along with France\u2019s Emmanuel Macron, Italy\u2019s Giorgia Meloni and Germany\u2019s Friedrich Merz \u2013 discussed \u201cthe situation in Ukraine, and the catastrophic cost of the war to both sides\u201d.
A No 10 spokesperson said: \u201cLooking ahead to President Trump\u2019s call with President Putin tomorrow, the leaders discussed the need for an unconditional ceasefire and for President Putin to take peace talks seriously.
\u201cThey 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.\u201d
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 <\/em>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\u2019s 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.
\u201cToday\u2019s incident shows that Russia continues to behave unpredictably,\u201d said foreign minister Margus Tsahkna. \u201cI have also informed our Allies of the event.\u201d
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 \u201cshadow fleet\u201d used by Moscow to evade sanctions.
Estonia\u2019s 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.
\u201cI hope that he will continue this line, that the pressure is mounting,\u201d Mr Michal said in an interview with Reuters.
Estonia will keep checking Russian \u201cshadow fleet\u201d 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 \u201cdoesn’t change a thing\u201d, with Estonia determined to continue checking suspicious tankers, Mr Michal told Reuters on Sunday.
\u201cI would say that everybody \u2013 Estonians, Finns \u2013 will be monitoring these kind of ships, and if there\u2019s something suspicious we will ask about it. Everybody will do that,\u201d 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 \u201cshadow fleet\u201d 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\u00a0\u2013 as of 8am \u2013 Russia had launched 273 drones at Ukrainian cities, more than the previous record Moscow had set in February on the war\u2019s 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.
\u201cI cannot get over it. I simply cannot. I could clearly hear the drone flying right towards my house,\u201d Ms Piven said.
Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a \u201cgood\u201d 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.
\u201cI 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,\u201d 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\u2019s inaugural Mass
With Italy\u2019s prime minister Giorgia Meloni also present, Mr Vance said: \u201cEurope is an important ally of the United States … but, of course, we have some disagreements, as friends sometimes do, on issues like trade.\u201d
He added: \u201cI think we\u2019ll 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.\u201d
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.
\u201cEverybody 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,\u201d 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 <\/em>Rebecca Thomas<\/em><\/strong> has the full report:<\/em>
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