The topic of a ceasefire in the war between Russia and Ukraine is being raised in the West to gauge sentiments, stated Estonian President Alar Karis.

"When it comes to this peace formula and its alternative, people are testing this, not during official meetings but in the corridors, in order to find out the mindset. But our answer has been the same as President Zelenskyy has said: that peace arrives and you sit behind the table when Ukraine has won the war,"  Karis said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Karis emphasised that pressuring Ukraine into negotiations will not succeed until unity among European allies and beyond. He added that interest groups are trying to undermine this unity. 

"One or two cannot torpedo [destroy – ed.] this unity," concluded Karis.

Earlier, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said that it was time for diplomacy to pave the way for peace between Russia and Ukraine, and added that he had seen signals from both sides in this context.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during his visit to Vilnius on 10 January, stated that there was no pressure from partners regarding the termination of the protection of Ukraine and the freezing of the war.

Before that, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Ukraine is not being pushed by its Western allies in any format of communication to start negotiations with Russia and freeze the war.