Translated with AI
European leaders have decided to urge U.S. President Donald Trump to impose new sanctions on Russia if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul on May 15 or does not agree to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. They said conversations between European and U.S. officials on Monday made it clear that Washington wanted to give Russia and Ukraine a chance to negotiate before ratcheting up pressure on Putin. The European leaders therefore agreed to wait for the outcome of the Istanbul meeting.
The Trump administration has developed options for additional economic pressure on Russia, which the American president can use if necessary, Bloomberg wrote earlier. Trump himself said on May 8 that the United States and its partners would impose additional sanctions if there was no ceasefire. Before that, the leaders of France, Germany, Poland and Great Britain reported that they had managed to secure Trump's support for their plan, which envisages a 30-day ceasefire from May 12. In response, Putin announced his readiness to resume direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15. Trump urged the Ukrainian side not to refuse the meeting in Turkey, and did not rule out that he himself could fly to it. Zelensky then said that he would "personally" wait for Putin at the talks.
The Kremlin has not announced anything about Putin's possible trip to Turkey. It is not yet known who will be part of the Russian delegation. Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev called Zelensky's statement that he would wait for Putin in Istanbul "comedy and a show." "This is definitely not how summit meetings are organized, especially in such a difficult situation," Kosachev noted. In response to threats of sanctions in the event of a refusal to agree to a 30-day ceasefire, the Kremlin said that "the language of ultimatums is unacceptable for Russia." "You can't talk to Russia in such a language," said Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian president.
