Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a temporary ceasefire in the war in Ukraine on 19 April, halting hostilities from 6 pm on Saturday until midnight on Monday. The move—met with scepticism in Kyiv—came as US President Donald Trump expressed frustration with stalled peace talks and signalled that Washington could walk away from mediating between Kyiv and Moscow.
According to local media reports, President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik is currently in Moscow, where he is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. Interpol issued a ‘red notice’ for Dodik after he left Bosnia and Herzegovina despite an active federal arrest warrant, having visited Serbia and Israel in the past week.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin agreed on a partial ceasefire and the immediate launch of a new round of talks to end the war in Ukraine. The current deal applies to energy and infrastructure on both sides. Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó welcomed the news, warning the EU not to undermine the peace process.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are set to hold talks on Tuesday over a potential ceasefire deal between Ukraine and Russia, which Kyiv has already accepted, while Moscow remains cautious. As peace talks progress, the positions of the involved parties are shifting rapidly: Ukraine no longer views the lifting of Western sanctions on Russia as a red line, and some European leaders are now openly discussing the normalization of relations with Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed conditional support for ceasefire discussions concerning the Ukraine conflict, emphasizing the need to resolve key questions with the United States while highlighting concerns about NATO’s role and the security of Russia’s borders.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russia is ready to cooperate with American companies regarding the country’s vast reserves of rare earth metals and minerals. The move weakened Ukraine’s negotiating position, as a similar deal is reportedly in the making between Washington and Kyiv, with only the final details left to be finalized.
US President-elect Donald Trump announced his readiness to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, a statement reaffirmed by the Kremlin the following day. With a pro-peace administration set to take power in the United States and significant political shifts already underway in Europe, the pro-war EU is finding itself isolated in its unconditional support for Ukraine.
After meeting President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss prospects for peace in Ukraine. Orbán also travelled to Türkiye to engage in talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with peace efforts as a central topic of discussion.
Although less than a week has passed since the US presidential election, President-elect Donald Trump has already spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the war in Ukraine, at least according to American media reports. However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed the news as ‘pure fiction’ and stressed that Putin has no specific plans to speak with Trump at present.
‘Scholz’s statement is the first ray of light piercing the fog of war that has shrouded Europe for the past two years. It could be downplayed, but Germany remains one of the EU’s most influential member states, and Berlin’s wright is undeniable, despite its current economic challenges. The experience of recent years shows that what Germany pushes for in the EU often becomes reality sooner or later.’