Russia-Ukraine war is top of the agenda as European leaders meet in Albania on security concerns

TIRANA, Albania — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined the leaders of dozens of European countries and organizations for a one-day summit in Albania's capital Friday to discuss security and defense challenges across the continent, with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine at the top of the agenda.

On the eve of the summit in Tirana, Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned an offer by Zelenskyy to meet face-to-face in Turkey to try to secure a ceasefire with Moscow, sending a low-level delegation instead.

European leaders criticize Putin's decision not to met Zelenskyy

''I think Putin made a mistake by sending a low level delegation,'' NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said as he arrived for the summit under a steady drizzle. ''The ball is clearly in his part of the field now, in his court. He has to play ball. He has to be serious about wanting peace. So I think all the pressure is now on Putin,'' Rutte added.

European Union foreign chief Kaja Kallas said Putin was ''playing games, which shows that they are not serious about peace.''

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was clear that ''President Zelenskyy was ready to meet but President Putin never showed up, and this shows his true belief. So we will increase the pressure.''

Von der Leyen said the EU is preparing a new package of sanctions. She said that the measures will target the shadow fleet of aging cargo vessels that Russia is using to bypass international sanctions and the Nord Stream pipeline consortium.

Russia's financial sector would also be targeted, she said. EU envoys have been working on the new sanctions package for several weeks, and the bloc's foreign ministers could enact them as soon as Tuesday.

The spurning of the offer for direct talks with Zelenskyy ''is clear evidence that Putin doesn't seriously want peace. He's dragging his heels,'' said U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. ''And that's why today is a really important opportunity, to work with colleagues to make sure that we are absolutely united.''

Summit a chance for bilateral meetings

The theme of the European Political Community, or EPC, summit in Tirana is ''New Europe in a new world: unity — cooperation — joint action.'' The gathering of leaders from about 50 nations and organizations will also address ways to improve the continent's competitiveness and tackle unauthorized migration.

But the EPC will also be a setting for leaders to meet bilaterally, or in small groups, to weigh in on major security issues. The inaugural summit in Prague in 2022 saw the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia holding rare talks in an effort to ease tensions between the longtime adversaries.

Last weekend, Zelenskyy hosted French President Emmanuel Macron, Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Kyiv, where they made a joint call for a 30-day end to hostilities.

''As Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine continues, its consequences stretch far beyond Ukraine's borders, straining our security and testing our collective resilience,'' Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and European Council President António Costa wrote in their EPC summit invitation letter.

The last summit, hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, an ardent supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, was dominated by the concerns and opportunities that might arise in the wake of Trump's reelection.

The leaders arrived in Tirana's central Skanderbeg Square on a rainy morning and were to be greeted by a brief performance by dancers in folk costumes before heading into the temporary conference hall, set up at the foot of a monument to Albania's national hero Gjergj Kastrioti Skenderbeu, or Skanderbeg, who fought against the Ottoman Empire.

Albania hosts a major summit days after election

Rama's governing Socialist Party won Albania's May 11 parliamentary election, attracting voters who support the country's long and somewhat uphill effort to join the European Union. The vote secured a fourth term for Rama.

The prime minister said that the summit is a point of pride for Albania, and an ''inspiration and motivation to continue further on.''

His Socialist Party says it can deliver EU membership in five years.

The EPC forum is Macron's brainchild, and was backed by former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, aiming to boost security and prosperity across the continent. But critics claimed it was an attempt by them to put the brakes on EU enlargement.

The 2022 inaugural summit involved the EU's 27 member countries, aspiring partners in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, as well as neighbors like the U.K. — the only country to have left the EU — and Turkey.

Russia is the one major European power not invited, along with Belarus, its neighbor and supporter in the war with Ukraine.

The next EPC meeting will take place in Denmark later this year.

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Lorne Cook reported from Brussels.