Ukraine war latest: Trump ‘hopeful’ on peace deal this week as Putin’s truce end

Easter fell on the same day this year for Orthodox and Western churches, and Volodymyr Zelensky urged Ukrainians not to give up hope that peace will one day return.

“We know what we are defending. We know what we are fighting for,” he said in a social media video, wearing a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt and standing in front of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv on Sunday.

Ukraine’s forces reported 2,935 violations of Russia’s own Easter ceasefire vow, president Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

“The nature of Ukrainian actions will continue to be mirrored: we will respond to silence with silence, our strikes will be to protect against Russian strikes,” Mr Zelensky said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

US president Donald Trump, who says he wants to be remembered as a peacemaker, has repeatedly warned of the escalation risk of the war – which his administration now casts as a proxy conflict between the US and Russia, echoing Moscow’s stance.

Last month, after Ukraine accepted Trump’s proposal for a 30-day truce, Russian president Vladimir Putin said crucial issues of verification had not been sorted out. Both Moscow and Kyiv have agreed to a moratorium on attacks on energy targets and at sea, which each accuses the other of breaking.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated that Kyiv was willing to extend the Easter ceasefire for 30 days.

Russia controls just under one-fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, and the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

Donald Trump has said the US could “take a pass” on Ukraine peace talks if they become too difficult but added he thought there was a “good chance” of succeeding.

Sir Keir Starmer discussed Ukraine with the US president in a phone call on Friday, Downing Street said, but did not give further details.

Mr Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio had suggested that Washington could “move on” if progress is not made within days in comments after a meeting in Paris with UK, EU and Ukrainian delegations.

Helen Corbett reports:

Volodymyr Zelensky has said some Ukrainian troops were killed in a Russian “ambush” on Sunday in the Donetsk region.

The Ukrainian president vowed the Russian soldiers responsible would be “eliminated”.

US President Donald Trump has said he hopes Russia and Ukraine will make a deal this week to end the conflict in Ukraine.

“BOTH WILL THEN START TO DO BIG BUSINESS WITH THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WHICH IS THRIVING, AND MAKE A FORTUNE!” He said in a post on Truth Social.

Are the Americans and the Europeans finally converging on a peace plan for Ukraine? Or was this week’s Paris meeting the prelude to an imminent parting of the ways?

The outcome, judging by the sparse statements produced by the two sides, can be read either way – although neither would seem to offer great hope of an early end to the war or of stronger support for Ukraine against Russia.

The first, suggested by the brief statement from the Elysee Palace soon afterwards, was that the Europeans and the Americans had found some common ground. Discussions, it said, had “focused mainly on the peace negotiations aimed at ending the Russian aggression in Ukraine”, and crucially went on: “building on the talks between the President of the Republic and President Trump, as well as on the work of the Coalition of the Willing, co-chaired by France and the United Kingdom…”

Mary Dejevsky writes:

Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated Ukraine’s offer to extend the truce for 30 days, starting midnight Sunday.

The Ukrainian president said the proposal “remains on the table” and added: “We will act in accordance with the actual situation on the ground.”