European leaders travel to Kyiv in push for 30 -day fire

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The leaders of France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom will travel to Kiev on Saturday, in the midst of the renewed international calls for Russia to accept a lasting fire and participate in peace conversations.

The visit aims to show western solidarity with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Vladimir Putin in Russia welcomed China and Brazil leaders to the Moscow Victory Day parade celebrating 80 years since the end of World War II.

The new chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, will join the French president Emmanuel Macron and the British and Poles Ministers Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Tusk in the Ukrainian capital. Merz became chancellor Earlier this month.

In a joint statement published before the visit, the leaders requested a removal of the 30 -day fire to stimulate the United States -led negotiations aimed at ending the war.

“ We, the leaders of France, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, will be in Kyiv in solidarity with Ukraine against the Breed and illegal invasion of Russia, ” they said they add that they fully support the United States President Donald Trump for a peace agreement and urged Russia to stop obstructing efforts to ensure a lasting peace. ”

“We are clear that the bloodshed must end, Russia must stop its illegal invasion and Ukraine must be able to prosper as a secure, secure and sovereign nation within its internationally recognized borders in the coming generations.”

Zelenskyy said on Friday that Ukraine remained ready for “a reliable and durable cessation for at least 30 days”.

The removal of the 30 -day fire proposed by Trump has previously been endorsed by Kiev, but Putin never agreed. The Russian leader has pledged to pause during the holidays and the energy infrastructure in Ukraine, but their forces have continued to make civil areas in almost all regions of the country in recent months.

Missiles and ballistic drones hit Kyiv earlier this week, killing a mother and son. This attack took place two weeks after another in the capital of Ukraine who killed 12 and injured more than 80.

European leaders said they were ready to support conversations between Ukraine and Russia, and exploring how a fire could be implemented to “prepare for a complete peace agreement.”

People who knew on Saturday on the agenda of the leaders told Financial Times that the United States, Europe and Ukraine are close to the end of a plan for an early 30 -day unconditional cessation that would see them imposing new sanctions on Russia if the Kremlin refused to follow and continue their full war.

The EU requested on Friday “a complete and unconditional cessation of at least 30 days” saying that it was in Russia “to show its will to achieve peace.” The statement was issued by the main diplomat of the Kaja Kallas blog and was endorsed by all its 27 members, including Hungary and Slovakia, who had previously refused to sign these statements.

The EU Foreign Ministers of about 20 nations on Friday traveled to the western city of Ukraine of Lviv, where they declared their support for a special court to pursue senior Russian officials for war crimes made by Moscow forces during the war. The court will be established under a joint agreement between Ukraine and the Council of Europe, the largest human rights body in the continent.

Separately on Friday, the The United Kingdom announced new sanctions In Russia’s “shadow fleet” of the vessels used to launch oil worldwide, avoiding restrictions imposed by western nations after Putini launch their large -scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“Every step that limits Kremlin’s ability to finance his war closer to peace. The United Kingdom again demonstrates a leadership approach,” Zelenskyy said Friday, thanking Starmer.

“If Russia continues to drag the war, we will need stronger sanctions,” Zelenskyy said. “Especially if they break the cessation of the fire when it finally happens.”

During their Saturday visit, leaders are expected to honor the Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war and respect them in Kiev’s Symbolic Independence Square. Other European counterparts will be united later to discuss plans for a coalition that would support Ukraine’s air defenses, land and sea defenses and will help rebuild their military after any peace agreement and ensure their long -term security.

Lucy Fisher’s additional reports in London and Henry Foy in Warsaw