Ukraine's allies pile pressure on Putin to join Zelensky for peace talks
The Foreign Secretary hosted his counterparts from from France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Poland and the EU on Monday, where they discussed the future of Ukraine after a weekend diplomatic blitz by world leaders.
Volodymyr Zelensky has called on his Russian counterpart to meet him face-to-face this Thursday in Turkey, for talks aimed at ending the war.
European leaders at the Monday gathering suggested such talks must be accompanied by a truce.
But Russia has overnight bombarded Ukraine with more than 100 drones, and has said there can be no preconditions for talks.
In a statement released after talks by the Weimar+ group of nations at Lancaster House in central London, the foreign ministers of the countries present said Russia 'has not shown any serious intent to make progress'.
In an effort to pile pressure on Mr Putin, they added: 'It must do so without delay. We joined Ukraine in calling for an immediate, full, unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create space for talks on a just, comprehensive and lasting peace.'
Peace will only last if 'Ukraine is able to deter and defend against any future Russian attack', they added, also saying Kyiv 'should be confident in its ability to continue to resist successfully Russian aggression' with support from its allies.
Mr Lammy had earlier urged the Russian leader to step up to the table.
'This is the time for Vladimir Putin to get serious about peace in Europe, to get serious about a ceasefire, and to get serious about,' he told reporters.
Ukraine's foreign affairs minister Andrii Sybiha joined the meeting via a video call.
Sanctions against Russia's 'banking, central bank, and energy sectors' were among the measures under discussion at the meeting aimed at coaxing Mr Putin into bringing the war to and end, he said in a post on X.
I am grateful to @DavidLammy for inviting me to participate online in today's London meeting, in our regular and effective format, together with our allies Germany @AussenMinDE, Italy @Antonio_Tajani, Spain @jmalbares, Poland @sikorskiradek, the EU @kajakallas, and France… pic.twitter.com/lrpEMhRhqc
— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) May 12, 2025
Several European leaders at the London gathering earlier indicated they wanted to see Russia stop its attacks on Ukraine before peace talks could begin in earnest between the two combatants' leaders.
'If there is no ceasefire there cannot be talks under fire,' EU commission vice president Kaja Kallas said.
She added: 'We want to see that Russia also wants peace.
'It takes two to want peace, it takes only one to want war, and we see that Russia clearly wants war.'
Meanwhile, Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said the Russian consulate in Krakow would be closed after officials had discovered links to an act of arson at a shopping mall in Warsaw.
'This is completely unacceptable, so the Russian consulate will have to leave,' he told reporters.
The Foreign Secretary insisted Ukraine's allies would work to place it in a 'position of strength' and 'counter the threat' of Mr Putin, as he spoke at the top of the meeting.
US president Donald Trump on Sunday said Ukraine must respond to a request for talks from the Russian leader 'immediately', and suggested he was 'starting to doubt' whether Kyiv is willing to make a deal with Moscow.
Sir Keir travelled to Kyiv on Saturday alongside his French, German and Polish counterparts for talks with Mr Zelensky about the coalition of the willing plans.
Speaking at a press conference in the Ukrainian capital, the Prime Minister said that European allies 'together with the US' are 'calling Putin out', urged him to accept the 30-day truce and pledged to ramp up sanctions further if he 'turns his back on peace'.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
3 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Fury as taxpayers forking out £1million a WEEK to migrant-chasing lawyers
'It's clear that too many lawyers in the system are raking it in from public funds' CASHING IN Fury as taxpayers forking out £1million a WEEK to migrant-chasing lawyers TAXPAYERS are forking out £1million a week to migrant-chasing lawyers. Some £54.2million last year went to legal teams seeking to thwart deportations or argue asylum seekers should remain. Advertisement Campaigners say solicitors are lining their pockets by convincing clients to mount appeals. Between March and December last year alone, some 45,787 Legal Aid claims were granted at an average cost of £827 per case. It means solicitors pocket public cash — at £52 an hour — even if their clients have no realistic cases. Bizarre excuses include the case of woman-beating Konrad Makocki, 37, who used European human rights laws to say he had to be near his twin sister. Advertisement Figures seen by The Sun show the cost of operating the judiciary in the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal Chamber hit £53.5million in the year to March, whilst staffing appeals cost £31.4million. And rates are set to rise. Former minister Sir Alec Shelbrooke said: 'It's clear that too many lawyers in the system are raking it in from public funds. 'You'd hope the government would realise that the system is ripe for exploitation, but I have serious doubts that lefty lawyer Sir Keir would do anything other than side with his own chums.' Advertisement A Government spokeswoman said: 'We are restoring order to this system, with a rapid increase in asylum decision-making.' Fury as hotel firm housing asylum seekers in 'all-inclusive resorts' paid £700M a year of YOUR money
Economist
10 hours ago
- Economist
Putin unleashes a summer offensive to break Ukraine
AFTER WEEKS of nebulous ceasefire talks at the urging of a semi-engaged President Donald Trump, the war between Russia and Ukraine is intensifying again in savage style and with escalating stakes. In the last two weeks there have been record-breaking Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities and spectacular Ukrainian drone raids on Russia's strategic bomber force, deep inside its borders. But all this is merely a prelude to the main event: a large-scale summer offensive by Russia that aims to break Ukrainian morale and deliver president Vladimir Putin a symbolic victory at almost any cost.
