Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday welcomed Russia’s offer for direct peace talks, but insisted there must be a full, temporary ceasefire in place before negotiations can start.

Zelenskyy, writing on X, said it was a “positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider” ending the conflict and said that “the entire world has been waiting for this for a very long time.”

He added, however, that “the very first step” in ending any conflict “is a ceasefire.” 

British Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson, speaking on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” warned Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s calls for a ceasefire proposal “doesn’t seem serious to us.” 

“At face value, it’s constructive that he’s offered direct talks,” Mandelson said. “But then, when you look at the small print, you see that he wants these talks so as to call into question the very existence of Ukraine as a free, Democratic and sovereign nation.”

Meanwhile, Russia resumed mass drone attacks in Ukraine early on Sunday, after its self-declared three-day pause expired.

Russia launched 108 attack drones and simulator drones from six different directions, Ukraine’s air force said. It said 60 drones were shot down and another 41 simulator drones failed to reach targets due to Ukrainian countermeasures.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, the vice chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Sunday on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that Putin is “not making any concessions at all, while Mr. Zelenskyy seems to be making all the concessions.” 

“If the bottom line is Putin has to agree to a 30-day ceasefire for any peace talks to go forward,” McCaul said. “We want peace, but not peace at any price. Because peace at any price is like appeasement, like we saw with Chamberlain and Hitler, and that’s unacceptable.” 

The Russian Defense Ministry on Sunday accused Ukraine of “violating” Moscow’s three-day ceasefire more than 14,000 times. Ukraine, which did not agree to the May 8-10 ceasefire, has also accused Russia of violating its own truce, with the Ukrainian foreign minister calling it a farce.

The Ukrainian president appeared to insist on his proposal to start a 30-day unconditional ceasefire on Monday. “There is no point in continuing the killing even for a single day. We expect Russia to confirm a ceasefire — full, lasting, and reliable — starting tomorrow, May 12th, and Ukraine is ready to meet,” Zelenskyy said.

Putin in remarks to the media overnight effectively rejected that ceasefire offer and proposed restarting direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday instead “without preconditions.” He said a ceasefire might be agreed on during the negotiations.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday spoke to Macron and Putin and told them in separate phone calls that Turkey was ready to host the peace talks. He also said that a “historic turning point” had been reached in efforts to end the conflict, according to a statement from the Turkish presidential communications office.

Putin’s counter-offer came after leaders from four major European countries threatened to ratchet up pressure on Moscow if it does not accept an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Saturday and issued a coordinated call for a 30-day ceasefire starting Monday. The plan has received backing from both the European Union and U.S. President Trump.

In a social media post several hours after Putin’s overnight remarks about peace talks, Mr. Trump said it was “a potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine!”

“I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens. The USA wants to focus, instead, on Rebuilding and Trade. A BIG week upcoming!” he added.

U.S. ambassador Ukraine Oksana Markarova, appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” praised Mr. Trump’s “idea of full and unconditional ceasefire” as a “great idea,” but she warned “the killings have to stop.”

“President Zelenskyy today already said that, yes, Ukraine is ready to negotiate, but he put a special emphasis on ceasefire, the idea that both he and President Trump strongly supports,” Markarova said. 

Macron said Sunday that Putin’s offer of direct negotiations with Ukraine is “a first step, but not enough,” signaling continued Western skepticism toward Moscow’s intentions.

“An unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations,” Macron told reporters at the Polish-Ukrainian border, according to French media.

Macron also warned that Putin is “looking for a way out, but he still wants to buy time.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in comments aired by Russian state TV on Sunday, called Putin’s proposal “very serious,” aimed at eliminating “the root causes of the conflict,” and said it “confirms a real intention for find a peaceful solution.”

Ukraine and its allies are ready for a “full, unconditional ceasefire” with Russia for at least 30 days starting on Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Saturday.

His remarks came as the leaders of four major European countries visited Kyiv, amid a push for Moscow to agree to a truce and launch peace talks on ending the nearly three-year conflict. They followed what Sybiha said was a “constructive” phone call between them, U.S. President Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Saturday also marked the last day of a unilateral three-day ceasefire declared by Russia that Ukraine says the Kremlin’s forces have repeatedly violated.

In March, the United States proposed an immediate, limited 30-day truce, which Ukraine accepted, but the Kremlin has held out for terms more to its liking.

The leaders of France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom arrived together at the train station in Kyiv, and met Zelenskyy shortly after to join a ceremony at Kyiv’s Independence Square marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. They lit candles at a makeshift flag memorial for fallen Ukrainian soldiers and civilians.

The visit marked the first time the leaders of the four countries have traveled together to Ukraine, while Friedrich Merz is making his first visit to Ukraine as Germany’s new chancellor.

Sybiha on Thursday called the Russian truce a “farce,” accusing Russian forces of violating it over 700 times less than a day after it formally came into effect. Both sides also said attacks on their troops had continued on Thursday.

“We reiterate our backing for President Trump’s calls for a peace deal and call on Russia to stop obstructing efforts to secure an enduring peace,” the leaders said in a joint statement. “Alongside the U.S., we call on Russia to agree to a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace.”

Trump has pressed both sides to quickly come to a conflict-ending agreement, but while Zelenskyy agreed to an American plan for an initial 30-day halt to hostilities, Russia has not signed on. Instead, it has kept up attacks along the roughly 1,000-mile (1,600-kilometer) front line, including deadly strikes on residential areas with no obvious military targets.

On Saturday morning, local officials in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region said Russian shelling over the past day killed three residents and wounded four more. Another civilian man died on the spot on Saturday as a Russian drone struck the southern city of Kherson, according to regional Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin.

Speaking to reporters in Kyiv, French President Emmanuel Macron said: “What’s happening with Poland, Germany and Great Britain is a historic moment for European defense and toward a greater independence for our security. Obviously, for Ukraine, but for all of us. It’s a new era. It’s a Europe that sees itself as a power.”

Trump said last week that he doubts Russia’s Vladimir Putin wants to end his fight in Ukraine, expressing new skepticism that a peace deal can be reached soon, and hinted at further sanctions against Russia.

Progress on resolving the conflict has seemed elusive in the months since Trump returned to the White House, and his previous claims of imminent breakthroughs have failed to come to fruition. Trump has previously pushed Ukraine to cede territory to Russia to end the conflict, threatening to walk away if a deal becomes too difficult.

Ukraine’s European allies view the fight as fundamental to the continent’s security, and pressure is now mounting to find ways to support Kyiv militarily — regardless of whether Trump pulls out.

Ukrainian presidential aide Andrii Yermak, who met the European leaders at Kyiv’s main train station, wrote on Telegram earlier on Saturday: “There is a lot of work, a lot of topics to discuss. We need to end this war with a just peace. We need to force Moscow to agree to a ceasefire.”

Later in the day, the leaders began hosting a virtual meeting alongside Zelenskyy to update other leaders on the progress being made for a future so-called “coalition of the willing” that would help Ukraine’s armed forces after a peace deal and potentially deploy troops to Ukraine to police any future peace agreement with Russia.