Putin proposes direct peace talks with Ukraine, says he is open to more ceasefires

Russian President Vladimir Putin, under pressure from Washington to show willingness to make peace in Ukraine, proposed on Monday bilateral talks with Kyiv for the first time in years, and said he was open to more ceasefires after a one-day Easter truce.

Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Kyiv was sending a delegation to London to meet representatives from the United States and other Western countries on Wednesday.

The London talks are a follow-up to a meeting in Paris last week in which the US and European states discussed ways to end the more than three-year-old war.

Putin, speaking to a Russian state television reporter, said fighting had resumed after his surprise 30-hour Easter ceasefire, which he announced unilaterally on Saturday.

Both countries accused the other of violating Putin’s truce, which Kyiv had largely dismissed from the outset as a stunt.

Washington said it would welcome an extension of the truce. Zelensky, who has called for it to be extended to a 30-day ceasefire on civilian targets, said continued Russian attacks during Sunday’s ceasefire showed Moscow was intent on prolonging the war.