Kremlin confirms Putin-Trump call on Tuesday
In the last few minutes, the Kremlin has confirmed that Russian president Vladimir Putin would talk to US president Donald Trump by phone on Tuesday.
Asked about the planned call, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “Yes, that’s how it is. Such a conversation is planned for Tuesday,” Reuters reported.
Key events
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy meets with defence minister, army chief
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met with defence minister Rustem Umerov and new chief of the general staff, Andrii Hnatov to discuss “the frontline situation and engagements with partners on security guarantees for Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy said he told Umerov to build a team that could discuss “all the details of the security system Ukraine needs, as well as the implementation of decisions made at the military-political level,” starting from the army heads meeting in London on Thursday.
Hnatov was told to work on the army structures, and “audit the current needs of combat brigades” and check they are properly backed to “ensure the resilience of our position.”
The brigades must be supplied to the maximum to ensure the resilience of our positions, both at the front and in diplomatic efforts,” he said.
Zelenskyy added that “strengthening the army is a constant priority, and there can be no steps back in this regard,” with the country’s defence system remaining “the foundation of our independence.”
Germany probes three cases of its citizens being denied entry to US
Three German citizens have recently been denied entry to the United States and placed in detention, leading Berlin to question if there has been a possible “change in American immigration policy,” AFP reported.
Tourists from several western countries have reportedly been detained by US immigration authorities in the past few weeks, apparently caught up in president Donald Trump’s tough crackdown on immigration.
“We have recently become aware of three cases in which German citizens were unable to enter the United States and were taken into custody,” foreign ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer said.
Two of the cases had been resolved, Fischer said, but Germany remained “in contact with the local authorities” regarding the third case.
Germany was “monitoring the situation” and liaising with other EU countries to assess “whether this represents a change in American immigration policy… or whether these are isolated cases”, he said.
“Once we have a clear picture, we will then, if necessary, adjust our travel and security advice,” he said.
Russia-inspired arson attacks in EU countries show its true nature, Poland’s Tusk says
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has commented on the Lithuanian prosecutor general’s report on Russian-linked acts of sabotage and arson in the EU (9:42), linking it to peace negotiations with Russia, as he warned that “such is the nature of this state.”
In a social media post in English, he said:
Dear allies, the investigation of the Lithuanian prosecutor’s office has confirmed our suspicions that [those] responsible for setting fires to shopping centres in Vilnius and Warsaw are [linked with] the Russian secret services.
Good to know before negotiations.
Such is the nature of this state.
In an earlier comment, in Polish, he said the Lithuanian investigation confirmed suspicions raised by Polish authorities after a similar arson attack in Warsaw.
He added that there was “particular treachery” in the fact that Russia seemed to have recruited Ukrainian nationals to conduct the attacks in a bid to sow division and weaken public support for Ukrainian fight against Russian invasion.
Canada’s Carney visits Paris, London in his first foreign trip
Mark Carney, the new Canadian prime minister, has arrived in Paris on his first stop of a visit to France and the UK as he seeks to bolster European alliances to deal with Donald Trump’s attacks on Canada’s sovereignty and economy.
Speaking at a press conference alongside French president Emmanuel Macron, Carney said Canada was “the most European of non-European countries, determined like you, to maintain the most positive possible relations with the United States”.
“Canada is a reliable, trustworthy and strong partner of France, which shares our values and lives them through action during this age of economic and geopolitical crisis,” he said.
Carney is deliberately making his first foreign trip to the capital cities of the two countries that shaped Canada’s early existence.
A senior government official briefed reporters on the plane before picking up Carney in Montreal and said the purpose of the trip was to double down on partnerships with Canada’s two founding countries. The official said Canada was a “good friend of the United States but we all know what is going on”.
Carney, a former central banker who turned 60 on Sunday, will then travel to London to sit down with the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, in an effort to diversify trade and perhaps coordinate a response to Trump’s tariffs.
