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European leaders meet with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy to discuss Russia’s war

European leaders met in London Sunday to discuss the Ukraine-Russia war. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received a warm welcome after being asked to leave the White House following a heated exchange with President Donald Trump Friday. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more.
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Pope Francis stable in hospital, had peaceful night, Vatican says

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is in a stable condition as he fights double pneumonia in hospital for the 17th day, and is resting having had a peaceful night, the Vatican said on Sunday.

The Vatican said on Saturday evening that the 88-year-old pontiff’s condition had stabilized, following an “isolated” breathing crisis a day earlier.

“The night was peaceful, the pope is still resting,” said a one-line note from the Vatican on Sunday morning that did not provide more details. A full medical update on the pope’s condition is expected Sunday evening.

Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14 with severe respiratory problems that swiftly degenerated into double pneumonia – a serious infection in both lungs that can inflame and scar them, making it difficult to breathe.

The pope suffered a constriction of his respiratory airways on Friday, akin to an asthma attack.

However, in a more upbeat tone on Saturday, the Vatican said the pope did not have a fever and did not show signs of an increased white blood cell count, adding that his blood flow and circulation remained stable.

An elevated white blood cell count often indicates the presence of an active infection or inflammation.

“The Holy Father’s clinical condition remained stable,” the Vatican said on Saturday, adding that the prognosis was still guarded, meaning he was not yet out of danger.

The Vatican added on Saturday that for a second day running the pope required noninvasive, mechanical ventilation, alternating between this and “long periods of high-flow oxygen therapy.”

Francis has experienced several bouts of ill health over the last two years and is prone to lung infections because he had pleurisy as a young adult and had part of one lung removed.

The pope has not been seen in public since entering hospital, his longest absence from view since his papacy started in March 2013, and his doctors have not said how long his treatment might last.

Francis will not lead his usual Sunday prayer with pilgrims for the third week running. The text of the prayer will be published rather than read out by the pontiff. 
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Singer Charli XCX wins top prizes at BRIT Awards

LONDON — Singer Charli XCX, whose album Brat inspired a cultural phenomenon last summer, was the big winner at the BRIT Awards, Britain’s pop music honors, in London on Saturday, picking up five prizes.

Brat, which inspired fans to film themselves dancing to its tracks and whose lime green cover look was adopted by U.S. presidential hopeful Kamala Harris’ campaign on social media after the singer referenced her in a post, won the coveted album of the year category.

Charli XCX, who had led nominations, was also named artist of the year and best dance act. Her single Guess, featuring Billie Eilish, won song of the year, beating tracks including the Beatles’ Now and Then. 

The 32-year-old pop star won her first BRIT, songwriter of the year, earlier this week.

“I’ve always felt like an outsider in the industry but particularly in the British music industry and so it feels really nice to be recognized on this album,” she said as she received the album of the year award.

“I would just like to share this with all artists who have ever felt that they need to compromise to be recognized and to have their moment in the sun because I think I’m living proof that maybe it takes a long time, but … you don’t need to compromise your vision.”

Jazz quintet Ezra Collective was named group of the year.

“This moment right here is because of the great youth clubs and great teachers and the great schools that support young people playing music,” drummer Femi Koleoso said in one of several of the night’s acceptance speeches that called for more support for young musicians and grassroots venues.

U.S. singer Chappell Roan won international artist of the year while her track Good Luck, Babe! won international song of the year.

Espresso singer Sabrina Carpenter was named as the first international recipient of the global success award, which recognizes artists with “phenomenal global sales,” following in the footsteps of One Direction, Adele, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith.

The ceremony also featured a tribute dedicated to late One Direction singer Liam Payne, who died in October after falling from a third-floor hotel room balcony in Buenos Aires, shocking fans of the boy band, one of the most popular of all time. 
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Ukraine’s Zelenskyy gets warm welcome from UK’s Starmer

LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday gave Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a warm welcome in London, a day after the Ukrainian leader’s clash with U.S. President Donald Trump. 

The two countries also unveiled a $2.84 billion loan agreement to support Ukraine’s defense capabilities, to be paid back with the profits of immobilized sovereign Russian assets. 

