The meeting referenced in my earlier post today took place in Kyiv, with around 30 world leaders attending. Most participated virtually; but four risked their lives by traveling to the war-torn capital in person: Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, France’s President Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Ukrainian President Zelensky stated that achieving a ceasefire is the main goal: “First that, then everything else.” [Id.]

In a news conference following the talks, U.K. Prime Minister Starmer said: “All of us here, together with the US are calling Putin out,” and warned that it is time for Russia to show that they are “serious about peace.” [Rorey Bosotti, Henry Zeffman and Frank Gardner, BBC News, May 10, 2025.]

And Starmer added, in discussing additional coordinated sanctions and other measures to be taken against Russia:

“Putin, of course, cannot be trusted. There are sanctions in place at the moment, they are already having an impact on the Russian economy so by further co-ordinating sanctions on oil, on fossil fuels, etc. will make a material difference.” [Id.]

*. *. *

The talks were followed by a call to Donald Trump, who is said to have reiterated his support for the ceasefire. Zelensky described the call as “positive and concrete”:

“We share a common view: an immediate, full, and unconditional ceasefire is needed for at least 30 days . . . [but they’re] waiting for Russia’s response. Once the ceasefire begins, there will be the best moment for diplomacy. Ukraine is ready for meetings and negotiations in any format.” [Id.]

And they didn’t have long to wait for that response. The Kremlin has quickly dismissed the threat, with the following message from spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

“We hear many contradictory statements from Europe. They are generally confrontational in nature rather than aimed at trying to revive our relations. Nothing more.

“It is very difficult to isolate a country like Russia because we take a very large part of the globe. But this is not the main thing. The main thing is that Russia actively develops relations with a large number of countries in all directions where they have interest in developing cooperation with our country. And we will continue doing so.” [Id.]

Or in other words — as so eloquently stated in a social media post by Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev — “Shove these peace plans.”

Well . . . we’ll see about that.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
5/10/25