KYIV, Ukraine (AP) 鈥 Kyiv’s European allies slapped new sanctions Tuesday on Moscow, a day after a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to produce a breakthrough on ending the 3-year-old war in Ukraine.
鈥淲e have made clear again and again that we simply expect one thing from Russia now: namely, a ceasefire, unconditional and immediate,鈥 German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in . 鈥淲e welcome the fact that Ukraine is still prepared to do this. We note with disappointment that Russia has not yet taken this decisive step, and we will have to react to this.鈥
have seen little progress in halting the fighting, including Monday’s phone call between Trump and Putin, and Friday’s direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul. In the phone call, Putin promised Trump that Russia is 鈥渞eady to work with鈥 Ukraine on a 鈥渕emorandum鈥 outlining the framework for 鈥渁 possible future peace treaty.鈥
鈥淚t appears that Putin has devised a way to offer Trump an interim, tangible outcome from Washington鈥檚 peace efforts without making any real concessions,鈥 said Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, in a post on X.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on his Telegram channel that “it is obvious that Russia is trying to buy time to continue the war and occupation. We are working with partners to put pressure on the Russians to behave differently.鈥
The new European Union sanctions targeted almost 200 ships from Russia’s illicitly transporting oil to skirt Western restrictions It also imposed asset freezes and travel bans on several officials as well as on a number of Russian companies.
Ukrainian officials have said about 500 aging ships of uncertain ownership and safety practices are dodging sanctions and keeping oil revenues flowing to Moscow.
The U.K. also targeted the shadow fleet with 100 new sanctions and also aimed at disrupting the supply chains of Russian weapons, officials said.
鈥淧utin鈥檚 latest strikes once again show his true colors as a warmonger,鈥 British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said.
Trump to step up sanctions and tariffs on Russia but hasn鈥檛 acted so far.
Ukraine has offered a comprehensive , which Moscow has effectively rejected by imposing far-reaching conditions, and Zelenskyy with Putin last week but the Russian leader spurned that offer.
Trump, who had pledged during his campaign , said his personal intervention was needed to push peace efforts forward. He held separate phone calls with both Putin and Zelenskyy, and said the two countries would 鈥渋mmediately鈥 begin ceasefire negotiations, but there were no details on when or where such talks might take place.
鈥淭he status quo has not changed,鈥 Mykhailo Podoliak, a senior adviser to Zelenskyy, wrote on the social platform X on Tuesday.
Russia launched 108 Shahed and decoy drones at Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force said. One drone dropped explosives on a passenger bus in the Dniprovskyi district of the Kherson region, injuring two people, the local administration said.
Putin wants Ukraine to renounce joining NATO, sharply cut its military, and withdraw its forces from the four Ukrainian regions Moscow has seized but doesn鈥檛 fully control, among other demands to curb the country’s sovereignty.
Many Russian news outlets struck a triumphal tone in reporting Putin鈥檚 conversation with Trump.
State news agency RIA Novosti published an article headlined, 鈥淓urope鈥檚 hopes crushed: Trump refuses to go to war with Putin.”
In the pro-Kremlin tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets, columnist Mikhail Rostovsky also portrayed the call as a blow for Ukraine鈥檚 European allies.
鈥淜yiv will agree to a serious, fully fledged conversation with Russia only if it has no other options left. Trump is gradually cutting off these other options for Zelenskyy,鈥 he wrote. 鈥淎nd this is very, very good.鈥
Since Trump took office, Washington has urged Russia and Ukraine to end Europe鈥檚 biggest conflict since World War II.
After Monday’s phone calls, European officials remained skeptical about Russia’s intentions.
鈥淧utin has never changed his position,鈥 Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said in Brussels. 鈥淩ussia actually doesn鈥檛 want to end this war.鈥
EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said Russia鈥檚 failure to negotiate in good faith should trigger the threatened U.S. sanctions.
鈥淲e really haven鈥檛 seen, you know, the pressure on Russia from these talks,鈥 she said.
In Kyiv, there was skepticism about Putin鈥檚 motives.
Peace 鈥渋s not possible now. Only when (the Russians) run out of resources and army manpower. They are ready to fight, at least for this summer,鈥 Svitlana Kyryliuk, 66, told The Associated Press. Putin will 鈥渟tall for time, and that鈥檚 it,鈥 she said.
Volodymyr Lysytsia, a 45-year-old serviceman visiting the capital for rehabilitation, said Putin has made the front lines in eastern Ukraine a wasteland, with 鈥渘othing there, only scorched earth, everything bombed.鈥
Some were unconvinced by Putin鈥檚 promise to Trump that Russia is 鈥渞eady to work with鈥 Ukraine on a 鈥渕emorandum鈥 outlining the framework for 鈥渁 possible future peace treaty.鈥
The since the early weeks of ended after less than two hours Friday, and while both sides agreed on a large prisoner swap, they clearly remained far apart on key conditions to end the fighting.
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Lorne Cook in Brussels, Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed.
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Follow AP鈥檚 coverage of the war in Ukraine at
