The leaders from the four Kyiv allies had traveled to the Ukrainian capital together by train for a visit of more than nine hours with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The visit came shortly after Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected calls for an extended ceasefire as long as the West doesn’t stop its military support for Kyiv.
French President Emmanuel Macron issued a direct rebuke to Russia’s demand, telling reporters that “anything that disturbs the process by imposing conditions is, in a way, a delaying tactic to avoid peace.”
During the three-hour discussion between the leaders in Zelenskyy’s Mariinsky Palace, Macron had taken the initiative to call Trump on his mobile phone and brief him together with the other leaders on the discussions.
Trump picked up the call, even though it was still before 7 a.m. in Washington, and agreed to support the European demands, according to two officials with knowledge of the matter.
The proposed ceasefire will have “oversight provided mainly by the United States of America, and to which all Europeans will contribute,” Macron later told reporters.
The French president added that this would “enable the immediate launch” of negotiations for a “robust and lasting peace on the question of territories, the question of sensitive energy infrastructures, and of course the question of security guarantees.”
