The UK, France and a group of northern European nations said Friday they 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.
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.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday also welcomed Trump’s ceasefire call.
“We must all work towards this goal without delay, false pretences, or dilatory tactics,” Macron wrote on X.
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.
– ‘Maximise the pressure’ –
Finnish President Alexander Stubb, speaking later at a joint press conference with Store at the close of the JEF meeting, said the sanctions package “would best serve its purpose if it was somehow coordinated between Europe … and the United States.”
He said the “United States has two sanctions packages on the table”, and “the sanctions that we’re discussing right now and that were raised by President Zelensky had to do with banking and the energy sector.”
Stubb noted Russia was “militarily and economically in a much worse position than perhaps we sometimes read in the public eye.”
“Russia cannot sustain the situation, so let’s maximize the pressure.”
“I feel carefully optimistic that at this particular moment in time, we’re moving in the right direction, both militarily on the ground, as Zelensky has pointed out, and also in terms of the ceasefire and the peace process.”
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, which started when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Store said meanwhile that JEF countries had invited Ukraine to form “an enhanced partnership” with the Joint Expeditionary Force.
“At a number of levels, we have agreed to follow up with inviting Ukraine to participate in relevant exercises, to take part in joint training and to work on mutual learning, on technical innovation cooperation,” he said.
