European leaders are considering imposing punitive tariffs on imports from Russia after Russian leader Vladimir Putin failed to attend talks in Istanbul.
Politico writes about this, citing several diplomatic sources.
Strengthening sanctions against Russia are set to be discussed at a meeting of EU, Ukrainian and Turkish leaders in Albania on May 16. The EU has already imposed significant sanctions on Moscow since the full-scale invasion in 2022, but has so far refrained from a full trade embargo.
Politico sources say that Europe is considering imposing huge tariffs on imports from Russia — so-called punitive tariffs. This idea was previously put forward by US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who prepared a bill on 500% tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil, gas and uranium. The “scale” of Graham’s proposal is “inspiring” European leaders.
European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, have publicly threatened sweeping new sanctions if Russia does not agree to a “complete and unconditional ceasefire”. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that Europe and the United States should “go even further” and “strangle” the Russian economy to force Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
Negotiations in Istanbul
Volodymyr Zelensky reported on May 10 that a full ceasefire with the Russian Federation should begin on May 12 for at least 30 days. According to him, the ceasefire should be comprehensive, that is, in the air, at sea, and on land, and monitoring can be provided together with the United States.
On the night of May 11, Putin proposed resuming direct talks between Ukraine and Russia, without mentioning the 30-day ceasefire that was supposed to take effect on May 12. Zelensky responded that he would personally wait for Putin in Turkey on May 15 if Russia ceases fire. However, Putin did not arrive in Turkey.
The Russian delegation was led by Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky. He was the head of the Russian negotiating team in 2022, when the Ukrainian and Russian delegations met in Istanbul. The Russian delegation was generally represented by low-level officials, a fact criticized by President Zelensky and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The Ukrainian delegation will be led by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umerov. The full list of Ukrainian representatives at the negotiations in Istanbul is here.
Presumably, negotiations between Ukraine and Russia will take place on May 16. The Turkish Anadolu Agency writes that the trilateral meeting of Ukraine, Russia, and Turkey is scheduled for 12:30.
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