Following a phone conversation between U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin, the American leader informed European partners about the content of their discussion. During this communication, the parties agreed on the need for direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, with the involvement of Europe and the United States.
This was stated today in Brussels during a press briefing by European Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho.
“After the conversation with Putin, President Trump informed several European leaders about it, including President von der Leyen. This is a positive development. It is also the result of substantive efforts by several European leaders, including Ursula von der Leyen, to maintain direct communication with the United States regarding the war in Ukraine and the issue of a ceasefire. As for the next steps — and this was also a good initiative — it was agreed that direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia should take place, with the participation of European partners and the U.S. We will see exactly where these talks are to take place,” said the Commission spokesperson.
In response to a follow-up question from journalists about possible coordination of EU sanctions against Russia with the U.S. position, as the U.S. has refrained from such sanctions, the spokesperson noted that the EU has not changed its stance, but the timeline for the 17th sanctions package adopted today by the EU Council will depend on “progress over the coming days.”
“The exact dates for the implementation of these sanctions will depend on the progress made in the coming days. In parallel, we continue working on the next sanctions package, as announced by President von der Leyen last week… We are in contact with our G7 partners specifically regarding the price cap (on Russian oil), so we’ll see if this can be a joint action in the G7 format,” Paula Pinho added.
