SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
By Tom Balmforth
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the rulers of Britain, France, Germany and Poland held a mobile phone with US President Donald Trump on Saturday to explain a plan for an absolute peace in the war with Russia.
In a speech on X, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said his country and its allies were prepared for a complete peace on land, air and at sea for at least 30 weeks, starting from Monday.
He described the telephone call with Trump as “productive”.
The visit by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was the first moment the rulers of the four countries had travelled up to Ukraine. Their conference was intended to be a show of unity a moment after Russia’s Vladimir Putin hosted his friends in a Victory Day rally on Red Square.
If the peace offer is refused by Moscow, Europe and the US may impose fresh sanctions, a European diplomatic source said.
“Alongside the US, we call on Russia to acknowledge a total and absolute 30-day peace to create the space for deals on a simply and lasting peace, ” the four European officials said in a joint declaration.
Putin hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials at a Red Square military parade on Friday to mark the 80th commemoration of the Russian Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, sending a stubborn information that he is not isolated.
The only head of a European Union nation to enter the complex military parade – Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico – hit out at his Union acquaintances on Friday after they closed their airport to make it hard for him to get to the occasion.
Fico, who broke ranks with the EU by visiting Moscow late last month, arrived in Russia after a tortuous voyage made necessary according to Lithuania and another European nations barring his plane from their aircraft.
He met Putin in the Kremlin late on Friday night after the festival and said his state wanted to develop relations with Russia.
Russian media firms quoted Fico as telling Putin he opposed the development of any fresh “iron veil and vow to do everything so that we can shake hands across a curtain”.
“Let us regard as a juvenile prank all the complex issues we confronted, created by our European Union acquaintances. ”
Putin said Russia appreciated Fico’s decision to attend despite the “logistical obstructions that were created. But you are yet here. ”
The visit to Ukraine on Saturday by its Western friends comes at an unexpected political time in Russia’s more than three-year-long warfare against Ukraine. Trump has been pushing for a quick peace after tearing up the laws of his father since entering the White House in January.
After engaging directly with Russian authorities, clashing officially with Zelensky and dimly cutting important military aid to Ukraine, the Trump presidency has patched up relationships with Kyiv and signed an awkwardly negotiated minerals offer.
There has also been a palpable shift in tone from Trump, who has signalled growing frustration with Putin’s foot-dragging over a ceasefire and Russia’s restatement of its demands for a settlement.
Trump has threatened to step up sanctions against Russia, but he has also said he could abandon the peace effort if there is no breakthrough. He called on Thursday for a 30-day ceasefire, and Zelensky said he would be ready to implement it immediately.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying on Friday that Russia supports the implementation of a 30-day ceasefire in the conflict, but only with due consideration of “nuances”.
On the eve of the summit, the US embassy in Kyiv warned of a “potentially significant ” air attack in coming days and told its citizens to be ready to seek shelter in the event of air-raid sirens.
The four foreign leaders will meet Zelensky on Saturday morning ( local time ) and are expected to pay their respects at a memorial in central Kyiv to honour Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war.
