E3 and Ukraine: London Summit Calls on Putin to Agree to a Ceasefire

In addition, the signatories demand that international borders must not be changed by force. Ukraine's right to choose its own security arrangements and alliances must be respected "unreservedly." Furthermore, after a ceasefire comes into effect, Kyiv must receive "robust and legally binding" security guarantees, including the deployment of a multinational force. Russian assets would remain frozen until Russia ends its war of aggression and compensates Ukraine for the damage caused by the war.

At the same time, the four states emphasized that the USA and Europe should be "actively" involved in the talks. Against the backdrop of Washington's de facto distancing under President Donald Trump from the circle of Ukraine's most important supporters, the European initiative is gaining additional weight. The meeting in London was intended, as was previously heard from German government circles, to create conditions for talks with Russia and to get the process under way in order to soon sit down at a table – wherever that may be.

Five Conditions for Peace

Zelenskyy wrote on Sunday evening on the X platform that he had met with his partners in the important E3-Ukraine format. The focus of an intense discussion had been defense. He had informed the partners about the situation at the front and about Russian losses. "We met in the important E3-Ukraine format. The focus of an intense discussion was our defense. I informed them about the situation at the front and the losses of Russia," the Ukrainian president wrote. As early as Thursday, he had proposed direct peace talks to Putin in an open letter.

Putin rejected the proposal on Friday. The letter "contains elements of impoliteness" and creates an environment in which personal meetings are in fact impossible, the Kremlin chief said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. When asked what he had to say to Zelenskyy, he replied curtly: "He has nothing to say to Zelenskyy." Addressing Russian soldiers, he gave commander-to-troop words: "To work, brothers!" Zelenskyy then accused Putin of simply "not wanting to end" the war.

Parallel to the London summit, mutual attacks between Moscow and Kyiv continued. Over the weekend, according to Ukrainian information, a Russian drone partially struck a building of the central storage facility for spent fuel elements in the zone around the decommissioned Ukrainian Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The Ukrainian state corporation Energoatom stated that no spent nuclear fuel had been stored in the building. President Zelenskyy spoke of an "extraordinarily insidious Russian attack" on a facility of "critical infrastructure." The General Staff in Kyiv and the state nuclear authority reported stable radiation levels and no injuries.

Putin Rejects Zelenskyy's Offer

For its part, Ukraine attacked a Russian fuel depot on the Crimea with drones, which serves to supply troops with fuel. Another drone attack hit an oil terminal in the port of Feodosia, according to information from Kyiv. In a Ukrainian drone attack on a train on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia, one person was killed according to Russian information. The assistant to the train driver was killed and the train driver was injured, the Moscow-appointed governor Sergey Aksyonov said on Telegram. The passengers of the train, which runs between Moscow and Simferopol, remained unharmed, he said.

At the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, which took place a few kilometers from the attacked oil refinery, the Ukrainian air force also attacked an oil refinery in St. Petersburg, Putin's hometown, with drones, according to its own information. The facility is around 900 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Putin acknowledged economic problems at the appearance, but praised a national debt of 16 percent, falling inflation of most recently 5.2 percent at year-end and an unemployment rate of 2.2 percent. Industrial production is growing, he said.

On the sidelines of the forum, Putin met former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder for a "good and friendly" conversation. After his chancellorship, Schröder had worked as a lobbyist for Russian energy companies, has distanced himself from the Russian attack on Ukraine, but maintains friendly contacts with Putin. The Kremlin chief had previously brought Schröder into play as a European negotiator. From the German perspective, this is a provocation; suggestions to also deploy former Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel or former ECB chief Mario Draghi as mediators are likewise regarded in Berlin as not expedient. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Europe is currently a party to the conflict on the side of Ukraine and therefore cannot mediate.

Attacks and Drone Strike on Chernobyl

According to its own information, the German government is counting on the USA remaining involved and is seeking coordination with Washington rather than entering into competition with the Americans. At the same time, it is seeking the greatest possible unity with the European partners. A meeting in London should, in the Berlin reading, serve to develop a clear political compass and a clear vision of goals for the negotiation process. From the German government it was also said that there was much to suggest that the E3 would continue to play an important role. A new attempt will take "months, not weeks."

At the same time, the E3 foreign ministers of Germany, France and Great Britain had already brought European negotiators onto the scene last year, but in the US-led efforts were largely reduced to an observer role. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said two weeks ago that, from the American perspective, others were welcome to make an attempt to end the war. A US plan to end the war would have required Ukraine to limit the size of its armed forces and to renounce NATO membership in its constitution, as well as to recognize Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk as de facto Russian.

From German government circles it was reported over the weekend that "a window for talks between the European side and Russia is slowly opening." Meetings of EU foreign ministers in Cyprus had not appointed a mediator for possible negotiations with Russia. At the informal meeting of EU defense ministers in the Cypriot capital Nicosia, the focus on Monday is to be on, among other things, further military support for Ukraine. For this purpose, funds from the so-called European Peace Facility are to be mobilized. Another item on the agenda is the Russian shadow fleet. With the often outdated ships sailing under foreign flags, Russia circumvents sanctions against its oil exports, according to the findings of Western states.

Schröder as Mediator? Berlin Waves It Off

Great Britain and France lead the "Coalition of the Willing," which pursues the goal of providing Ukraine with security guarantees within the framework of a peace process. The alliance comprises around 35 predominantly European states, including Germany as well as Australia, New Zealand and Japan. According to information from the Élysée Palace in Paris, the London talks are also to include a stocktaking of the coalition's work. Federal Chancellor Merz had previously hosted Ukraine talks with Starmer and Macron.

In a phone call on Sunday, Zelenskyy informed British Prime Minister Starmer of the need for additional missiles for his country's air defense. The two politicians also coordinated their positions ahead of the upcoming G7 and NATO summits as well as meetings of the Coalition of the Willing, Zelenskyy said on the X platform. Another topic was the protection of Ukrainian energy infrastructure and preparation for the coming winter.

In an interview with the British broadcaster Sky News, Zelenskyy said there had recently been several signals from Moscow regarding possible talks, but these had "fallen silent again and again." "Sometimes one does not understand what the Russians really want," he said. Putin wants to win this "terrible war," but has recently recognized that his troops have lost the initiative on the battlefield. All decisions about further developments rested "100 percent" with Putin, Zelenskyy said. "We have learned how to live and survive," he added, "we do not simply want to die quietly." The war must be ended in such a way that it cannot break out again "because of some stupid people." Zelenskyy also said he was ready for bilateral talks with Putin, but not in Moscow, Kyiv or Minsk. In his view, robust security guarantees and the strengthening of air defense were also decisive for the peace process.

US Withdrawal and European Unity

In view of the changed US stance under President Trump, who had promised during the election campaign to end the war within a day – a promise he later described as sarcastic – the Europeans had recently intensified their efforts significantly. Trump had invited Putin to Alaska in August of the previous year. The US mediation efforts have, in Berlin's assessment, largely stalled, and it gives the impression that the Americans are losing interest. Zelenskyy pointed out that Ukraine had received fewer weapons from the USA in more than four years