Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky demands Putin agree to full ceasefire – but welcomes his call for talks – UK Times

Two women have been injured after a Russian shelling damaged balconies and broke windows in Kherson.

Kherson Regional Military Administration Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram: “Two people were injured.

“A 76-year-old woman was hospitalised with shrapnel wounds. Also, a 57-year-old woman who was on the street at the time of the enemy attack sought medical assistance.

“She was diagnosed with a mine-blast injury and a broken arm. The victim was provided with the necessary assistance. She will be treated on an outpatient basis in the future,” the statement said.

Trump’s special representative in Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said that there must be a ceasefire before negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow can begin.

Retweeting the New Zealander PM’s support for a 30-day ceasefire, Kellogg says: “Even the Prime Minister of New Zealand gets it. As President Trump has repeatedly said, stop the killing!!

“An unconditional 30-day ceasefire first and, during it, move into comprehensive peace discussions. Not the other way around.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will attend the informal NATO foreign ministers meeting in Turkey on May 14-16 to discuss ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

“Looking towards the NATO Summit in The Hague this June, the Secretary will advance President Trump’s agenda of ensuring that our Allies contribute their fair share to making NATO stronger and more effective,” the State Department said in a statement.

Russian forces launched a drone strike early in the morning, damaging homes and businesses, the Sumy City Council said.

“This morning, a UAV attacked the Sumy community, damaging a private car, a private household, and a service station. Preliminary reports indicate that there were no casualties,” a statement posted to Telegram reads.

Ukrainian forces are evacuating civilians from frontline communities in the Sumy region.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told CNN after Russian president Vladimir Putin’s statement about peace talks that Russia wanted to a find a solution to end the war.

He said: “This is maximum peaceful approach. This is a very serious approach, proving a real intention to find a solution”.

Mr Putin proposed talks with Ukraine starting from May 15 in Turkey. He framed the peace talks as a continuation of failed negotiations in 2022, which also took place in Turkey.

Mr Putin also said that the direct talks should start without “any preconditons”. European leaders have been pushing for a 30-day ceasefire to start ahead of any negotiations, with French president Emmanuel Macron saying that talks should not happen while people are being killed.

Mr Peskov also told Russia state TV that Mr Putin’s proposal was “very serious” and said it “confirms a real intention to find a peaceful solution”.

He added: “The goals of the talks are clear: to eliminate the root causes of the conflict. And also to ensure the interests of the Russian Federation.”

Russian president Vladimir Putin has proposed peace talks instead of a ceasefire despite European leaders pushing for a pause in fighting from Monday.

Here Whitehall Editor Kate Devlin recaps what the leaders of Ukraine, France, the UK, Poland and Germany were pushing for in their summit on Saturday:

Keir Starmer and other European leaders have warned Vladimir Putin he faces “massive” new sanctions and increased military aid to Ukraine if he does not agree to an almost immediate 30-day ceasefire.

The prime minister said they were “calling out” the Russian leader with the backing of Donald Trump. “If [Putin] is serious about peace, he has a chance to show it now,” Sir Keir said.

And he warned there were “no more ifs and buts” after he flew to Kyiv to stand side by side with President Zelensky, saying Putin had not required extra conditions to be met when “he wanted a ceasefire to have a parade – and he does not need them now”.

Ivan Fedorov, head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, said Russia had launched a second drone strike on a village in the Vasylivka district despite ceasefire talks.

“Russian forces struck the village for the second time today, using an FPV drone. A house was damaged, and a woman was injured. She is receiving the necessary medical assistance,” Fedorov wrote on Telegram.

It came after Russian forces attacked the village of Pavlivka using glide bombs, leaving another woman wounded.

Turkey is ready to host negotiations for a ceasefire and permanent peace between Russia and Ukraine, President Tayyip Erdogan told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in a phone call on Sunday, Mr Erdogan’s office said.

Mr Erdogan told Mr Macron in a phone call that “a historic turning point” had been reached towards ending the war and that the opportunity should be seized, according to a readout from the Turkish presidency.

He said Turkey was ready to make every contribution to ensure that a ceasefire and permanent peace could be reached between Russia and Ukraine, including hosting the negotiations.

He also spoke with Vladimir Putin to tell him that Turkey was ready to host peace talks.

Pope Leo XIV has called for an “authentic and lasting peace” in Ukraine in his first Sunday prayer address.

Speaking from the main central loggia balcony of St Peter’s basilica in The Vatican, he also called for a ceasefire in Gaza. He prayed that God would deliver to the world a “miracle of peace”.

Speaking of Ukraine, he said: “I carry in my heart the suffering of the beloved Ukrainian people. May whatever is possible be done to reach an authentic, true and lasting peace as soon as possible. May all the prisoners be freed, may children return to their families.”

He welcomed the ceasefire between India and Pakistan and said he hoped negotiations would lead to a lasting peace.