He will also meet King Charles III, Canada’s head of state. The trip to England is something of a homecoming, as Carney is a former governor of the Bank of England, the first non-citizen to be named to the role in its more than 300 years.
Hungary moves to ban Pride march, target participants with fines
Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party submitted a bill to parliament on Monday that would ban the Pride march by LGBTQ+ communities and impose fines on organisers and people attending the event which Budapest has held for three decades, Reuters reported.
Prime minister Viktor Orbán has criticised LGBTQ+ people and pledged to crack down on foreign funding of independent media, opposition politicians and NGOs in Hungary in recent weeks, stepping up his campaign ahead of elections due early next year.
Orban, a nationalist who faces an unprecedented challenge from a new surging opposition party, has scaled up his attacks on the media and LGBTQ+ people since the inauguration of US ally president Donald Trump.
The bill submitted by his Fidesz party would ban Pride on the grounds that it could be considered harmful to children.
“The proposed bill amends the law governing the right of assembly by stipulating that it is banned to hold an assembly that violates the ban set out in the law on the protection of children,” the legislation says, quoted by Reuters.
It also says police can use face recognition cameras to identify people who attend the event in which participants march down Andrassy Avenue, a wide street in Budapest’s city centre.
Orban has said Pride should not even bother to organise the event this year.
Festival organisers, who say it poses no threat to children, responded by saying that freedom of assembly was a constitutional right, Reuters said.
Kremlin confirms Putin-Trump call on Tuesday
In the last few minutes, the Kremlin has confirmed that Russian president Vladimir Putin would talk to US president Donald Trump by phone on Tuesday.
Asked about the planned call, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “Yes, that’s how it is. Such a conversation is planned for Tuesday,” Reuters reported.
Czech Republic wants to explore EU options for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavský said he would ask EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels today to consider if the EU should offer its support to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty after it US terminated its funding for the station.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday targeting Voice of America’s parent US Agency for Global Media in his latest sweeping cuts to the federal government.
The cuts included a federal grant agreement for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, formed in the Cold War to reach the former Soviet bloc, being terminated.
RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said on Saturday that “the cancellation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s grant agreement would be a massive gift to America’s enemies.”
Lipavský brought up the issue of RFE/FL, which is based in Prague, during his arrival at the foreign affairs council in Brussels.
He said:
I want to raise it politically as a question, do we see a value in such an organisation, in broadcasting to countries like Russia, Belarus, Iran and many others, and if we do see such a value, what are we ready to do to keep such a service in place, in our favour. That’s a very broad question.
We have to start with the political readiness to do something, so I will ask for that today.
Lithuania accuses Russia of the arson of Ikea store in 2024 to undermine support for Ukraine
The Lithuanian prosecutor general has said that Russian military intelligence was behind the arson of an Ikea store in Vilnius in 2024.
In an update into its investigation (in Lithuanian), the authorities said the main suspect engaged with Russian military and security services and accepted payment for plans to attack shopping centres in Lithuania and Latvia to “intimidate the societies of both countries” in a bid to stop their support for Ukraine.
The suspect, a foreign citizen who was underage at the time, repeatedly visited Poland and Lithuania to gather information and plan the arson.
The investigators believe that the arson attack in Vilnius was carried out using a timed fuse hidden in the store and set to activate in the middle of the night. The suspect then left the scene, seeking to cover up their tracks, and left for Warsaw to collect a premium car as a reward for the task.
The suspect was detained a week later, when believed to be en route to commit another arson, this time in Riga, Latvia.
The prosecutor general’s office said that it secured “extremely detailed data” about communications regarding both arson attacks, including “multi-level” schemes supporting the operation and links in both Lithuania and Poland.
It suggested it would treat the attack as an act of terrorism.
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk previously suggested that the group involved in the Ikea arson attack in Lithuania could also have links to similar incidents in Poland.
