The US president called up NBC’s Kristen Welker prior to her Sunday appearance as host of Meet the Press, according to Welker. He told her that he was “p***ed off” after the Russian president called for elections in Ukraine and once again questioned the legitimacy of Volodymyr Zelensky’s government — comments the U.S. president said were unhelpful.

Even though U.S. negotiators are currently engaged in moderating peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, Donald Trump put the blame squarely on Putin’s shoulders, adding that he was “very angry” at the Russian president. Putin’s recent comments about Zelensky, he said, were “not going in the right location.”

Washington DC correspondent John Bowden reports:

The coalition was announced by Sir Keir at the start of March, following a summit on Ukraine he hosted in London.

It was formed to help bolster Ukraine’s defences against Russia, including through increasing military aid.

Just days after that first meeting, the US temporarily suspended intelligence sharing with Kyiv, pushing European leaders to hold crisis talks on what further support they could provide to Ukraine.

A central part of the point of the coalition of the willing is to create a peacekeeping force, Sir Keir has previously said, which would help enforce any ceasefire on the ground in Ukraine.

A peacekeeping force would help “guarantee Ukraine’s future security”, he said last week, adding that what action the force would take was subject to meetings with military experts from around the world.

Fighting in Kursk is ongoing despite the collapse of Ukraine’s defence in the Russian region.

Ukraine is still “hanging onto a narrow strip of Russian land in Kursk with 2-3 small villages” Emil Kastehelmi, analyst with the Black Bird Group, said. Russia will continue to push Ukrainians back, although the area held by Kyiv’s forces is not politically relevant.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has opened a new operation to push into Russia’s Belgorod region, advancing around three to four kilometres deep.

“It’s unclear how solidified the Ukrainian positions are in the villages and the surrounding areas,” Mr Kastehelmi said.

“We may be seeing a fixing operation to draw Russian attention away from Kursk and Sumy, but currently it’s unfolding on a very local level, and the successes are small.”

Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked Ukrainian Muslims for their “resilience in defending our country” as millions around the world celebrate Eid.

“I sincerely congratulate Muslims in Ukraine and around the world on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr,” Mr Zelensky wrote.

“This is a blessed time for good deeds, forgiveness, and solidarity. May this holiday bring us closer to our shared goal — a just, dignified, and lasting peace.”

The Ukrainian president thanked Ukraine’s Muslim community for its “resilience”, adding that he is “grateful to everyone who supports Ukraine”.

“Eid Mubarak — may your holiday be blessed!” he added.

Russia launched 111 drones at Ukraine during an overnight attack, Kyiv's air force said on Sunday.

The air force said it had shot down 65 of the drones.

Another 35 drones were "locationally lost" without causing damage, typically a reference to electronic jamming, but that damage was reported in the Kharkiv, Sumy, Odesa and Donetsk regions.

World affairs editor Sam Kiley reports:

The latest version of the much-mutated minerals deal from the White House, which has been tabled in Kyiv, goes further than ever before in attempting to get Ukraine to sign up to back pay for US support in the war, plus four per cent.

On top of that it demands that the US, under Delaware law, controls most of Ukraine’s industrial output and much of its transport and communications system.

It is the result of a mafia-style protection shakedown on Ukraine by its former friends in Washington DC supported (by accident or design) by thuggery from the Kremlin.

Ukrainian parliamentarians told The Independent that even if, as is unlikely, president Volodymyr Zelensky signed up to the offer it would stand no chance of ratification by Ukraine’s legislature.

Vladimir Putin is making a mockery of ceasefire efforts, a Ukrainian MP has told The Independent.

Oleksandr Merezhko, who chairs the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign policy committee, said earlier this week that Donald Trump may change his attitude towards the Russian autocrat when he realises Putin is not serious about peace.

Dealing with Putin is “worse than dealing with gangsters” because “you can never trust, you can never rely [on him]”, Mr Merezhko said.

He added: “It’s an illusion to believe you can make a deal with Putin [which will] be followed conscientiously by Putin. It’s a total illusion.

“Trump should understand that on Putin’s part, it’s a mockery. It’s a mockery, all this negotiation process. When Trump realises this, maybe he will change his attitude towards Putin.”

Donald Trump has been told by Finland’s president Alexander Stubb that the US has “far-reaching” plans in case Russia does not accept a ceasefire in Ukraine.

Speaking to Finnish reporters in London, Mr Stubb said the US president was running out of patience with Russia, having met him in a surprise visit to Florida.

Mr Stubb added that a deadline for a ceasefire in Ukraine must be set in order to make it happen.

"April 20 would be a good time for a full ceasefire without any conditions,” Mr Stubb said, “because a deadline is needed, because it is Easter and because President Donald Trump will have been in office for three months”.

In Mr Stubb’s visit to Florida, the presidents discussed strengthening their countries' bilateral partnership and also played a round of golf, the Finnish president’s office said.