Zelenskyy urges Trump to use ‘strength of America’ to force Moscow into ceasefire after US-Russia talks – Europe live

Separately, a United Nations investigation concluded that Russia has committed the crimes against humanity of enforced disappearances and torture in its war in Ukraine, AFP reported. The crimes were perpetrated as part of a systematic, widespread attack against civilians, the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said in a new report to be formally presented next Tuesday. The Russian authorities “committed additional violations and crimes during these prolonged detentions. Many victims have been missing for months and years, and some died in captivity,” it said. The UN Human Rights Council established its highest level of inquiry in March 2022 to probe violations and abuses committed during the conflict. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that “we must not let the war drag on,” as he urged the US to put pressure on Putin to “ensure that Russia is ready to end the war.” He said that “pressure must be put on Russia” to force Putin into ending the conflict, repeating that Ukraine was “ready to act quickly and constructively.” He contrasted Ukraine’s “immediate” agreement to the US proposal for a ceasefire with Putin’s evasive, non-committal answers, saying: “We do not want to play games with war.” In a blistering attack on Putin, he criticised him for “lying about the real situation on the battlefield,” casualties, and the state of the Russian economy, which he said “has been damaged by his foolish imperial ambitions.” “Putin cannot exit this war because that would leave him with nothing. That is why he is now doing everything he can to sabotage diplomacy by setting extremely difficult and unacceptable conditions right from the start, even before a ceasefire,” he warned. Zelenskyy in particular said that Putin “will try to drag everyone into endless discussions … while his guns continue to kill people,” as he argued that “every condition Putin puts forward is just an attempt to block any diplomacy.” “This is how Russia works. We warned about this,” he added. Repeatedly appealing to US president Donald Trump and the US administration more broadly, he said that “especially the United States” can influence Putin and Russia to force through a ceasefire and, ultimately, a lasting peace. “Putin will not end the war on his own. But the strength of America is enough to make it happen,” he said. Here are his posts in full: Today, Ukraine marks Military Volunteer Day. This day was established not so long ago, but it honors the bravery of those who have been defending Ukraine’s statehood and independence for a long time. More than three years of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. Over 11 years of a treacherous hybrid war that began with the occupation of Crimea and the battles in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Hundreds of thousands of our people have shown heroism in this war. Millions are working to defend our country. Thousands, unfortunately, have died on the front lines and from Russian bombs and missiles. The whole world knows Ukrainian bravery and is inspired by how our people defend their homes. But we wouldn’t wish such years and decades of war on any nation. In Ukraine, we want peace. From the very first minutes of this war, we have wanted only one thing – for Russia to leave our people in peace and for Russian occupiers to get off our land. This is a natural desire for any nation – the desire for independence and security. This is exactly what we are fighting for. We fight with weapons and diplomacy. Right now, we have a good chance to end this war quickly and secure peace. We have solid security understandings with our European partners. There was a productive meeting with our American partners in Saudi Arabia. We are now close to the first step in ending any war – silence. We proposed starting with silence in the air and at sea. The American side suggested going further – an immediate and unconditional ceasefire on the ground. When our team in Jeddah heard this proposal, they contacted me, and I immediately agreed. We do not want to play games with war. Every day of war means losing the lives of our people – the most valuable thing we have. Of course, we think about security guarantees. Of course, we think about how to control the ceasefire. But the first step is necessary. We support our American partners and President Trump in this. We want to trust America and its President. Ukraine is ready to act quickly and constructively. And we have warned that the only side that will try to sabotage everything will not be us. Yesterday, we heard from Putin, he’s putting forward some conditions that clearly show he does not want any ceasefire. He needs war – this has always been obvious, and it is obvious now. Putin is lying about the real situation on the battlefield, he is lying about the casualties, he is lying about the true state of his economy, which has been damaged by his foolish imperial ambitions, and he is doing everything possible to ensure that diplomacy fails. Putin cannot exit this war because that would leave him with nothing. That is why he is now doing everything he can to sabotage diplomacy by setting extremely difficult and unacceptable conditions right from the starteven before a ceasefire. Putin will try to drag everyone into endless discussions, just like he did with ‘Minsk’ wasting days, weeks, and months on meaningless talks while his guns continue to kill people. Every condition Putin puts forward is just an attempt to block any diplomacy. This is how Russia works. And