Europe's G-5, Outraged by Putin's Absence in Istanbul: "He's Kidding Us"

The Defense Ministers of the so-called Group of Five (E5) – Italy, France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom – issued a harsh criticism of the Russian President at their fourth summit in Rome: Vladimir Putin “has no interest in ending the war.” The meeting, held a day after the failure of the peace talks in Istanbul, where Russia sent a low-profile representative instead of Putin, served to denounce the Kremlin’s dilatory strategy. Boris Pi…