A Ukrainian diplomatic source told Reuters on Wednesday that Ukraine’s leadership would decide on its next steps for peace talks in Turkey once there was clarity on Vladimir Putin’s participation.
“Everything will depend on whether Putin is scared of coming to Istanbul or not. Based on his response, the Ukrainian leadership will decide on the next steps,” the source said.
If Putin agrees to join, it would be the first meeting between the leaders of the two warring countries since December 2019.
Direct talks between negotiators from Ukraine and Russia last took place in Istanbul in March 2022, a month after Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine.
'Dictated peace' in Ukraine would be unacceptable, says Germany’s Merz
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday that there must not be any settlement in Ukraine in the form of a “dictated peace” from Moscow, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Addressing parliament, Merz said there must be “no submission to militarily created facts against Ukraine’s will”.
According to Reuters, Merz also said the west must not allow itself to be divided on Ukraine, adding that he was working to ensure unity between European and US partners on how to end the war.
The west could not accept a submission to the facts achieved on the ground by Russia’s military, he said in his first major speech to parliament since becoming chancellor last week.
“We hope and are working hard to ensure that this clear stance is upheld not only throughout Europe, but also by our American partners,” Merz said.
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Ukraine’s leadership will decide on its next steps for peace talks in Turkey once there is clarity on Russian president Vladimir Putin’s participation, a Ukrainian diplomatic source told Reuters on Wednesday.
“Everything will depend on whether Putin is scared of coming to Istanbul or not. Based on his response, the Ukrainian leadership will decide on the next steps,” the source said.
France urges new sanctions to 'suffocate' Russian economy
The United States and Europe must put together new sanctions to “suffocate” Russia’s economy in order to force Vladimir Putin to end the war against Ukraine, France’s foreign minister said on Wednesday, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The EU on Wednesday approved a fresh package of sanctions on Russia (see 8.57am BST), but Jean-Noël Barrot sadi that multiple rounds of punitive measures have failed to halt Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, now in its fourth year.
“We will have to go further, because these massive sanctions have not yet deterred Vladimir Putin from continuing his war of aggression against Ukraine,” Barrot told broadcaster BFMTV. He said:
We must prepare to impose devastating sanctions that could suffocate the Russian economy once and for all.
Barrot said that he was to meet US Senator Lindsey Graham in Turkey on Thursday to discuss a US sanctions bill he was working on.
Graham has rallied dozens of lawmakers to support a plan to impose additional sanctions on Moscow as well as tariffs on countries that buy Russian energy. Graham “has designed a package of extremely powerful sanctions”, with tariffs of 500% on countries that continue to import Russian oil, the French foreign minister said.
“Russia has found ways to circumvent the blockade imposed by Europe and the United States,” Barrot said. “Turning off the tap in this way is a way of grabbing Russia by the throat,” he added. “I hope that Europe will in turn be able to impose sanctions on hydrocarbons,” Barrot said.
Trump says he does not know if Putin will show up to talks in Turkey
US president Donald Trump on Wednesday said he did not know if Russian President Vladimir Putin would show up for talks on the war in Ukraine planned for Thursday in Turkey.
“He’d like me to be there, and that’s a possibility. . … I don’t know that he would be there if I’m not there. We’re going to find out,” Trump told reporters traveling aboard Air Force One en route to Qatar, according to Reuters.
Trump has said he may visit Turkey for the talks as part of his trip to the Middle East this week.
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Putin has invitation to visit Iran, but dates have yet to be set, Kremlin says
Russian president Vladimir Putin has an invitation to visit Iran, but the dates have not yet been agreed, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
Iran’s government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani was quoted by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti on Tuesday as saying that Putin’s visit to Iran “is currently being worked out”.
Moscow and Tehran signed a 20-year strategic partnership agreement in January, the two countries have supplied each other with weapons, and Russia has defended what it says is Tehran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy.
