Ukraine asks Europe to broker ‘airport ceasefire’ with Putin

BRUSSELS — Ukraine wants Europe to help revive stalled peace efforts with Russia by pursuing a narrow first step: a mutual halt to attacks on each side’s airports.

The idea, floated by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, would give European leaders a concrete role in diplomacy at a time when U.S.-led talks between Moscow and Kyiv have slowed, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown little appetite for a broader deal to end the war.

“We probably need a new role of Europe in our peace efforts,” Sybiha told POLITICO on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. “Maybe we would try to resolve or to achieve a so-called airport ceasefire.”

The proposal would focus on a limited Moscow-Kyiv agreement not to strike airports. Sybiha argued that Putin may have an incentive to engage with such a deal, as major Russian hubs — including Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport and St Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport — are becoming increasingly vulnerable to Ukrainian long-range attacks.

“Maybe our European allies, by establishing a platform, or maybe an ad hoc group, we could discuss [the airport ceasefire],” he said, adding that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has already discussed the idea with some European leaders.

But Kyiv is not asking Europe to replace Washington. Rather, Sybiha said, any European effort should reinforce U.S.-led diplomacy and avoid creating competing tracks.

“It should be [a] complementary track — not instead, not alternative,” Sybiha said, adding that Europe should speak with “one voice.”

The interview was briefly interrupted by a call from Zelenskyy.

Europe weighs its role

Sybiha’s proposal comes as several European leaders argue that the continent needs a more direct role in diplomacy over Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron has floated the possibility of direct talks with Putin, while German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told Welt am Sonntag over the weekend that Europe should have a seat at the talks. Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama also told POLITICO last month that refusing to engage with Russia’s leadership was a “strategic mistake.”

Top EU officials have so far been cautious, arguing that Putin has shown no serious intent to wind down his war. But EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas opened the door Monday to a discussion on Europe’s role, saying foreign ministers would take up the issue when they meet later this month.

Earlier Monday, Kallas dismissed Putin’s suggestion that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder — a longtime employee of Russian state-owned companies — could act as a mediator on Europe’s behalf.

EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas speaks at the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee in Brussels on March 17, 2026. | Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images

Sybiha joked that Putin might as well nominate American action movie star Steven Seagal or French actor Gérard Depardieu, both prominent sympathizers of Putin’s Russia, to the job.

Sybiha raised the airport ceasefire proposal with EU foreign ministers behind closed doors, according to an EU official familiar with the discussion. The official reacted cautiously, saying ministers would first need to define what Europe wanted from any direct contact with Moscow.

The EU “can’t go blind,” the official said, granted anonymity to discuss private talks.

Canada joins the chat

Monday’s talks in Brussels also included a high-level meeting on the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, attended by Sybiha, Kallas and Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand.

While around 2,100 children have been returned to Ukraine, roughly 20,000 remain missing.

“I’m a mother of four, and this is the day after Mother’s Day in North America,” Anand told POLITICO ahead of the meeting. “We have much more work to do to bring children home to their mothers, to their families, to their country. And this is absolutely a priority for Canada.”

Kallas unveiled sanctions against more than two dozen individuals involved in Ukrainian child abductions, while Anand argued that like-minded countries should work together to fill gaps left by larger powers.

“In a world where hegemons are vacating the space, either in the global economy or in defense and security, middle powers like Canada need to step up and fill that space,” she said.

Sybiha described the children initiative as one part of a broader diplomatic momentum behind Ukraine. He also cited a €90 billion EU loan, stabilization along the front line and new defense deals with Gulf countries as signs that Kyiv has more leverage in any future talks with Putin.

Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union remains central to that leverage, Sybiha said. EU accession is a core part of the “security guarantees” Kyiv needs before it can sign any peace deal, and its focus remains on a “membership agreement” to be signed in 2027 rather than on any lesser arrangements, such as “associate membership,” as floated by Germany, he added.