Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and French President Emmanuel Macron at the London security summit, March 2, 2025 (Justin Tallis/AFP)

EA on International Media: The Awful 1st 100 Days of Trump 2.0

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: “When the Going Gets Tough, Trump’s Not Such a Tough Guy”

Friday’s Coverage: Zelensky Calls Out Trump — “A Common Understanding that Russia is the Aggressor”

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1802 GMT:

The Trump Administration has so far refused to support the Kremlin’s demand for Ukraine to withdraw from the four regions — Donetsk and Luhansk in the east and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south — partially occupied by Russian forces, says “a participant in the peace talks”.

The source told the New York Times that the Administration considers the demand “unreasonable and unachievable”.

Vladimir Putin illegally “annexed” the four regions in September 2022. Ukraine regained parts of them weeks later in a counter-offensive.

UPDATE 1726 GMT:

After meeting Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Vatican basilica (see 1138 GMT), Donald Trump has put the onus back on Vladimir Putin to end Russia’s invasion.

There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days.

It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through “Banking” or “Secondary Sanctions”? Too many people are dying!!!

Zelensky stood his ground against any cession of Ukrainian territory to the invaders: “Our position is unchanged. The Constitution of Ukraine says that all the temporarily occupied territories…belong to Ukraine.”

The President also met individually with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Macron posted:

Starmer wrote:

And Zelensky summarized the discussion with Meloni:

UPDATE 1238 GMT:

Yevgeny Rytikov, a Russian engineer involved in electronic warfare systems used against Ukraine, has been killed in a car bombing in western Russia.

Rytikov’s death was reported on Friday, but he was slain a week earlier in Bryansk, around 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of the Russia-Ukraine border. The Russian Telegram channel Mash said an improvised explosive device was filled with fragments and strapped to the bottom of the vehicle.

He The engineer headed the design bureau at the Bryansk Electromechanical Plant and was responsible for upgrading the Krasukha EW system, which Russian forces use to counter drones and airborne weapons.

Rytikov’s deputy or assistant was likely also killed in the blast, according to the outlet RBC-Ukraine.

UPDATE 1147 GMT:

For the first time, the Kremlin has acknowledged the involvement of North Korean troops amid its invasion of Ukraine.

Declaring to Vladimir Putin that Russian forces have regained all of the Kursk region in western Russia, commander-in-chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov praised the “fortitude and heroism” of the North Koreans.

I want specially to note the participation of servicemen of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in liberating border areas of the Kursk Region who in accordance with the Treaty on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between our countries rendered considerable assistance in crushing the Ukrainian army’s combat group that had launched an incursion.

Soldiers and officers of the Korean People’s Army were accomplishing combat objectives shoulder to shoulder with Russian servicemen.

Ukraine, US, and South Korean intelligence estimated that Pyongyang sent around 12,000 troops for the Russian camapign to retake Kursk, part of which was captured by Ukraine in a cross-border incursion last August.

UPDATE 1138 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump have met in the Vatican basilica on the sidelines of the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome.

The White House said the encounter was “very productive”, while Kyiv said the two meen will talk again later on Saturday.

Zelensky posted:

Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Andrii Yermak added:

UPDATE 0819 GMT:

Mercenaries from at least 48 countries have joined the Russian military during Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, concludes an investigation by the independent Russian outlet iStories.

Vladimir Putin declared in September 2023 that Russia had no need for foreign fighters.

But iStories, through a leaked copy of Russia’s Unified Medical Information and Analytical System database, and calculated that recruiters in Moscow alone enlisted more than 1,500 foreign nationals between April 2023 and May 2024.

All the recruits listed the same address as their residence: an army enlistment center at 5 Yablochkova Street, Building 1.

The largest group of foreign fighters, 771 men, came from South and East Asia. There were 523 from former Soviet states, and 72 from African nations.

At least 603 Nepalese nationals passed through the enlistment center, despite a request from Kathmandu to the Kremlin in November 2023 for a halt to the recruitment of Nepal’s citizens.

