Russia ‘trying to buy time’ to ‘continue war’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday accused Russia of not seriously engaging in peace talks and of wanting to continue its three-year invasion, despite a US push for a ceasefire.

US President Donald Trump held calls with both Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the war on Monday, and Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Istanbul on Friday for the first direct talks on the conflict in more than three years.

But the Istanbul talks failed to yield a truce, and Zelensky accused Putin of sending "empty heads" to the negotiating table. "It is obvious that Russia is trying to buy time in order to continue its war and occupation," Zelensky said in a post on social media.

Trump framed his two-hour conversation with Putin on Monday as a breakthrough, as the Republican seeks an elusive deal to end the war that he had promised on the campaign trail to solve in 24 hours.

But Putin again rebuffed the call for a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire, instead saying only that he was ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum outlining a possible roadmap and different positions on ending the war.

Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas yesterday called for the United States to take "strong action" against Russia if Moscow does not agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine. Kallas also said the EU has adopted new sanctions against Russia, including measures aimed at Moscow's "shadow fleet" of oil tankers and measures related to human rights and hybrid threats.

Britain added 82 new designations and 18 new specifications under its Russia sanctions regime, a government notice showed yesterday.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and has since destroyed swathes of the country's east, killed tens of thousands and now controls around one-fifth of its territory.