Closing summary
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that he would fly to Turkey on Thursday to meet the country’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and wait to see if Russian president Vladimir Putin decides to join them for peace talks.
He explained that because “absolutely everything in Russia” depends on Putin, the only way to secure a ceasefire and an end to the war was through direct talks with him, Reuters reported. “If Putin does not arrive and plays games, it is the final point that he does not want to end the war,” he said, AP reported.
Nevertheless, Zelenskyy insisted he would still do “everything to ensure this meeting takes place,” AFP reported. Zelenskyy said that if the talks failed, he would expect “strong sanctions” from the United States and European Union as it would show that Russia was not ready for diplomacy.
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha called on Brazil on Tuesday to help persuade Russian president Vladimir Putin to attend this week’s talks in Istanbul and to support Kyiv’s push for a 30-day ceasefire. In a call with Brazilian foreign minister Mauro Vieira, Sybiha said on X: “I reaffirmed president Zelenskiy’s readiness to meet with Putin in Turkiye and called on Brazil to use its authoritative voice in its dialogue with Russia to make this direct highest-level meeting happen.”
The head of the European Council António Costa has questioned the decision of Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić to attend last week’s Victory Day parade in Moscow. Vučić, whose country aspires to join the EU, was among international leaders, including Slovakia’s Robert Fico, to travel to Moscow to attend the annual Victory Day parade commemorating the end of the second world war, ignoring warnings not to make common cause with Russian president Vladimir Putin, who is waging a brutal war against Ukraine.
The leaders of China and Brazil, members with Russia of the BRICS grouping of big emerging economies, said in a joint statement they hoped direct dialogue could begin as soon as possible and that they welcomed Putin’s proposal to open negotiations, Reuters reported.
The German government has outlawed a major part of an extremist movement seeking to undermine the state, in a move the new administration said signalled tough action against a subversive far-right scene.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said the EU would impose tighter sanctions on Russia if there is no progress made in ceasefire talks by the end of the week. Speaking at a press conference with Greek leader Mitsotakis (13:22), Merz repeated the warning – first expressed on Monday – in an clear bid to put further pressure on Russia to move.
French president Emmanuel Macron will visit the UK on a state visit in July, the royal family has just confirmed. This will be the first state visit of a French president since 2008 and Nicolas Sarkozy.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy plans to attend the inaugural Mass of newly elected Pope Leo at the Vatican on Sunday, war commitments permitting, a top presidential aide told Reuters on Tuesday.
In a telephone interview from Kyiv, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said the Ukrainian president would be willing hold talks with any other world leaders on the sidelines of the inauguration.
He added that the new pontiff had told Zelenskiy on Monday that he was ready to facilitate such meetings and had promised to “do his best” to help bring about a just and lasting peace.