Egypt provided 31 recruits and there were 26 from Ghana. At least 2 US citizens, 2 Latvians, 2 Italians, and other Europeans — including eight from Serbia — joined the Russian military.

UPDATE 0703 GMT:

At least three civilians were killed and at least 25 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past 24 hours.

Air defenses downed 66 of 114 drones launched by Russia overnight, and another 31 were lost to electronic counter-measures. The Russians also fired an Onyx anti-ship missile and two Kh-31P anti-radar missiles.

A man was killed and 12 people injured, including an 11-year-old girl and three women, by Russian attacks on the Dnipropetrovsk region in south-central Ukraine.

Two residents were killed and five injured in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

Other casualties were reported in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Rejecting an effective ultimatum from the Trump Administration, incorporating many of Russia’s demands, Ukraine and Europe have set out their proposal for an end to Moscow’s 38-month full-scale invasion.

On Friday, Reuters published both the one-page Administration document, handed to Ukrainians via European officials in Paris on April 17, and the response of Ukraine, UK, France, and Germany.

Both sides begin with a full and unconditional ceasefire. But where Trump’s team called for the legal or de facto recognition of Moscow’s seizure of almost 25% of Ukraine.

Kyiv and the Europeans make no commitment to territorial arrangements. These will only be “discussed and resolved” after the ceasefire, with negotiations starting on the basis of the current “line of control”.

Meanwhile, they focus on “robust security guarantees”, including from the US, assured by European and non-European partners.

Acknowledging that Ukraine is unlikely to join NATO in the foreseeable future, because of divisions among the 32 members, the proposal sees the equivalent of the bloc’s Article 5 arrangement. Under that provision, a renewed Russian attack on Ukraine would be considered an attack on the bloc.

The proposal establishes that there will be no restrictions on the Ukrainian Defense Forces or on the presence, weapons, and operations of friendly foreign forces on Ukrainian territory.

The US is also brought into Ukraine’s security through monitoring of the ceasefire, with its leading role supported by other countries.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Kyiv and allies were working on the guarantees that offer “the protection that Article 5 provides to NATO countries”.

He presented this as enhancement of “American proposals or visions”: “A group in London worked on this, consisting of our colleagues from Europe and the United States.”

While US Secretary of State Marco Rubio withdrew from last Wednesday’s London talks, following the rejection of the US ultimatum, high-level Ukrainian and European officials met with Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg.

Recovery for Ukraine Rather Than End to Sanctions on Russia

The Trumpists seek the removal of all sanctions imposed on Russia since 2014, when it occupied Crimea and tried to split Ukraine. That will enable US-Russian economic cooperation, especially in the energy and industrial sectors.

In contrast, Kyiv and the Europeans emphasized that Ukraine will be fully reconstructed and compensated financially, including through Russian sovereign assets that will remain frozen until Moscow completes the compensation. Ukraine will pursue accession to the European Union as it implements and economic cooperation and rare earth minerals agreement with the US.

Washington’s sanctions imposed on Russia since 2014 “may be subject to gradual easing after a sustainable peace is achieved and subject to resumption in the event of a breach of the peace agreement”.

The proposal requires Russia to unconditionally return all deported and illegally displaced Ukrainian children and release civilian detainees. All prisoners of war will be exchanged.

Where the US claims operation of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant — Europe’s largest, with six reactors — in a neutral area, Ukraine regains control of the complex and of the Kakhovka Dam under the Kyiv-Europe plans.

How Will Trump Respond?

There was no immediate reply from the Trump Administration, as its envoy, real estate developer Steve Witkoff, met Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

The Kremlin said the conversation, Witkoff’s third with Putin, was constructive and “narrowed differences”.

Trump proclaimed vaguely that Russia and Ukraine are “very close to a deal”. He called for a high-level meeting between Kyiv and Moscow to complete the agreement, asserting without evidence, “Most of the major points are agreed to.”