Zelenskyy arrives in Saudi as Ukraine expected to push for air and sea ceasefire during US talks – Europe live | Ukraine

On a lighter note, please indulge me for a second as we take a slight detour to bring you some light on this otherwise depressing day.

Longstanding readers of this blog will know that I like to occassionally look at the bizarre tales of the Eurovision song contest to bring us something to laugh about, and Italy has been at the forefront of the absolute drama this year.

Over the weekend, a third Italy-related song was confirmed in the lineup for this year’s final in Basel, Switzerland, after San Marino decided to send Italian DJ Gabry Ponte with his “Tutta l’Italia,” meaning literally “All of Italy.”

What makes this pick particularly unusual is that… the song was literally the main theme of this year’s Italian song festival in Sanremo, the Italian qualifier for the Eurovision last month.

Ponte reportedly wanted to compete, but wasn’t allowed on a technicality that he is a DJ and not a singer, and instead agreed for the song to be used as the main theme played at the beginning of each and every show, during ad breaks, at the end, and 39812 many other times during the Sanremo week.

Fast forward three weeks, and Ponte was part of the lineup in the San Marino’s contest over the weekend, and… erm, he won it. A senior San Marino minister even joked that now “all of Italy will now be able to vote for him” at the Eurovision, La Repubblica reported.

“The international rebirth of Italodisco starts with San Marino,” the paper said.

Be warned: as one commenter on YouTube put it, “this song lives rent free in my head many days in the row.”

What makes the pick even more tasty is that Ponte will now face Italian-mocking controversy-inducing Estonian pick Tommy Cash – “Ciao bella, I’m Tomaso, addicted to tobacco. Mi like mi coffè very importante” – in the first semifinal, in which Italians will be able to vote and offer their view on both songs…

Also, imagine being the Italian pick, Lucio Corsi, who survived the entire week of hearing this song so many times on loop in Sanremo, only to now be confronted by its existence again, on the big stage, under the flag of San Marino (awkward!).

In other Eurovision dramas, Sweden has Finns singing about the experience of being in sauna, Ireland has a Norwegian musician singing about a Soviet space dog, and Finland has a part of its song in German (no, me neither). And here’s Ukrainian song, announced today.

Oh, well: that’s geopolitics of the Eurovision song contest for you. At least it’s (usually) harmless.

Back to normal news before I get carried away any further. Hope this made you smile, though. At least a bit?

As we are waiting for more updates on Zelenskyy’s meetings in Riyadh, let me bring you first pictures from his meetings there with senior Saudi officials.

Ahead of tomorrow’s US-Ukraine talks, UK prime minister Keir Starmer spoke with US president Donald Trump to discuss their expectations about the meeting.

A Downing Street spokesperson said that Starmer told Trump “that UK officials had been speaking to Ukraine officials over the weekend and they remain committed to a lasting peace.”

The British prime minister also said “he hoped there would be a positive outcome to the talks that would enable US aid and intelligence sharing to be restarted.”

“The two leaders also spoke about the economic deal they had discussed at the White House and the prime minister welcomed the detailed conversations that had already happened to move this forward. Both leaders agreed to stay in touch,” the spokesperson added.

We now have more details on Marco Rubio’s comments ahead of the US-Ukraine talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, tomorrow.

The US state secretary said he hoped Washington’s cutoff of military aid could be “resolved” during critical talks in Saudi Arabia aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine, AFP reported.

“I think the notion of the pause in aid, broadly, is something I hope we can resolve. Obviously what happens tomorrow will be key to that,” the chief US diplomat told reporters.

He also spoke about the prospects of a ceasefire in the conflict, indicating a level of support for the Ukrainian proposal on air and sea truce.

“I’m not saying that alone is enough but it’s the kind of concession you would need to see in order to end the conflict,” he said.

Rubio has now landed in Saudi Arabia too, but despite Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy also being there tonight, the pair is not expected to meet.

Denmark is in principle ready to take part in the European peacekeeping forces deployed to Ukraine, Danish foreign minister confirmed after securing key parliamentary approval.

In remarks reported by the Danish media after a meeting with the Foreign Policy Committee, Lars Løkke Rasmussen said it was important for Europe to “send the right signals to both Putin and Washington”.

