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Donald Trump has been urged to pressure Russia with further sanctions, after Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky warned Vladimir Putin is “trying to buy time” to continue his war.
The US president insisted progress had been made after his two-hour call with the Russian president on Monday.
But despite Mr Trump saying negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow would begin “immediately”, the Kremlin quickly poured cold water on the US president’s optimistic statements, saying “there are no deadlines and there can’t be any”.
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 “red line in my head” on when he will walk away and saying: “This is not my war.”
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 “coordinating all our contacts and steps as closely as possible”, following an “important conversation” with the German chancellor today.
The Ukrainian president said: “I thanked him for his strong and constructive position on supporting Ukraine. We discussed our conversation yesterday with President Trump, as well as today’s talks with European leaders.
“We 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.”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and German chancellor Friedrich Merz shake hands during their meeting in Kyiv (AP)
Arpan Rai21 May 2025 04:38
Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff has warned that, “unfortunately, following the Trump–Putin phone call, the status quo has not changed”.
Writing on social media, Mikhailo Podolyak warned that Russia “still seeks war, destruction, and killing – believing them to be the only means of preserving its current state,” accusing Moscow of being “unwilling and categorically refusing” to accept a ceasefire.
The chief presidential aide added: “There is also this obsessive search for the so-called ‘root causes of the war’, even though the only real cause is the simple fact of Russia’s unprovoked aggression.”
“Ukraine continues to offer the only realistic path out of the war – through an immediate and unconditional ceasefire – comprehensive, long-term, and binding,” said Mr Podolyak.
“The United States remains a global mediator – still assuming that Russia is capable of negotiating and willing to end the war for the sake of business or strategic interests,” he added.
Arpan Rai21 May 2025 04:20
The UK has announced 100 new sanctions against Russia, targeting multiple ways in which Moscow supports its war in Ukraine.
The sanctions target “entities supporting Russia’s military machine, energy exports and information war, as well as financial institutions helping to fund Putin’s invasion of Ukraine”, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said in a statement.
The UK has said its new raft of sanctions will “protect Ukrainian lives, and our collective security by disrupting Russia’s military machine”.
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.
“These new sanctions will further isolate the Russian economy and disrupt Russia’s revenue streams,” the Foreign Office said.
The UK is also sanctioning 18 more ships in the so-called “shadow fleet” carrying Russian oil, along with the fleet’s 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’s Social Design Agency across all levels of the organisation, which the Foreign Office accused of carrying out Kremlin-funded information operations “designed to undermine sovereignty, democracy, and the rule of law in Ukraine and across the world”.
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky speak during the family photo at the European Political Community Summit in Tirana (PA Wire)
Arpan Rai21 May 2025 04:10
Vladimir Putin is “trying to buy time” 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’s phone call with Mr Putin, the Ukrainian president said that “diplomacy aimed at peace must be well-coordinated and focused on tangible outcomes”.
Mr Zelensky said: “It 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.
“There 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,” he said on X, adding that Russia should face “tough consequences” for its “unrealistic conditions”.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a briefing in Kyiv (AP)
Arpan Rai21 May 2025 03:59