European leaders have urged Russia to agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine starting on Monday.
The call was issued at a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” in Kyiv. The leaders of France, Germany, the UK and Poland were hosted by Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, while others joined remotely.
They made the announcement after discussing the plan by phone with US President Donald Trump – who initially mooted an unconditional ceasefire. The leaders threatened Russia with “massive” sanctions if it does not comply.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the aim of the coalition of the willing was to show “that aggression will never prevail on our continent.”
“Once a ceasefire is achieved, it will take time, but this will be a huge moment in reconnecting Ukraine’s economy, boosting investor confidence, and helping to reunite families separated by this war,” Starmer told reporters.
He was speaking alongside Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish PM Donald Tusk and new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Zelensky said: “Thank you all for standing with us. Today we will focus on how to build and guarantee real and lasting security.”
The meeting was a symbolic response to the more than 20 leaders who joined Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday.
A 30-hour ceasefire, unilaterally called by Putin to mark Russia’s Victory Day, is due to end later on Saturday. It has seen a decrease in fighting but both sides have accused the other of breaches.
The coalition of the willing was formed to reinforce any eventual peace agreement with security guarantees, including the possibility of placing troops in Ukraine.
Trump earlier reiterated the call for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire after a phone call with Zelensky.
“If the ceasefire is not respected, the US and its partners will impose further sanctions,” he wrote on social media.
As the meeting was going on, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was already “used to sanctions” and knew how to minimise their impact, adding: “There is no point in trying to scare us with these sanctions.”
Meanwhile, Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and now deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, told the European allies to “shove these peace plans”.
Other leaders who joined the meeting remotely included Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Canadian PM Mark Carney, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and Mark Rutte, the secretary-general of Nato.
Reports of Russian attacks across Ukraine continue, despite Russia’s claims of a temporary ceasefire.
In the northern Sumy region, an 85-year-old woman was killed, three others were injured, 19 residential homes and 10 other buildings were destroyed or damaged, Ukrainian police said.
In Kostyantynivka, eastern Donetsk region, one person was injured and two apartment blocks caught fire after Russian attacks, Ukrainian state emergency service DSNS said.
And in the southern city of Kherson, a 58-year-old local resident sought medical help after being attacked by a Russian drone carrying explosives, the regional administration said.
