Volodymr Zelensky hit back after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he agreed to a US-proposed ceasefire in Ukraine but that Moscow had “serious questions” on how it would be implemented.

Zelensky said: “Putin, of course, is afraid to say directly to President Trump that he wants to continue this war, he wants to kill Ukrainians.

“That’s why they in Moscow are framing the idea of silence with such preconditions that nothing will happen at all or that it will not happen for as long as possible.”

He added that the Russian leader’s remarks were “very predictable” and simply an attempt to “drag things out”. He said: “They want a war. Putin has stolen years of peace and continues this war – day after day.”

The comments came shortly after Donald Trump called Putin’s comments “promising” and urged the dictator to to “do the right thing” in accepting a ceasefire agreement.

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