European Leaders Consult Trump, Then Agree Joint Response to Russian Foot-Dragging in Truce Talks

European leaders agreed on Friday to press ahead with joint action against Russia over the failure to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, after consultations with US President Donald Trump.

Starmer spoke from Albania’s capital, Tirana, where leaders of dozens of European countries were gathered for the European Political Community, or EPC, summit attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“We just had a meeting with President Zelenskyy and then a phone call with President Trump to discuss the developments in the negotiations today, and the Russian position is clearly unacceptable,” Starmer told reporters.

“As a result of that meeting with President Zelenskyy, under discussion with President Trump, we are now closely aligning and coordinating our responses and will continue to do so,” he said.

Starmer said that he and the leaders of France, Germany and Poland had consulted Trump. He didn’t say what the response might involve, but some European leaders pressed for new sanctions. The European Union is likely to adopt a new round of measures as soon as Tuesday.

Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace talks since the early weeks of Moscow’s full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. The talks, which were held in Türkiye on Friday, ended after less than two hours, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry and a Ukrainian official.
French President Emmanuel Macron said it was “unacceptable that, for a second time, Russia hasn’t responded to the demands made by the Americans, supported by Ukraine and the Europeans. No ceasefire, and therefore no meeting at a decision-making level. And no response.”