Trump ‘strongly considering’ sanctions on Russia to get ceasefire, peace with Ukraine
US president Donald Trump said he is “strongly considering” imposing banking sanctions, other sanctions and tariffs on Russia until a ceasefire and peace agreement is reached with Ukraine.
In a post on social media, he said:
Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely “pounding” Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED.
To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late. Thank you!!!
There are already numerous US sanctions on Russia. It is not immediately clear if Trump wants to tighten the existing ones further or add new sanctions.
Key events
If you want to read on the three Bulgarians convicted in the UK, here’s our explainer on this case:
Three Bulgarians convicted of spying for Russia in UK
Dan Sabbagh
Three Bulgarian nationals accused of spying for Russia have been found guilty of espionage charges in a trial that heard how they were involved in a string of plots around Europe directed by a fugitive based in Moscow.
After more than 32 hours of deliberations, a jury at the Old Bailey reached unanimous verdicts on Katrin Ivanova, 33, a lab technician, Vanya Gaberova, 30, a beautician, and Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, a painter and decorator, all of whom were living in London before their arrest.
The three were convicted for being junior members of a spy ring that was ultimately directed by Jan Marsalek, an Austrian businessman who had fled to Russia in 2020 after a company he helped to run collapsed amid a €1.9bn fraud.
Full story:
Trump ‘strongly considering’ sanctions on Russia to get ceasefire, peace with Ukraine
US president Donald Trump said he is “strongly considering” imposing banking sanctions, other sanctions and tariffs on Russia until a ceasefire and peace agreement is reached with Ukraine.
In a post on social media, he said:
Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely “pounding” Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED.
To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late. Thank you!!!
There are already numerous US sanctions on Russia. It is not immediately clear if Trump wants to tighten the existing ones further or add new sanctions.
Eurostar expects normal services to/from Paris on Saturday
Back to Paris for a second, we have just heard from Eurostar about their expectations for their train services to resume as normal on Saturday.
Here is what the company says:
Tomorrow, Eurostar expects normal traffic between Paris and Brussels, and between Paris and London.
Eurostar will run 2 extra trains tomorrow: one leaving London to Paris in the morning, one leaving Paris to London in the afternoon.
Customers can exchange their ticket for free to travel at a different date in the same travel class or claim a refund.
Kyiv wants more information on Meloni’s proposal of extending Nato defence to Ukraine without formal alliance membership
Kyiv said on Wednesday it was asking Italy for more information about a proposal by prime minister Giorgia Meloni to extend Nato’s mutual defence umbrella to Ukraine without offering it alliance membership or sending peacekeeping troops, Reuters reported.
On the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, Meloni said extending Nato’s Article 5 collective security agreement would be a more “lasting solution” than sending European peacekeepers or granting Kyiv full membership.
“We welcome this statement as part of the discussion on providing Ukraine with long-term security guarantees and ensuring security and peace in general,” Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said at a briefing in Kyiv, as quoted by Reuters.
“As for this proposal specifically, we are in contact with our Italian colleagues to clarify the specifics of this proposal,” Tykhyi said
Ukraine is seeking security guarantees from its western allies ahead of any peace talks to end Russia’s invasion.
It wants Nato membership but the United States under President Donald Trump has rejected this, Reuters noted.
Poland’s Tusk also spoke of a diplomatic offensive to find a new security format in Europe, also by involving Turkey in a closer role.
He also said that he would support Poland’s withdrawal from the Dublin Convention on Cluster Munitions and the Ottawa Anti-Personnel Landmines Convention to boost Poland’s ability to defend itself.
He also said the government was working on plans to provide basic military training to all adult men in the country.
Departing from usual language of diplomacy, he also pointedly attacked Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán, who refused to sign the European Council’s conclusions on Ukraine last night.
Tusk said that Putin’s Russia was looking to “use traitors of the European interests or helpful idiots” to cause divisions among the western countries.
“You would not want to be Viktor Orbán yesterday … after the Swedes, the Danes, the French, everyone, with no exception – the Slovak [Robert Fico] kept silent, but in the end voted with us – talked about the future of Ukraine,” he said.
And Tusk, a historian, followed this by a pointed historical reference to an Greek renegade Ephialtes, who betrayed his homeland for the Persians at the Thermopylae in 480 BCE.
“In the end, he was held in contempt by both those who hired him, and those who he betrayed,” he said.
Poland needs to respond to ‘deep correction’ in US defence priorities, Tusk says
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said that it was “clear that any hope that Ukraine gets hard security guarantees with physical US presence to back these guarantees seems to be less probable, to put it mildly, than before.”
