{"id":138164,"date":"2025-05-20T19:48:29","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T19:48:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-russia-war-latest-eu-urges-trump-to-hit-moscow-with-sanctions-after-threats-to-drop-putin-peace-talks-the-independent\/"},"modified":"2025-05-20T19:48:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T19:48:29","slug":"ukraine-russia-war-latest-eu-urges-trump-to-hit-moscow-with-sanctions-after-threats-to-drop-putin-peace-talks-the-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-russia-war-latest-eu-urges-trump-to-hit-moscow-with-sanctions-after-threats-to-drop-putin-peace-talks-the-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine-Russia war latest: EU urges Trump to hit Moscow with sanctions after threats to drop Putin peace talks – 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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Donald Trump has been urged to pressure Russia with further sanctions, after Ukraine\u2019s Volodymyr Zelensky warned Vladimir Putin<\/a> is \u201ctrying to buy time\u201d to continue his war.<\/a>
The US president insisted progress had been made after his two-hour call with<\/a> the Russian president on Monday.
But 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.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said Russia’s failure to negotiate in good faith should trigger threatened US sanctions.
“We really haven’t seen, you know, the pressure on Russia from these talks,” she told reporters.
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
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.
Volodymyr Zelensky has said he and Friedrich Merz are \u201ccoordinating all our contacts and steps as closely as possible\u201d, following an \u201cimportant conversation\u201d with the German chancellor today.
The Ukrainian president said: \u201cI thanked him for his strong and constructive position on supporting Ukraine. We discussed our conversation yesterday with President Trump, as well as today\u2019s talks with European leaders.
\u201cWe are coordinating all our contacts and steps as closely as possible. It is crucial to maintain unity among all partners and to seek solutions that can truly bring this war to an end with a just peace.\u201d
Donald Trump has said he is weighing what actions to take after Britain and the EU moved ahead with new Russia sanctions, with leaders in Brussels urging Washington to follow suit.
\u201cWe’re looking at a lot of things, but we’ll see,\u201d Mr Trump told reporters as he left Capitol Hill, a day after his call with Vladimir Putin failed to deliver a Russian commitment to a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s chief of staff has warned that, \u201cunfortunately, following the Trump\u2013Putin phone call, the status quo has not changed\u201d.
Writing on social media, Mikhailo Podolyak warned that Russia \u201cstill seeks war, destruction, and killing \u2013 believing them to be the only means of preserving its current state,\u201d accusing Moscow of being \u201cunwilling and categorically refusing\u201d to accept a ceasefire.
The chief presidential aide added: \u201cThere is also this obsessive search for the so-called \u2018root causes of the war\u2019, even though the only real cause is the simple fact of Russia\u2019s unprovoked aggression.\u201d
\u201cUkraine continues to offer the only realistic path out of the war \u2013 through an immediate and unconditional ceasefire \u2013 comprehensive, long-term, and binding,\u201d said Mr Podolyak, adding: \u201cThe United States remains a global mediator \u2013 still assuming that Russia is capable of negotiating and willing to end the war for the sake of business or strategic interests.\u201d
Ukraine\u2019s first deputy prime minister has paid tribute to the \u201cheroic defenders of Azovstal\u201d on the third anniversary of their surrender to Russia, having held out at the Mariupol steelworks \u201cafter 86 days of unimaginable resistance\u201d.
Vowing that \u201cwe will never forget their sacrifice\u201d, Yulia Svyrydenko wrote on social media: \u201cEncircled and outnumbered, they held the last line of defence in Mariupol\u00a0\u2013 drawing back Russian forces and becoming a symbol of defiance for the entire nation.
\u201cMany were taken into the brutal captivity of the Russians. Thousands of families still wait for their loved ones to return. We will never forget their sacrifice. There can be no just peace until every Ukrainian defender comes home.\u201d
Vladimir Putin appears to have found a way to placate Donald Trump, by introducing the idea of a \u201cmemorandum\u201d outlining the framework for a possible future peace treaty, an analyst has suggested.
