Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday he had urged Kyiv's Western allies to give "a clear position" on security guarantees including about a potential foreign troop contingent on Ukrainian soil with a US backstop.
His comments came after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer held a virtual call with other European leaders and allies, including Zelenskiy, where Starmer said a "coalition of the willing" would help secure Ukraine "on the land, at sea and in the sky" in the event of a peace deal with Russia.
"We need to continue working on the contingents that will form the foundation of Europe's future Armed Forces," Zelenskiy said in a post on X with an image of himself taking part in the call.
"Peace will be more reliable with European contingents on the ground and the American side as a backstop."
Starmer has also called for a US security backstop to help secure a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine in the three-year-old war.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he supported in principle US President Donald Trump's proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine, but that Russia would fight on until several crucial conditions were worked out.
Zelenskiy urged European leaders to dismiss Putin's opposition to European peacekeepers in Ukraine and blamed the Russian leader for stalling peace efforts.
"A ceasefire could have already happened, but Russia is doing everything to prevent it," he said.
A SpaceX capsule delivered four astronauts to the International Space Station early on Sunday in a NASA crew-swap mission that will allow a pair of stuck astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, to return home after nine months on the orbiting lab.
59 people were killed and more than 100 injured when a fire broke out in a nightclub early on Sunday in the North Macedonian town of Kocani, Interior Minister Pance Toskovski confirmed, saying the fire was caused by "pyrotechnic devices" used during a concert.
US President Donald Trump launched large-scale military strikes against Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on Saturday over the group's attacks against Red Sea shipping, killing at least 31 people at the start of a campaign expected to last many days.
At least nine Palestinians including three local journalists were killed on Saturday in an Israeli air strike on Gaza's northern Beit Lahiya town, the local health ministry said, as Hamas leaders held ceasefire talks with mediators in Cairo.
At least 10 people were killed in Missouri as a series of tornadoes hit the US Midwest and Southeast overnight, raking a path of destruction that was still being assessed early on Saturday, police said.