How did Western leaders respond to Putin?

Due to Putin's statement echoing at midnight, reactions are now being expressed.

Donald Trump has so far limited himself to giving the most general comment on the events of the last 24 hours, referring to them as a "potential great day" for Russia and Ukraine.

"Think about it, if this 'bloody bath' ends, hundreds of thousands of lives will be saved. It will be a new world that is much better than the previous one. I will continue to work with both sides to achieve this," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

However, it is difficult to draw a clear conclusion from the American president's post about what has encouraged him: whether it is the joint demand for a 30-day ceasefire from Ukraine's allies or Putin's proposal to return to direct negotiations along with refusing the ceasefire.

The French president called Putin's proposal to restore direct negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv "a first step, but not enough."

"There can be no question of stopping fire before negotiations. Putin is looking for a way, but wants to buy time," he said to journalists while returning home from Kyiv in the Polish city of Przemyśl.