Zelenskyy to wait for Putin in Turkey, saying: ‘If he does not arrive, he does not want to end war’ – Europe live

A Russian guided bomb attack on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region on Tuesday killed at least three people, a local official said.

He did not provide additional information, Reuters reported.

Russia expects direct contact between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations during talks in Istanbul on 15 May, Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Tuesday, according to state news agency TASS.

Ryabkov previously said that Russia was ready for serious talks on Ukraine but that Moscow doubted that Kyiv was ready for negotiation.

Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha called on Brazil on Tuesday to help persuade Russian president Vladimir Putin to attend this week’s talks in Istanbul and to support Kyiv’s push for a 30-day ceasefire.

In a call with Brazilian foreign minister Mauro Vieira, Sybiha said on X: “I reaffirmed president Zelenskiy’s readiness to meet with Putin in Turkiye and called on Brazil to use its authoritative voice in its dialogue with Russia to make this direct highest-level meeting happen.”

Jakub Krupa

And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, but I leave with you Tom Ambrose to guide you through the afternoon.

Germany bans major part of far-right movement seeking to undermine state

Deborah Cole

Meanwhile, the German government has outlawed a major part of an extremist movement seeking to undermine the state, in a move the new administration said signalled tough action against a subversive far-right scene.

Hundreds of security forces across seven states staged early morning raids on Tuesday against the cult-like group calling itself “Kingdom of Germany” (KRD), a large group within the Reichsbürger (Citizens of the Reich) movement. Four suspects were arrested including alleged ringleader Peter Fitzek, the self-proclaimed Peter I.

The interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, said the KRD, which estimates it has 6,000 members, had created a “counter-state” in Germany and established “criminal economic structures” that challenged the rule of law and the justice system.

“They underpin their supposed claim to power with antisemitic conspiracy narratives,” Dobrindt, who took office last week as part of a new coalition government, said in a statement.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that he would fly to Turkey on Thursday to meet the country’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and wait to see if Russian president Vladimir Putin decides to join them for peace talks.

He explained that because “absolutely everything in Russia” depends on Putin, the only way to secure a ceasefire and an end to the war was through direct talks with him, Reuters reported.

“If Putin does not arrive and plays games, it is the final point that he does not want to end the war,” he said, AP reported.

Nevertheless, Zelenskyy insisted he would still do “everything to ensure this meeting takes place,” AFP reported.

Zelenskyy said that if the talks failed, he would expect “strong sanctions” from the United States and European Union as it would show that Russia was not ready for diplomacy.

EU’s Costa questions Serbia’s Vučić decision to attend Russian Victory Day parade

Jennifer Rankin

The head of the European Council António Costa has questioned the decision of Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić to attend last week’s Victory Day parade in Moscow.

Vučić, whose country aspires to join the EU, was among international leaders, including Slovakia’s Robert Fico, to travel to Moscow to attend the annual Victory Day parade commemorating the end of the second world war, ignoring warnings not to make common cause with Russian president Vladimir Putin, who is waging a brutal war against Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters in Belgrade earlier today, Costa said he had sought clarity about the meaning of Vučić’s visit to Moscow last week.

“As he [Vučić] explained to me it was a moment to celebrate an event from the past, but in the present Serbia is fully committed with the European accession procedure and Serbia knows that for this we need to have a full alignment in our common foreign and security policy.”

A spokeswoman for EU high representative Kaja Kallas gave a blunter message when asked about the trip on Monday: “You are being judged by the company you keep.”

The visit comes as Vučić faces unprecedented protests, while Serbia’s bid for EU membership stagnates. Costa said it was important to secure “concrete commitments” on media freedom, electoral law and anti-corruption laws, which would be crucial to unlocking further steps in accession talks.

Merz’s press conference with Greece’s Mitsotakis has just finished and the new German chancellor clearly wanted to send a very clear signal of intent when it comes to Ukraine.

He said that after the four leaders’ visit to Kyiv on Saturday, they spent all day consulting with other heads of states and governments, including the US, on next steps.

Merz pointedly praised Zelenskyy’s determination to progress the talks and his “courage” to offer that he could attend this Thursday’s meeting in Turkey in person, “despite extremely difficult circumstances.”

