{"id":138115,"date":"2025-05-20T10:43:54","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T10:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-zelensky-says-putin-buying-time-after-trump-call-the-independent\/"},"modified":"2025-05-20T10:43:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T10:43:54","slug":"ukraine-war-latest-zelensky-says-putin-buying-time-after-trump-call-the-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-zelensky-says-putin-buying-time-after-trump-call-the-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine war latest: Zelensky says Putin \u2018buying time\u2019 after Trump call – The Independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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US president claims progress made in his two-hour call with Putin, but repeats his threats to abandon efforts at brokering peace
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Vladimir Putin<\/a> is \u201ctrying to buy time\u201d to continue his war in Ukraine<\/a>, Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> has warned, after Donald Trump<\/a> insisted progress had been made after his two-hour call with<\/a> the Russian president.
Despite Mr Trump saying negotiations between Kyiv<\/a> and Moscow<\/a> would begin \u201cimmediately\u201d, the Kremlin<\/a> quickly poured cold water on the US president\u2019s optimistic statements<\/a>, saying \u201cthere are no deadlines and there can\u2019t be any\u201d.
Mr Trump, meanwhile, repeated his threat to abandon efforts to broker peace, insisting that he has a \u201cred line in my head\u201d on when he will walk away and saying: \u201cThis is not my war.\u201d
Engaging in a flurry of diplomacy with calls to Kyiv<\/a>\u2019s allies on Tuesday, the Ukrainian president said he accepted that \u201cthere is no doubt that the war must end at the negotiating table\u201d, but warned that Russia<\/a> must face tough sanctions if it \u201ccontinues to put forward unrealistic conditions and undermine progress\u201d.
Meanwhile, heavy fighting continued along the front line, with Ukraine reporting 177 combat clashes and claiming to have inflicted more than 1,000 casualties upon Russia over the past 24 hours.
The UK has insisted that its new raft of 100 sanctions will \u201cprotect Ukrainian lives, and our collective security by disrupting Russia\u2019s military machine\u201d.
According to the Foreign Office, the new measures sanction the supply chains of deadly Russian weapons systems, including the Iskander missiles used in the Palm Sunday attack on Sumy which killed 34 people.
They also target 46 financial institutions accused of aiding Russian attempts to evade sanctions, as well as the St Petersburg Currency Exchange, and the Russian Deposit Insurance Agency which insures Russian banks. \u201cThese new sanctions will further isolate the Russian economy and disrupt Russia\u2019s revenue streams,\u201d the Foreign Office said.
The UK is also sanctioning 18 more ships in the so-called \u201cshadow fleet\u201d carrying Russian oil, along with the fleet\u2019s enablers, the Foreign Office said, in a move which follows 110 shadow fleet-related sanctions previously announced by Sir Keir Starmer ahead of his visit to Kyiv earlier this month.
Britain is also levelling sanctions against 14 further members of Russia\u2019s Social Design Agency across all levels of the organisation, which the Foreign Office accused of carrying out Kremlin-funded information operations \u201cdesigned to undermine sovereignty, democracy, and the rule of law in Ukraine and across the world\u201d.
The UK government has announced a new raft of 100 sanctions on targets across Russian military, energy, financial sectors and those conducting Vladimir Putin\u2019s information war against Ukraine.
Announcing the new measures after Russia launched its largest ever drone strike on Ukraine, Britain\u2019s foreign secretary David Lammy said: \u201cPutin\u2019s latest strikes once again show his true colours as a warmonger.
\u201cWe urge him to agree a full, unconditional ceasefire right away so there can be talks on a just and lasting peace.
\u201cWe have been clear that delaying peace efforts will only redouble our resolve to help Ukraine to defend itself and use our sanctions to restrict Putin\u2019s war machine.\u201d
Vladimir Putin is \u201ctrying to buy time\u201d to continue his war in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky has warned.
Writing on social media after a phone call with his Finnish counterpart, in which they discussed Donald Trump\u2019s phone call on Monday with Mr Putin, the Ukrainian president said that \u201cdiplomacy aimed at peace must be well-coordinated and focused on tangible outcomes\u201d.
Mr Zelensky said: \u201cIt is obvious that Russia is trying to buy time in order to continue its war and occupation. We are working with our partners to ensure that pressure forces Russians to change their behavior. Sanctions matter, and I am grateful to everyone making them more biting for those responsible for this war.
