Peace in Ukraine ‘appears out of reach’ in close to future and Putin ‘dragging his feet’ on ceasefire | EUROtoday

Peace in Ukraine “appears out of reach in the immediate future”, Germany’s defence minister has warned as Vladimir Putin is accused of “dragging his feet” on a ceasefire.

After a gathering of the 50-strong Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG), Boris Pistorius lashed out at Russia’s ongoing assaults on civilian and navy targets inside Ukraine, urging the President Putin to again down.

“Russia needs to understand that Ukraine is able to go on fighting and we will support it,” he stated.

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But, in a rallying name for Ukraine’s allies to step up their monetary and navy assist for Kyiv, Mr Pistorius stated: “Given Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, we must concede that peace in Ukraine appears to be out of reach in the immediate future.”

His intervention got here as UK defence secretary John Healey warned that the Russian dictator is continuous to “drag his feet” in US-brokered talks a few peace deal in Ukraine.

As Russia continues to ship swarms of assault drones into Ukrainian cities, he stated allies should not jeopardise the peace course of by forgetting in regards to the conflict.

And he hailed a file £18.2 billion of recent navy assist for Kyiv agreed by UDCG nations, vowing to “surge that support to the frontline fight”.

But, echoing a warning from Sir Keir Starmer final month, Mr Healey stated: “Today is one month to the day in which Russia rejected President Trump’s peace settlement.

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“Putin said he wanted peace but he rejected a full ceasefire; Putin said he wanted peace but he continues to drag his feet and delay the negotiations; Putin said he wanted peace, but his forces continue to fire on Ukraine – military and civilian targets alike.

“From January through to March, he launched over 10,000 glide bombs into Ukraine.

“He is launching over 100 one-way attack drones every day and we’ve reached the point now where those battlefield casualties on both sides inflicted by drones now way outnumber those inflicted by artillery.

“In our calculations, 70-80 per cent of battlefield casualties are now caused and inflicted by drones.”

Mr Healey hailed the funding boost as a record increase in military support, while reiterating the UK’s commitment to spend £4.5 billion on military aid for Ukraine this year.

It came as Mr Pistorious denied the US defence secretary’s decision to attend the meeting of Ukraine’s backers virtually, despite Washington’s special envoy Steve Witkoff travelling in person to Moscow, was a sign America is losing interest in the peace process.

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“In terms of the participation of Pete Hegseth, virtually or physically here in Brussels, it’s not a matter of priorities. I think it’s a matter of schedules,” he stated.

He added that the “most important fact was that he took part”.

Until Donald Trump grew to become president in January, defence contact group conferences have been chaired by the US defence secretary.

Since then, in an indication of the US’s disengagement from European safety, Mr Healey has taken over that responsibility, chairing his first such assembly in February.

Friday’s talks in Brussels adopted a gathering of the smaller “coalition of the willing” within the Belgian capital on Thursday, because it develops plans to ascertain a peacekeeping pressure in Ukraine as soon as a peace deal is struck between Russia and Ukraine.

Following the assembly, Mr Healey stated the group had “clear objectives” for Ukraine, together with “safe skies”, “safe seas”, peace on land and a strengthening of Kyiv’s armed forces.