Ukraine and European Union states, including Ireland, have said Russia must face more pressure to end its invasion of its neighbour, as Kyiv warned that Moscow’s military was massing 100,000 troops in occupied territory in advance of a fresh offensive.
European defence ministers met in Copenhagen and US and Ukrainian envoys held talks in New York over security guarantees that Kyiv says are essential to any peace deal.
However, Moscow again rejected any deployment of western peacekeepers in Ukraine and calls for an urgent summit between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“Putin is mocking any kind of peace efforts. The only thing he understands is pressure,” said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in Copenhagen, a day after a Russian air strike on Kyiv killed at least 25 civilians, injured dozens more and damaged the offices of the European Union delegation and the British Council cultural organisation.
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“It’s imperative that those of us in the European Union now consider further sanctions, what more measures can be taken to increase the pressure on Russia to end this brutal and aggressive war on Ukraine and the huge impact that that’s having on civilians,” Tánaiste Simon Harris said at the same meeting.
“The escalation in Russia’s brutal attacks on Kyiv and cities across Ukraine continues to demonstrate that it is not interested in peace.”
Mr Zelenskiy said talks on his push for robust and watertight security guarantees would continue with European leaders next week, and that US president Donald Trump should be informed when a consensus was reached – even as frustration deepens in Kyiv and other European capitals over the White House’s repeated failure to go through with threats to get tougher on Russia over its refusal to agree a ceasefire.
“We need the architecture to be clear to everyone,” Mr Zelenskiy said. “Then we want to connect with President Trump during a meeting ... and tell him how we see it.”
“We want legally binding security guarantees. We don’t want [another] Budapest Memorandum,” he added, referring to a 1994 pact under which Ukraine handed over its nuclear arsenal to Moscow in exchange for western security assurances that failed to prevent Russia launching armed aggression in 2014 and a full-scale war in 2022.
The US told the UN Security Council on Friday that Russia’s deadly missile and drone strikes on Ukraine “cast doubt on the seriousness of Russia’s desire for peace” and warned that Washington could punish Moscow with economic measures if it continues the war.
“The United States calls on the Russian Federation to avoid these consequences by stopping the violence and engaging constructively to end the war,” US diplomat John Kelley told the 15-member council.
“Russia must decide now to move toward peace. The leaders of Russia and Ukraine must agree to meet bilaterally,” he said.
Mr Zelenskiy warned that 100,000 Russian troops were now massing near the embattled city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine and “preparing offensive actions”.
He also said talks on how to end the war should be “urgently” elevated to the level of leaders – something Mr Trump has previously advocated – and accused the Kremlin of playing for time by insisting on preparatory talks involving lower-level officials.
“Putin does not rule out the possibility of holding such a meeting, but believes that any meeting at the top level should be well prepared so that it can finalise work that must first be carried out at the expert level,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
“Unfortunately, it can’t be said for now that expert work is, let’s say, in full swing ... We remain interested in and prepared for such negotiations,” he added.
Moscow also said it must be involved in talks on security guarantees for Ukraine and claimed that proposals to deploy peacekeepers to the country were “one-sided and clearly designed to contain Russia”.
“Security guarantees must be based on reaching a common understanding that takes into account Russia’s security interests,” said Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
“This line [of proposals] violates the principle of indivisible security and assigns Kyiv the role of a strategic provocateur on Russia’s borders, increasing the risk of the [Nato] alliance becoming involved in an armed conflict with our country.”
