US President Donald Trump's social media post insisting that Ukraine must immediately begin peace talks with Russia has set back, and perhaps even jeopardised, Europe's carefully planned efforts to persuade the US to impose sanctions on Moscow, European diplomats have told The Guardian.
Volodymyr Zelensky, according to the British newspaper, had no choice but to accept Vladimir Putin's invitation to talks in Istanbul on Thursday, for fear of offending Trump.
Trump said yesterday that he could join talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey on Thursday. Trump, who will visit Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in the coming days, said: “I think you could get a good result from the meeting in Turkey on Thursday between Russia and Ukraine.”
“I was thinking about flying out there. I don’t know where I’ll be on Thursday. I have so many meetings, but I was thinking about actually flying out there. There’s a possibility of that, I guess, if I think something could happen, but we have to get it done,” he told reporters at the White House. He also said he believed both leaders would be in Istanbul and said Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was “a good host.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the possibility of Trump's participation in the negotiations and expressed hope that Putin would not "avoid the meeting."
“All of us in Ukraine would appreciate it if President Trump could be with us at that meeting in Turkey. That’s a great idea. We can change a lot,” Zelensky said on the X platform. He added that “Erdogan can really host a meeting at the highest level.”
Putin offered talks on Sunday to avoid alienating the US president and ease mounting European pressure on Trump to impose tougher sanctions. Trump publicly told Zelensky to accept Putin's offer, which the Ukrainian leader agreed to on the condition that Putin personally attend the talks.
The Kremlin said yesterday that Putin was serious about establishing peace through negotiations, but his spokesman said he could not provide more information and did not specify whether the Russian leader would personally attend the meeting in Turkey.
"We are committed to a serious search for ways to establish a long-term peaceful solution," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, noting that many leaders had welcomed Putin's approach.
He cited positive reactions from Trump, Erdogan, as well as BRICS countries and the states of the former Soviet Union.
Putin and Zelensky have not met since December 2019 and do not hide their mutual hostility, Reuters reminds.
Putin's proposal for direct negotiations with Ukraine came hours after major European powers demanded in Kiev on Saturday that Putin agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire or face "massive" new sanctions.
The German government announced yesterday that European countries will begin preparing new sanctions against Russia if the Kremlin does not begin respecting a 30-day ceasefire by the end of Monday.
"The language of the ultimatum is unacceptable for Russia, it is not appropriate. You cannot use such language with Russia," Peskov said.
The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland traveled to Kiev together for the first time over the weekend to emphasize their call for a 30-day ceasefire. The visit by Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz and Donald Tusk was aimed at pressuring Trump to admit that Putin is stalling and that the US has no other policy option than imposing tough economic sanctions on Russia.
However, the Guardian points out that Putin, by offering negotiations in Istanbul, has in a way outplayed European leaders and at the very least managed to delay additional US sanctions, which would not only have an economic impact, but would also carry political symbolism because they would mean that Trump acknowledges that Putin was the main obstacle to reaching an agreement.
European leaders, who met in London yesterday, are waiting to see whether Putin will personally travel to Istanbul to hold talks with Zelensky, a leader he does not recognize as legitimate.
At the previous round of talks in Turkey in 2022, the Russian delegation was led by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Putin's presence could be a sign that he is acknowledging that he is under real pressure from Trump, the Guardian points out.
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, will also be in Turkey on Thursday for an informal summit on NATO's overall defense spending. Some European officials are also expected to be in Istanbul to ensure that the Ukrainian negotiating team is ready for potentially crucial talks for which there has been relatively little preparation.
If the impression is created that Putin is delaying the ceasefire or if the negotiations in Istanbul fail, the goal will be to refocus Trump's attention and convince him to admit that Putin is not interested in a just peace, but only in the capitulation of Ukraine.
European foreign ministers have publicly attempted to downplay Trump's intervention, continuing to insist that there can be no real negotiations without a complete ceasefire.
The new German Foreign Minister, Johann Wadeful, said yesterday: “It has been clearly emphasized that, initially, there is a ceasefire. Ukraine is ready for that. Germany now expects Russia to agree to a ceasefire and then be ready for negotiations.”
Ever since his disastrous public clash with Trump and his Vice President J.D. Vance in the Oval Office, Zelensky has focused his strategy on complying with Trump's demands as much as possible, fearing that if he does not, Trump will suspend US support for Ukraine, which has not happened so far.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Ukraine had “misinterpreted” Putin’s statement. She told the state-run Tass news agency that “Putin said it very clearly: first negotiations on the initial reasons (for the war), and then talks on a ceasefire.”
Russian demands include barring Ukraine from NATO membership and recognizing Putin's annexation of four southeastern regions, as well as ending Western military support for Kiev.
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