FILE PHOTO: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks to the media during a press conference, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo
- Ukrainian president proposes ceasefire until leaders can meet to discuss ending three-year war.
- Putin rejects ceasefire proposal, claiming Ukraine would use pause to acquire more Western weapons.
- Russia agrees to return 500 prisoners of war over weekend in major exchange with Ukraine.
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KYIV (Reuters) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday proposed implementing a ceasefire until a meeting can be arranged with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“My proposal, which I believe our partners can support, is that we agree a ceasefire with the Russians until the leaders meet,” Zelenskyy told a briefing in Kyiv.
“At this time, people will understand that the nations, Europe, Ukraine and the whole world have a chance to end the war,” he said, adding that monitoring of the ceasefire could be discussed at the meeting.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv would “be grateful” for support for the idea from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Russia Maintains Opposition to Ceasefire
Russia has resisted Ukrainian and Western calls for a ceasefire, saying that certain conditions must first be met.
On Wednesday Russian President Vladimir Putin repeated Moscow’s stance that any ceasefire would simply be used by Ukraine to acquire more Western weapons. Putin also questioned the point of peace talks after accusing Ukraine of ordering deadly attacks on bridges in Russia that killed seven and injured 115 more.
Turkey Supports High-Level Summit
Zelenskyy said President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, which hosted peace talks on Monday, had expressed support for a top-level meeting of the presidents of Ukraine, Russia, the U.S. and Turkey.
The June 2 talks in Istanbul made little progress towards ending the three-year-old war in Ukraine, though the sides exchanged proposals as well as a plan for another major swap of prisoners of war.
Prisoner Exchange Planned for Weekend
Zelenskyy said the POW exchange would begin over the coming weekend.
“The Russian side has informed us that this weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, it can return 500 people,” he said.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov has previously said the next exchange would focus on swapping the severely wounded and the young, as well as the bodies of dead soldiers.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine had not received a Russian response to the document Kyiv shared ahead of Monday’s meeting in Istanbul and he characterised the Russian proposals as ultimatums.
(Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko, Max Hunder and Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Gareth Jones)
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