Ukraine: Trump says he will discuss ceasefire with Putin

Donald Trump has taken to Truth Social to confirm he will be speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, as he reiterated his urgency for the war in Ukraine to come to an end.

"Tomorrow morning I will be speaking to President Putin concerning the War in Ukraine," he posted on the social media platform he owns.

"Many elements of a Final Agreement have been agreed to, but much remains."

"Thousands of young soldiers, and others, are being killed. Each week brings 2,500 soldier deaths, from both sides, and it must end NOW. I look very much forward to the call with President Putin," he added.

Lithuania's prosecutor's office said two people are suspected of acting on behalf of Russian military intelligence in an arson attack on an IKEA furniture store in the capital Vilnius last year.

The two males, currently in custody, have Ukrainian citizenship and one of them is a minor.

Prosecutors say the attack had been planned over several months and the IKEA arson was carried out using an incendiary device with a time fuse. 

Authorities said that members of a "terrorist group" with a long chain of middlemen who communicated via social media and encrypted channels passed on instructions to the suspects. 

Both the suspects and their middlemen are suspected of having a connection to criminal offenses committed in Poland.

"The organizer of these actions is Russia, (the suspects) are linked to the military secret service and the security forces," investigator  Arturas Urbelis said. 

Lithuania and Poland are members of NATO. They are close supporters of Ukraine and both EU member nations border the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

The British government says more than 30 countries are expected to sign up to the "coalition of the willing" to help support Ukraine.

A "significant number" are also willing to provide peacekeeping troops on the ground in the event of a ceasefire with Russia, spokesman for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters on Monday.

"There's going to be different capabilities from different countries, but these are now the operational discussions that are ongoing in relation to what the coalition of willing will be able to provide," the spokesman said.

"We're expecting more than 30 countries to be involved. Obviously the contribution capabilities will vary, but this will be a significant force, with a significant number of countries providing troops and a larger group contributing in other ways," he added.

Dozens of military chiefs are expected to meet in Britain on Thursday to discuss the next steps for the coalition.

The UK and France have been seeking to put together the coalition since US President Donald Trump opened direct talks with Russia last month to end the war.

Both Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron say such a group is necessary to provide Ukraine with security guarantees to deter Russian attacks in the event of a truce deal.

They have said these efforts should have support from the US.

Starmer and Macron have also said they would be willing to send troops to Ukraine.

However, Russia has repeatedly rejected the idea of soldiers from NATO member states being stationed in Ukraine.

New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the G7 summit in Alberta in June.

The invitation comes amid uncertainty in the Group of Seven powerful democracies over the Russia-Ukraine war since US President Donald Trump returned to office.

Carney, who is visiting Paris and London this week, said he had spoken to Zelenskyy via phone and received an update "on Ukraine's defense and global efforts to advance peace."

"Canada strongly supports Ukraine's fight for freedom against Russian aggression," he said.

Zelenskyy, in a social media post, "thanked Canada for its assistance, particularly for the defense packages and support of our energy sector."

Canada, which has the G7 presidency this year, will host the summit in Kananaskis, Alberta on June 15-17.

Wolfgang Schmidt, the head of the German chancellery, met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Andriy Yermak, in Kyiv to discuss more assistance for Ukraine.

"Expressed gratitude for Germany's support in combating Russian aggression and especially highlighted Germany's leadership in Europe in terms of military assistance," Yermak said on X, without giving details on any agreements made in the meeting. 

Schmidt replied: "Thanks for the good exchange, Andriy!"

Germany is the second-biggest arms supplier to Kyiv after the United States.

Berlin has already approved aid for Ukraine totalling €4 billion ($4.4 billion) for this year, with a further €3 billion to be added soon.

Ukraine has relied on military support from its Western allies since Russia launched its full-scale invasion more than three years ago.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is set to speak to US President Donald Trump by phone about a possible peace deal.

However, Peskov declined to comment on Trump's remarks about concessions to be considered in ceasefire negotiations, including land and power plants.

"Yes, it is true, such a conversation is being prepared for Tuesday," said Peskov, refusing to elaborate on what the two leaders would talk about.

Peskov said "we never get ahead of events" and "the content of conversations between two presidents are not subject to any prior discussion."

The Kremlin said on Friday that Putin had sent Trump a message about his ceasefire plan via US envoy Steve Witkoff, expressing "cautious optimism" that a deal could be reached.

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has praised Germany's new debt rules at the foreign ministers' conference in Brussels.

"This is a strong sign that Germany takes its own security, Ukraine's security and Europe's security seriously," she said.

She also welcomed the "ordering of a further €3 billion ($3.26 billion) for our Ukraine support."

"A strong and sovereign Ukraine is our goal. That requires a position of strength, especially now for the negotiations with Putin's Russia."

In their coalition negotiations, the CDU/CSU and SPD parties agreed to a relaxation of Germany's stringent debt policy. The reforms will allow the government to take on new debt and thereby increase Germany's defense spending both at home and in the EU.

In a post to Telegram, Ukraine's military announced that it faced 174 Russian drone attacks overnight, shooting down 90 of them.

The strategically significant port city of Odessa, one of the cities attacked, has been hit by daily strikes for three weeks in a row.

According to the region's governor, one civilian was injured, while a residential home and a kindergarten were damaged.

The local electricity grid was also struck, reportedly causing power outages for 500 residents.

Russia continues to deny it is targeting civilians.

Despite Ukraine's acceptance of the US's ceasefire plans, the majority of EU governments believe that allowing Russia to keep any Ukrainian land should be off the table.

"Most of [the EU member states] are very concerned about what we're hearing from the White House," DW Brussels Bureau Chief Alexandra von Nahmen said.

"The only peace that can be achieved is a just peace for Ukraine," she said, paraphrasing the bloc's dedication to Ukraine's territorial integrity.

She said the only EU member that might be wholeheartedly in favor of the ceasefire would be Hungary, which has maintained a broadly pro-Russia stance.

US President Donald Trump has said he will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. Trump said they would discuss ending the war in Ukraine.

The White House believes that discussions between US and Russian officials in Moscow have gone positively, and that it is now time for the two leaders to speak directly to each other.

"We want to see if we can bring that war to an end," Trump said. "Maybe we can, maybe we can't. But I think we have a very good chance."

Last week, the Trump administration unveiled its proposals for a 30-day ceasefire between the warring parties. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the deal "would involve a lot of hard work," and hinges on "concessions from both Russia and Ukraine."

Despite contesting aspects of the ceasefire proposal, Ukraine has backed the proposal.

Foreign ministers from the European Union are meeting in Brussels to discuss Ukraine aid on Monday.

The meeting concerns a proposal of €40 billion ($43.5 billion) in military aid to Ukraine, and comes ahead of a wider meeting of EU leaders on Thursday.

"If we can sustain this amount… for a longer period of time, that would be the amount that would allow Ukrainians to keep their armed forces at current strength," said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys, whose country backed the proposal yesterday.

With US funding for Ukraine's war effort thrown into doubt by the Trump administration, the European Union hopes to unite to fill that gap.

Reports suggest participation in the funding scheme will be voluntary to prevent any possible vetoes from dissenting states such as Hungary, which has been consistently against aiding Ukraine.

According to reports, the amount of funding expected from each country will be proportional to their economic size.

Germany has made its commitment clear, with €4 billion ($4.35 billion) for this year already approved.

But other countries such as France, Spain and Italy will have to increase their spending commitments to be in line with the scheme.