Germany expects Trump to pressure Russia to achieve a ceasefire
Photo: German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (Getty Images)
Germany expects that the United States will increase pressure on Russia to achieve an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, states German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul after the meeting of EU ministers in Brussels, according to The Independent.
The German Foreign Minister made this statement after the phone conversation between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which took place yesterday, May 19.
"We have repeatedly made it clear that we expect one thing from Russia – an immediate ceasefire without preconditions," states Wedephul.
As Russia has not accepted a ceasefire, "we will have to react," he said, adding, "We also expect our US allies not to tolerate this."
According to him, there is significant willingness both in the European Union and in the United States to consider imposing additional sanctions against Russia.
At the same time, the minister did not share any details about what these additional sanctions might be.
Trump’s conversations with Putin and Zelenskyy
Yesterday, May 19, US President Donald Trump held phone talks with the Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The American leader called the Ukrainian president twice, the first time before his call to Putin.
After the talks, Trump stated that Russia and Ukraine must sit at the negotiating table and reach a ceasefire and an end to the war.
Also, after his conversation with Putin, Trump said he does not currently want to increase sanctions pressure on Russia but did not rule out using such a mechanism in the future.
In addition, the American leader described his talk with Putin as having made "some progress."
Why Trump called Putin and what Zelenskyy says about it — read in the RBC-Ukraine material.
