Zelenskyy dismissed claims that

Arelis Gomez moved to Rochester in 2016 from Puerto Rico in search of work opportunities and better education for her children, following her brother who had moved to New York City a few years prior.Arelis Ayala washes dishes while making breakfast for her family on Sunday, March 23, 2025, in Rochester, N.Y. (Toni Duncan via AP)

Arelis Ayala washes dishes while making breakfast for her family on Sunday, March 23, 2025, in Rochester, N.Y. (Toni Duncan via AP)Arelis Ayala, her mother, followed her daughter in 2019, finally making the move after wanting to leave since Hurricane Jorge in 1998, which hammered many parts of the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico.“It was a really hard decision,” Ayala said about her move to be closer to her daughter. Ayala and her daughter hope to eventually bring the rest of the family to Rochester.

Jonathan Gonzalez and his then pregnant wife moved to Rochester after another major storm, Hurricane Maria, pummeled Puerto Rico in 2017.“It was pretty difficult to live in Puerto Rico those days,” Gonzalez said, adding that everything, including hospitals, were closed because of no electricity.

His mother already had a home in Rochester, which made it a natural place to go. Starting over was hard, though Gonzalez feels at home now.

“I love Rochester,” he said.Zelenskyy said on X on Sunday morning that it was a “positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war,” but insisted on a ceasefire first.

Putin and Zelenskyy have only met once — in 2019. After repeated unsuccessful calls for a personal meeting with the Russian leader early on in the war, and following the Kremlin’s decision in September 2022 to illegally annex four regions of Ukraine, Zelenskyy enacted a decree declaring that holding negotiations with Putin had become impossible.Macron said Sunday that Putin’s offer of direct negotiations with Ukraine is “a first step, but not enough,” signaling continued Western skepticism toward Moscow’s intentions.

“An unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations,” Macron told reporters at the Polish-Ukrainian border, according to French media, adding that Putin is “looking for a way out, but he still wants to buy time.”Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in comments aired by Russian state TV on Sunday, called Putin’s proposal “very serious,” aimed at eliminating “the root causes of the conflict,” and said it “confirms a real intention to find a peaceful solution.”