“Indeed, President Putin has an invitation to pay an official or working visit to Iran. The dates have not yet been agreed. As soon as they are agreed, we will inform you,” Peskov told reporters when asked about a possible visit. He added:
We highly value our partnership with this country and we highly value the depth of our relationship in a wide variety of areas.
The last time Putin visited Iran was in 2022, months after he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, yesterday restated his commitment to meet Russia’s president for peace talks in Turkey, saying it would be a test of the Kremlin’s dedication to pursuing peace.
Zelenskyy said he planned to wait for Putin in Ankara with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, adding that they would travel to Istanbul if Putin opted to hold the talks there. ‘We will do everything to make this meeting happen,’ he said.
You can listen to Zelenskyy’s comments in the video below:
“I worry a lot about a kind of world war one-type scenario,” former White House Russia adviser Fiona Hill told Lucy Hough, “in which the prevailing system is broken down, and you get a whole outbreak of conflicts that meld together.”
People are always asking: ‘What should we be worried about in the future?’ We should be worried about the here and now.
In the latest edition of the Today in Focus podcast, Hill reflects on what another term of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in power means for Europe and the rest of the world. She was an adviser for Trump during his first term in office, and sat in on the 2018 Trump-Putin summit.
Hill said:
He wanted a very close relationship with Putin, kept talking about him as his friend, talking about phone calls he had when he hadn’t had phone calls. He’s done this with China as well.
It’s almost as if he’s saying: ‘Please call me.’ He’s laid out every way in which he can be manipulated, and that’s what Putin has done. Putin is an expert in manipulation.
You can listen to the full podcast here:
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The Kremlin said on Wednesday that a Russian delegation would be in Istanbul on Thursday for possible direct peace talks with Ukraine, but did not disclose who would be there from Moscow’s side, reports Reuters.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow would disclose the names of who is in its own delegation once president Vladimir Putin gave the order to do so.
Peskov said Putin’s offer of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday still stood though, and that the Russian delegation would wait for their Ukrainian counterparts to show up.
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The Kremlin has again declined to say who will go to Ukraine talks in Turkey on Thursday, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
More details soon …
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday offered to mediate between leaders of countries at war, saying that he himself “will make every effort so that this peace may prevail”, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The new US pontiff, who became head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics last week, told the packed Paul VI hall at the Vatican that “from the Holy Land to Ukraine, from Lebanon to Syria, from the Middle East to Tigray and the Caucasus, how much violence do we see!”.
He urged them to pray for peace, adding:
For my part, I will make every effort so that this peace may prevail.
The Holy See is always ready to help bring enemies together, face to face, to talk to one another, so that peoples everywhere may once more find hope and recover the dignity they deserve, the dignity of peace.
The peoples of our world desire peace, and to their leaders I appeal with all my heart: Let us meet, let us talk, let us negotiate!
He was speaking at a pre-arranged event for the 2025 Jubilee holy year dedicated to the 23 Eastern Catholic churches, located across eastern Europe, the Middle East, India, and parts of Africa.
Germany arrests three Ukrainians over Russian sabotage plot
German prosecutors said on Wednesday they had arrested three Ukrainians accused of plotting sabotage attacks on goods transports on behalf of Russia.
The suspects, detained in Germany and Switzerland, had told individuals “believed to be acting on behalf of Russian state authorities” that they were ready “to commit arson and explosive attacks on goods transport in Germany”, federal prosecutors said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that France did not want to unleash “World War III” over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and vowed referendums on key issues as he outlined his aims for the remaining two years of his mandate in a marathon television appearance, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“We must help Ukraine defend itself but we do not want to unleash a Third World War,” Macron said in the interview that lasted more than three hours. He added:
The war must cease and Ukraine must be in the best possible situation to go into negotiations.
But Macron said France was ready to start discussing with other European countries deploying French warplanes armed with nuclear weapons on their territory, as the United States does.
“The Americans have the bombs on planes in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Turkey,” Macron said.
“We are ready to open this discussion. I will define the framework in a very specific way in the weeks and months to come,” he said.
