Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky says he regrets White House meeting and will ‘work under Trump’s leadership’ – UK Times

The United States’ decision to pause military aid to Ukraine means that it is now the responsibility of Europe to do everything possible to ensure that Ukraine can hold the front line against Russia, France’s foreign minister has said.

“This front line is the first line of defence for Europe and France,” Jean-Noel Barrot told lawmakers.

He added that it was time for Europe to break from its dependency on American weapons.

“We Europeans are now faced with a choice that is imposed on us: that of effort and freedom, or that of comfort and servitude,” he said.

Volodymyr Zelensky has made his first comments following the Trump administration’s decision to suspend all military aid.

The Ukrainian president said Ukraine is ready to come back to the negotiating table as soon as possible.

Mr Zelensky added he “regrets” what happened during the explosive meeting between him, Trump and JD Vance on Friday.

“None of us wants an endless war,” he wrote on X.

“Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.

“We are ready to work fast to end the war, and the first stages could be the release of prisoners and truce in the sky — ban on missiles, long-ranged drones, bombs on energy and other civilian infrastructure — and truce in the sea immediately, if Russia will do the same. Then we want to move very fast through all next stages and to work with the US to agree a strong final deal.

“We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence. And we remember the moment when things changed when President Trump provided Ukraine with Javelins. We are grateful for this.

“Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.

“Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it in any time and in any convenient format. We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively.”

The US move won’t have an immediate impact on the battlefield, where Kyiv’s forces are struggling to stem a relentless Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian forces have slowed Russian advances along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, where Russia is slowly gaining ground at a huge human and material cost.

The pause in aid will weaken air defenses and will hit Ukraine’s ability to hit Russian targets far behind the front lines.

Alexander Kots, a Russian war blogger, noted that while Ukraine’s European allies can fill some of the gaps and provide artillery systems, they don’t have alternatives to the U.S.-made Patriot and NASAMS air defense missile systems and longer-range HIMARS missile systems that can strike ground targets up to 300 kilometers (200 miles) away.

Kots said that for Ukraine, “the U.S. aid suspension is unpleasant but not deadly.”

Ukraine has stockpiles of artillery shells and other munitions, and has ramped up domestic production of drones, which are now among the most important weapons in the war. It’s estimated that just over half of the military hardware used by Ukraine is domestically produced.

Chalmers, the RUSI expert, said that the Ukrainians have built up their defense production, and “are innovating at an incredible rate because of the pressure they’re under.”

“I think they will survive for quite some time,” he said. “But it’s a material blow, and it’s also a challenge to Europe.”

Our Chief International Correspondent Bel Trew reports:

European Union leaders will discuss on Thursday how to finance a sharp increase in defence readiness to deter any possible future attack from Russia and become less dependent for security on the United States.

The European Commission on Tuesday proposed several ways to raise the funds that would add up to around 800 billion euros over several years.

But how can they do this?

The Commission proposed that defence spending be exempt from EU laws that put annual spending limits on governments to protect EU public finances and the value of the euro currency.

Not all EU governments support the idea, as they say special treatment for defence spending already exists in the rules. What is missing, they say, is a broader definition of defence investment, an issue they would prefer to focus on.

The Commission estimated that if EU governments were to increase their defence spending by 1.5% of GDP on average, it would create fiscal space of close to 650 billion euros over four years. The downside is that such borrowing would widen budget deficits and could worry bond investors, economists said.

Money from the EU’s 2021-2027 budget

The current seven-year EU budget of 1.2 trillion euros, created well before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has no proper funds for defence.

But around one-third of it is earmarked to equalise the standard of living between regions in the 27-nation EU – the so-called cohesion funds – and some of that cash can be used for projects that would be somehow linked to defence, like shelters for civilians or strengthening roads and bridges to allow the passage of tanks.

“We will propose additional possibilities and incentives for Member States that they will decide, if they want to use cohesion policy programmes, to increase defence spending,” the Commission said.

Myanmar’s prime minister Min Aung Hlaing shook Vladimir Putin’s hand as he visited Moscow and affirmed his country’s full support for Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.

He shared his belief that Russia would soon be victorious over Ukraine.

Oleksandr Merezhko, who chairs the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, told The Independent that Donald Trump’s decision to suspend military aid to Ukraine was “dangerous” but praised the UK for its staunch support for Ukraine:

“The UK has proven a reliable friend and partner when Ukraine needed you most.. and you can be helpful for re-stablishing relationships with the US”.

“Looking at the silver lining in this huge cloud, we can count on support from European allies, particularly the UK and France,” Mr Merezhko added.

The Ukrainian MP also had a message for Mr Trump, urging him to restart aid deliveries: “It is not about money, it is about human lives. This kind of weaponry you give to Ukraine is to save lives.”