US seeks 30-day ceasefire
- President Donald Trump called for a 30-day unconditional Russia-Ukraine ceasefire after speaking with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying Washington would pursue peace through direct negotiations. - Trump said ceasefire violations would trigger further U.S. and partner sanctions, while Zelenskyy said Ukraine was ready to stop fighting “starting this minute.” - The proposal revived a March 11 U.S. plan Ukraine accepted, while the European Union kept pressing Russia for a full ceasefire. (state.gov)
President Donald Trump called for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and said the pause should lead into direct peace talks. (usnews.com) Trump said on May 8 that if the ceasefire is broken, the United States and its partners would impose further sanctions. He made the demand after a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (usnews.com) (rferl.org) Zelenskyy said Ukraine was ready for a full 30-day ceasefire “starting this minute” if Russia agreed to a real halt in missile, drone and frontline attacks. Ukraine’s foreign minister said Russia was already violating its separate three-day Victory Day truce. (usnews.com) (rte.ie) The 30-day formula was not new. In talks in Jeddah on March 11, 2025, Ukraine accepted a U.S. proposal for an immediate interim 30-day ceasefire that could be extended by mutual agreement if Russia also implemented it. (state.gov) Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after those talks that Washington’s offer covered the entire front line, not only air and sea attacks, and was meant to open immediate negotiations on a durable settlement. (state.gov) The public argument inside the Trump administration had shifted by early May. Vice President JD Vance said on May 7 the United States wanted to move beyond “the obsession with a 30-day ceasefire,” and Trump publicly reinstated the ceasefire demand a day later. (bloomberg.com) European leaders were pushing a harder line on the same point. The European Council said on March 19, 2026 that Russia should agree to a full, unconditional and immediate ceasefire and then enter meaningful negotiations toward a just and lasting peace. (consilium.europa.eu) That leaves the core dispute unchanged: Kyiv and its European backers say fighting should stop first, while Moscow has resisted a broader pause and floated narrower, time-limited truces instead. Trump’s 30-day call put Washington back on the stop-first side of that argument. (usnews.com) (consilium.europa.eu)