No specific decision about deployment was agreed; it was more of an agreement in principle for if and when the right circumstances arise under a ceasefire arrangement between Russia and Ukraine.

As a result, Danish chief of defence, Michael Hyldgaard, will take part in tomorrow’s meeting of military chiefs of staff from multiple European countries, convened by French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris.

We are also getting some comments from US state secretary Marco Rubio who will be taking part in the US-Ukraine talks on Tuesday.

He is quoted by Reuters as saying that he hopes the meeting will go well, but it is important to “establish clearly Ukraine’s intentions” on peace, and that Ukraine “is prepared to do difficult things, like the Russians will.”

We will bring you more from him when we have it.

We’re just getting a line that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for his talks with Mohammed bin Salman, whose government has played a mediating role between Ukraine and Russia.

As reported earlier, the Green party in Germany is not too keen on a debt brake reform put forward by the presumed next chancellor Friedrich Merz, after they said they would vote against the proposals.

But finance minister in the outgoing German government Jörg Kukies suggested that the talks would continue in coming days as the two sides hope to find an agreement before the Bundestag meets late this week.

He was quoted by Reuters as saying that the Greens had “legitimate points,” and insisting that “agreement can be found” in time for the vote.

CDU general secretary Carsten Linnemann also said the parties would hold talks with ahead of the parliamentary debate.

“I think it is completely legitimate for the Greens to say they have their own ideas,” he said, adding that their counter-proposals were “constructive”.

After the first debate on Thursday, the constitutional amendments are set to be voted on by MPs on 18 March.

We are also monitoring the situation off England’s northeastern coast after an oil tanker and a cargo vessel have collided in the North Sea, with images from the scene showing at least one vessel ablaze with clouds of black smoke billowing into the air.

The latest update says that 32 casualties have been brought ashore to Grimsby. Their condition remains unclear.

For updates, you can join our separate blog here:

The United States expects substantial progress in Ukraine talks this week and hopes that a deal on critical minerals can be signed, president Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said on Monday.

Intelligence sharing will also be discussed at this week’s meetings, Witkoff told Fox News just before leaving for talks in the Middle East.

However, he said, the United States never shut off intelligence for anything defensive that Ukrainians needed.

Witkoff will be part of the US delegation for talks with Ukraine, alongside state secretary Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz.

He earlier said wanted to use the talks in Jeddah on Tuesday “to get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire as well”.

The Trump administration does not seem to be engaging in talks to avert trade conflict with the European Union, the EU’s trade chief said, two days before the United States is set to impose tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports, Reuters reported.

EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič told reporters in Brussels that he had travelled to Washington last month with the aim of starting a dialogue to avoid “the unnecessary pain of measures and countermeasures”.

The two sides identified a few areas of mutual benefit to pursue, Šefčovič said.

“But in the end, one hand cannot clap. The US administration does not seem to be engaging to make a deal,” he continued.

Šefčovič said that the European Union was ready for constructive engagement, that no one wins from tariffs and that partners with 1.6tn euros ($1.7tn) of mutual trade should be “extremely careful”.

“So our doors are open. But of course, if this would not bring the positive result, in that case we will always protect European businesses, workers and consumers from unjustified tariffs,” he said.

“I think we’ve been very clear about it and I know they expect no less from us.”

Nato secretary general Mark Rutte offered his support to Bosnia’s embattled government amid an ongoing political crisis, saying the alliance would not allow a “security vacuum to emerge” in the Balkan country.

In a strongly worded press conference, Rutte told the presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina – comprising of three leaders representing the Bosniaks, the Serbs and the Croats – that “it is up to political leaders … to take their responisbility here.”

“That is the three of you, there is no other show in town,” he told them at a joint press conference

“You have got to solve it. The three of you. This is your appointment with history,” he said.

Nato secretary general’s intervention comes after a court in Bosnia has sentenced the pro-Russia Bosnian Serb president, Milorad Dodik, to one year in prison and banned him from politics for six years over his separatist actions as tensions mount in the fragile Balkan state.

Dodik and his lawyers weren’t in court during the sentencing. He has said he would disobey any conviction and threatened “radical measures” in response, including eventual secession of the Serb-run entity in Bosnia called Republika Srpska from the rest of the country.

