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US joins Russia, North Korea and Belarus at UN in refusing to blame Putin for illegally invading Ukraine
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French president Emmanuel Macron has said that peace between Ukraine and Russia could be agreed in the coming weeks.
It comes after the United States sided with Russia in the latest UN Security Council vote on the third anniversary of Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking to Fox News as he visited Washington, Mr Macron said that any peace deal must “not be a surrender of Ukraine” as he suggested, like president Trump, that peace could be achieved “within weeks.”
He said: “We want peace. And I think the initiative of President Trump is a very positive one. But my message was to say be careful because we need something substantial for Ukraine.
“I think the arrival of President Trump is a game-changer. And I think he has the deterrence capacity of the US to reengage with Russia.”
The latest UN resolution reflects US president Donald Trump‘s upending of US policy on Ukraine and his more conciliatory stance towards Russia after Trump claimed Russian president Vladimir Putin would accept European peacekeepers on Ukrainian soil as part of a peace agreement with Kyiv.
The Kremlin has said that it welcomed what it saw as a much more balanced US stance on Ukraine after the United Nations Security Council on Monday adopted a US-drafted resolution that took a neutral position on the conflict.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow saw the move as evidence of Washington’s genuine willingness to try to find a peaceful settlement.
The latest UN resolution reflects US president Donald Trump‘s upending of US policy on Ukraine and his more conciliatory stance towards Russia after Trump claimed Russian president Vladimir Putin would accept European peacekeepers on Ukrainian soil as part of a peace agreement with Kyiv.
The Kremlin, asked about an assertion by US President Donald Trump that Russia was open to European peacekeepers being deployed in Ukraine, referred reporters to an earlier statement that such a move would be unacceptable to Moscow.
Russia has repeatedly said it opposes having Nato troops on the ground in Ukraine, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying last week that Moscow would view that as a “direct threat” to Russia’s sovereignty, even if the troops operated there under a different flag.
Asked about Trump’s comment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refrained from publicly contradicting the US president, but effectively reaffirmed Russia’s opposition to the idea.
“There is a position on this matter that was expressed by the Russian Foreign Minister, Lavrov. I have nothing to add to this and nothing to comment on. I leave this without comment,” said Peskov.
Trump said on Monday that both he and Putin accepted the idea of European peacekeepers in Ukraine if a settlement was reached to end the war.
“Yeah, he will accept that,” Trump said. “I specifically asked him that question. He has no problem with it.”
The Kremlin has said Russia had lots of rare earth metal deposits and that it was open to doing deals to develop them after President Vladimir Putin held out the possibility of such a deal with the United States.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had its own plans to develop its metal deposits but was ready to cooperate with the US when the “moment of political will” arrived.
Putin told state TV on Monday that Russia was open to joint projects with American partners – including government and the private sector – under a future Russia-US economic deal.
Russia has the world’s fifth-largest reserves of rare earth metals, according to the US Geological Survey data, after China, Brazil, India and Australia.
The estimated cost to rebuild Ukraine’s economy after Russia’s invasion has risen to $524 billion, nearly three times its expected 2024 economic output, a World Bank report has found.
A new study by the institutions included data from Russia’s invasion three years ago through December 31, including a 70% increase in damages to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure from Russian attacks.
It showed an increase of over 7% from the last estimate of $486 billion one year ago, with housing, transport, energy, commerce and education being the most affected sectors.
The study quantifies the direct physical damage to buildings and other infrastructure, the impact on people’s lives and livelihoods and the cost to “build back better”.
“In the past year, Ukraine’s recovery needs have continued to grow due to Russia’s ongoing attacks,” Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in a statement.
Ukraine’s government has allocated $7.37 billion to address priority needs for 2025, with support from donors, but still has a financing gap of nearly $10 billion, the joint statement said.
The latest assessment, using a universal methodology to assess damages and needs, found that direct damage in Ukraine from Russian attacks has risen to $176 billion from $152 billion reported in February 2024.
About 13% of Ukraine’s total housing stock has been damaged or destroyed, affecting more than 2.5 million households.
It cited a 70% increase in damaged or destroyed assets in the energy sector since the last assessment one year ago, including power generation, transmission, distribution infrastructure and district heating.
The Russian rouble surged against the US dollar and China’s yuan after President Vladimir Putin outlined potential deals with the U.S. on rare earth metals and aluminium as part of the future agreement to end the war in Ukraine.
At 8.30, the rouble was up 1.1% at 86.80 against the dollar in the over-the-counter market, the strongest since August 9, 2024. The rouble strengthened 1.3% to 11.81 against China’s yuan, the most traded foreign currency in Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered the US on Monday the opportunity for joint exploration of the country’s rare earth metals deposits, as well as the supply of aluminium to the US domestic market, under a future economic deal.
US President Donald Trump said earlier that “major economic development transactions with Russia” would take place. Within two hours of Trump’s statement, Putin chaired a meeting with his ministers and economic advisers on rare earth metals.
Russia will not be readmitted into the Group of Seven nations as US president Donald Trump has requested, German Finance Minister Joerg Kukies has said.
“The condemnation of the G7 of Russia’s war of aggression is very clear, especially on the third anniversary of Russia’s brutal attack,” Kukies told Reuters, adding that Trump’s proposal would not get the unanimity required.
Kukies will travel on Tuesday to Cape Town for the G20 meeting of finance ministers, with the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent staying away due to a scheduling conflict.
The current state of the global economy will be a central topic of the meetings.
“We really need to re-embark on a path of economic growth,” Kukies said. Germany “has a lot of homework to do,” he added.
Russian authorities have detained a 17-year-old boy suspected of gathering intelligence to help Ukraine target Russia’s Ryazan oil refinery with drones, Russian state news agency RIA reported.
RIA reported that law enforcement officers in the region of Bashkortostan had detained the boy who was being investigated under laws related to “terrorism and treason” which carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
RIA said the boy, whom it did not name, was accused of gathering information and painting graffiti for Ukrainian intelligence in return for money since the autumn of 2024. It said he had confessed to his crime under questioning.
It quoted him as saying that he went to Ryazan to gather information on the refinery at the Ukrainians’ behest in early January.
The Ryazan refinery, which is located around 240km (150 miles) south of Moscow, suspended operations after an attack by Ukrainian drones on Monday, three industry sources told Reuters.
Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian energy infrastructure to try to undermine Moscow’s financing for the war.
The US is pushing for a deal that would grant it 50 per cent of Ukraine’s revenues from critical minerals, oil, gas, and stakes in key infrastructure, such as ports, through a joint investment fund.
Despite Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky rejecting an earlier version, negotiations have intensified, with Ukraine’s parliament speaker, Ruslan Stefanchuk, saying that Kyiv aimed to conclude the deal by 24 February, marking the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The details of the draft offer reportedly guarantee Ukrainian sovereignty which had been an issue with earlier Trump proposals. These had said nothing about the future security for Ukraine but demanded it raise $500bn in payback for money spent by the US in defence of the country.
Tom Watling and Maroosha Muzaffar report.
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