Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will be "waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday" as crunch talks on a ceasefire in Russia-Ukraine war loom. The Ukrainian President wrote on X at 6.01pm BST: "We await a full and lasting ceasefire, starting from tomorrow, to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy. There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday. Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses."

It came after Vladimir Putin seemed to reject a ceasefire proposal, instead calling for the resumption of negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15. These, he said, should be “without preconditions”. President Zelensky called this a “positive sign”, saying earlier today: “The entire world has been waiting for this for a very long time." But he added: “The very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire.”

President Putin proposed a three day long ceasefire to coincide with Russia's marking of the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe this week.

But the country launched 108 attack drones and simulator drones at Ukraine on Sunday from six different directions, Ukraine’s Air Force said.

Officials added that 60 drones were shot down and 41 simulator drones failed to reach targets due to counter-measures.

Ukraine was accused by the Kremlin of “violating” the ceasefire between May 8 and 10 more than 14,000 times.

But Ukraine did not agree to the proposal, and has accused Russia of violating its own truce.

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