Zelenskyy says no discussion with Trump on US ownership of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Zelenskyy: no discussion with Trump on US ownership of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant – video
Zelenskyy also gets asked about the prospects of US ownership of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station or any other energy assets.
He replies saying that “all nuclear power plans belong to the people of Ukraine,” owned by state, and get paid by Ukraine, even as it is “temporarily occupied” by Russia.
He then goes into details of problems with the plant and its cooling after the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam, which pose questions over “very severe technical conditions.”
He also pushes back on suggestion the plant could change ownership, repeatedly saying he discussed with Trump “how to find the solution from the situation and … take the station from the Russians,” with options for the US to be involved in modernising or developing it further, but “the issue of property, we did not discuss.”
He further says there was no discussion on other plants.
… and on that note, that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, as we wrap up today’s Europe Live, leaving EU leaders to continue they talks that are expected to run late into the night.
We are still waiting for comments from UK prime minister Keir Starmer after his meeting with army chiefs and planners from “the coalition of the willing.”
If and when we get them, we will bring you his words on our UK live blog here:
Here are the three things to take away from today’s Europe Live blog:
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he had no discussions with US president Donald Trump about the potential US ownership of Ukraine’s nuclear and energy plans (15:22). He also called out Vladimir Putin’s “propaganda claims” and “manipulations” as Russia continued strikes on Ukraine, despite reportedly agreeing to a limited ceasefire (13:12, 15:13, 16:00).
EU leaders meeting in Brussels agreed that “no real negotiations are taking place at the moment” after discussing Donald Trump’s attempts to end Putin’s war on Ukraine, expressing deep scepticism that the Russian president is serious about seeking an end to the three-year conflict that he started (11:47, 14:35).
Army chiefs and planners have met in Britain where, hosted by UK prime minister Keir Starmer, they discussed what “the coalition of the willing” could do to support Ukraine in case there is a peace agreement with Russia (15:41).
Russia names former FSB officer behind Ukraine invasion to lead peace talks
Shaun Walker in Kyiv
Pjotr Sauer
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following a Russian air attack in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine. Photograph: AP
Russia has named a secretive former FSB chief who played a key role in planning Vladimir Putin’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraineto lead next week’s peace talks with the US in Saudi Arabia.
Moscow announced that Sergei Beseda, the former head of the FSB spy agency’s fifth directorate – who oversaw intelligence operations in Ukraine and orchestrated the recruitment of collaborators before the invasion – will travel to Riyadh for Monday’s talks with the US.
Both sides said the talks in Saudi Arabia are aimed at finalising a limited ceasefire deal agreed this week and initiating negotiations on a maritime ceasefire.
Beseda will be joined by Grigory Karasin, the chair of the senate’s committee on international affairs, for a new round of talks with US officials.
Exiled Russian journalists left ‘high and dry’ after US cuts radio funding
Michael Savage
Media editor
A sign and flags are shown at the headquarters of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague, Czech Republic. Photograph: David W Černý/Reuters
Exiled Russian journalists are being left “high and dry” and at risk of being stranded overseas without any legal status after the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw funding from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
The Guardian understands that some Russian journalists working for RFE/RL, which was founded during the cold war and broadcasts to countries including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, will face imminent problems over their legal status should the broadcaster shut down.
Many of RFE/RL’s Russian journalists operate from Prague, Riga and Vilnius, with their work visas often tied to their employment. Terminating the broadcaster’s funding would trigger visa expirations, leaving them without legal status within months.
Zelenskyy tells EU to keep pressure on Russia, calls out Hungary's attempts to block Ukraine's EU accession
In the meantime, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy also released a video and some comments from his speech to the European Council summit in Brussels earlier this morning.
The Ukrainian president urged leaders to not fall for the Russian “hoax,” pretending that he wants a ceasefire where the opposite is true, as he said “Putin must stop making unnecessary demands that only prolong the war and must start fulfilling what he promises the world.”
She specifically told them to keep pressure and sanctions on Russia “until it starts withdrawing from our land and fully compensates for the damage caused by its aggression.”
“Keep fighting against sanction evasion schemes and Russia’s attempts to finance its war effort,” he pleaded.
But he also asked for more pressure “within Europe itself,” calling out Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán for blocking Ukraine’s prospects of joining the EU.
“It is simply anti-European when one person blocks decisions important for the entire continent or that have already been agreed upon. Ukraine fulfilled the requirements, but right now, there are serious difficulties in opening Ukraine’s first and other negotiation clusters for EU accession,” he said.
He ended on thanks for continued support and his comments that Europe “must always be at the table” in discussions on security, reassuring leaders he raised it in talks with the US.
