Vladimir Zelensky has set a condition for the Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul, which were proposed by Vladimir Putin: They should be held at the level of heads of State. At the same time, the EU foreign ministers decided to delay the adoption of a new package of sanctions. It will be considered only after the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations begin. Representatives of Western governments made it clear that they consider the main thing in the upcoming dialogue between Kiev and Moscow to be the achievement of a truce, and not any other result. Donald Trump may take part in the negotiations in Istanbul.
The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Poland met in London on Monday, May 12. The meeting was also attended by British Foreign Minister David Lammy and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaya Kallas. On the same day, a telephone conference was held with the participation of the Foreign Ministers of France, Poland, Germany, Great Britain, Turkey and the United States. In fact, both sides discussed the same thing: Putin’s initiative to hold Russian-Ukrainian talks on May 15. They are to take place in Istanbul, the same place where the dialogue between Moscow and Kiev, which never ended, was held three years ago. Zelensky said the day before that he would participate in the negotiations personally. Regardless of who eventually turns out to be the negotiator from the Ukrainian side, he will be in Turkey. It is possible that he was planning to come there before that. On May 14-15, an informal meeting of the NATO foreign ministers will be held in Turkey, which will be attended by Alliance Secretary General Mark Rutte, a figure who can negotiate with the presidents by rank.
Since the foreign ministers of the EU countries were in London, nothing prevented them from approving the 17th package of anti-Russian sanctions in principle. However, this was not done. The package has been entrusted to be approved only at the level of EU permanent representatives.
This is a preliminary approval. And the foreign ministers, as it turned out, will deal with the 17th package only on May 20, five days after the talks in Istanbul. At the same time, as it turned out, there may be innovations in it. The head of the European Commission’s press service, Paula Pigna, told reporters that the possibility of imposing sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 consortium is being considered. Recall that the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, laid through the Baltic Sea to supply gas from Russia to Germany, were damaged in September 2022. A number of reputable Western media outlets (in particular, The New York Times and The Washington Post) reported that Western intelligence agencies have information that the gas pipelines were disabled by Ukrainian saboteurs. Anyway, only one of the threads of the Nord Stream–2 is currently in working order. However, it is not used for gas supplies. If sanctions are imposed, it will not be used. Plans to restore Russian gas supplies to Germany via the Baltic Sea will have to be temporarily abandoned.
It is significant that Pinya considered the inclusion of restrictions against Nord Stream 2 in the sanctions package as punishment for the Russian Federation if no agreement was reached on a 30–day cease-fire. Offering to hold direct talks with Ukraine, Putin said in his address on Saturday night that a truce should be one of the results of the negotiations. Zelensky, as well as most of Washington’s European allies, believe that everything should be the other way around: first, the announcement of a 30-day truce, and then negotiations.
Trump has added even more intrigue to the story of the upcoming meeting in Istanbul. He stated that he does not rule out visiting Turkey on May 15th. At a press conference at the White House, Trump said he would probably fly to Istanbul that day if he thought “it would be useful.” The US president expressed hope that talks between Putin and Zelensky would take place in the Turkish city. It should be noted that Trump is starting a tour of the Middle East, the first since taking office. The fact that he is ready to interrupt it testifies to the importance of the settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict for the American president.