The leaders of four European countries have arrived in Kyiv as calls intensify for Russia to agree to a monthlong ceasefire in the war.

France’s president, Emmanuel Macron; the new German chancellor, Friedrich Merz; the British prime minister, Keir Starmer; and the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, started their visit to Kyiv with a solemn tribute to the thousands of Ukrainian soldiers killed in battle, laying flowers at a makeshift memorial at the heart of the capital.

Both Moscow and Kyiv have hinted they are open to negotiating with each other, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says this would only be possible once a ceasefire takes effect.