The boxy glass and steel tower at a traffic-clogged junction on King Albert II Boulevard hardly stands out among the other buildings in the business district of north Brussels, the Belgian capital’s answer to Manhattan or La Défense in Paris.
But unlike its neighbours, the institution housed in this bland postmodern building opposite a branch of Domino’s Pizza is caught up in a geopolitical maelstrom. It is Euroclear, a little-known body that houses most of the Russian state’s frozen assets and now finds itself in the middle of a debate about international justice.
Amid uncertainty about Donald Trump’s commitment to Ukraine, calls are growing to confiscate Russian central bank assets that were frozen after the full-scale invasion. Euroclear holds €183bn of Russian sovereign funds out of an estimated €300bn immobilised in western countries.
In March, about 130 Nobel laureates, including the peace prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk, called on western governments to release the €300bn to rebuild Ukraine and compensate war victims. “This might require new regulations and laws, which, given the undeniable emergency and gross violations of international law, are appropriate and must be amended,” stated the letter, which was signed by some of the world’s leading economists, scientists and writers.
Under EU law, profits from the Russian funds are used to aid Ukraine, and the next amounts will be revealed when Euroclear announces quarterly results on Wednesday. But the windfall profits – an estimated €2.5bn-€3bn a year – are modest when set against the €506bn that Ukraine needs for reconstruction over the next decade. (Since that estimate was published by the World Bank in February, Russia’s deadly missile strikes have continued to wreak a devastating toll.)
The EU’s most senior diplomat, Kaja Kallas, has backed the idea of using the assets, as have the foreign ministers of Poland and Lithuania. “Putin has already written off the €300bn assets, he does not expect to get them back. But he also doesn’t think we have the fortitude to take hold of them either. So far, we have proven him right,” said Poland’s foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, last June.
But for Belgium’s prime minister, Bart De Wever, confiscating the assets would be “an act of war”.
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EU agrees 17th package of sanctions on Russia
The EU on Wednesday approved a fresh package of sanctions on Russia, clamping down on its “shadow” oil fleet, as Europe threatens further punishment if Moscow does not agree to a Ukraine truce, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The new measures against the Kremlin – the 17th round of sanctions from the EU since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine – were in the pipeline before European leaders issued their latest ultimatum to Moscow over US-led peace efforts.
Diplomats representing the EU’s 27 member states approved the package at a meeting in Brussels, according to the Polish presidency of the bloc.
The package – to be formally adopted on Tuesday – includes blacklisting 200 oil tankers used to circumvent curbs on Russian oil exports. Companies in countries including Vietnam, Serbia and Turkey accused of helping supply goods to the Russian military are also to face restrictions, reports AFP.
Dozens of Russian officials are to be added to the nearly 2,400 people and entities already facing visa bans and asset freezes. The package also brings sanctions on Russian individuals over cyber-attacks, human rights abuses and sabotage in Europe.
Officials admit that the latest round of sanctions against Moscow are relatively limited compared to previous packages as the EU finds it more difficult to agree targets.
Further to these measures, EU leaders have threatened Russia with “massive sanctions” if it doesn’t agree to a 30-day ceasefire proposal backed by the United States.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz warned Russia on Tuesday that it would face additional European sanctions if there was no “real progress” this week towards peace in Ukraine.
Merz urged Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss a Ukraine ceasefire and peace with Ukainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Istanbul on Thursday.
Brazil’s Lula says he will press Putin to attend negotiations with Zelensky in Istanbul
Brazil’s president said on Wednesday he would press Vladimir Putin in person to attend negotiations with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Turkey, adding to calls on the Russian leader to enter talks and end Moscow’s invasion.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will stop over in the Russian capital on the way back to Brazil after the conclusion of a regional forum in China.
“I’ll try to talk to Putin,” Lula said at a press conference in Beijing before his departure, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). “It costs me nothing to say, ‘hey, comrade Putin, go to Istanbul and negotiate, dammit’”, he said.
