 "Zelenskyy says he'll meet Putin only after US, Europe agree on war plan")
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that he is prepared to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in person but only after Kyiv and its allies have agreed on a unified plan to end the war.
Speaking in English at the Munich Security Conference, Zelenskyy said, “I will meet with Russians—with only one Russian guy, with Putin—only after we have a common plan with Trump and Europe. We will sit with Putin and stop the war. Only in this case am I ready to meet.”
Read Also: From ‘nothing without Ukraine’ to ‘everything for Putin’: How Trump’s ‘peace deal’ puts Kyiv in a bind
Zelenskyy believes US President Trump is the key to ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and said Trump gave him his telephone number before Friday’s opening of the Munich Security Conference.
Trump upended years of steadfast US support for Ukraine this week following a phone call with Putin.
UK, US agree Zelenskyy be part of peace talks
British foreign minister David Lammy on Friday said he and U.S. Vice President JD Vance agreed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy must be part of any peace talks to end the war with Russia.
“I was very encouraged in our conversations about Ukraine,” Lammy said, speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference after meeting with Vance earlier in the day.
“All of us have this desire to bring this horrendous war to an end. We share the view that there has to be an enduring peace… there was an agreement that Zelenskiy and the Ukrainians have to be part of that negotiated deal.”
On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump startled U.S. allies by calling Russian President Vladimir Putin and announcing the start of talks to end the war in Ukraine.
“It is not surprising that Donald Trump wanted to speak to Vladimir Putin, and indeed wanted to speak to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, but these are just talks at the moment. We are some way from a negotiated peace,” Lammy said.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsUK imposes new sanctions on Putin allies
The UK on Friday announced new sanctions against people with links to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “inner circle” in what the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) dubbed a “crackdown on the Kremlin”.
The latest set of sanctions come a year after the death of prominent Russian Opposition activist Alexei Navalny and targets high-profile figures working in the Russian government, including Russian Defence Minister Pavel Fradkov and Vladimir Selin, who heads up an arm of the Russian Ministry of Defence.
They also target Artem Chaika, whose extractives company the UK believes supports Russian state-owned business.
“I am announcing further sanctions to keep up the pressure on Putin. Ukrainians are fighting for their country’s future and the principle of sovereignty across Europe at the frontline,” said Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
“Nearly a year on from the death of Alexei Navalny, I am honoured to meet with (his widow) Yulia Navalnaya and make clear our commitment to weaken Putin’s attempts to stifle political opposition and crack down on the Kremlin’s corrupt dealings globally. We are calling on our friends and allies to continue to step up in the face of ongoing Russian aggression,” he said.
The UK is also sanctioning two entities linked to Russia’s nuclear energy giant Rosatom, which it claims are supporting Russia’s military activity on the battlefield in Ukraine.
The measures came as Lammy attended the Munich Security Conference, where he met Yulia Navalnaya to reflect on her late husband’s “enduring legacy” of fighting against Putin’s regime.
The UK continues to stand with civil society and human rights defenders working tirelessly to build a better future for Russia despite immense personal risk, the FCDO said.
With inputs from agencies
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