Donald Trump has lashed out at Volodymyr Zelenskyy again. Earlier, Zelenskyy said the end of the war was “very, very far away” – which Trump said was the “worst statement” the Ukrainian could have made. Watch a Trump news conference from the White House below.
Monday 3 March 2025 19:36, UK
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It’s difficult to see how progress on a peace deal can be made at present, according to a former senior Trump staffer.
KT McFarland, deputy national security adviser during Donald Trump’s first term as president, told Sky News she didn’t see how a peace deal could be reached at present with the US and Ukraine feuding.
She was first asked by Mark Austin whether the relationship between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump can be reset.
“It’s going to be very difficult, because President Trump is not going to put boots on the ground,” she said.
“Frankly, he cannot do that because that would require a treaty with Ukraine – a US-Ukraine treaty, or bringing Ukraine into NATO, which President Trump and others have said is just not going to happen.”
When asked whether the US could help without putting troops into Ukraine – by providing air defence systems and logistics and intelligence support – she said “that’s a military commitment”, and would likely not work for Trump.
She also suggested that a peace deal could go nowhere at present.
“There’s a new sheriff in town who has a different attitude – and if the attitude of the Europeans and Zelenskyy is ‘we can’t trust Putin to keep an agreement there for us to negotiate an agreement because we can never trust an agreement’, that’s a circular reasoning that gets you no place and certainly doesn’t get you towards an end of the conflict.”
You can watch a clip from our interview with McFarland here.
By Deborah Haynes, security and defence editor
Russia is finding it “significantly” harder to conduct combat operations against Ukraine because of a rise in Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russian weapons supplies, ammunition depots and the fuel that powers its military, a senior commander has said.
Brigadier General Yuriy Shchygol signalled that these attacks would grow, revealing that his country plans to more than quadruple the production rate this year of deep strike drones.
Ukraine has been intensifying the tempo of its long-range drone strikes against targets inside Russia and Russian-occupied territory since late December – demonstrating what defence sources say is a world-leading capability that the Kremlin is struggling to counter.
The mission is an example of how Kyiv remains focused on combatting Moscow’s invasion even as world attention fixates on the fallout from a row between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as efforts by Europe to prepare a plan for peace.
The comments by Brigadier Shchygol, who coordinates long-range drone strikes for Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence, offer a rare insight into the impact of the covert mission, which is also carried out by other branches of the Ukrainian military and security services.
Read Haynes’ full piece here…
US National security adviser Mike Waltz said today that the Trump administration is still open to holding negotiations with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“We’re ready to have those conversations – we had it with the Russians in Riyadh – we’re ready to have it with the Ukrainians and then engage in shuttle diplomacy,” he said in an interview on Fox News.
“But we need to hear that latter piece from Zelenskyy, and we need to hear it publicly.”
Waltz also said that the White House will “test both sides” to determine how willing the parties are to compromise.
“What we need to hear from President Zelenskyy is that he has regret for what happened, he’s ready to sign this minerals deal, and that he’s ready to engage in peace talks,” Waltz said, referring to the clash on Friday between Trump and Vance and Zelenskyy.
“I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is back in Kyiv after three frantic days, during which he was ordered to leave the White House after a tense showdown with Donald Trump and his vice president JD Vance.
But what about Europe?
Niall Paterson talks to Sky’s defence and security analyst Michael Clarke about whether leaders closer to Kyiv can save Ukraine.
We’re expecting Donald Trump to start speaking shortly.
Speaking from the Roosevelt Room of the White House, the president will announce some new investment, but he will likely take questions from the media – and Ukraine will surely come up if so.
We’ll bring you any war-related lines here in this live page.
Follow along in the YouTube link below, or in the stream at the top of this page.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shared a statement saying that Ukraine “needs real peace” shortly after Donald Trump hit out at the Ukrainian leader.
“We continue our work with partners. We have already had talks and other steps to come soon,” he said in a statement.
“It is very important that we try to make our diplomacy really substantive to end this war the soonest possible.
“We need real peace and Ukrainians want it most because the war ruins our cities and towns.”
He said Ukraine was working with America and Europe, adding “we are counting on America’s support on the path to peace”.
“We lose our people. We need to stop the war and to guarantee security.
“Peace is needed as soon as possible.”
His comments come after Trump said the Ukrainian leader made “the worst statement that could have been made” when saying that the end of the war with Russia is “very, very far away” (see16.52 post).
There’s been a dizzying number of developments regarding the future of Ukraine – including several in the US.
Unless you’re across every update – it can be a bit difficult to stay up to speed and even harder to predict what comes next.
In this video, defence and security analyst Michael Clarke takes us through what you need to know about recent developments between the US and Ukraine – and sets out what to expect next – all in under two minutes…
The European Union will give Moldova €60m (£49m) for it to add to its defence budget amid fears that the country could be next in Vladimir Putin’s sights.
During a visit to the Moldovan capital, European Council president Antonio Costa said €37m had already been provided to the former Soviet republic via the European Peace facility – making it the second largest beneficiary after Ukraine.
Russia retains a peacekeeping force in the separatist Transnistria region, and Moldova has been looking to get closer ties to the EU as concerns grow that Putin could next target the country.
Analysts have suggested Putin could use Russian speakers in Transnistria to justify a full invasion.
Read more about that here.
The US secretary of state has thanked the UK for taking a leading role in drumming up European appetite to increase defence spending.
Speaking to Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Marco Rubio said the US was ready to negotiate to end the Ukraine-Russia conflict and “will continue working with the UK towards peace in Ukraine”.
“The secretary thanked… Lammy for the UK’s role in encouraging Europe to provide for its own defence and push for peace in Ukraine.”
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