Separately, as Jennifer Rankin tells me, in a joint statement EU leaders – minus Hungary – welcomed the joint statement by Ukraine and US following their meeting in Saudi Arabia, including proposals for a ceasefire agreement, humanitarian efforts and resumption of US intelligence sharing and security assistance.
Here is the video and here are the comments as released, in full:
I addressed the European Council and emphasized that if we say Europe should be stronger in global competition, we must also discuss making European decision-making faster, more flexible, more effective – whether in politics, defense, economics, industry, or any other area.
Last night, Russia launched a massive drone attack on Ukraine—171 strike drones, mostly Shaheds. Their target was our infrastructure. And in the city of Kropyvnytskyi, in central Ukraine, residential buildings, a church, and a school were damaged. Among the wounded—four children.
Yesterday evening, another Russian strike hit our energy infrastructure. We in Ukraine face this every day and night. And despite Putin’s words about being “ready to stop attacks”—nothing has changed.
It’s crucial that our partners’ support for Ukraine doesn’t decrease but instead continues and grows. Air defense, military aid, our overall resilience—all are crucial. We need funds for artillery shells and would really appreciate Europe’s support with at least five billion euros as soon as possible.
Investments in weapons production are needed both in Ukraine and in Europe. Europe must ensure its technological independence, including in weapons manufacturing. Everything necessary to defend the continent should be produced in Europe.
The ReArm Europe program should start operating as soon as possible. Ukraine has effective and modern tech, especially in drones and electronic warfare, which can benefit all of Europe and our global partners. Further development, and increased efficiency – along with European investments in Ukraine’s production and co-production – are key to Europe’s new security foundation.
Sanctions against Russia must remain in place until it starts withdrawing from our land and fully compensates for the damage caused by its aggression. Keep fighting against sanction evasion schemes and Russia’s attempts to finance its war effort.
Ongoing diplomatic efforts do not mean Russia should face less pressure. That’s crucial to reducing the chances of a Russian hoax. We all know how easily Moscow disregards its promises – one moment they give their word, and a few hours later it means absolutely nothing. That’s why we must keep pushing Russia toward peace.
Yesterday, I had a productive conversation with President Trump. Ukraine has always advocated for an end to attacks on energy and infrastructure and a ceasefire at sea. Our teams will also work towards achieving an unconditional, full ceasefire on land.
Putin must stop making unnecessary demands that only prolong the war and must start fulfilling what he promises the world. By now, there could have been over a week without killings, without strikes, without fire – if Putin were not the only one keeping this war going. The proposals made in Jeddah on March 11 are still on the table. We must keep pressuring Russia to make them a reality.
Unfortunately, some pressure is also needed within Europe itself to ensure that anything promised – actually happens, particularly Ukraine’s EU accession talks and resolving some fundamental issues for European unity.
It is simply anti-European when one person blocks decisions important for the entire continent or that have already been agreed upon. Ukraine fulfilled the requirements, but right now, there are serious difficulties in opening Ukraine’s first and other negotiation clusters for EU accession.
European efforts that should be bringing more security and peace are also constantly being obstructed. This is wrong. Europe must have a way to prevent individual actors from blocking what’s necessary for all.
Europe needs speed in making decisions and clear tools to protect itself from unnecessary blockages. Ukraine is part of Europe, and Europe is one of the players in global peace efforts. We did our best for Europe to be equal with others in these efforts and peace negotiations. Together we achieved it.
Europe must always be at the table in discussions about its own security. We must work in unity on all European matters. We talked about this in Jeddah, and we always discuss it with all our partners – Europe is a participant in diplomacy.
I am grateful to those working with us on future security guarantees for Ukraine—and, in turn, for the entire eastern flank of Europe and the continent as a whole. For those who haven’t joined yet—I invite you to do so. All of us must be as efficient as possible in this work on security guarantees – and as quick as possible.
Elite London law firm fined £465,000 for Russian sanctions breaches
The London branch of Herbert Smith Freehills, a law firm with offices around the world. Photograph: Jonathan Goldberg/Alamy
Earlier today, we also had some news on UK enforcement of sanctions after Herbert Smith Freehills, the elite global law firm based in London, has been fined by the British government after its former Moscow office made millions of pounds in payments to sanctioned Russian banks.
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), said it had imposed a penalty of £465,000 on HSF Moscow, which was a subsidiary of HSF London until its closure in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The fine, which was upheld after Herbert Smith requested a ministerial review, relates to six payments worth a combined £3.9m, made by HSF Moscow to Alfa-Bank JSC, PJSC Sovcombank and PJSC Sberbank.
The trio of banks are all subject to an asset freeze under Britain’s sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, the UK government said.
