Europe in talks with US over ultimatum to end war in Ukraine

Senior European officials are in talks with the Trump administration to finalize an agreement on a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine that would impose new sanctions on Russia if President Vladimir Putin doesn’t budge, said people familiar with the matter.

The plans aren’t yet final, and moving forward still hinges on the U.S., which has called for a month-long unconditional truce and for Russia and Ukraine to both be held accountable for respecting the sanctity of direct negotiations.

“If the ceasefire is not respected, the U.S. and its partners will impose further sanctions,” U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post earlier this week.

The leaders of France, Germany, Poland and the UK plan to gather in Kyiv Saturday in a show of support for Ukraine and Trump’s ceasefire.

“Until Russia agrees to an enduring ceasefire, we will ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine,” they said in a joint statement Friday. “Alongside the U.S., we call on Russia to agree a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace.”

Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy‘s chief of staff, said in a social media post that “the U.S. and our other strategic partners like the UK, France, Germany, Nordics support a 30-days ceasefire” and that they are discussing when to impose “very powerful sanctions” if Russia rejects the ceasefire.

Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing Friday that Europe is “on board” for the president’s proposal.

Asked later in the day in the Oval Office if he had a message for Putin, Trump said: “I have a message for both parties. Get this war ended.”

Diplomatic efforts to end the longest and bloodiest conflict in Europe since the World War II have intensified after several meetings between European, U.S. and Ukrainian envoys, including in London and Paris.

Those leaders held another a series of phone calls this week, and Zelenskyy met Trump at the Vatican on April 26, when world leaders gathered for the funeral of Pope Francis.

European and U.S. officials said privately that views on the conflict within the White House have since hardened, with Putin now seen as an impediment to peace efforts.

“What I would say is, right now, the Russians are asking for a certain set of requirements, a certain set of concessions in order to end the conflict. We think they’re asking for too much,” U.S. Vice President JD Vance said this week.

On Friday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine has had “positive and productive” communication with the U.S. recently. “We’re all on the same page – there has to be a full ceasefire. And if Russia keeps dragging out the war, we’ll need stronger sanctions – especially if they break the ceasefire when it finally happens.”

Trump pledged to end the war during his first 100 days in the office — a milestone that passed on April 29 — and has dispatched trusted special envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow for talks, but so far has failed to persuade Putin to agree to a deal.

Moscow has refused to accept U.S. demands for a truce lasting at least a month, and Putin has maintained maximalist positions for any ceasefire, including that Russia is granted control of four eastern and southeastern Ukrainian regions it annexed illegally in 2022 but doesn’t fully occupy.

Russia recently has intensified its attacks along the lengthy front line as well as on civilians. Kremlin forces launched a series of deadly drone and missile strikes on civilian areas of Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv and Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s home town.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy agreed to grant the U.S. control over some future resource revenues in order to maintain Trump’s support, and has backed calls for an unconditional truce.

U.S. officials have prepared a set of options for Trump to crank up economic pressure on Russia, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The people cautioned that the U.S. leader has made no decisions yet, as diplomatic efforts are ongoing.

Ukraine is seeking a U.S. security backstop to prevent future Russian attacks, Zelenskyy said earlier.

“There are two directions: either we have a foreign contingent in large numbers, or it is a smaller contingent that also has something like Article 5,” Zelenskyy said on May 3, referring to NATO’s core statute. “A model like Israel has, which to a large extent is the U.S. backstop,” he added.

The U.S. has previously floated proposals to end the war that would broadly freeze the conflict along current lines, leaving most of the territory occupied by Russia in Moscow’s hands. The Trump administration is also prepared to recognize the Ukrainian region of Crimea as Russian, Bloomberg reported in April.

Ukraine’s NATO aspirations would be off the table, sanctions on Russia would be lifted, while Kyiv would receive strong security guarantees to ensure that any deal holds.

The Trump administration also wants Moscow to return Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, which it seized early in the war. The facility would then come under U.S. control to administer energy to both sides.

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(With assistance from Natalia Drozdiak and Hadriana Lowenkron.)

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