‘Clock is ticking’ for Russia

European countries will begin preparing new sanctions on Russia unless the Kremlin starts abiding by a 30-day ceasefire in its war with Ukraine, which was set to expire by the end of yesterday.

Ukraine's military said Russia had conducted dozens of attacks along the front in eastern Ukraine yesterday as well as an overnight assault using more than 100 drones, despite the ceasefire proposal by Europe and Kyiv.

"The clock is ticking," a German government spokesperson said at a news conference in Berlin.

"We still have 12 hours until the end of the day, and if the ceasefire is not in place by then, the European side will (set in motion) preparations for sanctions," the spokesperson said.

The leaders of four major European powers travelled to Kyiv on Saturday and demanded an unconditional 30-day ceasefire from yesterday. Russian President Vladimir Putin, implicitly rejecting the offer, instead proposed direct Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul that he said could potentially lead to a ceasefire. In a fresh twist in the stop-start peace talks process, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would travel in person to Istanbul where, he said, he would be waiting to meet Putin.

The Kremlin has not responded to that latest proposal. Putin and Zelensky have not met since December 2019 - over two years before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine - and make no secret of their contempt for each other.

The Ukrainian air force said Ukraine came under attack overnight from 108 long-range combat drones starting from 11:00 pm, an hour before the proposed ceasefire was due to kick in. Attacks of this kind unfold over the course of hours as drones fly much slower than missiles.