Time ‘to put pressure on Putin’: UK defence minister

BERLIN: UK defence minister John Healey said on Thursday that Ukraine’s allies “need to act” and “put pressure on Putin”, amid uncertainty over highly anticipated talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkiye.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has so far swerved the talks in Istanbul, the first direct negotiations aiming to end the war in Ukraine since 2022.

Speaking after a meeting with his German counterpart Boris Pistorius in Berlin, Healey urged further sanctions on Russia, adding: “We need to put pressure on Putin that helps bring him to the negotiating table.”

“We are ready to do that as leading European nations,” he said, pointing to commitments made by the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland on a visit to Kyiv last week.

“There is no victory in sight for Putin in Ukraine,” Healey said, adding: “Now is the time for him… to negotiate and to put an end to this fighting.”

Pistorius agreed that “Putin has the power to end the war, he could travel to Istanbul and negotiate, he could order a ceasefire”.

He said that he had noticed “a change in tone” from US officials in reaction to Russia’s latest moves but cautioned that “we will have to wait to see if this is sustainable and what consequences it has”.