Moscow residents reacted with restraint to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to hold direct talks with Ukraine. “Negotiations were necessary from the very beginning, but it seems to me that the Ukrainian side will not agree to such negotiations,” one of them said. Another one noted that Putin was right by proposing talks but assumed that even if Ukraine agrees, the negotiations will lead to nothing and the conflict will continue “until Zelenskyy matures in his decision to finally stop the war”.

Putin proposed restarting direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15, “without preconditions,” an offer that came in response to Ukraine and its allies urging Moscow to commit to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire or face additional sanctions. Putin referenced the unsuccessful 2022 peace talks that took place in Istanbul in March, shortly after Moscow’s full-scale invasion, and proposed “restarting” them without preconditions in remarks to reporters in the early hours of Sunday. “We are committed to serious negotiations with Ukraine,” Putin said, adding that he doesn’t rule out agreeing to a ceasefire later, in the course of direct talks with Ukraine.

Putin’s proposal came after leaders from four major European countries threatened to ratchet up pressure on Moscow if it does not accept an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine that they offered on Saturday in a strong show of unity with Kyiv. The leaders of France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland said their proposal for a ceasefire to start on Monday was supported by U.S. President Donald Trump, whom they had briefed over the phone earlier in the day.

In a social media post several hours after Putin’s remarks, U.S. President Donald Trump said it was “a potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine!” “I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens. The USA wants to focus, instead, on Rebuilding and Trade. A BIG week upcoming!” he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday welcomed Russia’s offer for direct peace talks, but insisted there must be a full, temporary ceasefire in place before negotiations can start. Zelenskyy, writing on X, called Russian President Vladimir Putin’s counter-offer to start talks without a ceasefire a “positive sign,” and said that “the entire world has been waiting for this for a very long time.” He added, however, that “the very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire.”

Meanwhile, Russia resumed mass drone attacks in Ukraine early on Sunday, after its self-declared 3-day pause expired. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told France’s Emmanuel Macron in a telephone call that Turkey was ready to contribute to peace between Russia and Ukraine, including hosting negotiations to “establish ceasefire and lasting peace.” During the call Sunday, Erdogan said a “historic turning point” had been reached in efforts to end the war, according to a statement from the Turkish presidential communications office.

Pope Leo XIV called for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza with the release of hostages and delivery of humanitarian aid in his first Sunday noon blessing as pontiff. “I too address the world’s great powers by repeating the ever-present call ‘never again war,’” Leo said from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica.

It was the first time that Leo had returned to the loggia since he first appeared to the world on Thursday evening following his remarkable election as pope, the first from the United States. Then too he delivered a message of peace. Leo was picking up the papal tradition of offering a blessing at noon, but with several twists. Whereas his predecessors delivered the greeting from the studio window of the Apostolic Palace, off to the side of the piazza, Leo went to the very centre of the square and the heart of the basilica. He wore the simple white cassock of the papacy – not the formal red cape he wore on Thursday night – and had reverted back to wearing his silver pectoral cross.

Leo quoted Pope Francis in denouncing the number of conflicts ravaging the globe today, saying it was a “third world war in pieces.” “I carry in my heart the sufferings of the beloved Ukrainian people,” he said. “Let everything possible be done to achieve genuine, just and lasting peace as soon as possible.” He called for the release of war prisoners and the return of Ukrainian children to their families, and welcomed the ceasefire between India and Pakistan. He also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and for humanitarian relief to be provided to the “exhausted civilian population and all hostages be freed.”

The crowd, filled with marching bands in town for a special Jubilee weekend, erupted in cheers and music as the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica tolled. Italian authorities estimated some 100,000 people were in the square.

The U.S. tariff abuse represents trade protectionism and roils the global trade ecosystem, a Nigerian expert said recently. Anthony Busong, research associate of the Center for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA) said the world should work together to promote global trade integration rather than isolation. U.S.

President Donald Trump has implemented sweeping tariffs on a wide range of countries since taking office, and earlier in April imposed a 10-percent “minimum baseline tariff” on all imports, before unveiling higher rates on certain trading partners. “It’s actually a disruption in the global trade ecosystem, a movement from a multilateral system that existed, international corporations between nations, to more of a unilateral, an isolationist kind of system.

For trade experts, we believe it’s more of a protectionist trade policy, of which I think the world should have gone beyond that, pushing for more trade integration at international level,” he said in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV).

The expert believes the U.S. government should reconsider their tariff policy. “Putting up a base tariff and a reciprocal tariff on different countries, of which we understand a defect, it’s cross-cutting to even the least developed, like in Africa, the effect will really be high, going by the trade relationship in Africa.

President Trump needs to sit back and then take a review to that policy, because we should move towards global cooperation, not more of an isolationist system,” said Busong.