Ukraine is renegotiating with United States the agreement on minerals demanded by Donald Trump with the idea of "reaching a mutually acceptable text," Kiev said after the U.S. President threatened his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that he would face "big problems" if he withdrew from the negotiations.
Meanwhile, Russia, following Trump's threat to indirectly tax Russian oil production due to the lack of an agreement on a ceasefire, states that they "take very seriously" the U.S. proposals but "cannot accept them in their current form."
The German Foreign Minister, who is in Kiev, sees President Trump's efforts to secure a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine as stalled, while the Chinese Foreign Minister, who is in Moscow, supports the talks between the White House and the Kremlin to find a peace agreement "binding, fair, and acceptable to all parties."
Ukraine once again accuses Russia of "violating" the partial ceasefire agreement after a Russian attack on Tuesday in the city of Kherson left 45,000 residents without electricity.
Russia today claims the conquest of Rozlyv in the Donetsk region, in eastern Ukraine, with about 1,000 inhabitants before the war.
The Ukrainian Air Force claims to have shot down two missiles launched by Russia overnight but did not mention any unmanned aerial vehicles, drones, launched by Russia overnight as happens daily in this war of over three years.
At least 15 people were injured today in a Ukrainian attack on the city of Horlivka in the eastern Donetsk region, annexed by Russia in September 2022.
Robles, on the deployment of troops: "It is not the time" to make peace plan perspectives
The Spanish Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, said on Tuesday in Lisbon regarding a hypothetical deployment of troops to Ukraine, that "it is not yet the time" to make peace plan perspectives, while people continue to die in Ukraine.
She considered that now is the time to continue helping Ukraine and for this war to "end soon," as reported by Efe.
Meanwhile, "we are supporting Ukraine and we really have direct contact, I have direct contact with what is happening on the front line and there is a lot of pain, a lot of suffering, a lot of dead, and a lot of wounded," said the Defense Minister.
Finland to withdraw from the treaty banning anti-personnel mines
The Prime Minister of Finland announced on Tuesday that his country will withdraw from the international convention banning anti-personnel mines, due to the need to strengthen itself against the Russian threat. "Finland and Europe must evaluate all measures aimed at strengthening their deterrent and defense capabilities, individually and within NATO," declared Petteri Orpo at a press conference.
"We propose that Finland begin preparations to withdraw from the Ottawa Agreement," he added. Two weeks ago, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia put forward a similar proposal. Anti-personnel mines, manually placed or dispersed by rockets or projectiles, are used to deter adversaries or populations from accessing certain areas.
More than 160 countries and territories recognize the Ottawa Treaty, including Ukraine, but not the United States or Russia. "This review is motivated by the lessons learned from the war in Ukraine and the deteriorating security situation," the Ministry of Defense told AFP at the end of November.
Agreements on rare earth minerals with Ukraine must comply with European legislation
Any new agreement on rare earth minerals with Ukraine must comply with European legislation, stated the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock, during a farewell visit to Kiev on Tuesday.
When asked about the possible mineral agreement between Ukraine and the United States, Baerbock pointed out that Europe had already reached an agreement with Ukraine and that any new pact should adhere to EU legislation.
"After all, this is our European continent... of course, we are also in dialogue with all stakeholders accordingly," said the outgoing minister.
Moscow takes US proposals on Ukraine seriously but has its own priorities
Russia is seriously considering the US proposals on ending the war in Ukraine but wants them to take into account what Moscow considers the root causes of the conflict, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Tuesday, as reported by state media.
"We take very seriously the models and solutions proposed by the Americans, but we cannot accept them in their current form," Ryabkov stated in an interview with the magazine International Affairs.
"As far as we can see, at present there is no room for our main demand, namely, to resolve the problems related to the root causes of this conflict," he said.
Putin says he is open to restoring ties between Russia and Finland if Helsinki is
The Kremlin said on Tuesday that President Vladimir Putin is open to the idea of restoring relations between Finland and Russia, which he accused Helsinki of reducing to "almost zero" after joining NATO, according to Reuters.
Finland, which shares a 1,300 km border with Russia, joined the NATO military alliance in 2023, a move Moscow at the time called a dangerous historical mistake.
Finland closed its land border with Russia that same year, accusing Moscow of militarizing migration against the Nordic nation, an accusation the Kremlin denied.
On Monday, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who has repeatedly warned of the need to be tough on Russia and take seriously the threat it poses, told his British counterpart, Keir Starmer, that Helsinki had to "mentally prepare" for the restoration of ties with Russia at some point.
He said the timing of any rapprochement would depend on when Russia's war in Ukraine ends, but he stated that "it cannot be denied" that Russia will always be a neighbor to Finland.
More than 50% of Ukrainians are critical of Trump's peace efforts
More than 50% of Ukrainians are critical of President Donald Trump's peace efforts and fear they may lead to a partially unfair or completely unfair end to Russia's war against their country, a Ukrainian pollster said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
Trump has promised to quickly end the three-year war, but has at times repeated Kremlin lines regarding the conflict, and at one point blamed Kiev for starting it.
The International Institute of Sociology of Kiev (KIIS), based on a survey of 1,326 people in Ukrainian territory between March 12 and 22, noted that 32% of respondents expected "a fairly unfair peace, although with some of Ukraine's demands met," while 22% expected a "completely unfair peace." The figures suggest that Ukrainians have become less optimistic about Trump's efforts since he took office in January.
In December, 20% had said they expected a "fairly unfair peace" and 11% expected a completely unfair outcome, KIIS reported from its surveys.
The Bucha massacre is not the only one in over three years of war
The Bucha massacre is the most well-known of the Ukrainian conflict, but it is not the only atrocity attributed to Russian military personnel.
Ukrainian authorities have opened around 128,000 investigations for war crimes, according to AFP.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is also investigating and in 2023 issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for his role in the "illegal" transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia.
EU's top diplomat sees "overwhelming evidence" of war crimes in Ukraine
The EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, stated on Tuesday before the European Parliament that there is "overwhelming evidence" that war crimes occurred in the Ukrainian region of Bucha.
"In Bucha, the evidence is overwhelming (...) and we know exactly who the perpetrators were (...) Impunity for war crimes is impossible," Kallas said in Strasbourg, as reported by AFP.