Supporters cheered as Zelenskyy’s convoy swept onto Downing Street, where he was embraced by Starmer and posed for photographs before heading inside the U.K. leader’s home. 

“You’re very, very welcome here in Downing Street,” Starmer told Zelenskyy.

“And as you’ve heard from the cheers street outside, you have full backing across the United Kingdom, and we stand with you with Ukraine for as long as it may take,” he added. 

“I want to thank you, the people of the United Kingdom, for such big support from the very beginning of this war,” responded Zelenskyy, who is due to meet King Charles III on Sunday. 

The pair met behind closed doors for around 75 minutes and embraced again as Starmer escorted Zelenskyy to his car. 

Earlier Saturday Zelenskyy had stressed that Trump’s support was still crucial for Ukraine despite their row the previous day. 

The clash was a further shock to Kyiv’s European allies, still adjusting to Washington’s new stance on the war. 

On Friday, Trump berated Zelenskyy for not being ready for peace with Russia, triggering alarm across Europe. 

“Yesterday evening underlined that a new age of infamy has begun,” said Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. 

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Starmer were among several other European leaders who reiterated their support for Kyiv after the row. 

In an interview with the BBC, NATO chief Mark Rutte said that he had told Zelenskyy he had to “find a way” to restore his relationship with Trump. 

Russian politicians were delighted, however. 

Russia’s former President Dmitry Medvedev called Zelenskyy an “insolent pig” who had received “a proper slap down in the Oval Office.” 

Although Zelenskyy left the White House without having signed the deal on Kyiv’s rare minerals, he insisted he was still ready to sign it as “the first step toward security guarantees.” 

“It’s crucial for us to have President Trump’s support. He wants to end the war, but no one wants peace more than we do,” Zelenskyy said in a post on social media platform X. 

On Sunday, Zelenskyy will attend emergency talks with Kyiv’s European backers, also attended by Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

Trump stunned many in Europe when he reached out to Russian President Vladimir Putin to seek a deal on Ukraine, which Moscow invaded three years ago. 

The president’s sudden shift on Ukraine, sidelining Kyiv and Europe while pursuing rapprochement with Putin, has rattled the transatlantic NATO alliance. 

Those concerns were only exacerbated Friday by the heated talks in the White House Friday. 

Trump has alarmed Kyiv and European allies with his change in U.S. policy, casting himself as a mediator between Putin and Zelenskyy and refusing to condemn the Russian invasion. 

He said in the Oval Office that he had “spoken on numerous occasions” to Putin — more than has been publicly reported. 

With fears growing over whether the United States will continue to support NATO, Sunday’s gathering in the U.K. will also address the need for Europe to increase defense cooperation. 

French President Emmanuel Macron has said he is ready to “open the discussion” on a possible future European nuclear deterrent. 

“We have a shield, they don’t,” he said in an interview with French newspapers appearing Sunday. “And they can no longer depend on the American nuclear deterrent.” 

Germany’s likely next leader, Friedrich Merz, also stressed the need for the continent to move quickly to “achieve independence” from the United States on defense matters. 

But Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban — the closest ally of Trump and the Kremlin in the European Union — vowed to oppose any EU-wide agreement on the conflict. 

“I am convinced that the European Union — following the example of the United States — should enter into direct discussions with Russia on a ceasefire and a sustainable peace in Ukraine,” Orban wrote in a letter. 
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Pope has coffee, rests after setback in recovery

ROME — Pope Francis had coffee and was reading newspapers Saturday after an alarming setback in his two-week recovery from double pneumonia: Doctors had to put him on noninvasive mechanical ventilation following a coughing fit in which he inhaled vomit that needed to then be extracted.

Doctors said it would take a day or two to evaluate how and if the Friday afternoon episode affected Francis’ overall clinical condition. His prognosis remained guarded, meaning he wasn’t out of danger.

In its morning update Saturday, the Vatican said the 88-year-old pope didn’t have any further respiratory crises overnight: “The night has passed quietly, the pope is resting.” He had coffee in the morning for breakfast, suggesting that he was not dependent on a ventilation mask to breathe and was still eating on his own.

In the late Friday update, the Vatican said Francis suffered an “isolated crisis of bronchial spasm,” a coughing fit in which Francis inhaled vomit, which resulted in a “sudden worsening of the respiratory picture.” Doctors aspirated the vomit and placed Francis on noninvasive mechanical ventilation.

