Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin U-turns on Zelensky peace talks with Trump pushing for deal ‘this week’

Russian president Vladimir Putin proposed on Monday bilateral talks with Ukraine for the first time since the early days of the war, and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv was eager to discuss a halt to attacks on civilian targets.

While Mr Zelensky did not respond directly to Mr Putin's proposal, he emphasised in his nightly video address that Ukraine "was ready for any conversation" about a ceasefire that would stop strikes on civilians.

The two leaders face pressure from the United States, which has threatened to walk away from its peace efforts unless some progress is achieved.

Russia and Ukraine have said they are open to further ceasefires after a 30-hour Easter truce declared by Moscow at the weekend. Each side accused the other of violating it.

Ukraine will take part in talks with the US, the UK and France on Wednesday in London, Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The discussions are a follow-up to a Paris meeting last week where the US and European states discussed ways to end the more than three-year-old war.

"We are ready to move forward as constructively as possible, just as we have done before, to achieve an unconditional ceasefire, followed by the establishment of a real and lasting peace," Mr Zelensky posted on X following a call with Sir Keir Starmer.

The meeting comes as Ukraine faces pressure to respond to a controversial US proposal which includes recognising Russia's annexation of Crimea and barring Ukraine from joining Nato, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Russia has resumed its attack on Ukraine after a 30-hour Easter ceasefire, which both sides have accused the other of violating.

At least three people were killed and three injured in the aerial strikes in the southern Kherson region on Monday after the temporary truce expired at midnight on Sunday.

Ukrainian forces said that at least 96 drones and three missiles were launched overnight in the country’s central and eastern regions.

Among those killed included a woman who was hit by a drone while walking on the street in Kherson, said former prosecutor general of Ukraine Gyunduz Mamedov.

Four were injured in strikes on Donetsk.

Vladimir Putin’s forces confirmed they were continuing what they dub the “special military operation” and claimed to have “strictly” observed the pause, though Ukraine says attacks on the frontline continued throughout the Easter weekend.

Vladimir Putin, speaking to a Russian state TV reporter, said Moscow was open to any peace initiatives and raised the prospect of direct talks with Kyiv for the first time in years.

There have been no direct talks between the two sides since the early weeks after Mr Putin ordered his forces to invade their European neighbour in February 2022.

"We have always talked about this, that we have a positive attitude towards any peace initiatives. We hope that representatives of the Kyiv regime will feel the same way," Mr Putin told state TV reporter Pavel Zarubin.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, quoted later by Interfax news agency, told reporters: "When the president said that it was possible to discuss the issue of not striking civilian targets, including bilaterally, the president had in mind negotiations and discussions with the Ukrainian side."

Volodymyr Zelensky, in his nightly video address, said Ukraine stood by its proposal for an end to attacks on civilian targets and was ready for any form of discussion to achieve it.

Previously, the US and Ukraine had framed this as a 30-day ceasefire.

"Ukraine maintains its proposal not to strike at the very least civilian targets. And we are expecting a clear response from Moscow," he said.

"We are ready for any conversation about how to achieve this."

He said the London talks "have a primary task: to push for an unconditional ceasefire. This must be the starting point."

Mr Zelensky had earlier on Monday said an unconditional ceasefire would be "followed by the establishment of a real and lasting peace".

US secretary of state Marco Rubio and Donald Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg are likely to meet with their Ukrainian counterparts in London on Wednesday, as part of peace talks alongside European allies.

The meeting comes amid growing impatience from US president Donald Trump to find a quick end to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The Kremlin has indicated it is “satisfied” with the US's negotiating position, which includes a ban on Ukraine joining Nato and international recognition of its illegal annexation of Crimea.

Ukraine has yet to approve of or reject those terms, though Volodymyr Zelensky has previously been critical of making such big concessions to Putin's invading forces.

“We have heard from Washington at various levels that Ukraine’s membership in Nato is excluded,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

“Of course, this is something that causes our satisfaction and coincides with our position,” he said.

Worshippers coming out of a Catholic church service in the Ukrainian city of Lviv yesterday expressed sorrow at the death of Pope Francis, but also lingering hurt that the Roman Catholic pontiff had not taken Ukraine's side in its war with Russia.

The pontiff was quoted as saying in a 2024 interview with a Swiss broadcaster that Ukraine should have "the courage of the white flag", and sue for peace to end the conflict with Russia.

Those comments differed sharply from the view held by Ukraine's government, and its Western allies, that they have a moral imperative to defeat an unjust and unprovoked invasion by Russia.

"There were certain subjective judgments from his side, unfortunately," said Andriy Ben, a former fighter in the Ukrainian military, referring to Pope Francis.

"I am not going to comment on this," he said outside the church in Lviv. "I hope that the next pope will be wiser, more enlightened, and better."

Another worshipper coming out of the church, 57-year-old Oleh Yakymiak, said the late pontiff did much in his life that was good.

"We understand that the good things he did are so much bigger than the painful thing he did to us," said Mr Yakymiak.

US president Donald Trump says he will reveal his proposed peace plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war later this week.

“I will be giving you a full detail over the next three days,” Mr Trump told reporters. “But we had very good meetings on Ukraine, Russia … We’ll see how that works.”

Among the terms included are a deployment of European peacekeeping forces to Ukraine, reported the New York Post citing a senior official from the Trump administration.

“The hard part is what does a security force look like – we’re calling that a ‘resiliency force,'” the official said.

Russia's air defence units destroyed 10 Ukrainian drones overnight, downing half of them over the Crimean Peninsula, RIA news agency reported on Tuesday citing Russian defence ministry data.