Joanna Kikisis

Russia controls about 70 percent of Ukraine's southeastern region of Zaporizhia.

President Trump says Putin tells him he wants peace, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the Russian leader is not sincere.

Putin tells the president of the United States that he wants to end the war, but then says through media that he will continue the war, striking Ukrainian cities with missiles and drones.

Russia says it is changing its stance in negotiations after claiming Ukraine tried to attack one of Putin's homes.

Zelensky says this is a lie and Russia is using it as a pretext to expand attacks on Ukraine.

Joanna Kekisis, NPR News, Kyiv.

Well, he is responding to pressure from President Trump and he's also trying to work with Europeans.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday that they are proposing a ceasefire that would be backed by strong security guarantees for Ukraine and Europe.

He also said that Ukraine is willing to discuss territorial concessions, but that Trump must understand that the final decision is up to Ukrainians.

Here's Merz.

He's saying it would be a mistake to force the Ukrainian president into a peace that his people will not accept after four years of suffering and death.

Well, Zelensky has been walking something of a tightrope, but he is engaging with even the most painful proposals by the Trump administration to show that Ukraine is negotiating in good faith.

At the same time, he knows giving up territory has always been a red line for Ukrainians.

Well, Trump said recently that Zelensky's government is using the war to avoid elections.

And this echoes what the Kremlin has been saying, which they say Zelensky is not

a legitimate president because his term expired last year.

But there is also a good reason that there have not been Ukrainian elections.

Ukraine is under martial law because of Russia's invasion, and Ukraine's constitution forbids holding elections during wartime.

Nevertheless, Zelensky said he is examining the possibility of elections over the next 90 days or even a referendum on giving up parts of eastern Ukraine in exchange for ending the war.

He's saying if this is something our key partner in Washington wants, we have to look into it.