Negotiations in Istanbul: Merz threatens Russia with sanctions for lack of progress
14 May 08:35
Germany will demand tougher sanctions against Russia if there is no progress in resolving the war in Ukraine this week. This was stated by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports citing Deutsche Welle.
Merz believes that Russia should “declare its readiness for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.” However, if there is “no real progress” in resolving the war this week, the German government will “insist on a significant increase in sanctions” against Russia at the European level. In particular, the energy and financial market sectors may be affected.
In this way, Merz answered the question whether the last one, when the EU countries threatened Russian dictator Vladimir Putin with tougher sanctions if he did not start to comply with a full 30-day ceasefire on May 12, had expired.
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Positions of the parties on the upcoming talks in Istanbul
On the night of May 11, Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced his readiness for direct talks with the Ukrainian side, which are to take place in Istanbul on May 15. However, in his statement, he did not mention a single word about a possible 30-day ceasefire, as the Ukrainian side and its partners want.
US President Donald Trump said that Ukraine must urgently agree to the talks in Turkey proposed by Putin for May 15. At the same time, the American president did not pay attention to the absence of a 30-day truce clause in the Kremlin’s proposal.
Nevertheless, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed and wrote that he would personally wait for Putin in Turkey to meet on May 15. At the same time, he expressed hope that the ceasefire would begin on May 12.
However, after Zelenskyy’s agreement, no official statements have yet followed from the Kremlin. So now, for the first time, the Kremlin has officially confirmed that it is preparing for negotiations.
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