Ukraine's main European allies weigh new sanctions on Russia

By David Latona

MADRID (Reuters) -The foreign ministers of Ukraine's main European allies said on Monday they would redouble their aid to the country while considering new sanctions on Russia to force it to accept a ceasefire.

In a joint declaration after a meeting in Madrid, the top diplomats representing Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Britain and Poland - as well as European Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas - called on Russia to agree to an "immediate and unconditional ceasefire on equal terms and with full implementation".

They said they were ready to exert further pressure on Moscow, including through the adoption of new sanctions, to ensure Kyiv was in the "best possible position to secure a just and lasting peace".

The countries also said they would increase military, political and humanitarian funding for Ukraine's war effort, without providing further details.

Any peace deal should be backed by credible security guarantees for Ukraine, they said, adding: "We stand ready to play a leading role in this regard."

The countries said they would not accept any agreement restricting Ukraine's defence industry or the military presence of partner countries on Ukrainian soil.

The meeting of the so-called G5+ or Weimar+ Group was held on the third anniversary of the recapture of Ukraine's Bucha, which left images of dead civilians strewn across the town. Russia has denied the killings and called the footage a staged performance.

GOODWILL

The G5+ ministers said they were committed to ensuring full accountability for war crimes while working to establish a special court within the Council of Europe.

The statement added that seized Russian assets should remain frozen until Moscow ends the war and compensates Ukraine for the damage it has caused. Spain has been pushing allies to use such assets as an alternative form of financing aid for Ukraine or even boosting their own defence spending.

Before the meeting, Kallas urged Russia to show goodwill towards a ceasefire with gestures such as returning Ukrainian children who have been deported to Russia or releasing prisoners of war. She also called on the U.S. to apply pressure on the Kremlin to put an end to the three-year-old conflict.

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Russia owed a clear response to the U.S. about whether it wanted a peace deal at all.

U.S. President Donald Trump is becoming increasingly frustrated about the lack of movement in his efforts to broker a peace deal, after he adopted a more conciliatory stance towards Russia that was met with wariness by his European allies.

As for a deployment of peacekeeping troops in Ukraine that France and Britain have been working on, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said it was up to the Ukrainian government to decide when and if to allow foreign troops on its soil.

(Reporting by David Latona, Inti Landauro and Emma Pinedo, Editing by Andrei Khalip, William Maclean and Charlie Devereux)