Dodik received public support from Serbian prime minister Aleksandar Vučić and Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán.

Rutte said that three decades on from the Dayton peace agreement in 1995, the alliance “remains firmly committed to the stability of this region and to the security of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

“Any actions that undermine Dayton, the constitutional order, or national institutions are unacceptable. Inflammatory rhetoric and actions are dangerous, they pose a direct threat to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s stability and security,” he said.

Rutte added that “hears concerns about security situation,” but added:

“But let’s be clear, this is not 1992, and we will not allow a security vacuum to emerge. The international community is here and committed to continuing our strong support,” he said, referring to the year Bosnia’s bloody inter-ethnic war began.

In a pointed comment, he also said he was repeating the same point “to all actors in the region.”

He said that the European Union Force Bosnia and Herzegovina, or EUFOR, remains “fully prepared to uphold a safe and secure environment,” as he stressed: “We will not allow hard won peace to be jeopardised.”

Last week, EUFOR said it would “temporarily increase the size of its force,” adding it was “a proactive measure aimed at assisting Bosnia and Herzegovina in the interest of all citizens.”

British prime minister Keir Starmer will host a virtual meeting of leaders to discuss the prospects for Ukraine on Saturday, following up on the meeting he held in London just over a week ago, Downing Street has just confirmed.

“You can expect the prime minister to host a second leaders’ meeting of the coalition of the willing, building on his Lancaster House summit,” the spokesperson told reporters, referring to the London meeting earlier this month.

The meeting will come at the end of a busy diplomatic week, with Ukraine-US talks planned for Tuesday, and separate European discussions involving army chief and British, German, Italian and Polish defence ministers in Paris later this week.

Kyiv will propose an aerial and naval ceasefire with Russia during talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia this week, a Ukrainian official told AFP as president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to arrive in the kingdom.

Those discussions from Tuesday will be the first Ukraine-US meeting since a White House blowup between Zelenskyy and US president Donald Trump that led to Washington halting military aid to Kyiv.

“We do have a proposal for a ceasefire in the sky and ceasefire at sea,” the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Because these are the ceasefire options that are easy to install and to monitor and it’s possible to start with them.”

The air, sea ceasefire proposal was originally floated by French president Emmanuel Macron after the London summit just over a week ago.

Ukrainian and American officials will meet on Tuesday to seek a way out of the conflict more than three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk has called on “friends” to respect their allies and not be arrogant in a post on X which mentioned nobody by name but was published a day after an extraordinary social media spat between top officials in the US and Poland over Starlink satellites.

Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, accused Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, of “making things up” and suggested on Sunday he was ungrateful, in a strong rebuke after Sikorski said Ukraine may need an alternative to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service if it becomes unreliable.

Poland pays for Ukraine to use the services of Starlink, which provides crucial internet connectivity to Kyiv and its military.

“True leadership means respect for partners and allies. Even for the smaller and weaker ones,” Tusk wrote in English on X. “Never arrogance. Dear friends, think about it.“

Rubio had earlier said that “no one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink”.

“And say thank you because without Starlink Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now,” Rubio added.

Sikorski had later replied: “Thank you, Marco, for confirming that the brave soldiers of Ukraine can count on the vital internet service provided jointly by the US and Poland”.

In contrast, Sikorski had been told to “be quiet” and labelled a “small man” by Musk after he suggested that Poland, which says it pays $50m a year for Ukraine’s Starlink services, may need to find another provider if Musk’s service was deemed to be unreliable.

In a series of posts on X on the subject, that lasted through the day, Musk said later he would not turn off Starlink in Ukraine.

“To be extremely clear, no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals … We would never do such a thing or use it as a bargaining chip.”

Germany’s Green party said it would not give the votes necessary for the constitutional changes proposed by likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz to massively boost spending on infrastructure and defence, AFP reported.

“We will recommend to the members of the Green parliamentary group not to agree to these changes,” Katharina Dröge, the party’s leader in the Bundestag, told reporters. The changes need a two-thirds majority to pass.

The party initially indicated its support, but found the proposals floated by Merz as insufficiently convincing to secure their votes. It is expected that the negotiations on this issue will continue ahead of the parliamentary session on Thursday.