Meeting in Istanbul: How European leaders reacted to the results of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia
Kyiv • UNN
Negotiations in Istanbul ended without a breakthrough on a ceasefire due to unrealistic conditions set by the Russians. European leaders are coordinating actions and condemning Moscow's position.
Negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul have ended. The parties reached an agreement on a number of issues, including the exchange of prisoners. However, the pressing and one of the most important issues regarding the ceasefire remained unresolved. One of the reasons was the unrealistic conditions of the Russians. UNN has collected the reactions of European leaders to the results of the negotiations in Istanbul.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey stressed that they will continue to work on "achieving peace between Moscow and Kyiv." Turkish chief diplomat Hakan Fidan was directly involved in the negotiations.
"As Turkey, we will continue to make every effort to achieve a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine," Fidan stressed.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Moscow is not constructive. He stressed the importance of coordinating the efforts of the US and the EU.
"We spoke on the phone with President Trump to summarize the efforts made to negotiate with the Russians. The Russian side did not show good will and put forward unacceptable conditions. We will continue to work together. The main task is to maintain the unity of European and American partners around the Ukrainian issue," he added in a joint statement to the press with Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer, Friedrich Merz and Volodymyr Zelensky after communicating with Donald Trump.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that Putin "must pay the price for rejecting peace."
"The Ukrainian people and many people in the world have paid the price for Putin's aggression against Ukraine, now he must pay the price for his rejection of peace," he wrote on his X profile.
Starmer stressed that he does not agree with the fact that Russia is postponing the ceasefire.
"Great Britain always supports Ukraine," he stressed.
The English Prime Minister also noted that "Russia's position is clearly unacceptable."
Based on what happened as a result of the negotiations in Istanbul and "after meeting with President Zelensky and a telephone conversation with President Trump", as Starmer noted, European leaders are coordinating their response.
German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz noted that "diplomatic efforts have failed", but stressed that they will continue.
"We are united in the belief that the Russian side had a good opportunity to hold initial talks on a peace agreement with a preliminary ceasefire agreement. We are very disappointed that this did not happen. The ball was entirely in Russia's court. There were all the conditions for a good initial dialogue," the German Chancellor said.
According to Merz, "it should be clear that we are on this side."
"The European Union and the Coalition of the Willing intend to continue to help Ukraine end the war. Diplomatic efforts made so far have unfortunately failed due to Russia's unwillingness to take the first steps. But we will not give up. We will continue and succeed at the European level," he added.
