Summary
Here is a summary of the day’s key events:
EU leaders will meet on 6 March for a special summit “to take decisions” on Ukraine and European defence, the head of the European Council has said. António Costa, who chairs EU leader meetings, announced on Sunday that he was calling the meeting on 6 March: “We are living a defining moment for Ukraine and European security.” He said European leaders had a shared commitment to strengthening European defence and contributing to the long-term security of Ukraine.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “We would really like it as a priority for the US to first talk to us, then to Russia.” He went on to add: “They can discuss whatever they want in their relations …but it is not possible to decide anything about Ukraine without us. We will not recognise any such agreements, regardless of format.”
EU and world leaders are due to head to Kyiv tomorrow to show their support for Ukraine and Zelenskyy and discuss security guarantees. Zelenskyy said he hoped tomorrow’s meeting would be a “turning point”. The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, the European Council president, António Costa, and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, are among those expected to attend the meeting in person.
Zelenskyy, who was elected the president of Ukraine in May 2019, was asked if he would be willing to “give up” being president of Ukraine in exchange for peace. “Yes, I am happy, if it is for the peace of Ukraine,” he told the press conference. “If you need me to leave this chair, I am ready to do that, and I also can exchange it for Nato membership for Ukraine.”
The Russian government supported comments made by Donald Trump about Zelenskyy - such as calling the Ukrainian leader a dictator - as “understandable” after Zelenskyy made “inappropriate remarks” about Trump. “Zelenskyy makes inappropriate remarks addressed to the head of state. He does it repeatedly,” the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state TV.
Around $350bn worth of Ukraine’s critical resources are in areas captured by Russia, Ukrainian authorities said on Sunday. “We have information that, unfortunately, there is about $350bn worth of these useful critical materials in temporarily occupied territory,” deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko told a news conference in Kyiv.
Updated
EU leaders will meet on 6 March for a special summit “to take decisions” on Ukraine and European defence, the head of the European Council has said.
António Costa, who chairs EU leader meetings, announced on Sunday that he was calling the meeting on 6 March: “We are living a defining moment for Ukraine and European security”. He said European leaders had a shared commitment to strengthening European defence and contributing to the long-term security of Ukraine.
Costa said he would work with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU member states “to be ready to take decisions on 6 March”.
The EU hopes to raise billions in military support for Ukraine “as soon as possible in 2025” according to a draft plan that will be discussed by foreign ministers on Monday.
Under a proposal from the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, the EU would send Ukraine at least 1.5m rounds of large-calibre ammunition, air-defence systems, missiles capable of deep precision strikes, drones, as well as training for brigades.
The EU says it gave Ukraine €20bn in military aid in 2024, a figure that is fast becoming a reference point for the next plan. Diplomatic sources said the EU should be ready to give at least the same in 2025, while others said it should give more.
A report of a proposed €6bn has been described as “an early draft that was quickly discounted” by one EU source.
The plan comes at a perilous moment in the war, as Donald Trump appears ready to sideline Ukraine and Europe in an attempt to make a deal with the Kremlin.
The EU says it has provided €48.5bn in military support to Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion, including €20bn in 2024.
Ministers are unlikely to set a figure on Monday, passing the decision up to EU leaders meeting on 6 March.