“It shows the seriousness and willingness to compromise, that he is prepared to do everything possible to seize the opportunity for a ceasefire and subsequent peace talks on Ukraine,” he said.

But he said that calling for further concessions is just “no longer acceptable,” as the entire situation is “pushing the boundaries of what the entire country can be expected to endure.”

“The headline is: this war must stop. And that’s why we are helping,” he said.

He also stressed that, if necessary, Germany “will support Ukraine military for many years to come.”

“None of us is prepared to accept that military force will change the borders in Europe. If we allow this to happen, we will see further military aggression against other European countries,” he warned.

In a further pointed warning, he added that the leaders’ visit over the weekend “should be understood as a clear sign of our determination and should not be underestimated.”

If you speak German, you can re-watch our stream here.

Merz’s sanctions threat seeks to put further pressure on Russia – snap analysis

Jakub Krupa

It will be interesting what, if any, will be the Kremlin’s reaction to Merz’s comments.

Yesterday, his spokesperson floated the idea, suggesting that further sanctions could be imposed if there is no response by the end of Monday.

There wasn’t.

And if that wasn’t enough, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said “ultimatums” were “unacceptable” and dismissed it as a “not appropriate” way of speaking to Russia.

But this time round it comes from the top of the German government, the new chancellor himself. The intention is clear: to put even more pressure on Russia to move.

Will his words make any difference for Russia’s planning as they consider how to respond to the invitation for direct talks with Ukraine in Turkey?

German chancellor Friedrich Merz said the EU would impose tighter sanctions on Russia if there is no progress made in ceasefire talks by the end of the week.

Speaking at a press conference with Greek leader Mitsotakis (13:22), Merz repeated the warning – first expressed on Monday – in an clear bid to put further pressure on Russia to move.

“We will be looking at other areas, such as the energy sector and also the financial market,” he said.

The leaders of China and Brazil, members with Russia of the BRICS grouping of big emerging economies, said in a joint statement they hoped direct dialogue could begin as soon as possible and that they welcomed Putin’s proposal to open negotiations, Reuters reported.

German chancellor Friedrich Merz is hosting Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Berlin today for talks on European and international affairs.

Their press conference should start soon and you can follow it in our live stream below. If there are any strong news lines, I will let you know.

“If Vladimir Putin refuses to come to Turkey, it will be the final signal that Russia does not want to end this war, that Russia is not willing and not ready for any negotiations,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said in a statement reported by AFP.

Let me take you back to Ukraine for a moment as the Kremlin has just declined to comment when asked about Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call for Vladimir Putin to attend peace talks in Istanbul on Thursday.

“The Russian side continues to prepare for the talks scheduled for Thursday. That is all we can say at this point. We do not intend to comment further at this time,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters as quoted by AFP.

Depardieu was not in court this morning, and AFP noted that his whereabouts were not immediately clear.

He had in April been working in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores on a new film directed by his friend, actor Fanny Ardant, who has been outspoken in supporting him.

As part of the sentence, Depardieu will be also put on the sex offender register (fichier judiciaire automatisé des auteurs d’infractions sexuelles ou violentes).

Meanwhile, Depardieu’s lawyer Jérémie Assous said in a brief statement that his client would “of course” appeal today’s ruling as he heavily criticised the verdict, alleging issues with the testimony given to court and claiming that the actor was denied his right to defend himself.

In previous hearings Assous called the two women “liars” and “hysterical”, arguing they were working for the cause of “rabid feminism”.

Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, representing one of the victims, told reporters it was “a beautiful decision,” and a “victory for the two women, but also for all the women behind this trial.”

She praised the courage of the victims to bring this action and tell their stories, despite their traumatic experiences.

She said she hoped the verdict would mark the end of impunity in the film industry and noted that it comes on the same day as the Cannes film festival is set to start.

One of the victims, known only as Amélie, added she was “very moved” by the decision, as she hailed the decision as “a real victory and a great step forward.”

We are now getting reports that Depardieu was given 18-month suspended prison sentence after he was convicted of sexual assault against two women.

This appears to be in line with what was requested by the prosecutor.