European leaders called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to an immediate and complete cessation of hostilities in Ukraine. This decision will allow negotiations to begin on a peace treaty.
The corresponding statement was made by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron after the E3 summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The document, OBOZ.UA informs, appeared on the British government website. The PromPolitInform portal reports.
According to the text of the document, Berlin, Paris and London condemned Russia’s missile attacks on Ukrainian cities and the incursion of drones into the territory of NATO member states. They pledged to stand firmly on the side of Ukraine.
The document will require Russia to fulfill five demands. Among them:
cessation of hostilities;
freezing the front line and banning the forcible alteration of international borders;
security guarantees for Ukraine, including the deployment of a multinational force;
Russian assets will remain frozen until Moscow compensates Kiev for the damages caused by the war;
protecting Europe’s interests.
The joint statement came after Putin rejected Ukraine’s offer of a ceasefire last week and escalated hostilities over the weekend. Ukraine accused Russia of striking a spent nuclear fuel storage facility near Chernobyl, while Russia said a bridge providing access to the Crimean peninsula had been damaged.
European foreign policy chief Kaia Kallas said allies should increase pressure on Moscow because there was “some movement inside Russia” that indicated growing discontent with the way the war was going.
“The Russians are not really there yet. That’s why we also need to have more strategic patience, we’re not the ones demanding, but Russia actually needs to talk to us because they also want to end this war, and let’s start with a ceasefire,” Bloomberg quoted her as saying.
