Donald Trump calls for immediate ceasefire in Russia-Ukraine war; says US withdrawal from NATO is possible

US President-elect Donald Trump meets Ukraine`s President Volodymyr Zelensky inside Notre-Dame Cathedral ahead of a ceremony to mark the re-opening of the landmark cathedral, in central Paris, on Saturday. Pic/AFP

United States President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war and reiterated his warnings that Washington could pull out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) if it is not treated fairly.

According to news agency AP, Trump made his ceasefire proposal after a weekend meeting in Paris with French and Ukrainian leaders, claiming in a social media post that Kyiv "would like to make a deal" to end the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, which has now stretched beyond 1,000 days.

The Kremlin responded by stating it is open to negotiations, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautioned that any deal would need to ensure a lasting peace.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said both Russia and Ukraine have lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers in a war that "should never have started". He continued, "There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are being needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed". Trump urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to take action to bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.

His comments followed a meeting with Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, which the Ukrainian President described as "constructive", according to AP.

On Sunday, Zelenskyy posted on Telegram, saying, "When we talk about an effective peace with Russia, we must talk first of all about effective peace guarantees. Ukrainians want peace more than anyone else. Russia brought war to our land." He cautioned that Ukraine needed a "just and robust peace, one that Russians will not destroy within a few years."

43,000 Ukrainian soldiers dead, 3.7 lakh injured: Zelenskyy

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reiterated Moscow's longstanding position that it is open to talks with Ukraine. He referenced a decree by Zelenskyy from October 2022, which declared that talks would be "impossible" as long as Putin remained in power. This decree came after Putin declared four occupied Ukrainian regions as part of Russia, despite Kyiv and the West condemning this as a clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty, AP reported.

For most of the war, Kyiv has insisted that Russia's full withdrawal from internationally recognised Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, is a precondition for peace talks.

In a separate update on social media, Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine has lost 43,000 soldiers since Russia's all-out invasion on February 24, 2022, with 3.7 lakh soldiers wounded. Both Russia and Ukraine have been reluctant to release official casualty figures, but Western officials have noted that recent months of intense positional warfare in eastern Ukraine have resulted in record losses for both sides.

Trump has previously called for a quick ceasefire in Ukraine, but his latest proposal is more pressing. The swift reactions from both Ukraine and Russia show the seriousness with which they regard the idea, especially coming from the incoming American president.

The Biden administration and other supporters of Ukraine have refrained from urging an immediate truce, fearing that such a deal would likely favour Moscow, forcing damaging concessions on Ukraine and possibly enabling Russia to rebuild its military and resume the war.

In a separate interview aired on a news channel on Sunday, Trump renewed his warning to NATO allies, stating that he did not see continued US participation in the Western military alliance as a given during his second term. Trump has long criticised European and Canadian governments for freeloading on military spending, despite the US being the most powerful member of NATO. However, the organisation and its member governments say that a majority of countries in the bloc are now hitting voluntary targets for military spending, due in part to pressure from Trump in his first term.

When asked if he would consider pulling the US out of NATO, Trump said, "If they're paying their bills, and if I think they're treating us fairly, the answer is absolutely I'd stay with NATO." He added, "But if not... absolutely. Yeah, absolutely."

(With AP inputs)