The EU and Great Britain have reacted to the Russian attack on a civilian bus in the Sumy region just a few hours after the Russian-Ukrainian peace talks in Istanbul, UNN writes.
Great Britain
"We are outraged by the Russian attack in Sumy, which occurred just a few hours after the talks in Turkey. If Putin is serious about peace, Russia must agree to a full and immediate ceasefire, as Ukraine has done," British Foreign Secretary David Lammy wrote on social network X.
Poland
The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in X, reacting to the Russian strike, stated that "the death of people immediately after the negotiations reveals the true intentions of the Kremlin."
"We express our condolences to the Ukrainian families of the victims of the Russian attack on a bus near Sumy. Their death - immediately after the peace talks - reveals the true intentions of the Kremlin," the Polish Foreign Ministry said in the X network.
EU
The Ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine, Katarina Maternova, also stated that while Ukraine is offering an unconditional ceasefire, Russia is attacking a bus.
"The whole world sees - Ukraine offers an unconditional ceasefire. Russia, on the other hand, attacks a bus full of civilians," Maternova wrote.
Addition
On May 17, Russian troops launched a deadly drone strike on a bus in the Sumy region in the morning, when people were traveling to evacuate.
According to the Prosecutor General's Office, the enemy attacked a scheduled minibus with a drone on May 17 at about 06:00 at the exit from the city of Bilopillia, Sumy district, according to preliminary data. As a result of the occupiers' attack, 9 people died. According to the Sumy Regional Military Administration, seven more people were injured, three of them in serious condition.
The Sumy Regional Military Administration reported that May 17-18 has been declared Days of Mourning in the Sumy region. The corresponding order was signed by the head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration, Oleh Grygorov. A Day of Mourning has also been declared in the Sumy community on May 17. Mourning has been declared in Bilopillia from May 17 to May 19.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the Russian attack on a bus in the Sumy region took the lives of 9 people, including an entire family, and the Russians could not but understand what they were striking. It is necessary to put pressure on Russia to stop the killings - without stronger sanctions, Russia will not seek real diplomacy.