Germany Says Russia Has Hours to Abide by Ceasefire or Face Sanctions

European countries will start preparing new sanctions on Russia unless the Kremlin starts abiding by a 30-day ceasefire by the end of Monday, Germany’s government said.

Ukraine’s military said Russia had conducted dozens of attacks along the front in eastern Ukraine on Monday, as well as an overnight assault using more than 100 drones, despite the ceasefire proposal by Europe and Kyiv.

„The clock is ticking,“ a German government spokesperson said at a news conference in Berlin.

„We still have 12 hours until the end of the day, and if the ceasefire is not in place by then, the European side will [set in motion] preparations for sanctions,“ the spokesperson said.

The leaders of four major European powers travelled to Kyiv on Saturday and demanded an unconditional 30-day ceasefire from Monday. Russian President Vladimir Putin, implicitly rejecting the offer, instead proposed direct Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul that he said could potentially lead to a ceasefire.

In a fresh twist in the stop-start peace talks process, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he would travel in person to Istanbul, where he said he would be waiting to meet Putin.

The Kremlin has not responded to that latest proposal. Putin and Zelenskiy have not met since December 2019, over two years before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine are both trying to show U.S. President Donald Trump that they are working toward his objective of reaching a quick peace in Ukraine, while trying to make the other look like the spoiler to his efforts.

Kyiv is desperate to unlock more of the U.S. military backing it received from Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden. Moscow senses an opportunity to get relief from a barrage of economic sanctions and engage with the world’s biggest economy.

Europe, meanwhile, is doing its best to preserve good relations with Trump despite his imposition of tariffs, hoping it can persuade him to swing more forcefully behind Ukraine’s cause, which they see as central to the continent’s security.

A group of European Union foreign ministers and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas were set to hold talks in London on Monday.