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America’s top diplomat has said the next few days will determine how serious Vladimir Putin is about peace in Ukraine, as U.S. officials fly out to Saudi Arabia for meetings with Russian officials.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also played down European concerns about being shunned from the negotiating table, stating that a ceasefire process had not yet begun in earnest.
Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that the risk Russia will occupy Europe is “100 per cent” if the US leaves Nato, adding intelligence showed 150,000 of Putin’s soldiers amassing in neighbouring Belarus.
The Ukrainian president issued the stark warning during an interview with NBC News, where he stressed that he trusted president Donald Trump, but would not accept any ceasefire deal conducted without Ukraine at the negotiating table.
Prime minister Keir Starmer is set to join a European crisis summit to face down the threat of Russia after the US barred European leaders from peace talks with Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war.
France is preparing to host the last-minute, informal meeting with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte following comments by Mr Zelensky that the continent should form an “army of Europe” as it could not rely on the US for defence.
Ukraine not invited to Saudi Arabia talks with US and Russia
Ukraine will not be joining talks between the US and Russia in Saudi Arabia this week, it has been reported.
Top US diplomats have flown out to Saudi Arabia on Sunday, marking the first high-level in-person discussions between Russian and US officials in years. The summit is meant to precede a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However, Ukrainian president Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukraine had not been invited to the talks, and a government source told the BBC that Kyiv would not be attending.
Athena Stavrou16 February 2025 21:22
Zelensky arrives in UAE
Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in the United Arab Emirates ahead of a meeting between top Russian and US officials in Saudi Arabia
The Ukrainian president confirmed is arrival in the UAE on Sunday, after he attended the Munich Security Conference.
He said the top priority for his visit was to ensure “that still more of our people are able to return home from captivity”. He also said investment was a key issue to be discussed.
The United Arab Emirates has played a key role in overseeing the return home of Ukrainians deported to Russia during the nearly three-year-old war, many of them children.
Elsewhere, White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on Sunday said he would travel to Saudi Arabia with National Security Advisor Mike Waltz for talks on how to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Athena Stavrou16 February 2025 21:13
Cabinet minister hits out at JD Vance’s rant
A cabinet minister has hit back at an extraordinary rant by US vice president JD Vance, in which he attacked European democracies and claimed the greatest threat facing the continent was not Russia or China but “from within”.
Mr Vance stunned delegates at the Munich Security Conference on Friday as he accused Europe of “retreating from some of its most fundamental values”, including free speech.
Athena Stavrou16 February 2025 20:51
Watch: Zelensky says Ukraine has ‘low chance to survive’ without US military support
Athena Stavrou16 February 2025 20:27
Russian defence ministry says nine Ukrainian drones downed
Russia’s Defence Ministry has said its air defence units have destroyed nine Ukrainian drones.
Moscow said on Sunday that it downed six drones in a little less than an hour over the Sea of Azov in southern Ukraine and three more in Russia’s southern region of Krasnodar.
A ministry statement on Telegram said the incidents occurred between 7:50pm and 8:45pm Moscow time.
The Sea of Azov lies next to parts of southern Ukraine that are largely occupied by Russian forces.
Athena Stavrou16 February 2025 19:52
Full story: Ukraine’s Zelensky says he trusts Donald Trump but wants to meet as US pushes peace talks with Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky detailed his recent phone call with President Donald Trump and his take on a possible peace agreement with Russia during an interview Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press.
Zelensky, meanwhile, is in Washington, D.C., and has met with the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as well as Vice President JD Vance in the past week. He also spoke with Trump on the phone.
Athena Stavrou16 February 2025 19:28
Pictures from Ukraine
Athena Stavrou16 February 2025 19:00
Macron discusses Ukraine peace deal with Saudi crown prince
Emmanuel Macron has discussed Europe’s role in the Ukraine peace Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
On a phone call on Sunday the pair discussed Saudi Arabia’s role in any peace deal for Ukraine and how Europe should play a key part in this.
Athena Stavrou16 February 2025 18:26
Putin’s troops step up their attacks ahead of potential peace talks
Russian troops have sharply stepped up their attacks in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv’s military said on Sunday, as a NATO official predicted Moscow would increase the pace and intensity of its assaults with talks to end the war approaching.
The main attacks were concentrated near the imperilled logistics hub of Pokrovsk, Kyiv said, with U.S. and Russian officials expected to hold talks in the coming days in Saudi Arabia and U.S President Donald Trump pushing for peace.
Kyiv’s military reported 261 combat engagements with Russia over a 24-hour period on Saturday, easily the largest number recorded this year and more than double the roughly 100 per day it reported in previous days.
“Today was the hardest day of 2025 at the front,” the Ukrainian DeepState military blog wrote late on Saturday.
Holly Evans16 February 2025 18:05
US presented Ukraine with a document to access its minerals but offered almost nothing in return
Ukrainian officials were told not to sign an agreement with the U.S. on rare earth minerals because the document focused on U.S. interests, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and did not offer any specific security guarantees in return, said one current and one former senior official familiar with the talks.
The proposal focused on how the U.S. could use Kyiv’s rare earth minerals “as compensation” for support already given to Ukraine by the Biden administration and as payment for future aid, current and former senior Ukrainian officials said speaking anonymously so they could speak freely. A senior White House official said that Zelenskyy’s rejection was “short-sighted.”
Ukraine has vast reserves of critical minerals which are used in aerospace, defense and nuclear industries.
Read the full article here:
Holly Evans16 February 2025 17:42
Read More: Ukraine war: US warns that next few days are vital to peace hopes