The pope remained conscious and alert at all times and cooperated with the maneuvers to help him recover. He responded well, with a good level of oxygen exchange, and he was continuing to wear a mask to receive supplemental oxygen, the Vatican said.

The episode, which occurred in the early afternoon, marked a setback in what had been two successive days of increasingly upbeat reports from doctors treating Francis at Rome’s Gemelli hospital since Feb. 14. The pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, has lung disease and was admitted after a bout of bronchitis worsened and turned into pneumonia in both lungs.

Doctors say episode is ‘concerning’

The Vatican said the episode was different from the prolonged respiratory crisis on Feb. 22 that was said to have caused Francis discomfort.

Dr. John Coleman, a pulmonary critical care doctor at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, said the isolated episode Friday as relayed by the Vatican was nevertheless alarming and underscored Francis’ fragility and that his condition “can turn very quickly.”

“I think this is extremely concerning, given the fact that the pope has been in the hospital now for over two weeks, and now he’s continuing to have these respiratory events and now had this aspiration event that is requiring even higher levels of support,” he told The Associated Press.

“So given his age and his fragile state and his previous lung resection, this is very concerning,” said Coleman, who is not involved in Francis’ care.

Dr. William Feldman, a pulmonary specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said it was a good sign that the pope remained alert and oriented during the episode, but he concurred that it marked “a worrying turn.”

“Often we will use noninvasive ventilation as a way of trying to stave off an intubation, or the use of invasive mechanical ventilation,” Feldman said.

Types of noninvasive ventilation include a BiPAP machine, which helps people breathe by pushing air into their lungs. Doctors will often try such a machine for a while to see if the patient’s blood gas levels improve so they can eventually go back to using oxygen alone. Friday’s statement said Francis showed a “good response” to the gas exchange using the ventilation.

Doctors did not resume referring to Francis being in “critical condition,” which has been absent from their statements for three days now. But they say he isn’t out of danger, given the complexity of his case.

Prayers continue to pour in

Francis’ hospitalization has come as the Vatican is marking its Holy Year, which is drawing pilgrims to Rome from all over. They are walking through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica and making pilgrimages to the hilltop Umbrian town of Assisi to pray at the home of Francis’ namesake, St. Francis.

“Every day we’re praying for the pope,” said the Rev. Jacinto Bento, a priest visiting Assisi on Saturday with a group of 30 Jubilee pilgrims from the Azores Islands. “We’re very sad for his situation.”

Veronica Abraham, a catechist and Argentine native, came to Assisi on Saturday with her two children and other kids from her parish on Lake Garda and said the group had prayed for the pope at every church they’d visited.

“I’m sure that he’s hearing our prayers, that he feels our closeness,” she said.

Serena Barbon, visiting Assisi from Treviso on Saturday with her husband and three children, said she hoped that if Francis doesn’t make it, the next pope will be just like him.

“He’s been very charismatic, and we pray for him and that any new pope might also be someone who puts the poor in the center. Because we’re all a bit poor,” she said.
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VOA Mandarin: As Trump’s talks with Zelenskyy disintegrate, will China benefit?

The public spat Friday between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the White House has triggered European solidarity for Ukraine. Barring Hungary, major European powers led by Germany and France have thrown their weight behind Kyiv, calling it the victim of Russian aggression, while promising sustained support to the war-torn country. Experts say rising tensions in the transatlantic relationship would benefit one country – the People’s Republic of China. They argue that recent developments provide Beijing with an opportunity to make inroads in Europe.

Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
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Russia says it seized two new villages in eastern Ukraine

MOSCOW — Moscow on Saturday said it seized two more villages in eastern Ukraine as Kyiv officials said Russian strikes killed one person and wounded 19.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces captured Sudne and Burlatske in the south of the eastern Donetsk region.

They lie near the town of Velyka Novossilka, which was seized by the Russian army at the end of January.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 154 drones overnight, of which 103 were downed and 51 disappeared from the radar without causing damage or casualties.

Ukrainian regional authorities reported one death and several injuries.

In the southern Odesa region, one person died and three were injured, according to Ukrainian prosecutors.