we warned about this. But we need peace. Real peace. And we must not let the war drag on. We have had constructive discussions with the Americans. We will continue working with Europeans and other partners. I’m grateful to Saudi Arabia and everyone helping with mediation and negotiation platforms. But I strongly urge everyone who can influence Russia, especially the United States, to take strong steps that can help. Pressure must be applied to the one who does not want to stop the war. Pressure must be put on Russia. Only decisive actions can end this war, which has already lasted for years. The U.S. side proposed starting with an unconditional ceasefire. Then, during the period of silence, we could prepare a reliable peace plan, put it on the table, discuss the details, and implement it. We are ready. And we believe it is our partners’ responsibility to ensure that Russia is ready to end the war – not to look for reasons why it should continue for more weeks, months, or years, but to end it. Putin will not end the war on his own. But the strength of America is enough to make it happen. Strong steps are needed. Strong pressure must be applied to the only one who wants to continue this war. This is what ‘peace through strength’ means. Thank you to everyone helping to bring peace closer – the United States, Europe, and the whole world. Thank you to all partners whose strength and diplomacy will eventually succeed. Over in Germany, I reported earlier about the breakthrough in political discussions about the proposed spending boost and changes to the constitutional debt break. This Friday is only getting better for presumed next chancellor Friedrich Merz as Germany’s constitutional court threw out several challenges by opposition parties against the plan. Here is the decision in full (in German). The decision paves the way for parliament to convene on Tuesday to further consider and approve the proposals to reform constitutional debt rules and set up a €500bn infrastructure fund. Earlier today, Merz’s CDU/CSU and the Social Democrats have secured the support of the Greens to approve the plans in the old Bundestag. And in the last few minutes, we’ve been getting more official lines from Ukraine’s military, via Reuters. They say that reports about Ukrainian troops being encircled in Russia’s Kursk region are false, and there is “no threat” of encirclement, as their troops were pulled back to more “favourable” positions. In the last few minutes, the White House has clarified that it was US envoy Steve Witkoff who spoke with Russian president Vladimir Putin, and not US president Donald Trump. The confusion was caused by Trump’s social media post earlier, in which he praised the discussions with the Russian leader, and said “I have strongly requested to President Putin,” making it sound as if he spoke with Putin personally. Separately, another element of his original post, that “thousands of Ukrainian troops are completely surrounded by the Russian military” in the Kursk region, drew a strong push back from Ukrainian sources and military analysts who described it as not accurate. As Shaun Walker noted earlier, the claim appeared to be based on information fed by Putin, and is contested by those closely following the situation in Kursk. Back to Germany for a brief moment: Speaking at a press conference in Berlin, Katherina Dröge has just confirmed that the Greens recommended that their lawmakers vote for the compromise proposal on spending and debt break. She said the amended structure of the deal ensured that the infrastructure fund money “would actually be invested in the future, in a modern country that actually functions, and in climate protection.” The Climate and Transformation Fund will see €100bn of investment for “a whole range of climate projects,” which “will make a difference,” the Greens leaders confirmed. in Kyiv Sources in Ukraine and military analysts closely tracking the conflict say Donald Trump’s claims of a mass encirclement of Ukrainian troops inside Russia’s Kursk region are not accurate. Trump claimed on Friday, apparently based on information fed by Putin, that “at this very moment, thousands of Ukrainian troops are completely surrounded by the Russian military” and that he has asked Putin to spare their lives to avoid what he described as “a horrible massacre, one not seen since the second world war”. Michael Kofman, a military analyst at Carnegie Endowment, described claims of a mass encirclement of Ukrainian troops as “fiction”. While Ukrainian authorities have not officially announced a withdrawal, soldiers fighting in the region say a staged withdrawal has been under way for two weeks, and that while many soldiers have faced a dangerous and challenging route to withdraw, they do not believe there is a mass encirclement of troops. “After seven months, we simply withdrew. There was no encirclement,” one senior security official told the Guardian on Thursday. Some Russian pro-war military bloggers have also cast doubt in recent days on Russian official claims of an encirclement, saying none of the signs that might accompany it have been visible. