Key events
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.