Trump backs Ukraine’s call for 30-day ceasefire, warns of sanctions – National
U.S. President Donald Trump called on Thursday for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, warning that Washington and its partners would impose further sanctions if the ceasefire is not respected.
Ukraine has expressed readiness to accept a U.S. proposal to enact an immediate 30-day ceasefire, while Russia has proposed only a three-day ceasefire to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two on Thursday.
Trump said in a social media post: “If the (30-day) ceasefire is not respected, the U.S. and its partners will impose further sanctions.”
“Hopefully, an acceptable ceasefire will be observed, and both Countries will be held accountable for respecting the sanctity of these direct negotiations,” Trump said.
“This ceasefire must ultimately build toward a Peace Agreement. It can all be done very quickly, and I will be available on a moment’s notice if my services are needed.”
Trump has said he wants to the end the war in Ukraine but his administration has also threatened to abandon its attempts to broker a deal if Russia and Ukraine do not make headway.
U.S. Vice-President JD Vance said this week that Russia was “asking for too much” with its initial peace offer, and that the Kremlin had communicated a 30-day ceasefire “is not in our (Russia’s) strategic interests.”
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“We obviously want Ukraine to remain a sovereign country, but Russia can’t expect to be given territory they haven’t even conquered yet, and that’s one of the things that they put down in that initial peace plan,” JD Vance said in an interview Thursday on Fox News.
He said he wasn’t bothered by Russia making unacceptable demands early in a negotiation.
“What would bother me is if we conclude that the Russians are not engaging in the negotiations in good faith. And if that happens, yeah, we’re going to walk away.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday he told Trump in a telephone call that Kyiv was ready for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia “starting this minute.”
The Ukrainian president said Russia had to demonstrate its readiness to end the war, starting with an unconditional ceasefire.
“Ukraine is ready for a complete 30-day ceasefire from this very day, from this very moment,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.
“But it has to be real…Тhirty days which could become the beginning of years of peace. A ceasefire, both prolonged and reliable, will be a real indicator of a movement towards peace.”
Ukraine’s foreign minister said on Thursday that Russia had repeatedly violated its own three-day ceasefire hours after it began and called the initiative a “farce,” while Moscow said Kyiv had continued fighting.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It had annexed Crimea in 2014.
Zelenskyy said he also spoke to Trump about the ratification by Ukraine’s parliament on Thursday of an agreement to exploit Ukraine’s mineral riches along with the creation of an investment fund for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
He said he and Trump “noted how important it is that our relationship has strengthened our countries over the decades.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom the Russian leader earlier described as Moscow’s “main guest” at Friday’s Victory Day festivities.
In the evening, Putin hosted Xi and other foreign leaders for a gala dinner in an apparent effort to showcase Russia’s global clout.
—With files from Global News and the Associated Press
