US President Donald Trump has ditched his call for a ceasefire in Ukraine, backing instead Russian President Vladimir Putin’s push for a permanent peace agreement. That has not stopped some European leaders from pushing for a temporary truce first, even though the US president has seemingly decided one is not necessary.

Turkey believes a ceasefire must first be secured between Russia and Ukraine before it and other states take any decisions on a peacekeeping mission as part of security guarantees for Ukraine, a defence ministry source said on Thursday.