European Leaders Head to Kyiv Pressing Russia for Unconditional 30-Day Ukraine Cease-Fire

Germany’s newly installed chancellor, Friedrich Merz, began his tenure with stops in Paris, Warsaw and Brussels, emphasising a renewed Franco-German partnership, greater European defence production and the need to cut red tape. In a call with US President Donald Trump he underlined that any trade deal must be struck with the European Union as a whole and reiterated his preference for a zero-tariff trans-Atlantic accord while urging the bloc to abandon its proposed supply-chain due-diligence law. Speaking to reporters in Brussels on 9 May, Merz said there was “a high probability” that Russia and Ukraine could agree a 30-day cease-fire “this weekend”. His assessment coincided with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s announcement of a summit in Kyiv on 10 May for countries willing to back a truce. A joint communiqué later confirmed that Merz will travel to Kyiv on Saturday alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The four leaders plan to meet Zelensky and call on Moscow to accept a “full and unconditional” 30-day cease-fire, warning of “massive sanctions” if the Kremlin refuses. Washington has expressed support for the initiative. Separately, Merz described Türkiye as an “extremely valuable and important NATO ally”, said he would visit Ankara at President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s invitation and left open the possibility of authorising the sale of Eurofighter combat aircraft to the Turkish military.