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has blamed Vladimir Putin’s Russia for obstructing peace discussions over the ceasefire. In a long post on his conversation with the Vatican’s secretary of state Pietro Parolin, Zelenskyy said that “the world sees how Russia is deliberately putting forward conditions that only complicate and delay everything.” He claimed it was because “Russia is the only entity that wants the war not to end and diplomacy to break down.” We will have to wait for more details, but as our Russian affairs reporter Pjotr Sauer explained in his analysis published in the last hour: By steering clear of an outright rejection of Trump’s proposal, Putin appeared to be buying time – walking a fine line between avoiding an open rebuff of Trump’s peace initiative and imposing his own stringent conditions, effectively prolonging the negotiations. To his admirers, it was a masterclass in Putin’s diplomatic manoeuvring, flanked by seasoned foreign policy veterans Sergei Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov – both with decades of experience. … For longtime observers, it was a familiar Russian tactic. Moscow has long excelled at delaying negotiations, offering just enough hope of progress to keep talks alive while avoiding major concessions. To decrypt signals coming from the Kremlin, read his insightful piece in full here: US president Donald Trump has just revealed that the US had a “very good and productive” discussion with Russian president Vladimir Putin, claiming “there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end.” Trump also said the issue of Ukrainian troops in Kursk has been raised with Putin, and it was urged “that their lives be spared” after Russia claimed they were surrounded by Russian troops. Here is his social media post in full: We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end — BUT, AT THIS VERY MOMENT, THOUSANDS OF UKRAINIAN TROOPS ARE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED BY THE RUSSIAN MILITARY, AND IN A VERY BAD AND VULNERABLE POSITION. I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared. This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II. God bless them all!!! As part of the press conference, Friedrich Merz also said that Germany was preparing to send €3bn in immediate aid to Ukraine in the next package, set to be released later this month. The aid, approved by parliament and by the outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz, should be formally released once the proposed changes to rules on defence spending will pass the parliament. As it’s now confirmed: the three German parties involved in discussions on creating a new €500bn euros fund boosting public spending and relaxing the constitutional debt break have agreed on the final shape of the proposal, presumed chancellor Friedrich Merz confirmed. The conservative CDU/CSU party, which won last month’s parliamentary elections, have agreed with the social democratic SPD, it’s likely next coalition partner, and the Greens, moving back to the opposition, on the structure of the proposal. As a result of pressure from the Greens, who threatened to withhold their support and potentially derail the process, the Climate and Transformation Fund will be doubled from the originally proposed 50bn to €100bn. All new spending will also be subject to the additionality clause, meaning it will not be available for already existing projects. In line with earlier proposals, defence spending above 1% GDP will be exempt from the debt brake, but the definition of defence expanded to cover more areas, including the German army, civil protection, intelligence services, data and information security, and – crucially – support for other states attacked under international law, like Ukraine. The chance should enable Germany to quickly ramp up it defence spending from the current level of 2.12% GDP. Or, as Merz put it, “this agreement is a message to our friends and opponents, the enemies of freedom: we are capable of defence, we are fully prepared …, there will be no shortage of resources to defend freedom and peace on our continent.” “Germany is back,” he added. The proposal also includes some fiscal flexibility for German states, amounting to 0.35% of GDP. The co-leader of SPD, Lars Klingbeil, said the agreed plan marked “a powerful boost” for Europe’s largest economy. “We have laid the foundation for Germany to get back on its feet and protect itself,” he said. The Green party is expected to host is press conference a bit later, and we will bring you the key lines from their briefing then. The Bundestag will vote on the plan on Tuesday. G7 nations emphasised the need for robust “security arrangements” to ensure a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, warning Moscow to follow Kyiv in agreeing a ceasefire or face further sanctions, according to a final draft statement. “G7 members called for Russia to reciprocate by agreeing to a ceasefire on equal terms and implementing it fully,” the G7 nations, comprising Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, said in a final draft statement seen by Reuters. The draft, approved by senior diplomats, still needs a green light from ministers, G7 officials said. Germany is close to unlocking the way to a massive increase in state borrowing and reforming the constitutional debt break as three major parties are reportedly about to reach an agreement on the proposed changes. The controversial proposal is a key part of the presumed next chancellor Friedrich Merz’s plan for Germany. Despite a rocky session of the Bundestag on Thursday, as reported on Europe Live, the conservative CDU/CSU, the social democrats of the SPD, and the Greens are within a touching distance of reaching a consensus on the issue, according to German media. German economic daily Handelsblatt and the RND went further, reporting that the three have already found an agreement. In a highly unusual and apparently coordinated move, all three parties called meetings of their parliamentary clubs for 1pm (12 GMT) today to discuss next steps, so we are likely to hear more about it this afternoon. The