Herbert Smith Freehills, which has 2,400 lawyers in 24 offices around the world, blamed the payments on human error during the final week of its efforts to shut down its Moscow operations in response to the war.
OFSI, a division of the Treasury, said the payments, spread over a period of seven days as the company wound down its Russian offices, were caused by a “pattern of failings”.
It blamed inadequate due diligence and sanctions screening, amid the “hasty closure” of HSF Moscow.
London talks with army chiefs focused on keeping skies, seas, borders safe in Ukraine if there is peace deal, Starmer says
Our attention will be now turning to Britain where UK prime minister Keir Starmer will lead a meeting of over 30 military chiefs and planners on what “the coalition of the willing” could do to support Ukraine in case a peace deal is secured for Ukraine.
Starmer said the talks would focus on “military planning, military operations” to support Ukraine.
“Today those plans are focusing on keeping the skies safe, the seas safe and the borders safe and secure in Ukraine,” Starmer told reporters.
“Now we’re working at pace because we don’t know if there’ll be a deal, I certainly hope there will be, but if there’s a deal, it’s really important that we’re able to react straight away.”
In the last few days, Starmer visited a nuclear submarine HMS Vanguard on its return from mission as he wanted to “thank submariners for their months of silent service deep under water,” Downing Street said.
He was the first prime minister to join a similar debrief since David Cameron in 2013.
Starmer also took part in the ceremonial keel laying of the next generation Dreadnought submarine, the next generation of the UK’s nuclear deterrent.
Zelenskyy also gets asked whether he would be prepared to discuss neutrality of Ukraine.
He says it was a repeated request from Russia, but that is not an option.
Any suggestion of radically slimming down Ukrainian army or recognising the occupied territories as Russian “is an ultimatum, not an offer to end the war,” he says.
He also says once again that giving security guarantees to Ukraine would be simply easier if it was allowed to join Nato, as “we very much want it and believe it would solve” issues.
He also is asked about Crimea and if he talked to Trump about media reports that the US president was looking to recognise it as Russian territory.
He says Trump “did not” raise this issue, but they briefly talked about it last November, with Trump asking why Ukrainians love it so much.
But he says that since Russian invasion in 2014, there are no tourists there and the territory is struggling after losing water supply, logistics linking it with continental Ukraine. But he repeatedly says its a “Ukrainian peninsula.”
Zelenskyy says no discussion with Trump on US ownership of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Zelenskyy: no discussion with Trump on US ownership of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant – video
Zelenskyy also gets asked about the prospects of US ownership of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station or any other energy assets.
He replies saying that “all nuclear power plans belong to the people of Ukraine,” owned by state, and get paid by Ukraine, even as it is “temporarily occupied” by Russia.
He then goes into details of problems with the plant and its cooling after the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam, which pose questions over “very severe technical conditions.”
He also pushes back on suggestion the plant could change ownership, repeatedly saying he discussed with Trump “how to find the solution from the situation and … take the station from the Russians,” with options for the US to be involved in modernising or developing it further, but “the issue of property, we did not discuss.”
He further says there was no discussion on other plants.
Zelenskyy talks about the prospects for a ceasefire, saying Ukraine initially floated the idea of a ceasefire at sea and in the air as it believed these were the easiest modes to police, but it was then expanded by the US as the Trump administration pushed for a full ceasefire.
“And I said immediately, we approve, we confirm [that] we want to move” ahead with this, he says.
But he says that after US-Russia talks, there was “a step backwards” with a limited ceasefire focused on energy and civilian infrastructure instead.
He says he discussed it with Trump yesterday, and offered a full list of objects to be covered by the agreement.
He says he is hopeful this will be agreed after further technical discussions in Saudi Arabia on Monday.
Responding in his opening statement, Zelenskyy thanks Norway for its support, and says it understands “what Russia brought to our home.”
He specifically thanks for Norwegian support for Ukraine’s energy sector, which he says “helped us to get through winters of this war,” despite Russian attacks on energy infrastructure.
He says:
“We need to continue pressure Russia’s so that Putin stops manipulations and makes the concrete steps that all the world wants,” agreeing to first limited ceasefire and then expanding it further.”
“Everybody saw that Ukraine unconditionally agrees to [this process], and we wait until the aggressor accepts this,” he says.
Zelenskyy says the pair discussed ways of strengthening Ukrainian defence capabilities, and using diplomacy to put more pressure on Russia.
Støre says he welcomes “a friend” to Oslo as he praises Zelenskyy’s “leadership, endurance and consistent fight for Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty.”
He says Norway continues to support Ukraine and its efforts to “get a ceasefire and then negotiations for a fair, just and lasting peace.”
He also says that the recently agreed increase in Norwegian defence support for Ukraine “is now being immediately translated” into practical support, including in artillery, ammunition, and drones.