Twelve people were wounded in the northeastern Kharkiv region and two others in the southern Kherson region, local authorities said.

Two people were wounded in the rail and mining hub of Pokrovsk, where Russian forces are gaining ground, threatening this key logistical hub for Ukrainian troops.
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European leaders stand by Ukraine after heated exchange between Trump, Zelenskyy

European leaders across much of the continent vowed to stand by Ukraine after a White House meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy turned into a heated exchange Friday, with Trump calling Zelenskyy “disrespectful.”

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said it has become clear that “the free world needs a new leader.”

“Ukraine is Europe! We stand by Ukraine,” Kallas wrote on the social media platform X.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on X, “Ukraine can rely on Germany — and on Europe,” while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on social media, “Ukraine, Spain stands with you.”

“Dear @ZelenskyyUa, dear Ukrainian friends, you are not alone,” wrote Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on X.

French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters in Portugal, “Russia is the aggressor, and Ukraine is the aggressed people.”

Other European leaders, including from Finland, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Norway, also took to social media to voice support for Ukraine.

Not all European leaders backed Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has long been critical of EU military aid to Kyiv, posted on X, “President @realDonaldTrump stood bravely for peace. Even if it was difficult for many to digest. Thank you, Mr. President!”

The meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy came as the two countries were seeking a deal that would allow the U.S. access to Ukrainian rare mineral rights. The discussion took a combative tone about 40 minutes into the meeting when Zelenskyy raised Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance immediately criticized Zelenskyy, accusing him of engaging in a “propaganda tour.”

Both Vance and Trump accused the Ukrainian leader of not being thankful for the assistance his country has received from Washington.

After the meeting abruptly ended, the White House confirmed that the mineral deal was not signed.

US response

In the U.S., many Republicans in Congress expressed support for Trump’s actions.

Senator Lindsey Graham, who has previously supported military aid to Ukraine, said, “What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful and I don’t know if we can ever do business with Zelenskyy again.”

House Republican leader Steve Scalise, who has also previously supported military aid to Ukraine, wrote on X, “President Trump is fighting for PEACE around the world and is putting America First as our best negotiator — he’s the only one to get Russia to the table to consider a serious and lasting peace agreement with Ukraine.”

Republican Representative Andy Biggs wrote on X, “Dictator Zelensky had the audacity to disrespect President @realDonaldTrump and VP @JDVance during what should have been a friendly meeting, and @POTUS rightfully showed him the door. This is the leadership America has craved for four years.”

Democratic leaders in Congress argued that Trump’s actions would only benefit Russia.

“Trump and Vance are doing [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s dirty work. Senate Democrats will never stop fighting for freedom and democracy,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote in a statement, “Today’s White House meeting with the President of Ukraine was appalling and will only serve to further embolden Vladimir Putin, a brutal dictator. The United States must not reward Russian aggression and continue to appease Putin.”

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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NATO exercises in Romania test Europe’s defense readiness

NATO’s newest rapid-response force is testing its strength in Romania, just kilometers from the Ukrainian border. VOA Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Myroslava Gongadze has more on the drills and NATO’s evolving defense strategy. Camera: Daniil Batushchak
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Perspectives, challenges of Ukraine’s next election

WASHINGTON — The issue of Ukraine’s next presidential election has emerged as a possible element in the peace deal between Russia and Ukraine that the United States is negotiating.

Ukrainian leaders and elections experts argue, however, that holding elections anytime soon would endanger lives and Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was elected in April 2019, and the next presidential election was scheduled for March or April 2024. However, martial law has been in effect since Russia invaded the country in February 2022, and Ukrainian law prohibits presidential elections when martial law is in effect.

U.S. President Donald Trump has lambasted Zelenskyy for not holding a presidential election.

In a Feb. 19 post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said of Zelenskyy, “He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden ‘like a fiddle.’ A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.”

Some members of the U.S. Congress and conservative commentators echoed Trump’s demand that Ukraine hold elections to prove its democratic credentials.

“Zelenskyy should hold elections. They are basically under martial law. That’s not good when you claim to be defending democracy. They need to practice it,” Republican Senator Josh Hawley told VOA.

