Five European defence ministers to meet in Rome on Friday

Defence ministers from five major European military powers will meet in Italy on Friday to discuss support for Ukraine, the host country said.

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto will host his counterparts from Britain, France, Germany and Poland, his ministry said Monday in a statement.

The announcement came after Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready for direct talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Istanbul on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump said Monday he was "thinking" about flying to Turkey for the talks but Russia did not indicate whether Putin would take part.

Aside from Ukraine, the European ministers will also discuss ways to strengthen European defence - a priority for them following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The five will hold a joint press conference at the end of their meeting at 1245 GMT on Friday, the Italian statement said.

Kyiv and its European allies called on Saturday for a 30-day ceasefire starting Monday - calling it a prerequisite for direct peace talks between the two countries.

Moscow rejected their call on Monday, despite threats of "massive sanctions" in case of refusal.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during his daily briefing that "the language of ultimatums is unacceptable to Russia".

He later said that Moscow wanted "serious" negotiations to achieve peace in the conflict, which has left tens of thousands of people dead.