Donald Trump calls for immediate ceasefire in Russia-Ukraine war

United States Presidentelect Donald Trump on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire in the RussiaUkraine war and reiterated his warnings that Washington could pull out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO if it is not treated fairlyAccording to news agency AP Trump made his ceasefire proposal after a weekend meeting in Paris with French and Ukrainian leaders claiming in a social media post that Kyiv would like to make a deal to end the ongoing RussiaUkraine war which has now stretched beyond 1000 daysThe Kremlin responded by stating it is open to negotiations while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautioned that any deal would need to ensure a lasting peaceIn a post on his Truth Social platform Trump said both Russia and Ukraine have lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers in a war that should never have started He continued There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin Too many lives are being needlessly wasted too many families destroyed Trump urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to take action to bring an end to the RussiaUkraine warHis comments followed a meeting with Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday which the Ukrainian President described as constructive according to APOn Sunday Zelenskyy posted on Telegram saying When we talk about an effective peace with Russia we must talk first of all about effective peace guarantees Ukrainians want peace more than anyone else Russia brought war to our land He cautioned that Ukraine needed a just and robust peace one that Russians will not destroy within a few years43000 Ukrainian soldiers dead 37 lakh injured ZelenskyyKremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reiterated Moscowrsquos longstanding position that it is open to talks with Ukraine He referenced a decree by Zelenskyy from October 2022 which declared that talks would be impossible as long as Putin remained in power This decree came after Putin declared four occupied Ukrainian regions as part of Russia despite Kyiv and the West condemning this as a clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty AP reportedFor most of the war Kyiv has insisted that Russiarsquos full withdrawal from internationally recognised Ukrainian territory including Crimea is a precondition for peace talksIn a separate update on social media Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine has lost 43000 soldiers since Russias allout invasion on February 24 2022 with 37 lakh soldiers wounded Both Russia and Ukraine have been reluctant to release official casualty figures but Western officials have noted that recent months of intense positional warfare in eastern Ukraine have resulted in record losses for both sidesTrump has previously called for a quick ceasefire in Ukraine but his latest proposal is more pressing The swift reactions from both Ukraine and Russia show the seriousness with which they regard the idea especially coming from the incoming American presidentThe Biden administration and other supporters of Ukraine have refrained from urging an immediate truce fearing that such a deal would likely favour Moscow forcing damaging concessions on Ukraine and possibly enabling Russia to rebuild its military and resume the warIn a separate interview aired on a news channel on Sunday Trump renewed his warning to NATO allies stating that he did not see continued US participation in the Western military alliance as a given during his second term Trump has long criticised European and Canadian governments for freeloading on military spending despite the US being the most powerful member of NATO However the organisation and its member governments say that a majority of countries in the bloc are now hitting voluntary targets for military spending due in part to pressure from Trump in his first termWhen asked if he would consider pulling the US out of NATO Trump said If theyre paying their bills and if I think theyre treating us fairly the answer is absolutely Id stay with NATO He added But if not absolutely Yeah absolutelyWith AP inputs