German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday urged the West not to be divided on Ukraine and said he was working to ensure unity between allies in Europe and the United States on how to end the war.

It was a proposal that the Kremlin could neither outright reject nor accept, intended to force it into an awkward choice, revealing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s true appetite for his brutal war of choice.

US president Donald Trump has suggested Russian leader Vladimir Putin should “ideally” accept a 30-day ceasefire, backing similar calls from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky after the two spoke on the phone on Thursday.

Russia and Ukraine have both reported attacks on their forces on the first day of a 72-hour ceasefire called by President Vladimir Putin