The Istanbul talks, though limited in scope, underscored the entrenched challenges ahead.
Britain바카라™s Prime Minister Keir Starmer held urgent discussions with leaders from the United States, France, Germany, and Italy over the weekend to coordinate diplomatic efforts on the Ukraine conflict, ahead of US President Donald Trump's scheduled call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, Al-Jazeera reported.
According to a Downing Street spokesperson, the leaders stressed the importance of an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine and urged Putin to engage seriously in renewed peace negotiations. The joint discussions also included warnings about the potential imposition of further sanctions if Russia failed to show a genuine commitment to ending the war, the Al-Jazeera report showed.
The flurry of diplomatic activity follows Friday바카라™s direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul, the first face-to-face engagement between the two sides since March 2022. Those talks resulted in a prisoner exchange agreement involving 1,000 detainees바카라”set to be the largest swap since the beginning of the conflict바카라”but yielded no progress toward a broader peace deal.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking to reporters at the Vatican following the inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV, confirmed he had conferred with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the upcoming Trump-Putin call. Merz also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the visit.
바카라śI spoke with Marco Rubio, including about the call tomorrow,바카라ť Merz said according to Al-Jazeera. 바카라śWe agreed that we will speak again with the four state leaders and the U.S. president in preparation of this conversation with Putin.바카라ť
Trump, who has expressed interest in mediating an end to what he called a 바카라śbloodbath,바카라ť said he also plans to speak with Zelenskyy to explore possible diplomatic solutions. In Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that preparations for the Putin-Trump conversation were underway.
The Istanbul talks, though limited in scope, underscored the entrenched challenges ahead. A senior Ukrainian official familiar with the negotiations said Russian envoys had demanded Kyiv withdraw its forces from all territories claimed by Moscow as a precondition for a ceasefire바카라”an ultimatum firmly rejected by Ukraine, particularly given that Russia does not fully control the regions in question.
As international pressure mounts, Western leaders appear united in their call for diplomacy backed by the threat of increased sanctions, while the humanitarian toll in Ukraine continues to rise amid persistent fighting. The upcoming Trump-Putin call is being watched closely as a possible pivot point바카라”though expectations remain tempered after years of failed ceasefire efforts.