European leaders have said they are preparing to level tougher economic sanctions on Russia‘s oil industry and its banking sector if it fails to commit to proper peace talks to end the Ukraine war.
Leaders from more than 40 European states met in Tirana, where the blame for stalled ceasefire efforts was squarely pinned on Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Mr Putin was clearly “dragging his heels” and was not serious about negotiating a truce in the Ukraine war, said British prime minister Keir Starmer on his way into the summit. “Should there not be a ceasefire, then we will act together in relation to sanctions,” he said.
The leaders of Europe’s big military powers – France, the UK, Germany, Poland – recently threatened to hit Russia with “massive” fresh sanctions, together with the United States, if Mr Putin ignored Ukraine’s proposal for a 30-day truce.
Additional economic sanctions would target Russia‘s energy and banking sector, said Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen on Friday.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who leads the EU executive body, said the planned measures would include more sanctions on financial institutions, a ban on the use of Nord Stream gas pipelines and further restrictions on the sale of crude oil.
Finland’s prime minister Petteri Orpo said stronger sanctions would need to be done in “co-ordination with the US” to apply maximum pressure on Russia.
The proposals would build on extensive sanctions the EU, UK, and US have already put on Russia, to hobble its economy and constrain its ability to continue the war.
Russia‘s war in Ukraine was directed “against the entire political order of our Continent”, Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz told other European leaders.
Maintaining the transatlantic security partnership was crucial, as despite plans to jointly invest more in defence, European states would not be able to “substitute or replace” the military protection provided by the United States, he said.
After proposing talks between Moscow and Kyiv in Turkey, Mr Putin did not take up Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s offer of a face-to-face meeting. Instead, officials from each side met on Friday, the first time direct negotiations have taken place in three years.
Russia‘s decision to send a “low-level delegation” was a mistake, said Mark Rutte, head of the Nato western military alliance. “I think all the pressure is now on Putin,” he said.
The terms of any peace deal had to guarantee Ukraine’s future security, by making sure Russia could never again invade or take over even “one square mile,” the Nato chief said.
The fact Mr Putin had not “dared” to show up to meet his Ukrainian counterpart in Turkey proved he was “not serious about real peace talks”, said Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign affairs chief. It was important that the whole world could now see that Russia was “playing games”, she said.
The leaders were speaking at a meeting of the European Political Community, a forum set up after Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, that brings together up to 47 heads of state and government.
Addressing the meeting, Mr Zelenskiy said peace in Europe depended on peace in Ukraine. His country was willing to sign up to a “full and unconditional and honest ceasefire”, but he said it seemed Russia was interested in a “staged, empty process” rather than real negotiations.
Mr Zelenskiy repeated his appeal for any settlement in Ukraine to include an “American backstop”, to guard against Russia breaking the truce.
