Donald Trump's rhetoric towards Russia has become much sharper recently, forcing the Kremlin to react. But the reaction so far remains only words and it does not seem that Vladimir Putin is ready to give up his maximalist goals to stop Ukraine, writes The Times.
Although he offered direct talks with Ukraine, the Russian president rejected the possibility of an immediate ceasefire and repeated his demand to address the “root causes“ of the war.
Translated from Kremlin jargon, this statement means that Putin is demanding, at a minimum, the removal of the pro-Western government in Kiev and the abandonment of Ukraine's course towards NATO. It is also possible that Putin is referring to Ukraine's relinquishment of Crimea and four regions that Russia still does not fully control.
The Times also doubts that Putin fears new Western sanctions, since Russia is already the most sanctioned country in the world, but this has not had much of an impact on living standards in Moscow and St. Petersburg. At least not enough to force Putin to end the war that he sees as his historic mission.
“And so the Kremlin repeats its demands week after week, sometimes using different words, but without fundamentally changing its insistence that the only way to peace is for Ukraine to give Russia everything it wants“, concludes The Times journalist.
If Russia continues to shell Ukraine, there can be no peace talks, a European Commission spokesman said today. He noted that the EU will continue to put pressure on Moscow and added that the next European sanctions may affect the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
According to him, including the gas pipeline in the European sanctions lists will send a signal that it is not worth investing in this project. The spokesman pointed out that the EU expects approval of the additional sanctions from the European foreign ministers, who will meet three times by the end of the month, BTA reported.
In recent years, we have been closely coordinating with the US on sanctions against Russia. We continue to strive for the sanctions we are preparing to have the support of Washington, the spokesman said. We must continue to put pressure on Russia, we cannot trust (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, he said.
The ceasefire is extremely important for the start of peace talks on Ukraine. The EU supports the proposal for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting today. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accepted this proposal, it remains for Russia to give a clear answer. Zelensky is once again taking a step towards peace talks. We do not know whether Putin will accept a meeting with Zelensky, the spokesman added.