Zelenskyy says Russia is ‘trying to buy time’ to ‘continue war’
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of “trying to buy time” to “continue war”.
“It is obvious that Russia is trying to buy time in order to continue its war and occupation,” Zelenskyy said in a post on social media on Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reports.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Zelenskyy said Ukraine had no doubt the war must end at the negotiating table, but there must be clear and realistic proposals on the table, and called for more international sanctions pressure on Russia.
He said he had spoken to Finnish President Alexander Stubb and that he would speak to more allies later on Tuesday.
Key events
Russia accuses Nato of ‘aggressive actions’ in Baltic Sea after Estonia tries to seize tanker
Russia has accused Nato of carrying out what it called aggressive actions in the Baltic Sea that impeded the freedom of shipping after Estonia tried and failed to seize a tanker.
Estonia said on Thursday last week that Moscow had briefly sent a fighter jet into Nato airspace over the Baltic Sea during an attempt to stop a Russian-bound oil tanker thought to be part of a “shadow fleet” defying Western sanctions on Moscow.
Reuters reports that when asked about the matter at her weekly news briefing, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow was closely monitoring events in the Baltic and would react to what she called illegal actions by Nato vessels if they caused risks.
Kate Connolly
Three German-Russian dual citizens have gone on trial in Munich accused of spying on behalf of the Kremlin and planning attacks on critical military infrastructure and industry.
The alleged spies are said to have found codewords for military goods and gathered confidential information about an oil refinery in Bavaria and a US military training area near the town of Grafenwöhr in the east of the state. The men are also said to have made plans to carry out bomb attacks on buildings and infrastructure used to support Ukraine.
The suspected ringleader, identified only as Dieter S in line with German privacy rules, is accused of coordinating a plot with the specific aim of undermining Germany’s support for Ukraine through acts of sabotage.
He is on trial alongside Alexander J and Alex D, who are suspected of having supported his actions working at the behest of a foreign intelligence service.
The trio were arrested in April 2024 by Bavarian police close to the town of Bayreuth.
You can read the full report here:
Ukrainian foreign minister Andriy Sybiha has called on the Group of Seven advanced economies to reduce its price cap on Russian seaborne oil to $30 per barrel.
The current G7 price cap is $60 per barrel.
“The oil price cap, from our point of view, our position, (the) reasonable price cap (is) 30 dollars,” Sybiha, who was speaking in English, told reporters in Brussels, Reuters reports.
Germany is still counting on the US to pile more pressure on Russia for an immediate ceasefire in its war on Ukraine, Berlin said on Tuesday.
“We have repeatedly made it clear that we expect one thing from Russia – an immediate ceasefire without preconditions,” German foreign minister Johann Wadephul said on the sidelines of a meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels.
“It is sobering to see that Russia has not taken this step, and we will have to react. We also expect our US allies not to tolerate this.”
He added that there was a lot of readiness both in the European Union and in the United States to consider more sanctions on Moscow, but did not give any details regarding what additional sanctions might look like, Reuters reports.
Here’s a little more detail from Reuters on Zakharova’s comments. Putin, after a call with President Donald Trump, has previously said Moscow was ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum about a future peace accord, and that efforts to end the war in Ukraine were on the right track.
Putin said discussions would include the principles of a settlement and the timing and definitions of a possible ceasefire – including its timeframe.
On Tuesday, Zakharova tells reporters she hopes Ukraine takes what she calls a constructive position in relation to possible talks for the sake of its own “self-preservation”. She adds:
Now, accordingly, the ball is in Kyiv’s court.
On newly announced European Union sanctions, Zakharova says Russia will never bow to ultimatums from anyone, claiming it’s clear Europe wanted to rearm Ukraine to continue the war.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says Ukraine needs to decide whether or not it will cooperate in discussing a memorandum ahead of a future peace accord Moscow has proposed, Reuters reports.
In her weekly briefing, Zakharova claims Ukraine’s European allies have sought, but failed, to prevent the resumption of direct dialogue with Russia.
Referring to the latest EU sanctions announcement, Zakharova says Russia “never responds to ultimatums”.
UK and Europe target Russia with major sanctions after Putin-Trump call
Peter Beaumont
The UK and Europe have announced major sanctions against Russia as it became clear that Monday’s call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin had failed to deliver any meaningful concessions from Moscow.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accused Russia of “trying to buy time in order to continue its war and occupation”.
The UK said its sanctions would target dozens of entities “supporting Russia’s military machine, energy exports and information war, as well as financial institutions helping to fund Putin’s invasion of Ukraine”.
“Putin has so far not put in place the full, unconditional ceasefire that President Trump has called for, and which President Zelenskyy endorsed over two months ago,” the Foreign Office said.
Shortly afterwards the EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said the EU had approved sanctions targeting Russia’s shadow fleet of about 200 vessels and that more sanctions were in the pipeline.
You can read the full report here:
EU adopts new sanctions against Russia, Kallas says
The European Union has adopted new sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine, focusing on Moscow’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers, human rights violations and hybrid threats, the EU’s foreign policy chief said.
