Germany: Europeans should pressurize Russia with sanctions
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced late Monday that European leaders had agreed to increase the pressure on Russia via sanctions after U.S. president Donald Trump briefed on his conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Donald Trump, President of the United States
Hold calls
On Monday, the European Union leaders, France, Italy and Germany, as well as the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zalenskiy in an effort to bring about a solution.
The war
In Ukraine, the end is near.
Trump announced after the phone call that Russia will begin ceasefire talks in the three-year conflict. However, he didn't appear to have secured major concessions during his two-hour call with the Kremlin Leader.
Merz wrote in a X post that "Europe and America have a very strong unity on this issue: We will support Ukraine closely on its way to a ceasefire."
"Europe will increase pressure on Moscow by sanctions." "This is what we agreed with @POTUS following his conversation with Putin."
Kyiv, along with its European allies, has been pressuring Moscow to release the hostages.
You can't help but smile when you see this.
The war has ended.
Russia, which has been steadily but slowly advancing in the Ukraine battlefield, had previously expressed concern that Ukraine would use a pause like this to regroup and rearm.
Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin-affiliated foreign policy adviser, told reporters Monday that Trump and Putin had not discussed a timetable for a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine. However Trump had expressed his desire to reach agreements as quickly as possible.
(source: Reuters)
