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France, UK reiterate need to pressure Moscow for peace talks with Kyiv

10:014/04/2025, Friday
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French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot

French, British foreign ministers point out to continued Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure

The top diplomats of France and the UK reiterated the need to pressure Moscow for peace negotiations with Kyiv on the second day of the NATO foreign ministers meeting on Friday.

“Our responsibility as friends and partners of Ukraine is to build up the pressure on (Russian President) Vladimir Putin, to get him to sit at the negotiation table,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said during a joint doorstep statement with his British counterpart David Lammy.

Lammy affirmed that they continue to “bear down” with sanctions to bring Russia to the negotiation table.

“Over the past three weeks, Russia has been flip-flopping, continuing its strikes on energy infrastructure (of Ukraine), continuing its war crimes,” Barrot said, stressing that Moscow owes a “quick” response to Washington which had worked “very hard” to come up with a ceasefire proposal.

Barrot also claimed that Putin was “procrastinating” and did not have any willingness for a ceasefire.

“Putin continues to obfuscate, continues to drag his feet, he could accept a ceasefire now,” Lammy noted.

He also reaffirmed that Russia continues to strike Ukraine and its energy supplies, saying: “We see you, Vladimir Putin. We know what you are doing, and that is why we are pledged to continue to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position, militarily, economically, over the humanitarian context that they need.”

Lammy also said it was “good” to see Europe increasing its pledges for defense spending.

The foreign ministers of Canada, North Macedonia, and Estonia also agreed that Russia remains a “threat,” stressing the need to secure a lasting peace in Ukraine and increase defense spending across Europe.

"It is important that we all agree that Russia is a threat,” Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joy said, urging Russia to come back with “clear positions” regarding the peace negotiations.

North Macedonia's Foreign Minister Timčo​​​​​​​ Mucunski also stated that Russia is an “obvious threat.”

“But that interplay that exists between Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran also poses an extreme threat to our collective security,” he also added, underlining that the US had the “right approach” for finding peace.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna claimed that Russia wants more than just Ukraine by putting more conditions on the table.

“There must be some kind of red lines on the timetable that (US) President Trump cannot wait anymore. So we called as well up to the more heavy sanctions,” Tsahkna noted, highlighting the need to push Putin under pressure for a ceasefire.


- Recent US tariffs also on the table

Asked about the reciprocal US tariffs announced by President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Lammy expressed his “regret.”

“We are a nation that believes in open trade, and I regret the return to protectionism in the United States, something that we've not seen for nearly a century,” Lammy said, assuring that they discuss a possible economic deal with Washington.

*Canadian foreign minister noted that the US aims to do a “global reset” on trade, adding that they “take stock” of what the US did by changing the way it operates with Canada, its “biggest” client.

“We know that the relationship will never be the same again. And that's my message to Europeans, the relationship with the US will never be the same,” Joy said.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares also added that the trade relationship between Europe and the US had been “mutually beneficial” for decades.

“I think it could be better if it continues being so,” Albares noted, underlining that they could solve any difference through “dialogue.”

#Canada
#France
#NATO
#Russia
#Ukraine
#United Kingdom
#US
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