North Macedonia mourns victims of deadly fire at nightclub
Helena Smith
in Athens
North Macedonia has declared a seven-day period of mourning after a fire in a nightclub that left at least 59 dead and scores injured, as authorities detained 15 people for questioning and the interior minister said a preliminary inspection revealed the club was operating without a proper licence.
Interior minister Panche Toshkovski said the venue in the eastern town of Kočani where the pre-dawn blaze occurred appeared to be operating illegally.
More than 20 people were under investigation, 15 of whom were in police custody, while others suspected of involvement were in hospital, he said.
Most of those killed by the blaze, which ripped through the Pulse nightclub during a hip-hop concert, were teenagers and young adults. Over 155 were injured, many critically.
Italy one of five ‘dismantlers’ of democracy in Europe, report says
Jennifer Rankin
Brussels correspondent
Italy’s government has profoundly undermined the rule of law with changes to the judiciary and showed “heavy intolerance to media criticism”, in an emblematic example of Europe’s deepening “democratic recession”, a coalition of civil liberties groups has said.
A report by the Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties) said Italy was one of five “dismantlers” – along with Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovakia – that “intentionally undermine the rule of law in nearly all aspects”.
“Europe’s democratic recession has deepened in 2024,” Liberties said in a statement. The report, shared with the Guardian before publication, highlighted judicial systems subject to political manipulation, weak law enforcement against corruption, overuse of fast-track legislative procedures, harassment of journalists and growing restrictions on peaceful protests.
“Without decisive action, the EU risks further democratic erosion,” the report – compiled by 43 human rights organisations in 21 EU member states – concluded.
Major protests against Vucić’s rules in Serbia
Tens of thousands of people from across Serbia joined an anti-corruption rally in Belgrade on Saturday, in what is regarded as the culmination of months of protest that have shaken the grip of the country’s autocratic president, Aleksandar Vučić.
The anti-government rally is likely to be the biggest ever held in the Balkan country.
Between 275,000 and 325,000 people took part in the protest, according to the Public Assembly Archive, an organisation that monitors crowd size. That figure is far higher than the government’s estimate.
Morning opening: The lull before the storm
US President Donald Trump said he plans to talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin about next steps in the peace process on Ukraine on Tuesday, after “a lot has been done over the weekend.”
His comments – particularly on “dividing up certain assets” – will make Europeans wonder what exactly he is planning to propose when he talks to Putin, and how this aligns with their views on what should happen in Ukraine.
On Saturday, “the coalition of the willing” discussed what they can do, as UK prime minister Keir Starmer talked the arrangement up as moving to “operational phase.”
But the very existence of the coalition appeared to be firmly opposed by Russia, as deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko said that any long-lasting peace treaty on Ukraine must meet Moscow’s demands.
He warned that any deployment of foreign troops to Ukraine would come with “all the consequences for these contingents as parties to the conflict.”
In response, French President Emmanuel Macron said Russia’s permission was not needed as Ukraine was sovereign. “If Ukraine requests allied forces to be on its territory, it is not up to Russia to accept or reject them.”
As Washington gears up for Tuesday’s call between Trump and Putin, European leaders are scrambling to prepare for what’s coming next, fearing any sort of unpredictable and potentially controversial concessions from Trump.
EU foreign ministers are meeting this morning in Brussels to discuss what else they can do to help Ukraine. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas sought to ramp up pressure on Russia as she arrived for the meeting this morning, insisting that “the ball is in Russia’s court and what kind of conditions they are presenting, which is [a] big question whether they want peace.”
“Those conditions that they have presented, it shows that they don’t really want peace, actually, because they are presenting as conditions all the ultimate goals that they want to achieve from this war,” she warned.
Let’s see what we hear over the next 24 hours, ahead of that Trump-Putin call.
It’s Monday, 17 March 2025, and this is Europe live. It’s Jakub Krupa here.
Good morning.