\u201cThere is no doubt that the war must end at the negotiating table. The proposals on the table must be clear and realistic. Ukraine is ready for any negotiation format that delivers results. And if Russia continues to put forward unrealistic conditions and undermine progress, there must be tough consequences.
\u201cMore conversations with our partners are scheduled for today.\u201d
The Independent\u2019s foreign affairs editor <\/em>Sam Kiley <\/em><\/strong>writes:<\/em>
Vladimir Putin isn\u2019t saying \u201cno\u201d to the demands from around the world that he accepts an unconditional 30-day ceasefire as proposed by Ukraine and endorsed by the Trump administration. He\u2019s not saying \u201cyes\u201d either \u2013 and he\u2019s yanking Trump\u2019s chain.
First, said Putin, the two countries would have to define a possible ceasefire, including its timeframe. The offer is defined as \u201cstop shooting\u201d and the timeframe is \u201cnow\u201d, but the Russian leader shrugged.
The US president has begun to understand that he\u2019s appearing feeble. When it comes to Putin he has always been weak. He\u2019s tried to butch up in social media posts but when he\u2019s got the man himself on the phone, all efforts to take control fail him.
The EU and its non-US allies are planning to tighten oil sanctions on Russia later this week, they have already increased their own defence spending and are giving Ukraine more military aid than America. They know the calls from the Kremlin are worth nothing, no matter how much Trump enjoys them.
Read the full analysis here:<\/em>
German defence minister Boris Pistorius has warned that Russia\u2019s continued attacks on Ukraine \u2013 which killed at least one person and injured 13 others overnight \u2013 speak louder than Vladimir Putin\u2019s \u201clip service\u201d to peace.
Speaking ahead of a meeting of EU ministers, Mr Pistorius said: \u201cWe have seen massive attacks again in recent days … These speak louder than the lip service we have heard for so long.
\u201cPutin is clearly playing for time. Unfortunately we have to say Putin is not really interested in peace.\u201d
French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot accused Putin of hypocrisy, and warned that the EU must impose harsher sanctions on Russia.
\u201cI believe that when Vladimir Putin continues to uphold his hypocritical language, everyone has understood that he will carry on with his colonial war to the end if we do not put a stop to it,\u201d said Mr Barrot, adding: \u201cLet us push Vladimir Putin to put an end to his imperialist fantasy by adopting sanctions that are truly dissuasive.\u201d
Russia has outlawed Amnesty International, designating it an “undesirable organisation” and criminalising involvement with the human rights group in the country.
This move, announced on Monday by the Russian prosecutor general\u2019s office, further intensifies the Kremlin\u2019s crackdown on dissent, which has escalated dramatically since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The ban effectively shuts down Amnesty\u2019s operations within Russia and threatens anyone cooperating with or supporting the organisation with prosecution.
My colleague <\/em>Albert Toth<\/em><\/strong> reports:<\/em>
One person has been killed and six injured by Russian attacks in Donetsk which forced the evacuation of more than 250 people, Ukraine\u2019s regional governor has said.
The fatality came in Siversk, where five houses were damaged, governor Vadym Filashkim said, with injuries also reported in Kramatorsk.
In Kharkiv, two women aged 45 and 73 were wounded in a Russian attack on the village of Starovirvka, the regional governor said, while five further injuries were reported following Russian strikes in Kherson said to have damaged a high-rise building and seven houses.
Russia has released a Greek-owned oil tanker which was detained in Russian waters on Sunday, and the vessel has resumed its journey towards the Dutch port of Rotterdam, according to Estonia\u2019s public broadcaster ERR.
The Liberia-flagged Green Admire<\/em> appeared to be underway in the Baltic Sea on Tuesday with its destination listed as Rotterdam, Reuters reported, citing LSEG ship tracking data.
The vessel was detained after leaving the Sillamae port in Estonia and using a designated navigation channel that crosses Russian territorial waters, the Estonian foreign ministry said on Sunday.
Estonia\u2019s foreign minister has said Russia\u2019s detention of the Green Admire <\/em>was likely a response to a campaign by the Estonian navy to inspect tankers used to transport millions of barrels of Russian oil through the Baltic Sea.
While it is \u201cvery positive\u201d that the Donald Trump administration is involved in the Ukraine peace effort, it is crucial that Europeans and Ukraine are consulted as well, Nato chief Mark Rutte has warned.
The head of the Western military alliance made his remarks ahead of a meeting with European ministers in Brussels.
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