Trump ‘very frustrated’ with Zelenskyy for allegedly failing to ‘take opportunity’ of US-brokered peace – as it happened | Europe

Here’s a wrap-up of the day’s key events:

• French president Emmanuel Macron is set to visit the White House on Monday, according to the White House, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, UK prime minister Keir Starmer will visit the White House on Thursday.

• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with US envoy Keith Kellogg after Donald Trump called Zelenskyy a dictator and warned him to “better move fast” or he “won’t have a country left.” On Thursday, Zelenskyy took to X to describe his meeting with Kellog, Trump’s envoy to Ukraine. “I had a productive meeting with @SPE_Kellogg — a good discussion, many important details. I am grateful to the United States for all the assistance and bipartisan support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.”

• Over in Greece prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has highlighted the need for Europe to augment its defence capabilities earlier telling Bloomberg TV: “This is really the time when we need to move more from words to actions.” The centre right leader, who has long advocated that the continent spend more on defence, said increased budget flexibility was required to allow EU member states to allocate funds to the sector.

• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has posted about his phone call with Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen. In a social media post, he said the pair “discussed European affairs together,” and compared their notes from recent talks with other global leaders.

• Former Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin has warned that Vladimir Putin’s Russia would not stop at Ukraine if it is allowed to continue its aggression and could attack other neighbours and eventually Nato allies. Speaking at the event in London, she warned that “the world seems very dangerous place” now as she called for further support for Ukraine.

• JD Vance claimed without offering further evidence or information on the progress of talks with Russia, that thanks to the US administration “we are on the cusp of peace in Europe,” as stated that US president Donald Trump was determined to “bring peace to this endless war.” I think with president Trump, what makes him such an effective negotiator and I have seen this in private, is that he does not take anything off the table. … Everything is on the table. And of course that makes the heads explode in America because they say, ‘Why are you talking to Russia?’”

• Meanwhile, UK and Norwegian defence ministers said today the two countries were working on a new security pact that would cover development of defence capabilities, closer cooperation in the High North, and more exercises and joint training missions. Britain and Norway said in their statements that the pact would also cover closer intelligence cooperation.

• Nato secretary general Mark Rutte is speaking in Bratislava after meeting with the Slovak president Peter Pellegrini. He says that Slovakia hosts one of the alliance’s multi-national groups, which he calls “very impressive.”

• The US administration could adjust its sanctions against Russia in response to potential peace talks on Ukraine, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg. Bessent also joined the growing chorus of US voices criticising Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his criticism of Donald Trump, saying that “he unfortunately escalated” and “put some daylight” between Ukraine and US, and calling his remarks “inappropriate.”

“President Trump is obviously very frustrated right now with president Zelensky, the fact that that he hasn’t come to the table that he hasn’t been willing to take this opportunity that we have offered, I think he eventually will get to that point, and I hope so very quickly,” Michael Waltz said.

He went on to add:

“President Trump is, as we made clear to our Russian counterparts, and I want to make clear today, he’s focused on stopping the fighting and moving forward, and we could argue all day long about what’s happened in the past.”

Waltz did not directly answer a question on whether Donald Trump views Russian president Vladimir Putin as a dictator, a term he used to call Ukrainian president Vladymyr Zelenskyy earlier this week.

French president Emmanuel Macron is set to visit the White House on Monday, according to the White House, Reuters reports.

Meanwhile, UK prime minister Keir Starmer will visit the White House on Thursday.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with US envoy Keith Kellogg after Donald Trump called Zelenskyy a dictator and warned him to “better move fast” or he “won’t have a country left.”

On Thursday, Zelenskyy took to X to describe his meeting with Kellog, Trump’s envoy to Ukraine.

“I had a productive meeting with @SPE_Kellogg — a good discussion, many important details. I am grateful to the United States for all the assistance and bipartisan support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.

It’s important for us — and for the entire free world — that American strength is felt. We had a detailed conversation about the battlefield situation, how to return our prisoners of war, and effective security guarantees.”

Zelenskyy went on to thank Kellog for the “joint work to achieve important results.”

Jennifer Rankin

Brussels correspondent

Important clarification as we are hearing more on Hungary’s plans on EU sanctions (17:12, 17:14): they are blocking the rollover of sanctions on Vladimir Putin and more than 1,000 Russian and Belarusian officials, but the 16th package provisionally adopted yesterday is still expected to pass.

The sanctions on individuals expire in March and EU sources expect that Hungary will cause problems for the extension.

The day so far – summary

Jakub Krupa

… and on that note, it’s a wrap from me, Jakub Krupa, as I’m passing the blog to Maya Yang who will guide you through the evening in Europe.

Here are the three things to take away from today’s Europe Live blog so far:

• A news conference with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg got cancelled at the last minute after the pair met in Kyiv, reportedly at the US request (15:45 and 15:57). The move comes after US president Donald Trump’s persistent verbal attacks against Zelenskyy, which included falsely calling him a “dictator” (18:24), and a call from US national security adviser Mike Waltz to Ukraine to “tone it down” so the two sides can focus on their work behind the scenes (14:38).

• Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjártó has threatened to block the extension of EU sanctions against Russia on Monday, as he said “time must be given” for US-Russia peace talks (17:12). The announcement of Hungarian plans to block sanctions may surprise EU diplomats, as Hungarian diplomats let the package pass on Wednesday in what was seen as the final round of discussions (17:14).

• Spain’s high court has found former Spanish football head Luis Rubiales guilty of sexually assaulting the footballer Jenni Hermoso by kissing her on the lips without consent after the team’s victory in the 2023 World Cup final in Australia (13:38).

But don’t go anywhere and stay with us on Europe Live as our coverage of Europe continues here.

Jakub Krupa

And as we enter late afternoon, please indulge me with a brief pause so I can bring you something slightly different in a desperate attempt to lighten your mood (unless you are Italian).

Although it still involves a diplomatic spat between two countries (a sign of times, I guess), it’s an unusual pair of Estonia and Italy, and it is over… a song.

The Eurovision song contest is several months away but the drama has already begun, with calls from Italy for Estonia’s catchy pick for the competition to be scrapped due to lyrics poking fun at Italian stereotypes of being coffee-drinking, spaghetti-eating mafiosi.

Espresso Macchiato, by the rapper Tommy Cash, is sung in a blend of broken English and Italian and depicts a life of sweet indulgence. “Ciao bella, I’m Tomaso, addicted to tobacco. Mi like mi coffè very importante,” the first verse begins.

The Italians are not happy: Codacons, a consumer association, has lodged an appeal to the European Broadcasting Union questioning whether “it’s appropriate to allow a song that offends a country and an entire community” to be part of the competition.

Angela Giuffrida has the story:

… and here is the song, of course:

To be fair, the presumed Italian entry (yet to be confirmed, but is expected to be sent as the winner of the Sanremo music festival) does not seem to include any (offensive or otherwise) references to Estonia.

Since US president Donald Trump and other senior US leaders have been repeatedly asking questions about this issue in recent days, let’s answer this question once and for all.

That’s the long story short:

If Russia had not invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Volodymyr Zelenskyy would have faced a re-election campaign in spring 2024. But after Vladimir Putin sent his troops across the border, the country quickly entered a state of martial law. That meant that both presidential and parliamentary elections were postponed.

For a more detailed answer, go here: