Ukraine updates: Zelenskyy says peace talks will include US – DW (English)

Just days after his tense encounter with US President Donald Trump at the White House, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said negotiations will “definitely” include Washington. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said efforts to achieve a peace deal in his country will happen with a united front that includes Europe and the US.The Ukrainian leader capped an extraordinary weekend with events that first appeared to rupture US-Ukraine ties in real time, followed up by talks in London where he was received warmly by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European leaders.At the end of talks in London, Zelenskyy said he was ready to sign a minerals deal with the US, but maintained that he would not concede any territory to Russia as part of a peace deal.European leaders are to draft up a plan to end the fighting in Ukraine, according to Starmer. That plan would then be presented to US President Donald Trump.This blog has now closed. Read below for all the developments from Russia’s war in Ukraine on Monday, March 3:Ukraine’s parliament said in a statement issued in English that Washington’s support was “more crucial than ever for the Ukrainian people.””The Ukrainian people desire peace more than anyone else in the world and believe that the personal role of President Donald Trump and his peacekeeping efforts will be decisive in the swift cessation of hostilities and the achievement of peace for Ukraine, Europe and the entire world,” it said.The statement came after a tense encounter between Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump at the White House last week.US President Donald Trump slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for suggesting that the end of Russia’s war against Ukraine is still likely “very, very far away.”The US president responded on Truth Social writing that it was “the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!””It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the US,” Trump wrote.”Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia,” he continued. “What are they thinking?”Zelenskyy said late Sunday that a deal to end the war between Ukraine and Russia was “still very, very far away,” adding that he believed that the relationship with the US will continue.The new exchange follows a disastrous meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy in the White House last Friday, where the US president scolded his Ukrainian counterpart for not being grateful enough for US aid over the last three years. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 videoBefore laying down weapons, Ukraine needs security guarantees, meaning assurances from its allies, the US and Europe in case Russia attacks again. “A ceasefire is not enough,” Zelenskyy said on Sunday.Kyiv was hoping a critical minerals deal with the US could lead to such guarantees, but it fell through. US President Trump says he wants a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine but has declined providing Ukraine with security guarantees, and ruled out NATO membership for Kyiv. Trump has also been pushing for Ukraine to pay back for US aid it had received. European leaders have said they would increase their defense spending and are floating the possibility of sending peacekeeping forces to Ukraine in case of a truce. France has also said it was working with the UK on a one-month truce, although its details remain unclear. The UK has said it would work with France on a peace plan and present it to the US. Russia is demanding that Ukraine renounce any future NATO membership and cede its annexed eastern regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Those regions, besides Crimea which Russia annexed in 2014, are “non-negotiable” for Russia, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. The US and Russia are easing their typically tense relations, with a summit expected between Trump and Putin soon. Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said the US might still broker a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia despite Friday’s White House altercation between the US and Ukrainian leaders.US President Donald Trump has made achieving a ceasefire in Ukraine “too central to his foreign policy to not succeed,” Kuleba wrote in a guest article in the New York Times on Monday. He wrote, however, that Trump is wanting “fast success,” while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had seemed to hinder reaching this goal by insisting on security guarantees.But he said that “if Ukraine is still independent and armed by the end of negotiations, Mr. Putin [Russian President Vladimir Putin] will not see that as the end”  and that the war would eventually resume without such security guarantees.During a televised meeting with Zelenskyy on Friday, Trump threatened to withdraw support to Ukraine in its fight against Russia if there was no agreement.Friedrich Merz, likely future chancellor of Germany, called US President Trump’s undiplomatic public rant towards Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy a premeditated escalation.”It was not a spontaneous reaction to interventions by Zelenskyy, but obviously a manufactured escalation,” he told a press conference. The spat put Europe “under immense pressure to act quickly.””We must now show that we are in a position to act independently,” he said.The Ukrainian military said a Russian missile attack on a military training ground in the eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk caused “deaths and injuries.” The attack, some 130 kilometers (80 miles) from the front line, reportedly took place on Saturday. The incident prompted criticism that the unit’s air defenses failed to intercept the drone.Mykhailo Drapatyi, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, said he delayed commenting on the attack to avoid making false accusations. “Because it also pains me, because the anger consumes me from within,” he wrote on Telegram on Monday, promising a thorough investigation. The military did not specify the number of casualties. Luke Pollard, the UK’s armed forces minister, warned that a temporary pause in fighting in Ukraine might not hold. “No agreement has been made on what a truce looks like,” he told Times Radio.Pollard also said military deployements from European countries to Ukraine would be “possible,” but added that “the point is, we want durable and lasting peace.” “Because there’s a genuine worry by President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians that a short pause will simply allow the Russian forces to reconstitute, to rearm, to regroup and then to attack again.”Pollard’s remarks came after a report by French daily Le Figaro quoted French President Emmanuel Macron as saying France and the UK were proposing a one-month truce in Ukraine “in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure.”Earlier on Monday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said such a deal “would allow to prove the good will of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin if he commits to a truce.” Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said at least eight people were injured after a Russian drone hit a multi-story apartment building in the city in Ukraine’s northeast. The attack late Sunday triggered a fire that spread to several apartments on the top floor, Terekhov said. Three other residential buildings were damaged, with more than 100 windows smashed.Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, has been a regular target of Russian strikes. The UK announced on Sunday around $2 billion in funding for Ukraine to buy more than 5,000 air defense missiles.Who are Ukraine’s biggest financial supporters?More than half of the Ukrainians who fled to Germany following Russia’s full-scale invasion plan to stay permanently, according to a study published Monday.Germany is currently home to around 1.2 million Ukrainian refugees. A return to Ukraine largely depends on the end of the war to 90% of the respondents, while the economic situation there plays a key role for 60% of them. The study by the Institute for Employment Research, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees and the German Socio-Economic Panel interviewed around 3,400 people between July 2023 and January 2024.Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov criticized European pledges to increase funding to Ukraine, saying it would not bring a peaceful end to the conflict. “This clearly does not relate to a peace plan,” but will allow for “the continuation of hostilities,” Peskov told reporters.”Any constructive initiatives [for peace] will be in demand now. It’s very important that someone forces Zelenskyy himself to change his position. He doesn’t want peace. Someone must make Zelenskyy want peace,” Peskov said.”If the Europeans do it, all kudos to them.”Peskov also accused Zelenskyy of demonstrating “a complete lack of diplomatic abilities” during the clash at the White House. Zelenskyy had gone to the US for talks with President Trump and to sign a ciritical minerals deal. But the meeting ended abruptly after Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, started making accusations against Zelenskyy.To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 videoUkraine’s ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, said his country still needs the US as an ally and mediator, days after an outburst against Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in the White House. “We all need Donald Trump and the United States,” Makeiev told German public broadcaster ZDF. Asked whether Zelenskyy should apologize to Trump, the ambassador replied: “The diplomatic talks will continue.”Zelenskyy had earlier insisted that peace negotiations to end the war would involve Europe and the US. After the showdown in Washington, the Ukrainian president flew to London, where dozens of European leaders reaffirmed their pledge to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian forces.But with the US being one of Ukraine’s largest supporters, European support alone would not be enough.  “I am sure that Europe can do a lot more, but we need the Americans at the table,” Makeiev said. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the front line in Ukraine is coming “closer” to Europe, increasing the chances that Russia’s war will reach other European nations. “Never has the risk of a war [in the European Union] been so high … the threat keeps getting closer to us, the front line keeps getting closer to us,” he said. The minister made the comments in an interview with public radio station France Inter, a day after dozens of European nations rallied around Ukraine at an emergency summit in London. Speaking about the wave of support for Zelenskyy after his spat with Trump in the Oval Office last week, Barrot said, “what we are witnessing today is the awakening of a section of Europeans who refused to see the reality of things.”To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 videoThe head of Myanmar’s military government, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, has traveled to Russia for an official visit. Hlaing, accompanied by several military officials and cabinet members, is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin during the visit. Russia is one of the key allies of Myanmar’s ruling junta, as most Western nations deserted it following the 2021 coup and subsequent human rights crisis.Moscow and Beijing are its major arms suppliers with Russian-made fighter jets reportedly being used for attacks on territories being controlled by minority ethnic groups.Russian authorities on Monday blamed a fire at the Ufimsky oil refinery, in the Russian city of Ufa, on technical issues but did not give further details. The fire which burned overnight was doused on Monday. “The fire is related to technical issues,” according to the initial findings, the region’s emergency ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.Some 100 firefighters helped put the fire out.Several Russian channels on Telegram, however, said the fire was triggered by an explosion at the refinery. These reports could not be independently verified. Meanwhile, there were no reports of drone attacks in the region overnight. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

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