“Experience tells us that without strong leverage, Putin will not engage in meaningful negotiations,” Tusk told reporters after a meeting of EU leaders, adding that Brussels and Warsaw were already working on “another potential sanctions package”.
EU foreign ministers on Monday approved a 17th sanctions package, but several member states, including Poland, said work should begin immediately on a tougher 18th round if Russia continues to reject peace efforts.
Tusk said Poland, France, Britain, Germany and Italy were in “practically daily” contact with U.S. President Donald Trump about efforts to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine.
The five countries – originally without Italy – have insisted on an unconditional halt to hostilities before talks begin, he added.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump recently told European leaders that Putin felt no need to end the war because he believed Russia was winning.
Tusk said he could not confirm those comments but acknowledged there was “not even a trace of goodwill” from Moscow toward a prompt ceasefire.
The Polish prime minister, who has coordinated closely with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, warned Western partners that Russia “cannot be trusted to keep its promises” and therefore must face sustained economic pressure.
On Wednesday, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said that technical-level talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials could take place next week, possibly at the Vatican.
Trump spoke by phone with Putin on Monday and later said the call embodied excellent “tone and spirit” shared with the Kremlin leader, predicting that Moscow and Kyiv would “immediately” open negotiations on a truce.
The Kremlin described the conversation as “meaningful and frank” and declared its readiness to work with Ukraine on a memorandum for future peace talks.
(jh)
Source: PAP, BBC