Month: February 2025

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On Monday, a meeting of EU foreign ministers reportedly approved a 16th package of sanctions against Russia while saying a swift casefire that favors Moscow will not be accepted. However, Hungary, whose leader Viktor Orban has remained close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and has persistently complicated EU efforts to support Ukraine, said it will not back further sanctions. The country’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto also said his country will not agree to a boost in EU military aid as US President Donald Trump continues his push to force Ukraine to agree to a peace deal with Russia. US officials met their Russian counterparts last week, while Trump and Zelenskyy have embarked on a bitter spat via the media, with the US leader accusing Kyiv of starting the war and questioning the Ukrainian president’s legitimacy. Trump’s peace plan, which appears designed to illustrate his self-appointed role as a global dealmaker, faces resistance on both sides. Russia said on Monday that the quick end to the war is “unacceptable”. A ceasefire without a long-term settlement “is the path to a swift resumption of fighting and a resumption of the conflict with even more serious consequences, including consequences for Russian-US relations,” Moscow’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said, according to the state-run RIA Novosti news agency. Meanwhile, Ukraine signalled on Sunday that a contentious proposal that would hand Washington $500bn worth of profits from Ukrainian rare minerals has now been taken off the table, and that talks on a different deal are progressing. Zelenskyy also told a forum in Kyiv that he would resign his post if that meant peace was achieved.

As Ukraine marks the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion, leaders from the European Union and Canada have gathered…