Speaking after Mr Putin refused to cede to demands for a ceasefire in his call with Mr Trump yesterday, Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre wrote on social media: \u201cIt appears that Putin has devised a way to offer Trump an interim, tangible outcome from Washington\u2019s peace efforts without making any real concessions.\u201d
Polish authorities said they have indicted a man charged with planning to help Russian foreign intelligence services prepare a possible attempt to assassinate Ukraine\u2019s president.
The man, identified only as Pawel K, was arrested in April 2024 after cooperation between Polish and Ukrainian prosecutors, and faces up to eight years in prison.
According to prosecutors, he had declared his readiness to act for the military intelligence of the Russian Federation and established contacts with Russians who were directly involved in the war in Ukraine.
\u201cThe activities were to help, among other things, in the planning by the Russian special services of a possible assassination attempt on the life of … the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky,\u201d prosecutors said.
Pawel K\u2019s tasks included collecting and providing information on security at the Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport in southeastern Poland, prosecutors alleged.
Ursula von der Leyen has said that even though Europe has just adopted its 17th package of sanctions on Russia, an 18th package is being prepared with further hard-hitting measures.
\u201cIt’s time to intensify the pressure on Russia to bring about the ceasefire,\u201d the European Commission chief wrote on social media, following a phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Volodymyr Zelensky said he has European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen today and expressed gratitude for the latest EU sanctions against Russia.
\u201cRussian oil, energy trade infrastructure, banks and financial schemes are what is most painful for Russia, and accordingly, the most useful for peace,\u201d the Ukrainian president wrote on social media.
\u201cThe more pressure there is on Russia, the more motives Moscow will have to move towards real peace.\u201d
He added: \u201cUrsula and I also discussed preparations for the EU\u2019s 18th sanctions package. Russian oil, energy trade infrastructure, banks, and financial schemes \u2013 these are the areas that hurt Russia the most, and therefore contribute the most to peace. I thank everyone who advocates for tougher sanctions and makes strong decisions.\u201d
Ukraine is pushing for the G7 to halve its price cap on Russian seaborne oil to $30 per barrel, foreign minister Andriy Sybiha has said.
Speaking during a visit to Brussels, where his EU counterparts were holding a summit on Tuesday, Mr Sybiha said Kyiv believed this was \u201cthe reasonable\u201d price cap.
His remarks came as the EU and Britain announced new sanctions which they said would zero in on Russia\u2019s \u201cshadow fleet\u201d of oil tankers and financial companies which are accused of helping Moscow avoid the impact of other sanctions imposed in response to the Ukraine war.
Britain and the EU said they would also work to lower the oil price cap, which imposes far less of a discount on Russian oil now that global prices have fallen this year. EU officials briefed on discussions on the matter have told Reuters that the EU will propose a price cap of $50 per barrel.
The EU\u2019s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has piled pressure on Donald Trump to hit Russia with further sanctions, after the US president\u2019s call to Vladimir Putin failed to secure a Russian commitment to a ceasefire in Ukraine.
\u201cWe all agreed and said … that if they don’t agree to unconditional ceasefire, like Ukraine has agreed over 60 days ago, there will be strong action,\u201d Ms Kallas said. \u201cAnd that is what we want to see from all the parties who have said that they will act in accordance.\u201d
Speaking as both the EU and Britain unveiled fresh packages of sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, Ms Kallas told reporters: \u201cWe really haven’t seen, you know, the pressure on Russia from these talks.\u201d
Echoing her remarks, Germany\u2019s foreign minister Johann Wadephul said: \u201cWe have repeatedly made it clear that we expect one thing from Russia \u2013 an immediate ceasefire without preconditions.\u201d
As Russia has not accepted a ceasefire, \u201cwe will have to react,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cWe also expect our US allies not to tolerate this.\u201d
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