Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky agrees to hold elections if Trump secures ‘three month ceasefire’ with Putin – UK Times

Volodymyr Zelensky has offered to hold an election if there is a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.

In an interview with Politico at the Munich Security Conference, the Ukrainian president called for Donald Trump to ramp up its pressure on Russia, and said he would hold elections if Trump successfully pushed Vladimir Putin to a two- or three-month ceasefire.

When asked about whether there was any process in talks and whether Ukraine would hold an election this Summer, Trump said on Friday Zelensky better “get moving” if he wanted a peace agreement.

“He said something to me?” Zelensky responded in the interview, adding that it would be a “great idea” to hold elections.”

Zelensky said there would only be elections “when the war stops”, which wouldn’t require “necessarily an end to the war,” but that would need a ceasefire.

He said separately on Friday that Trump wanted to agree to a peace deal “all at once”, as he “like things in one big package,” like he did with his “one, big, beautiful bill”.

The commitment will see the number of UK forces in the country rise from 1,000 to 2,000 over the next three years.

Defence Secretary John Healey, speaking during a visit to Royal Marines at Camp Viking in the Norwegian Arctic, also pledged UK participation in Nato’s Arctic Sentry mission.

This alliance initiative seeks to improve regional security and address concerns raised by Donald Trump regarding Greenland.

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Europe must make the most of its defence capability, Sir Keir Starmer told an E3 meeting at the Munich summit in which the leaders agreed the continent must take more responsibility for its own defence, according to Downing Street.

A No 10 spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron at the Munich Security Conference this afternoon.

“Addressing the scale of the challenge facing Europe, they reaffirmed their commitment to continue working together, alongside other partners, to enhance our collective defence and security.

“They agreed that Europe needs to step up and do more to share the burden while protecting the enduring strength of the Euro-Atlantic partnership.

“We must take advantage of our huge defence capability in order to bolster our shared security and deliver for people at home, the Prime Minister added.

“They confirmed their enduring support for Ukraine, especially in the face of Russia’s horrific recent attacks, and the ongoing work to secure a just and lasting peace.

“They looked forward to further discussions in Munich this weekend.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, a U.S. official said on Friday.

Ukraine expects its new $8.2 billion programme with the International Monetary Fund to be formally approved in weeks, its debt chief has said.

The agreement, which is set to replace an existing $15.6 billion IMF facility, will help Kyiv maintain economic stability and public spending against what is expected to be a near $140 billion budget shortfall over the next few years.

In an interview with Reuters, Ukraine’s long-serving debt management head, Yuriy Butsa, said formal IMF Board sign-off on the money should come very soon.

“I would expect it in a matter of weeks,” Butsa said during an interview in London where he was attending meetings. “I think February is still doable in terms of a timeline.”

The IMF declined to comment on the potential timing of a formal approval. The four-year anniversary of the war is February 24. Since Moscow’s invasion, Ukraine has required hundreds of billions of dollars of support from Western governments and institutions and a more than $20 billion sovereign debt restructuring.

“As of now we are waiting for the new IMF programme, but we already agreed on all the numbers for this and next year and will cover it (budget deficit) from existing commitments,” Butsa said, also praising the EU’s new 90 billion euro loan.

He said he wasn’t getting carried away by talk of a potential U.S.-brokered ceasefire ahead of this month’s anniversary. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday the U.S. needed to put more pressure on Russia if it wanted the war to end by summer, adding it was unclear whether Moscow would attend U.S.-brokered peace talks next week.

“We need to plan everything cautiously, we cannot get over-optimistic about any news flow,” Butsa said, explaining a ceasefire wouldn’t end the financial pressures anyway.

“The reason for that is, even for a ceasefire, we believe that we need to maintain a strong and large army and we will still need to re-arm ourselves.”

Europe must turn its focus to long-term strategic thinking, including creating deep-strike capabilities and assessing how France’s nuclear deterrent can fit into the bloc’s future security architecture, France’s president said on Friday.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, president Emmanuel Macron dismissed accusations that Europe was decaying and defended its push to tackle disinformation and the excesses of social media that were harming Western democracies.

“This is the right time for audacity. This is the right time for a strong Europe,” Macron said. “Europe has to learn to become a geopolitical power. It was not part of our DNA.”

Macron, who is set to enter his final year in office, said Europe would still face an aggressive Russia even if there were a deal on the Ukraine war and that it could not cave into Russian demands or allow a short-term accord that would not resolve core issues.

“The Europeans must start this work with their own thinking and their own interests. So my proposal today is to launch a series of consultations on this important issue, which we have started to flesh out with our British and German colleagues, but in the broader European consultation with all the colleagues here, with a lot of capacities, a lot of strategic thinking,” Macron said.

Volodymyr Zelensky said Donald Trump wanted to agree to a peace deal “all at once”, as he “like things in one big package,” like he did with his “one, big, beautiful bill”.

His comments, which were reported by The Guardian, come after the US president warned Zelensky he was “going to have to get moving” if he wanted to reach a peace agreement with Russia.

But speaking from the Munich Security Conference, the Ukrainian president said that the process of talks was important as it needed to provide Ukraine with genuine reassurance, the newspaper reported.

Emmanuel Macron said western countries will still have a deal with an aggressive Russia even if it was no longer attacking Ukraine.

Speaking from the Munich Security Conference on Friday, the French president said that Europe must put pressure on Russia rather than cave in to their demands.

”We should exhibit strength and tenacity on Ukraine,” he said.

“This is the right time for audacity. This is the right time for a strong Europe.”