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 to discuss Ukraine.
Russia must show “without delay” it is willing to broker peace in Ukraine, Kyiv’s leading European allies have said after David Lammy insisted Vladimir Putin must “get serious” about negotiations.
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.
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”.