The negotiations scheduled for Thursday in Istanbul would be the first direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow since 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour.
Lula’s comments come after the Ukrainian foreign minister on Tuesday urged Brazil to use its influence with Russia and make a meeting between Putin and Zelensky happen. They also come after Brazil and China issued a joint statement on Tuesday calling for direct negotiations as the “only way to end the conflict”.
The Kremlin has not yet specified whether Putin will attend in person, stating only that the “Russian delegation will be present”.
Unclear if Putin will accept invitation for face-to-face talks as Zelenskyy prepares to travel to Turkey
Russian president Vladimir Putin has proposed restarting direct peace talks on Thursday with Ukraine in Istanbul, but Volodymyr Zelenskyy challenged the Kremlin leader to meet in Turkey in person.
What will unfold remains unclear. The Kremlin has refused to confirm who will be going to Turkey and whether it will include Putin. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Zelenskyy will only sit down with the Russian leader, reports the Associated Press (AP).
Zelenskyy said he had arranged to meet the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in Ankara, but would be ready to fly to Istanbul at a moment’s notice if Putin showed up. “If Putin does not arrive and plays games, it is the final point that he does not want to end the war,” he said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump, who is on a visit to the Middle East, appeared to float the idea of a three-way meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy, saying on Monday:
I believe the two leaders are going to be there [Turkey]. I was thinking about flying over.
Zelenskyy said he was hoping Trump would indeed meet him in Turkey. “If Trump travels, it will push Putin also to travel,” he said. “Trump can really help. It’s the situation where the US being present can give important guarantees.”
In an interview on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said that Trump had to realise that Putin was the real obstacle to a peace deal. You can read our report here:
Here are some other key developments:
The EU on Wednesday approved a fresh package of sanctions on Russia, clamping down on its “shadow” oil fleet, as Europe threatens further punishment if Moscow does not agree to a Ukraine truce. Diplomats representing the EU’s 27 member states approved the package at a meeting in Brussels, according to the Polish presidency of the bloc.
The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said in Copenhagen on Tuesday: “I think it’s a good move if they sit down … But I don’t think he dares, Putin.” If Putin does not attend, and Zelenskyy does not either, talks are still expected to be held at a lower level between Ukrainian and Russian delegations.
Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, said that if Putin shows up, “President Trump will be there”. The US president is visiting the Middle East. Kellogg, as well as the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and Trump’s property dealer friend Steve Witkoff are also reportedly expected in Turkey.
The Ukrainian foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, called on Brazil to help persuade Putin to go to Istanbul. The leaders of China and Brazil, members with Russia of the Brics grouping, said in a joint statement they hoped direct dialogue could begin as soon as possible.
Brazil’s president said on Wednesday he will press Putin in person to attend negotiations with Zelensky in Turkey, adding to calls on the Russian leader to enter talks and end Moscow’s invasion. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will stop over in the Russian capital on the way back to Brazil following the conclusion of a regional forum in China. “I’ll try to talk to Putin,” Lula said at a press conference in Beijing ahead of his departure.
French president Emmanuel Macron said that Ukraine acknowledges it cannot retake all the territory seized by Russia since 2014 and warned that the west did not want a “third world war”. “The war must cease and Ukraine must be in the best possible situation to go into negotiations,” Macron said. “Even the Ukrainians have the clear-sightedness to say they do not have the capacity to retake everything that has been taken since 2014.”
Russian guided bombs hit the north-eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv on Tuesday, killing at least three people, a local official said.
The Cannes film festival has begun by screening three 2025 Ukraine documentaries: Zelensky; Bernard-Henri Lévy’s Notre Guerre; and The Associated Press-Frontline coproduction 2000 Meters to Andriivka, by Mstyslav Chernov who won an Oscar for 20 Days in Mariupol. “This ‘Ukraine Day’ is a reminder of the commitment of artists, authors and journalists to tell the story of this conflict in the heart of Europe,” the festival said in a statement.
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