move comes a day after a tricky session in the German parliament, with the CDU/CSU and the SPD leaders openly appealing to the Greens to back their proposals. Time is of the essence here, as the move would have to be passed by the old Bundestag at a meeting on Tuesday, before the new composition of parliament potentially creates a way for critics to block the plan. Brussels correspondent The EU executive could play a role in joint purchase of missiles, drones and other military equipment, according to a draft document on the future of European defence. The European Commission could “act as a central purchasing body” on behalf of EU member states upon their request, states a leaked white paper. The document, due to be released next Wednesday ahead of a summit of EU leaders, reveals how rapidly the EU is evolving following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Donald Trump’s return to the White House. “Europe cannot take the US security guarantees for granted and most substantially step up its contribution to preserve Nato strong,” states the draft seen by the Guardian, which also states that “a revanchist Russia is the immediate military threat to the EU”. “Over reliance on US protection has impaired Europe’s ability to defend itself and its autonomy to act in its own neighbourhood”. The Commission calls for Europe to overcome this dependency by developing “the necessary capabilities through joint European capability projects”. Following talks with EU countries, the commission has identified seven capability gaps, including air and missile defences, artillery systems, ammunition and missiles, drones and counter drone systems, better roads, airports and ports to promote military mobility, AI and cyber warfare capabilities and “strategic enablers”, such as fortified defences on the EU’s eastern border. Inspired by the pandemic experience of joint purchasing of vaccines, the EU, via member states and the Brussels-based European Defence Agency, has already done joint purchasing of ammunition for Ukraine. Now the commission suggests it could do more - if member states wanted that. The paper also calls for an “urgent increase in military assistance to Ukraine”, by providing a further 1.5m rounds of ammunition, air defence systems and EU training for Ukrainian forces. The paper is likely to disappoint some member states, such as Italy and Spain, that are looking for radical ways to increase military spending, such as common borrowing to fund EU grants to pay for defence projects. The European Commission last week outlined an €800bn plan to help member states increase defence spending by taking out EU-backed loans and increasing national debts without breaking the EU’s fiscal rules. While member states backed the principles, the headline figure is highly theoretical, as many governments do not want to take on more debts. The Kremlin said there were “reasons to be cautiously optimistic” in discussion on ceasefire, but “there is still much to be done," in further discussions between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. Speaking after last night’s visit of US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “when Mr Witkoff brings all the information to President Trump, we will determine the timing of a conversation (between Trump and Putin).” “There is an understanding on all sides that such a conversation is needed. There are reasons to be cautiously optimistic,” Peskov added. Peskov’s line repeats the same language used by US national security adviser Mike Waltz in an overnight interview with Fox. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of “manipulative” response to the US proposal for a ceasefire, saying Putin pretended to accept it “at the moment he is, in fact, preparing to reject it.” “Putin does this often – he doesn’t say ‘no’ outright, but he drags things out and makes reasonable solutions impossible,” he said. We’re getting more details via Reuters on the four names removed from the EU sanctions list: They are Gulbakhor Ismailova, who is the sister of prominent businessman Alisher Usmanov, Businessman Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor, and Russian sports minister Mikhail Degtyarev. Reuters say the fourth person, businessman Vladimir Rashevsky, was removed due to a weak legal case rather than pressure from Hungary. Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen rejected US president Donald Trump’s latest remarks about annexing Greenland, saying the Danish autonomous island could not be taken over by another country, AFP reported. “If you look at the Nato treaty, the UN charter or international law, Greenland is not open to annexation,” he told reporters. Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has announced a snap election for 18 May, the third in three years, after the fall of Luis Montenegro’s government. The president said he wanted to move quickly to avoid prolonged instability, adding in a televised address that 18 May was “the preferred date for the majority of parties”. Rebelo de Sousa had met with party leaders on Wednesday, and earlier on Thursday called a meeting of the State Council, which is primarily made up of political leaders, for consultations before dissolving parliament. “These elections, nobody was expecting them, nor wanting them” at a time of tense international conflicts, he said, urging parties to focus their campaigns on problems “that worry the Portuguese in their daily lives” such as the economy and healthcare. Montenegro stepped down on Tuesday after his minority centre-right government lost a confidence vote. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader had been battling attacks over government contracts held by his family’s companies, AFP noted. Brussels correspondent Senior EU diplomats have agreed on Friday morning to extend for six months sanctions against around 2,000 Russians, including Vladimir Putin and many senior politicians and business people. The sanctions, which have to be renewed unanimously every six months, remain in place until 15 September 2025. Following a threat by Hungary to veto the list, four people have been removed as well as three people who recently died, EU sources said. The banking and energy tycoon Mikhail Fridman – who won a partial victory against EU sanctions last April – remains on the list, sources said. We are just getting early reports from Brussels that EU ambassadors have agreed to renew Russia sanctions on over 2,400 individuals and entities, which were set to expire tomorrow. Reuters noted that they reportedly agreed to remove three individual from the list. Hungary previously suggested it wanted to see some revisions to the list, threatening to veto it if their demands are not met. We should hear more details soon, and will bring you the latest. Trump’s overnight comments on annexing Greenland – “I think this will happen” – sparked fury on the island and in Denmark. Outgoing Greenlandic prime minister Múte B. Egede, who holds the fort waiting for the new coalition to emerge, has said he “cannot accept this,” and called a meeting of all party leaders to form a united front against Trump. “This time we must sharpen our rejection of Trump. We must not continue to be treated with disrespect. Enough is enough,” he said. His likely successor, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, has also rejected Donald Trump’s effort to take control of the island, saying Greenlanders must be allowed to decide their own future as it moves toward independence from Denmark. Nielsen, whose centre-right Democrats won a surprise victory in this week’s legislative elections and now must form a coalition government, pushed back against Trump’s repeated claims that the US will annex the island. “We don’t want to be Americans. No, we don’t want to be Danes. We want to be Greenlanders, and we want our own independence in the future,” Nielsen told Sky News. “And we want to build our own country by ourselves.” In a separate comment on Facebook, he called Trump’s comments “inappropriate.” Over in Denmark, Jacob Kaarsbo, former chief analyst at the Danish Defence Intelligence Agency, was quoted by Berlingske as telling TV2 News that Trump’s comments “send chills down the spines of officials and politicians not just in Denmark, but all Nato.” Rasmus Jarlov, chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee, put it in even starker terms as he also took aim at Nato secretary general Mark Rutte for not reacting to Trump’s comments. We do not appreciate the Secr. Gen. of NATO joking with Trump about Greenland like this. It would mean war between two NATO countries. Greenland has just voted against immediate independence from Denmark and does not want to be American ever. In case you wondered what was the response from the US, former Trump aide and Republican political consultant Roger Stone replied to Jarlov with this comment: This is your sick demented repugnant, and baseless opinion. The problem is that you are no one and you don’t speak for the people of Greenland. Get over yourself no one here cares what you think about anything. Asshole. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of “manipulative” response to the US proposal for a ceasefire, saying Putin pretended to accept it “at the moment he is, in fact, preparing to reject it.” “That’s why, in Moscow, they are surrounding the ceasefire idea with such preconditions that it either fails or gets dragged out for as long as possible. Putin does this often — he doesn’t say ‘no’ outright, but he drags things out and makes reasonable solutions impossible,” he said. US president Donald Trump also acknowledged that while Putin’s response was “promising,” it was also “incomplete.” Getting to the bottom of what Putin actually wants and planning what to do next in response will be the focus of the next few days. US special envoy Steve Witkoff was in Moscow last night where he was meant to meet with Vladimir Putin or senior Russian officials to discuss the proposals. As of this morning, neither the Kremlin nor the White House issued any readouts from their discussion. Speaking on Fox News overnight, the US national security adviser Mike Waltz praised Ukrainians for “a very different approach than you saw … in the Oval Office,” and urged all sides to move to ceasefire. He declined to go into the details of discussions Witkoff had in Moscow, but insisted there was “some cautious optimism,” as the US administration expects to hear back from Witkoff “to evaluate and for the president to make decisions on next steps.” When it was put to him that Ukraine not be allowed to enter Nato and would probably have to give up some Russian-occupied territories in Donbas, Waltz said “you are not wrong in any of that.” “What’s important is that we are discussing all of those things with both sides,” he said. Given public comments from Ukrainian officials on the integrity of the Ukrainian territory, it’s difficult to imagine their enthusiasm for such proposal. On Saturday, UK prime minister Keir Starmer will host a virtual meeting of leaders involved in his planning for “the coalition of the willing,” a follow up on his Lancaster House summit earlier this month. It’s Friday, 14 March 2025, and this is Europe live. It’s Jakub Krupa here. Good morning.