Key points
- Trump on Thursday called for “a 30-day unconditional ceasefire”
- Zelensky speaks to US president
- JEF set up to rapidly respond to crises
ISLAMABAD: Norway’s prime minister on Friday said a group of northern European nations and the UK supported a US proposal for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
“We need a ceasefire, an unconditional ceasefire, first,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) coalition in Oslo.
“That needs to be monitored and respected before you can move into the negotiations on the big issues to reach a lasting peace,” he added.
Reuters reported a day earlier that Ukraine has discussed ways to pressure Russia into agreeing to a 30-day ceasefire with US, French, British and German senior officials.
Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, did not say when the online talks with US special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, France’s top diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne, Britain’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell and Guenter Sautter, a top adviser to the German leader, took place.
Coalition
The JEF comprises 10 countries — Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK — and was set up to rapidly respond to crises.
Store said that during a dinner on Thursday with leaders from the coalition member countries they had contact with both US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the proposal.
“We also stress the need for accountability of such a ceasefire, and if it’s not respected, there should be sanctions imposed,” Store said.
Direct negotiations
Trump on Thursday called for “a 30-day unconditional ceasefire” on his Truth Social network after speaking to Zelensky.
Trump said that “both countries will be held accountable for respecting the sanctity of these direct negotiations” to halt the conflict.
“This is a concerted approach that is now being sent by the US, by the Europeans and by Ukraine,” Store said.
