内容摘要：Father Simon uses a mallet and plank to summon monks and visitors to afternoon prayers at the Simonopetra, or Simonos Petra Monastery, home of the all-male autonomous community of Agion Oros, or Holy Mountain, on the peninsula of Mount Athos in northern Greece, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Father Simon uses a mallet and plank to summon monks and visitors to afternoon prayers at the Simonopetra, or Simonos Petra Monastery, home of the all-male autonomous community of Agion Oros, or Holy Mountain, on the peninsula of Mount Athos in northern Greece, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

“We are waiting for Putin’s agreement,” he said.“We agree that, in case there is no real progress this week, we then want to push at European level for a significant tightening of sanctions,” Merz added. He said that “we will focus on further areas, such as the energy sector and the financial market.”

Merz welcomed Zelenskyy’s readiness to travel personally to Turkey, “but now it is really up to Putin to accept this offer of negotiations and agree to a ceasefire. The ball is exclusively in Russia.”Overnight, Russia launched 10 Shahed and decoy drones at Ukraine, the Ukrainian air force said. It was Russia’s smallest drone bombardment this year.The Kremlin hasn’t directly responded to

for Putin to meet him in person at the negotiating table.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined for the second straight day Tuesday to tell reporters whether Putin will travel to Istanbul and who else will represent Russia at the potential talks.

“As soon as the president considers it necessary, we will make an announcement,” Peskov said.

Russia has said that it will send a delegation to Istanbul without preconditions.in return for peace, which Washington has indicated could be necessary.

A key point of leverage for Ukraine could be a deal with Washington that grantsUkraine and the U.S. have made progress on a mineral agreement, with both sides agreeing that American aid provided so far to Kyiv will not be taken into account under the terms of the deal, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Sunday.

“We have good progress,” he said after talks with U.S. Treasury Under Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington.“The main thing is that we clearly defined our red lines: The agreement must comply with Ukraine’s Constitution, legislation, and European commitments, and must be ratified by Parliament,” Shmyhal said.