{"id":138216,"date":"2025-05-21T05:53:39","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T05:53:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-russia-war-latest-pope-ready-to-host-peace-talks-while-eu-urges-trump-to-hit-putin-with-sanctions-the-independent\/"},"modified":"2025-05-21T05:53:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T05:53:39","slug":"ukraine-russia-war-latest-pope-ready-to-host-peace-talks-while-eu-urges-trump-to-hit-putin-with-sanctions-the-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-russia-war-latest-pope-ready-to-host-peace-talks-while-eu-urges-trump-to-hit-putin-with-sanctions-the-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine-Russia war latest: Pope \u2018ready\u2019 to host peace talks while EU urges Trump to hit Putin with sanctions – The Independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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UK and EU announce new wave of sanctions, with British measures alone affecting 100 entities and individuals
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<\/a>Pope Leo XIV<\/a> has confirmed his willingness for the Vatican<\/a> to host the next round of Ukraine<\/a> peace talks, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni<\/a> said.
“Finding in the Holy Father confirmation of the readiness to host the next talks between the parties in the Vatican, the prime minister expressed deep gratitude (to) Pope Leo XIV for his unceasing commitment to peace,” a statement from Ms Meloni’s office said.
The Vatican has not issued its own statement on hosting peace talks.
It comes as Donald Trump<\/a> was urged to pressure Russia<\/a> with further sanctions, after Ukraine<\/a>\u2019s Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> warned Vladimir Putin<\/a> is \u201ctrying to buy time\u201d to continue his war.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas<\/a>, said Russia<\/a>‘s failure to negotiate in good faith should trigger threatened US sanctions.
The UK and the EU announced new waves of sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, with the British measures alone impacting around 100 entities and individuals.
Russia’s defence ministry said its air defences shot down 159 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions.
The majority were over Russia’s western regions but at least six were shot down over the Moscow region, which has a population of over 20 million, the ministry said.
Volodymyr Zelensky has said he and German chancellor discussed matters surrounding Ukraine\u2019s recovery after the war in a phone call yesterday.
The Ukrainian president said: \u201cWe must already be thinking about this and have a clear plan that can help bring genuine peace closer now and provide support later. We will work together to make it all happen. I am grateful for the support.\u201d
Sir Keir Starmer has spoken to Volodymyr Zelensky after the UK announced 100 new sanctions on Russia in a bid to ramp up pressure on Vladimir Putin.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: \u201cThe prime minister spoke to president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, this evening.
\u201cThe leaders began by reflecting on their meeting in Tirana, Albania, on Friday before discussing the UK\u2019s latest package of sanctions on Russian military, energy and financial sectors announced today.
\u201cIt was vital to keep the pressure on Russia while they continued their illegal invasion of Ukraine, the leaders agreed.
\u201cLooking ahead to further peace talks, the Prime Minister reiterated the UK\u2019s support for Ukraine and said he was steadfast in his commitment to helping Ukraine secure a just and lasting peace.
\u201cThe leaders agreed to stay in close touch.\u201d
Russia<\/a> has outlawed Amnesty International<\/a>, designating it an “undesirable organisation” and criminalising involvement with the human rights<\/a> 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<\/a> in February 2022.
The ban effectively shuts down Amnesty\u2019s operations within Russia<\/a> and threatens anyone cooperating with or supporting the organisation with prosecution.
Albert Toth<\/em><\/strong> reports:
Donald Trump will \u201cdo a runner\u201d from brokering peace in Ukraine soon, a former British defence secretary has said.
Former Tory MP Ben Wallace told Times Radio: \u201cI\u2019m not very hopeful, I\u2019m afraid. Throughout this Donald Trump has consistently let Putin off the hook\u201d, despite repeatedly threatening tougher sanctions.
\u201cThe reality is Donald Trump has no interest. It\u2019s one of the deals that he will move on from \u2013 most of his career in business has been about \u2018make a deal and do a runner before it actually unravels\u2019. I think that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to see,\u201d he added.
Laying the blame for the millions of people killed, injured and displaced in the war solely at Mr Putin\u2019s feet, he said: \u201cDonald Trump seems to think spending a lots of time on the telephone to him and being constantly humiliated by him \u2013 when he just refuses to do anything that Trump requests \u2013 is somehow the way to proceed and let\u2019s move on to a trade deal.\u201d
Mr Wallace, who was defence secretary for the first 18 months of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, added: \u201cNo doubt there\u2019ll be a golf resort somewhere near St Petersburg, I suspect, soon.\u201d
US president Donald Trump is refusing to impose sanctions on Russia over concerns of future business and trade opportunities being impacted, a White House official has said.
Imposing sanctions could impede Mr Trump’s goal of “maximising economic opportunities for Americans,\u201d a White House official familiar with the call between Mr Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin told the New York Times<\/em>.
Shortly after his call with Mr Putin, the US president took to Truth Social and said a peace deal would be a “tremendous opportunity for Russia to create massive amounts of jobs and wealth. Its potential is UNLIMITED\u201d.
“Likewise, Ukraine can be a great beneficiary on Trade, in the process of rebuilding its country,” he added.
Vladimir Putin<\/a> was quick on the draw with an announcement that said nothing after his two-hour phone call<\/a> with Donald Trump,<\/a> as the Russian president grabbed the narrative before the Oval Office had figured out what the story even was.
The call, the White House hoped, would show how much influence the US president had in the Kremlin. But they were sorely disappointed. Instead it showed that it is, again, Putin who pulls the strings.
“We have agreed with the president of the United States that Russia<\/a> will propose and is ready to work <\/a>with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace accord, defining a number of positions, such as, for example, the principles of settlement, the timing of a possible peace agreement,” Putin told reporters near the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Pope Leo XIV has confirmed his willingness for the Vatican to host the next round of Ukraine peace talks, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni said.
“Finding in the Holy Father confirmation of the readiness to host the next talks between the parties in the Vatican, the prime minister expressed deep gratitude (to) Pope Leo XIV for his unceasing commitment to peace,” a statement from Ms Meloni’s office said.
Ms Meloni’s office said she welcomed remarks from US president Donald Trump that Pope Leo had expressed an interest in hosting talks between Kyiv and Moscow, though the Vatican did not immediately confirm any such offer.
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
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.
\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 he added.
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Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inUK and EU announce new wave of sanctions, with British measures alone affecting 100 entities and individualsFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138217,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}