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US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are expected to speak this week, officials said on Sunday, as Washington and Kyiv's European allies press Moscow to accept a ceasefire in the three-year war.The United States this week proposed a halt in fighting in the war after talks in Saudi Arabia, with Kyiv accepting the proposal.Putin however has given no clear answer, instead listing a string of conditions and raising "serious questions" over the proposition.Trump's envoy for the conflict, Steve Witkoff, who met for several hours with Putin days ago, told CNN in a televised interview that he thinks "the two presidents are going to have a really good and positive discussion this week."Earlier the Moscow said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and that the pair had discussed "concrete aspects of the implementation of understandings" at a US-Russia summit in Saudi Arabia last month. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused the Kremlin of not wanting to end the war and warned that Moscow wanted to first "improve their situation on the battlefield" before agreeing to any ceasefire. The February Riyadh gathering was the first high-level meeting between the United States and Russia since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022. "Sergei Lavrov and Marco Rubio agreed to remain in contact," the Russian foreign ministry said, with no mention of the US-suggested ceasefire.State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Saturday that the pair had "discussed the next steps" on Ukraine. She also said Rubio and Lavrov "agreed to continue working towards restoring communication between the United States and Russia".The Lavrov-Rubio call came hours after the UK hosted a virtual summit on Ukraine, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer accusing Putin of "dragging his feet" on the ceasefire. "The 'yes, but' from Russia is not good enough," Starmer said, calling for a stop to the "barbaric attacks on Ukraine once and for all".Kyiv the next day said Russia launched 90 Iranian-made Shahed drones onto nine Ukrainian regions. - Zelensky says Putin 'lying' -In his reaction to the ceasefire earlier this week, Putin said the initiative would benefit primarily Ukraine and not Russian forces, who he said are "advancing" in many areas.He raised "serious questions" over the initiative. The proposal came as Russia -- which occupies swathes of southern and eastern Ukraine -- has had momentum in some areas of the front.It has ousted Ukrainian forces from parts of its Kursk region, where Kyiv hopes to hold onto Russian territory as a potential bargaining chip in any future negotiations. Putin said he wanted to discuss Moscow's concerns with Trump in a phone call. Zelensky said Saturday that by not agreeing to the ceasefire, Putin was also going against Trump -- who has made overtures towards Russia -- and accused Moscow of trying to find ways not to end the war. He accused Putin of "lying about how a ceasefire is supposedly too complicated". Ukraine said Sunday that one person was killed by a Russian drone strike on the city of Izyum -- in the Kharkiv region, which fell to Russia at the start of its Ukraine invasion before being retaken by Kyiv's forces.

The Indian market was closed on Friday, in observance of Hindu festival Holi, giving investors an extended weekend before trading resumes on Monday.On Thursday, the Indian benchmark indices closed lower, erasing early gains from optimism over softer U.S. and local inflation data, as trade war concerns intensified with US President Trump threatening more tariffs on Europe and Canada following their retaliatory measures, while heavyweight Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank dragged the benchmarks the most.The benchmark BSE Sensex lost 200.85 points or 0.27% to close at 73,828.91, while the broader Nifty 50 index closed at 22,397.20, lower by 73.30 points or 0.33%.Here's how analysts read the market pulse:Shortened trading week and sell-off in the US short market are providing a hiccup to the global market, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, adding that "however, India is withstanding with resilience and healthy outperformance, by a narrow negative trend.""Even concerns that the U.S. may have to bear a recession are not impacting the Indian market due to signs of recovery in fundamentals led by moderation in inflation, future rate cuts, and improvement in the economy in FY26 led by government spending and improvement in consumer income. However, if US policy continues to be tepid, it will become a point of concern," Nair said.Also read | 5 Wall Street moguls who dismissed Bitcoin as a fad — Guess what they’re saying now!US marketsUS stocks rebounded on Friday as investors seized buying opportunities following a volatile week marked by escalating trade tensions from President Donald Trump, which had stoked recession fears and dampened risk appetite.The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 674.62 points, or 1.65%, to close at 41,488.19. The S&P 500 gained 117.42 points, or 2.13%, finishing at 5,638.94, while the Nasdaq Composite surged 451.07 points, or 2.61%, to 17,754.09.European MarketsEuropean shares edged higher on Friday but remained on course for their steepest weekly decline in three months, as intensifying global trade tensions fueled concerns over an economic slowdown.As of 0950 GMT, the pan-European STOXX 600 had risen 0.4% but was still down roughly 2% for the week.Tech ViewThe Nifty has been forming a symmetrical triangle pattern on the hourly chart, which is a continuation pattern, said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.“For the past three days, Nifty has largely remained within the range of 22,350–22,550. A decisive move above 22,550 could trigger a meaningful rally in the short term. Conversely, a decisive fall below 22,350 could weaken sentiment in the short term," De said.Also read | Explained: Why banks are flying gold worth billions from London to New York amid Trump tariff fearsMost active stocks in terms of turnoverData Patterns (India) (Rs 2,178 crore), IndusInd Bank (Rs 2,159 crore), BSE (Rs 1,499 crore), Bharti Airtel (Rs 1,364 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 1,346 crore), Zomato (Rs 1,240 crore) and Infosys (Rs 1,238 crore) were among the most active stocks on NSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with highest trading turnovers in the day.Most active stocks in volume termsVodafone Idea (Traded shares: 40.86 crore), YES Bank (Traded shares: 6.24 crore), Zomato (Traded shares: 6.07 crore), Tata Steel (Traded shares: 4.82 crore), Suzlon Energy (Traded shares: 4.38 crore), JP Power (Traded shares: 4.21 crore) and MRPL (Traded shares: 4 crore) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on NSE. Stocks showing buying interestShares of MRPL, ITI Ltd, Godfrey Philips, UNO Minda, Data Patterns (India), WABCO India and Elgi Equipments were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.52 Week highOver 57 stocks hit their 52 week highs today while 309 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows. Stocks seeing selling pressureStocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were KEC International, Policy Bazaar, Bharat Forge, Zee Entertainment, TBO Tek, Redington and Sona BLW Precision Forgings.Sentiment meter bearishThe market sentiments were bearish. Out of the 4,105 stocks that traded on the BSE on Thursday, 2,561 stocks witnessed declines, 1,424 saw advances, while 120 stocks remained unchanged.Also read | Indian firms return lowest earnings as cash to shareholders: Aswath Damodaran(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)