European supporters of Ukraine are preparing to introduce additional sanctions against the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, after his failure to attend the long-awaited talks in Turkey between Kyiv and Moscow, Politico reports, writes UNN.
Details
According to the publication, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are meeting in the Albanian capital on Friday to discuss how to stop the fighting in Ukraine.
The conversation at the summit of the European Political Community in Tirana, an informal meeting of continental leaders, will focus on a sharp increase in sanctions against Moscow," four European officials told the publication.
Direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow, the first since those held shortly after the Kremlin's full-scale invasion in 2022, began with confusion over who would attend and whether they would meet at all. Zelenskyy arrived in Turkey ready for talks, but Putin refused to attend and instead sent a lower-level delegation, the publication notes.
US President Donald Trump hinted that he was ready to join high-level talks in Turkey, but dispelled any hope of a breakthrough after confirmation of Putin's absence. "Listen, nothing will happen until Putin and I meet," he said on board Air Force One.
Ahead of Thursday's talks, a senior British official warned that if they were unsuccessful, the conversation was likely to "revolve around sanctions and how we can unite countries to launch the tougher sanctions mentioned in Kyiv on Saturday." The leaders of France, Germany and Poland threatened on Saturday with a mass of sanctions if Russia refuses a "full and unconditional ceasefire."
"President Putin is hiding," a Macron aide said before the Kremlin confirmed that the Russian leader would not travel to Turkey.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that Europeans and Americans should "go further" and "suffocate" the Russian economy to force Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
According to an EU official, the initiative to introduce new sanctions was inspired by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who proposed introducing 500% tariffs on Russian exports if Putin does not stop his attacks on Ukraine. "We would draw inspiration from the scale" of his proposal, the official said.