Lavrov: UK and French suggestion of Nato peacekeeping forces in Ukraine is aimed at fuelling conflict
Russia’s foreign minister has said that the UK and France are engaged in further fuelling conflict in Ukraine with discussion of a European peacekeeping force putting troops on the ground in the country in the event of a peace deal.
Speaking in Qatar, Sergei Lavrov said that Europe’s approach to the conflict insists on heating it up, rather than cooling it down and looking at the root causes.
He said that the balance of forces had changed in Europe, and that European countries were trying to undermine this with new packages of military aid for Ukraine. Lavrov said that the peacekeeping proposals emanating from London and Paris were a deceit aimed at pumping Ukraine full of more weapons, that would draw Ukraine further into Nato’s sphere and infringe on the rights of Russian-speakers there.
Lavrov also announced there would be a US-Russia meeting in Istanbul on Thursday, and accused European countries of lying when they say that Russia is unwilling to negotiate over Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly said it would hold talks over the war while also insisting on red lines over territory seizures and future security guarantees that Ukraine has found unacceptable.
Key events
US-Ukraine minerals deal does not contain security guarantee – reports
Reuters is carrying more details of the reported agreement between Ukraine and the US over the extraction of Ukraine’s mineral wealth by the Trump administration.
The news agency reports a source familiar with the contents of the draft agreement said that it does not specify any US security guarantees or continued flow of weapons, but says that the United States wants Ukraine to be “free, sovereign and secure.”
One of the sources familiar with the deal told Reuters that future weapons shipments are still being discussed between Washington and Kyiv
Europe needs a defence fund to help it strengthen its security and increase its deterrence capability, Reuters reports German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has said.
“It would be an important step to relax the EU’s stability and growth pact so member states can continue to increase their national defence spending,” she said in a statement, adding that this alone would not be sufficient for all countries.
“That is why we need a European defence fund that is up to the challenge,” she added.
Ukraine’s PM Denys Shmyhal: minerals deal has been agreed with the US
Ukraine’s prime minister Denys Shmyhal has said the US and Ukraine have reached a final agreement by which the US will obtain Ukrainian mineral resources in lieu of payment for military support in its defensive war against Russia.
Shmyhal said the agreement involves the creation of a joint investment fund, stating that there is a provision in it which it says the US supports Ukraine’s efforts to obtain security guarantees to build lasting peace.
He said he expected Ukraine’s government to authorise the deal today.
US president Donald Trump has said he is expecting Volodymyr Zelenskyy to travel to Washington at the end of the week to sign an agreement. Last week Trump called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator”, leading to a breach in transatlantic relations.
In a message posted to Telegram, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has marked 11 years since Russia moved to occupy and then declare Crimea annexed to the Russian Federation, saying “We do not allow Russia to ‘normalise’ the occupation.”
Zelenskyy said:
Today is the day of courage and honesty of all those who did not turn a blind eye to Russia’s occupation of our Crimea. These days, 11 years ago, Russian aggression against Ukraine began with the illegal, vile seizure of Crimea. But the day of 26 February showed that there would be resistance – resistance from Crimea, resistance from all of Ukraine. This day showed that there are and will be people who will not accept lies and will not surrender their homes. We managed to put the issue of Crimea’s liberation back on the world’s agenda. We do not allow Russia to ‘normalise’ the occupation. We continue to fight for the right to a normal life and guarantees of security and sustainable peace for the whole of Ukraine.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that journalist Tetyana Kulyk was killed overnight when a Russian drone struck her house in the Kyiv region. It reported two people were found dead at the scene of the attack.
Russia’s state-owned media outlet Tass has summed up what it termed the main points of foreign minister Sergei Lavrov’s press briefing in Qatar.
It reported that Lavrov said Europe is inciting Kyiv to continue military operations, and that Europe’s policy on Ukraine is hopelessly outdated and a failure.
Tass reports Lavrov said Russia is not considering options for deploying European forces in Ukraine and that remains of Ukraine must be freed from what he termed racist laws. He added that Russia and the US did not discuss the issue of rare earth metals in recent discussions in Riyadh.
There has not been a diplomatic read-out yet from French president Emmanuel Macron briefing European leaders this morning about his recent visit to Washington, but Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk has just posted to social media, without directly mentioning Donald Trump, this:
Uncertainty, unpredictability, deals. Are these really the rules that the new international order should be based on?
Dozens of dignitaries walked out of Russia’s speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday in support of Ukraine, Reuters reports.
The delegates, including the ambassadors of France, Germany and Britain, gathered outside the room where the session was taking place, to mark three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Reuters reports that Russia’s ministry of defence said its forces have recaptured two settlements in the Kursk region, where Ukraine has staged an incursion into Russian territory. The reports have not been independently verified.
Lavrov: UK and French suggestion of Nato peacekeeping forces in Ukraine is aimed at fuelling conflict
Russia’s foreign minister has said that the UK and France are engaged in further fuelling conflict in Ukraine with discussion of a European peacekeeping force putting troops on the ground in the country in the event of a peace deal.
Speaking in Qatar, Sergei Lavrov said that Europe’s approach to the conflict insists on heating it up, rather than cooling it down and looking at the root causes.
He said that the balance of forces had changed in Europe, and that European countries were trying to undermine this with new packages of military aid for Ukraine. Lavrov said that the peacekeeping proposals emanating from London and Paris were a deceit aimed at pumping Ukraine full of more weapons, that would draw Ukraine further into Nato’s sphere and infringe on the rights of Russian-speakers there.
Lavrov also announced there would be a US-Russia meeting in Istanbul on Thursday, and accused European countries of lying when they say that Russia is unwilling to negotiate over Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly said it would hold talks over the war while also insisting on red lines over territory seizures and future security guarantees that Ukraine has found unacceptable.
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is currently speaking at a press briefing in Qatar. We will bring you any key lines that emerge.
Citing the Marseille prosecutor, Reuters reports that two French nationals have admitted responsibility for an arson attack at the Russian consulate in the city on Monday.