From left, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz make a call to U.S. President Donald Trump from Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, May 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)2025-05-11T08:32:26Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday welcomed Russias offer for direct peace talks, but insisted there must be a full, temporary ceasefire in place before negotiations can start.Zelenskyy, writing on X, called Russian President Vladimir Putins counter-offer to start talks without a ceasefire a positive sign, and said that the entire world has been waiting for this for a very long time.He added, however, that the very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire.Meanwhile, Russia resumed mass drone attacks in Ukraine early on Sunday, after its self-declared 3-day pause expired.Russia launched 108 attack drones and simulator drones from six different directions, Ukraines Air Force said on Sunday. It said 60 drones were shot down and another 41 simulator drones failed to reach targets due to Ukrainian countermeasures. The Ukrainian president appeared to insist on his proposal to start a 30-day unconditional ceasefire on Monday. There is no point in continuing the killing even for a single day. We expect Russia to confirm a ceasefire full, lasting, and reliable starting tomorrow, May 12th, and Ukraine is ready to meet, Zelenskyy said. Putin in remarks to the media overnight effectively rejected that ceasefire offer and proposed restarting direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday instead without preconditions. He said a ceasefire might be agreed on during the negotiations. Putins counteroffer came after leaders from four major European countries threatened to ratchet up pressure on Moscow if it does not accept an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine that they offered on Saturday in a strong show of unity with Kyiv.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in comments aired by Russian state TV on Sunday, called Putins proposal very serious and said it confirms a real intention for find a peaceful solution.The goals of the talks are clear: to eliminate the root causes of the conflict. And also to ensure the interests of the Russian Federation, Peskov said.