Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky ready for ‘real compromise’ before accusing Moscow of terrorism

Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer will chair a video conference of Ukraine’s ‘Coalition of the Allies’ on February 24, Macron’s office says.

That meeting next week is timed to coincide with the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The coalition includes more than 30 nations.

Volodymyr Zelensky says that “so far no one sees any positive movement on the territorial issue”, despite the White House insisting that there was “meaningful progress” made this week in Geneva.

Zelensky reaffirmed that talks on military issues were constructive, reflecting the initial reports of his delegation leaving trilateral negotiations earlier this week.

He said that he is counting on another round of talks to come as soon as this month.

Germany’s defence minister on Friday ruled his country out of acquiring nuclear weapons and said military support for France would be conventional, even as the two countries begin talks on collaborating in nuclear deterrence.

“When it comes to the nuclear deterrence and defense capabilities of French partners and allies, then it is to support that conventionally, by conventional measures, but not in terms of nuclear participation,” said Boris Pistorius.

German defence minister Boris Pistorius said on Friday a European version of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance of English speaking countries is being considered to better respond to threats posed by Russia.

Speaking at the Group of Five defence ministers meeting in Krakow with his counterparts of Poland, France, Britain and Italy, Pistorius said this was imaginable and considerations were ongoing.

“What can we do next? One idea could be to consider the idea of a joint tanker fleet or multi-domain task force, or even a European version of Five Eyes,” the minister said.

Ukraine could export several billion dollars of military goods and services this year after authorising its first wartime foreign sales, a senior Ukrainian defence official revealed.

Davyd Aloian, deputy secretary of Kyiv’s National Security and Defence Council, said that Ukrainian this month approved the majority of 40 applications from defence sector producers for exports of materiel and services.

“Taking into account ready-made products, spare parts, components, and services that can be provided, it amounts to several billion dollars,” he said, adding that Ukraine was considering introducing a tax on those exports.

Ukraine’s allies have expressed interest in obtaining its cutting-edge defence technology, Aloian said, naming Germany, Britain, the US, Nordic countries, three Middle East nations, and at least one Asian country as among the keenest.

Russia currently occupies about 20% of Ukraine’s national territory, including Crimea and parts of the Donbas seized before the 2022 invasion.

Analysts say Russia has gained about 1.3% of Ukrainian territory since early 2023.

Land is a key point of disagreement in talks between Russia and Ukraine. Kyiv says Ukrainians would not agree to giving away land Russia has not already taken.

While polls show a notable majority of Ukrainians oppose territorial concessions in exchange for Western security guarantees, the figures have narrowed slightly over the past year.

EU envoys failed to agree on a 20th package of sanctions against Russia that could include a full maritime services ban on Russian crude oil exports.

The EU wants to adopt the next package to mark the four-year anniversary of the war on Ukraine on February 24.

Ambassadors could convene over the weekend to discuss it ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday.

Volodymyr Zelensky said today Ukraine is ready for “real compromises” but will not accept “ultimatums” from Russia amid uncertainty over progress in talks.

“We are ready for real compromises. But not compromises at the cost of our independence and sovereignty,” he said in conversation with Kyodo News.

The Ukrainian president said it was a “big compromise” that Ukraine was ready to talk about peace on the basis of the principle of “standing where we stand.”

He added: “What is Russia offering us as a compromise? What are they ready for? They said: “We are ready not to occupy your other regions.” But this is terrorism. Even these words themselves are terrorism. “I am ready not to kill you – give us everything.” What does that mean? This is not a compromise. This is an ultimatum. That is why I said: “We are ready for compromises that respect Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, our army, our people and our children. But we are not ready for ultimatums.”

Belarus’ foreign ministry said today that its delegation was unable to get visas needed to attend the inaugural Board of Peace summit in Washington on Thursday.

In a blow to the close Russian ally, the ministry said visas were not issued “despite all documents being submitted on time and procedures followed”.

“If even basic formalities aren’t respected, what “peace” are we talking about?” they said.

Britain and European allies including France, Germany, Italy and Poland will work together to develop new low-cost air defence weapons to protect the continent’s skies, a statement from the UK’s ministry of defence said on Friday.

“The UK and our E5 partners are stepping up – investing together in the next generation of air defence and autonomous systems to strengthen NATO’s shield,” Britain’s minister for defence readiness and industry Luke Pollard said in a statement.