Tusk said that Poland had to respond to the new US administration’s “deep correction” in its defence priorities, even as he stressed that Poland should still continue to seek the closest possible relations with the US.
“But let’s not pretend that we are happy with it. There’s no reason for that. Our security is directly linked to not only the frontline in Ukraine, but also the future status of Ukraine,” he said.
“It is not my role to review certain negotiating tactics or approach to politics [of the US], but there is no doubt about it that this unpredictability … from our most important ally does not make our task any easier,” he added.
Polish president proposes constitutional requirement to spend 4% GDP on defence
Polish president Andrzej Duda proposed an amendment to the constitution that would make spending at least 4% of GDP on defence mandatory.
He said he wanted to “guarantee” this level of spending to continue as part of a broader push to modernise the Polish armed forces.
Poland spends the most among Nato members on defence as a proportion of its GDP, with plans to spend 4.7% of GDP in 2025.
Turkey backs plans for air, sea truce
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday threw his support behind a call by French president Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy for an aerial and sea truce in the Russian aggression on Ukraine.
“We support the idea of establishing a ceasefire as soon as possible and stopping attacks in the air and at sea as a confidence-building measure between the parties,” Erdoğan told an online meeting organised by the EU.
Erdoğan, who controls Nato’s second strongest army after the US, offered his comments shortly after Zelenskyy reiterated his call for a limited truce along these lines after overnight attacks from Russia.
France to host meeting of five European defence ministers on Ukraine next week
France’s defence minister is to hold talks next week with counterparts from Britain, Germany, Italy and Poland to discuss support for Ukraine, an adviser to the French government said.
AFP reported that the ministers from Europe’s five main military powers will meet in Paris on Wednesday, a day after France hosts a key meeting of European military chiefs of staff.
“In view of a recent American decision to suspend military aid to Ukraine, the ministers will discuss coordinating action of our countries in support of Kyiv,” the source close to defence minister Sebastien Lecornu, asking not to be named, told AFP.
No train service expected before 4pm – French media
French railway operator SNCF told the French newspaper Libération that the unexploded WW2 bomb is estimated to weigh about 500 kg, of which 200 kg are explosives, and is one meter long.
It was found 2 metres deep into the ground, in an area known for previous remains from the second world war.
A security perimeter of 500-meters remains in place.
Traffic is not expected to resume before 4pm local time, Libération reported quoting a report from the French transport minister, Philippe Tabarot.
All Eurostar trains to and from Paris today have been cancelled, as reported earlier.
We are waiting for further updates from Paris where emergency services are working on removing the unexploded bomb that caused this morning’s train disruptions in and out of Gare du Nord station.
We need Russia to stop attacks, Zelenskyy says, backing calls for truce in air, at sea
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has responded to overnight attacks by Russia, saying that “the first steps toward real peace must include forcing the sole source of this war, Russia, to stop such attacks against life.”
He also reiterated his call for a limited truce in the skies and at sea, as originally proposed by French president Emmanuel Macron.
Here is what he said:
Last night, the Russian army carried out another massive attack on our energy infrastructure. Various facilities were targeted in several regions – Odesa, Poltava, Chernihiv, and Ternopil. In total, the Russians used nearly 70 missiles, both cruise and ballistic, as well as almost 200 attack drones. All of this was directed against infrastructure that ensures normal life. Currently, repair and restoration work is ongoing wherever needed. Unfortunately, ordinary residential buildings have also been damaged. In Kharkiv, a Russian missile hit close to an apartment building. People were injured. They are receiving the necessary assistance.
Today, F-16 fighter jets and Mirage aircraft provided by France were used to protect Ukrainian skies. In particular, the Mirages successfully intercepted Russian cruise missiles. Thank you! I also want to recognize the performance of our anti-aircraft missile forces, army aviation, all our electronic warfare units, and mobile fire groups.
The first steps toward real peace must include forcing the sole source of this war, Russia, to stop such attacks against life. And this is something that can be effectively monitored. Silence in the skies – banning the use of missiles, long-range drones, and aerial bombs. And silence at sea – a real guarantee of normal navigation. Ukraine is ready to pursue the path to peace, and it is Ukraine that strives for peace from the very first second of this war. The task is to force Russia to stop the war.
Jakub Krupa
We are focusing on travel disruptions over in France this morning after an unexploded bomb from the second world war was discovered overnight in the suburb of Saint Denis, causing widespread disruption to trains out of Gare du Nord in Paris in the direction of northern France and across the channel.
All Eurostar trains to and from Paris today have been cancelled.
But as the travel situation is expected to get better later in the day, we will later pivot back to Ukraine, including updates from European Council president António Costa’s conversations with non-EU leaders as he updates them on last night’s EU summit.
