Albares warns: there can be no “serious peace negotiations” in Ukraine without a “30-day” ceasefire

Eduardo González Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares warned this Monday that there can be no “serious peace negotiations” in Ukraine without an “unconditional 30-day” ceasefire, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to begin direct peace talks in Istanbul this Thursday. “I believe that peace negotiations without a prior ceasefire are not serious peace negotiations,” Albares declared in London upon his arrival at the meeting of the foreign ministers of the Ukraine Support Group (G5+), made up of the heads of diplomacy of Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom. According to Albares, Zelensky has presented “a concrete, clear, and firm proposal for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire that should begin today.” This proposal, he continued, it highlights "who wants peace, like President Zelensky and the Europeans, and who prefers war," and therefore, "it is time for Russia and Vladimir Putin to answer whether they want peace, whether they accept this unconditional 30-day truce that would be a first step toward a lasting, just peace, in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter," he added. If Putin accepts the truce, he warned, direct talks in Istanbul "would make sense," but "if the meeting in Istanbul is just a way of postponing and kicking the can down the road, then it is not worth it." In any case, he specified, it is up to Zelensky, as "the democratic president of a sovereign government," to decide whether to attend the Istanbul meeting, as he has already said he would be willing to do. The G5+ (or "Weimar Plus") meeting in London brings together the High Representative, Kaja Kallas; and the Foreign Ministers of Spain, José Manuel Albares; France, Jean-Noël Barrot; Italy, Antonio Tajani; Poland, Radoslaw Sikorski; the United Kingdom, David Lammy; and Germany, Johann Wadephul. Macron, Merz, Starmer, and Tusk in Kyiv The London meeting comes one day after the high-level coordinated visit this weekend by the leaders of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Poland to Kyiv to meet with Zelensky. At the end of the meeting, Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz, Keir Starmer, and Donald Tusk adopted a joint declaration issuing an ultimatum to Moscow: open peace negotiations within two weeks or face a new round of sanctions and unprecedented military support. Hours later, Vladimir Putin responded from Moscow by agreeing to begin talks in Istanbul, although he hardened his tone that evening. In a second statement broadcast on state television, he asserted that Russia “will not yield to pressure or ultimatums” and accused the West of trying to impose “peace under dictated conditions.” Putin reiterated that Moscow will not come to the table “under threat,” although he left the door open to negotiations “as long as Ukraine and its allies agree to dialogue without imposed red lines.” From Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the European initiative as “a constructive step,” but stressed that “no negotiation can legitimize Russian aggression or sacrifice Ukraine’s territorial integrity.” For her part, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen affirmed that “Europe is united behind Kyiv” and that “lasting peace will only be possible if it respects international law and Ukrainian sovereignty.”

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