Kaja Kallas said in a post on X:
The EU has approved its 17th sanctions package against Russia, targeting nearly 200 shadow fleet ships.
New measures also address hybrid threats and human rights.
More sanctions on Russia are in the works. The longer Russia wages war, the tougher our response.
UK anounces new sanctions on Russia
The UK government has announced 100 new sanctions on Russia across Russian military, energy, financial sectors and those conducting “Putin’s information war against Ukraine”.
In the press notice, the government said the UK and partners are “also working to tighten the Oil Price Cap, further restricting critical oil revenues for Putin’s war machine”.
Here’s more of what Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram today.
“It is obvious that Russia is trying to buy time to continue the war and occupation,” he said.
“We are working with partners to put pressure on the Russians to behave differently. Sanctions matter, and I am grateful to everyone who makes them more tangible for the perpetrators of the war.”
Zelenskyy added:
We have no doubt that the war must end at the negotiating table. There must be clear and realistic proposals on the table. Ukraine is ready for any effective negotiation formats. And if Russia continues to put forward unrealistic conditions and undermine possible results, there must be tough consequences.
Zelenskyy says Russia is ‘trying to buy time’ to ‘continue war’
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of “trying to buy time” to “continue war”.
“It is obvious that Russia is trying to buy time in order to continue its war and occupation,” Zelenskyy said in a post on social media on Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reports.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Zelenskyy said Ukraine had no doubt the war must end at the negotiating table, but there must be clear and realistic proposals on the table, and called for more international sanctions pressure on Russia.
He said he had spoken to Finnish President Alexander Stubb and that he would speak to more allies later on Tuesday.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Tuesday called for the United States to take “strong action” against Russia if Moscow does not agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine.
“America said that if Russia doesn’t agree on an unconditional ceasefire, then there are going to be consequences. So we want to see those consequences, also from the US side,” Kallas said at a meeting of EU ministers in Brussels.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said following a separate call between Trump and European leaders Monday that the EU would “increase pressure” on Moscow through more sanctions.
Putin ‘not interested in peace’, says Germany’s defence minister
German defence minister Boris Pistorius has accused President Vladimir Putin of not really being interested in peace in Ukraine, saying the Russian leader was only “playing for time” in talks with the United States.
Europe needs to increase the pressure on Russia by imposing more sanctions, especially on Russia’s energy sales, Pistorius added.
“We have seen massive (Russian) attacks again in recent days … These speak louder than the lip service (to the peace process) we have heard for so long,” Pistorius said before a meeting of EU defence and foreign affairs ministers in Brussels.
He added:
Putin is clearly playing for time, unfortunately we have to say Putin is not really interested in peace.
Pistorius said of Putin: “He is still not ready for concessions, only talks about a ceasefire under his conditions.”
At least one civilian has been killed and 13 injured in Russian attacks across Ukrainian regions over the past day, regional authorities have reported.
Ukrainian air defences intercepted 93 of the 108 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy drones launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force said.
Thirty-five of them were shot down, while 58 were neutralised by electronic warfare systems, according to the statement, The Kyiv Independent reported.
Russia has lost 975,800 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on 20 May.
This number includes 1,030 Russian casualties over the past day.
Russia has also lost 10,834 tanks, 22,567 armoured fighting vehicles, 49,093 vehicles and fuel tanks, 28,067 artillery systems, 1,388 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,167 air defence systems, 372 aircraft, 336 helicopters, 36,621 drones, 28 ships and boats, and one submarine, according to the report.
China says it backs “direct dialogue” between Russia and Ukraine, after US President Donald Trump announced the two would “immediately” start peace talks after he spoke with Vladimir Putin.
“China supports all efforts aimed at achieving peace,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
China said on Tuesday it supported “direct dialogue and negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and advocate for the political resolution of the crisis”, Agence France-Presse reports.
“It is hoped that the parties concerned will carry on with the dialogue and negotiation so as to reach a fair, lasting and binding peace agreement acceptable to all parties,” Mao said.
Good morning and welcome to our blog covering developments in the Ukraine-Russia conflict following yesterday’s call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
While the US leader described the conversation as “excellent”, the Kremlin refused to agree to a ceasefire, despite pressure from Washington and European allies.
Speaking to reporters in Sochi after the two-hour conversation on Monday, Putin described the call as “very meaningful and frank” and said he was prepared to work with Ukraine on drafting a memorandum for future peace talks.
However, the Russian leader declined to support the US-proposed 30-day unconditional ceasefire, which Ukraine had already agreed to – and which Washington had framed as the call’s primary objective. Putin also suggested his country’s maximalist objectives in the war with Ukraine were unchanged.
Trump said he spoke with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European leaders after his call with Putin.
In a statement late on Monday, Zelenskyy insisted Ukraine was ready for a full ceasefire and direct negotiations with Moscow, but said: “If the Russians are not ready to stop the killings, there must be stronger sanctions. Pressure on Russia will push it toward real peace.”
Stay with us for all the day’s developments.