“This is a partnership that we take forward every day, and you can count on that support. It is the right of a sovereign country to resist aggression, and you have our full support in that fight,” he says.
Europe needs to 'stand together' and 'stand up,' ex Nato secretary general Stoltenberg says
Miranda Bryant
Nordic correspondent
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Stoere gesture as they meet Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg at the government's representative facilities in Oslo. Photograph: Ole Berg-Rusten/Reuters
Jens Stolenberg, the former Nato secretary-general who last month re-entered Norwegian government as finance minister, said uncertainty over US commitment to the transatlantic alliance is not a reason to “give up Nato”, but motivation for European and Canadian contributions to increase.
Speaking shortly before Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy touched down in Norway on Thursday morning, Stoltenberg told the Guardian that whether or not the US decides to reduce its Nato contributions, it is crucial that other Nato members “stand together” and “step up”.
“We need to all do what we can to ensure that Nato remains a strong alliance between North America and Europe that has helped to keep us safe for more than 75 years. There have been differences and disagreements before but we have been able to overcome them by realising we are all safer when we stand together,” he said.
He made the comments from Copenhagen where he on Wednesday met with Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen and attended the screening of a documentary about his final year in Nato.
“If the US should decide to reduce their contributions to Nato, it is even more important that we stand together the rest of us in Nato and step up, as European allies now do. And not least the United Kingdom, being the second largest military power in Nato after the United States.”
He added: “I cannot rule out that the US will reduce their contributions to the Nato command structures, to the Nato forces, but I expect the United States to remain a Nato ally. The answer to that is not to give up Nato but to strengthen the European and Canadian contributions to Nato.”
It was, he said, “valid” and “fair” of the US president, Donald Trump, to ask other Nato members to do more.
“The issue of burden sharing is a real issue where European allies have done far too little, and it is valid, it is fair of different US administrations to ask the Europeans to do more,” he said. “The good news is that Europeans are doing more.”
'No real negotiations are taking place' on Ukraine, EU leaders say
Jennifer Rankin
Brussels correspondent
EU leaders agreed that “no real negotiations are taking place at the moment” after discussing Donald Trump’s attempts to end Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
Shadows are cast on a board with a European Council logo, on the day of a European Union summit in Brussels. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters
EU leaders meeting in Brussels for a summit had “a quick exchange” with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who joined via video link, according to a readout of the meeting from an EU official.
The statement said:
“They discussed the situation on the ground in Ukraine and the state of play of the US-led talks. There was a shared view that no real negotiations are taking place at the moment.”
EU leaders also discussed how to support Ukraine politically and militarily in talks that lasted around two hours.
The show of support was marred by Hungary’s refusal to sign a joint text. “The European Council calls on Russia to show real political will to end the war,” states the text that Viktor Orbán declined to support.
It also states that the EU remains “ready to step up further pressure on Russia,” including with new sanctions and tougher enforcement of existing restrictive measures.
Speaking of people on tour, Britain’s Prince William is in Estonia today and tomorrow, where he is visting UK troops based in the Baltic country.
He has met with the country’s president Alar Karis this morning, and tomorrow will go to Tapa camp, some 100 miles from the Estonian border with Russia, to meet the British troops stationed there to protect Nato’s Eastern flank.
Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, meets with Estonian President Alar Karis at the Estonian Presidential office in Tallinn. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues his Nordic tour: after visiting Helsinki yesterday, he is now in Oslo, meeting with the country’s leaders, including prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre and finance minister, and former Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg.
In a short media statement, Støre said he was “very pleased” to welcome Zelenskyy to Norway, and said the country was fully behind Ukraine “in its fight to defend itself and is contributing to the effort to achieve a lasting, just peace in the country.”
The pair will appear at a press conference together later this afternoon, and I will bring you all the key lines from that presser.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, sits at a table with Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre at the prime minister's residence, on the occasion of their meeting, in Oslo. Photograph: Ole Berg-Rusten/AP
EU delays countermeasures against the US to allow for further negotiations
The European Union has delayed its first countermeasures against the United States over US president Donald Trump’s metals tariffs until mid-April, allowing it to re-think which U.S. goods to hit and offering extra weeks for negotiations, Reuters said.
The European Commission had proposed re-imposing 2018 tariffs on €4.5bn ($4.9 billion) of US products on April 1, followed by hitting a further €18 bn of US goods on 13 April.
“We are now considering to align the timing of the two sets of EU countermeasures so we can consult with member states on both lists simultaneously, and this would also give us extra time for negotiations with our American partners,” EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič told a hearing at the European Parliament on Thursday.
The commission subsequently confirmed all EU countermeasures would take effect in mid-April.