The Guardian
12 hours ago
- The Guardian
Russian forces closing in on Sumy city three years after Ukraine forced them out of region
Russian military units appear to be within 18 miles (29km) of the city of Sumy, three years after Ukraine forced them out of the northern region, while also making new and symbolically important ground in the east. Independent monitors confirmed Kremlin claims to have retaken the village of Loknia, which had been liberated along with the rest of the Sumy region during Ukraine's 2022 spring counteroffensive. It is the latest settlement in the region to be retaken by Putin's forces in recent weeks. The city of Sumy, which is 200 miles north-east of Kyiv, was never occupied by Russia after the full-scale invasion, but Putin's forces have been bearing down on the regional capital. Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned last month that Russia had concentrated 50,000 troops on the Sumy front and a series of settlements in the area have since fallen. Regional governor Oleh Hryhorov announced the mandatory evacuation of 11 more villages on 31 May, bringing the total number of evacuated settlements in the Sumy region to 213. The defence ministry in Moscow further claimed on Sunday to have reached the western frontier of the Donetsk region in the east of Ukraine, and to be advancing in the adjacent Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time in three years of full-scale war. Russia's defence ministry said forces from a tank unit had 'reached the western border of the Donetsk People's Republic and are continuing to develop an offensive in the Dnipropetrovsk region.' A spokesperson for Ukraine's Southern Defence Forces said: 'The enemy does not abandon its intentions to enter the Dnipropetrovsk region. 'Our soldiers are courageously and professionally holding their section of the front, disrupting the occupier's plans. This work does not stop for a minute.' The advance of Russian forces into the industrial region of Dnipropetrovsk for the first time would be a symbolic and strategic setback for Kyiv after the morale boosting results of Operation Spiderweb, in which its drones attacked some of the Kremlin's nuclear-capable bombers deep inside Russia. The Kremlin claimed in 2022 to have annexed the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions despite not having complete control of them. Dnipro, the administrative capital of Dnipropetrovsk, has been under near constant fire since the invasion began. Independent monitors said there was also evidence Russia was advancing on the city of Kostyantynivka, in the Donetsk region, from several directions. The city has been a key logistical hub for Ukraine's forces since February 2022 when Putin launched his full-scale invasion. A Ukrainian military spokesperson, Dmytro Zaporozhets, confirmed that Russian forces were trying to 'build a bridgehead for an attack' on Kostyantynivka. Ukraine's cities are also bracing for fresh night-time missile and drone attacks after US officials said they did not believe Russia had fully responded to Monday's Operation Spiderweb, when 117 drones struck aircraft inside Russia. Russia launched one of its most intense aerial barrages of the war on Thursday night and into the early hours of Friday morning, firing 452 drones and 45 missiles at Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, but further plans were believed to be in the making. One US official told Reuters that while the timing remained unclear, a retaliatory strike could be expected in the coming days and was likely to be 'asymmetrical'. With the war heating up, even the small progress made in the talks in Istanbul between the warring parties appeared at risk of unravelling. A large-scale exchange of prisoners and bodies of the dead due to be held on Monday seemed in doubt after both sides accused the other of breaking the terms of the agreement. Kyiv and Moscow agreed to release all wounded soldiers and those under 25, equating to more than a thousand people from each side. Russia said it would also hand back the remains of 6,000 killed Ukrainian soldiers. The Kremlin accused Ukraine of not turning up to collect the bodies already at the border and prevaricating over Monday's prisoner exchange. Russian officials said they would continue to deliver further bodies to the border. Ukrainian officials accused Russia of playing 'dirty games' by not sticking to the agreed parameters for the exchange by including personnel in a list of prisoners they wished recovered who were not eligible. 'The Ukrainian side has unexpectedly postponed for an indefinite period both the acceptance of the bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war,' Russia's chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said on social media. Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said no date had been set for the prisoner exchange. They said: 'Unfortunately, instead of constructive dialogue, we are again faced with manipulations. We call on the Russian side to stop playing dirty games and return to constructive work to bring people back to both sides and to clearly implement the agreement in the coming days'.
