British prime minister Keir Starmer said on Friday that he and the leaders of France, Germany and Poland as well as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy had agreed the Russian position in peace talks was "unacceptable" and had discussed the matter with US president Donald Trump.

Speaking alongside French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish prime minister Donald Tusk at the European Political Community summit in Tirana, Starmer said the leaders were closely "aligning" on their response.

The Russian and Ukrainian delegations have reached an agreement in principle on a new meeting, the head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. Date and time is not yet known.

— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 16 May 2025 at 15:28

Agreed...In Principle...

No Date...

🇬🇧🇩🇪🇵🇱🇫🇷 ‘Coalition of the willing’ agrees Russia’s stance on peace talks is unacceptable, - The Guardian.

🗣️ Speaking on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Tirana, Starmer added that leaders were already “closely coordinating” their future response.

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— MAKS 24 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) 16 May 2025 at 16:11

Putin skipped the peace talks he himself announced. In response, the EU is working on a new sanctions package, according to von der Leyen. It will include sanctions on Nord Stream 1 and 2, new Russian “shadow fleet” vessels added to the blacklist, a lower oil price cap, and additional sanctions.

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 16 May 2025 at 16:17

🇬🇧 Starmer: If Russia is unwilling to come to the negotiating table, Putin must pay the price.

Speaking to President Trump, we are closely aligning our response to Russia's unacceptable position.

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— MAKS 24 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) 16 May 2025 at 16:18

People in Ukraine and across the world have paid the price for Putin’s aggression, now he must pay the price for avoiding peace.

I will not accept Russia kicking a ceasefire down the road.

President Zelensky, Britain stands with Ukraine, always.

— MAKS 24 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) 16 May 2025 at 16:18

Russia not only put forward the condition of withdrawing UA forces from the territories that it did not seize by military means, but also threatened to occupy Kharkiv and Sumy regions in case of refusal. During the negotiations, Russia also demanded recognition of Crimea as Russian, Suspilne reports

— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 16 May 2025 at 16:23

🇺🇦 Umerov: We believe next step in talks should be leader level talks.

🇫🇷 Macron: Russia is showing that it does not want peace and is merely trying to buy time by continuing the war.

— MAKS 24 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) 16 May 2025 at 16:26

🇮🇹 Italian PM Meloni: “In the past few hours, it’s become clear who’s truly ready to take steps toward peace — and who clearly isn’t.”

She stressed that lasting peace in Ukraine requires a ceasefire and security guarantees for Kyiv.

www.ansa.it/europa/notiz...

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 16 May 2025 at 16:35

🇺🇦 Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tykhyi: “Russia’s demands are unacceptable. We listened — and stood firm.”

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 16 May 2025 at 16:39

Surprised Russia didn't even try to pretend like they wanted peace, I guess they've just reached the stage where they believe they don't even have to try because no matter what, Trump will jump to Putin's defence and they believe Trump is a coward who will do nothing, which is a fair belief to have, they'll just send Putin to charm him.

But rejecting a ceasefire on the 13th, then on the 16th, then going to "peace talks" only to demand that Ukraine officially recognises Crimea as Russian then surrender the whole Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donestk region to Russia, then threaten Ukraine's delegations families, then threaten to take even more of Ukraine if they don't accept, is a pretty blatant example of not giving a fuck.

This is diplomacy kind of like how you do it in Total War; Demands: ‘Give Region’, ‘Accept or we attack’.

Even the computer player never falls for that though.

I guess Putin has been watching Netanyahu get away with everything over the past decades. The only thing you need to do is control the US president. He didn't manage with Biden but already had Trump in his pocket since 2013-2015.

The increasing demands Putin keeps making for Ukraine's surrender are in lockstep with the increasing demands Netanyahu keeps making, making it impossible to come to a peaceful negotiation let alone resolution.

Israel's impunity is making the world worse for everyone. UAE is backing RSF more to step up the genocide in Sudan. India thought it a good idea to launch an attack on Pakistan. Saudi Arabia keeps up the war crimes in Yemen. Putin sees no reason the end his expansionist war. Trump sucks up to all of them.

Europe needs to step up. Trump is not going to save Ukraine nor defend Europe. Why is Ursula von der Leyen not mediating peace talks. The problem with the EU is that there is no real leader to handle foreign 'relations'. And no mechanism to coordinate on foreign policy either with requiring unanimous vote.

Europe needs to stop delegating its own interests on their own borders to that orange screw up. Trump is only going to let Putin extend the war indefinitely while making money on both sides.

Agreed but it should be Kaja Kallas, not Ursula.

“We said 8,” Russian delegation cynically remarked, demanding 4 Ukrainian regions at Istanbul talks and threatening to seize others.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) 16 May 2025 at 17:06

Blatant trolling now, Russia totally wants peace guys!

How will Trump spin all this shit for his masters.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, after a conversation between European leaders and US President Donald Trump, said that Russia did not "demonstrate goodwill" at the talks in Istanbul, and also suggested that there could be "very difficult days" ahead.

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 16 May 2025 at 17:25

Difficult days for Trump if he actually stands up to Putin for once in his life, he might cry himself to sleep clutching his Putin pillow.