• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday his country could hold elections if Russia agreed to a 60-day total ceasefire, pushing back against US counterpart Donald Trump’s call for Ukraine to pick a new leader.

“First of all, with all respect to President Trump, it’s up to our society, up to our people to choose one or another leader”, Zelenskyy told ABC News in a televised interview, a day after Trump said Ukraine needed a new president who would agree to end the war.

Zelenskyy said he told Trump’s team that if they really wanted Ukraine to hold elections, “please tell Putin to give us two months, 60 days of total ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organise elections”.

“We want peace, we are ready for a ceasefire, we are ready to begin with any kind of steps of de-escalation”, Zelenskyy told ABC in a TV interview.

“And if the Russians want us not to attack their diesel, their refineries, etc., we are asking President Trump to give them a signal not to attack the energy infrastructure of Ukraine”.

Russia and Ukraine are locked in a long-range aerial war while their armies remain largely deadlocked on the front line, more than four and a half years after Moscow’s full-scale invasion.

Euro News

Image credit: BBC| GETTY Images

Japanese officials have raided the country’s biggest beer makers over allegations they worked together to raise the price of their beverages.

Asahi, Sapporo, Kirin and Suntory Spirits confirmed to the BBC that their premises had been searched by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), adding that they would fully cooperate with the regulator.

The four firms dominate Japan’s beer market, with their drinks a common sight in supermarkets and convenience stores across the country.

Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo all saw their share price fall after news of the investigation broke on Wednesday. Suntory’s beer business is not publicly-listed.

“I do not deny that an investigation is being conducted today, but I’d like to refrain from commenting on the details as a preliminary review is underway,” JFTC Secretary General Iwanari Hiroo said, according to local media.

Hundreds of students in the Belgian city of Liège took to the streets protesting rising education costs, according to Belga news agency.

Tuition fees for most students in Belgium’s French-speaking Community, was increased from €835 to €1,194.

Local media reported that 107 people had been arrested in recent days, for offences linked to property damage and arson.

The protesters are challenging conditions in Belgium’s French-language education system, citing rising costs, overcrowded classrooms and difficulties accessing study materials.

Students carried placards expressing their frustration, including messages calling for education to be treated as a right rather than a privilege.