Republican Representative Victoria Spartz told VOA that Ukraine should hold “transparent elections, and that not doing so allows Russia to say, ‘You have an illegitimate president signing these contracts and deals.’”

Russia has questioned the legitimacy of Ukraine’s president and government since 2014, well before Zelenskyy was elected to office.

During his televised question-and-answer event on Dec. 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested he couldn’t negotiate with Zelenskyy until his legitimacy is confirmed through elections.

“If someone goes to the elections, gains legitimacy there, we will talk with anyone, including Zelenskyy,” he said.

Zelenskyy said during a Feb. 23 press conference that he would step down as president if it meant “peace for Ukraine” but pushed back on the calls for holding elections.

“How can we call an election in which half of the country’s population won’t be able to vote?” he said. “How can we vote when today, [Ukraine was] attacked with 267 drones?”

His major political rivals, former President Petro Poroshenko, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, have also rejected the call for holding elections. According to a February poll, 63% of Ukrainians also reject it.

Many challenges

Ukrainian election experts say there are many challenges to holding free and fair elections under wartime conditions.

It would violate international principles of electoral law, according to Yevhenii Radchenko, a former deputy chair of the Central Election Commission of Ukraine.

“Elections must be universal, equal and free. During active hostilities, it is unrealistic to guarantee the safety of any of the participants, and due to massive Russian strikes, a significant part of the electoral infrastructure has been destroyed,” she said.

Radchenko, who joined Ukraine’s armed forces, texted VOA from the trenches at the Donetsk front.

On Feb. 27, OPORA, a leading Ukrainian nongovernmental organization involved in public oversight and advocacy in the field of elections, issued a statement signed by several other Ukrainian NGOs titled, “Statement of Ukrainian Non-Governmental Organizations on the Impossibility of Holding Democratic Elections without the Sustainable Peace.”

‘Armed forces or elections’

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Ukrainian parliament, as required by the country’s constitution, introduced martial law, which prohibits elections.

OPORA chairperson Olga Aivazovska said the purpose of martial law is to preserve the state and mobilize society for defense.

“We have to choose either the armed forces or elections,” she told VOA.

Aivazovska noted that Ukraine held elections between 2014 and 2022, when the conflict with Russia was ongoing in eastern Ukraine, but before Russia launched air raids on Ukrainian territory.

“Even if a ceasefire is established, there are no guarantees that Russia would not violate it as it did many times between 2014 and 2022,” she said. “It can carry out a massive shelling of the Ukrainian territory on election day. It can organize terrorist attacks at the polling stations, killing voters, election workers and observers, or at the minimum, disrupt the process.”

Aivazovska said it would be easy to contest an election as illegitimate if only 5% to 10% of the population votes.

“If Ukraine begins the election process without a guarantee of its completion, it means that we are simply giving this tool away to Russia for abuse and manipulation,” she said.

Radchenko said that about 14 million citizens — out of a population of 41 million — would not be able to vote, given that the war has dislocated millions of Ukrainians, and nearly a million Ukrainian men and women are serving in the armed forces.

According to Aivazovska, it is also unclear how people in areas occupied by Russia, “where people are subjected to torture, kidnapping and other crimes,” will be able to cast their vote freely, even after lifting martial law.

Most of the 7 million Ukrainian citizens who fled the war abroad will also not be able to vote, unless their host countries heavily invest in organizing the process.

“In 2004, the record number of Ukrainians living abroad voted at the polling stations in Ukrainian embassies and consulates — 103,000 citizens worldwide. There are simply no resources available to organize voting for 7 million people,” Aivazovska said.

Let Ukraine decide

Most of the members of the U.S. Congress interviewed by VOA said Ukraine should be free to decide when to hold its elections.

Republican Representative Brian Fitzpatrick said the United States and other democracies will encourage Ukraine to hold elections when it can do it safely and fairly, but not when “Ukrainians are still under invasion by an evil communist dictatorship.”

Democratic Representative Eugene Vindman, who was born in Kyiv in 1975, told VOA, “When 20% of the territory is occupied, when millions of Ukrainians are out of the country, it’s hard to imagine democratic elections representing the majority of the people being held.”

Vindman expressed confidence that Ukrainian society will hold elections as soon as it achieves a stable peace.

Republican Senator Kevin Cramer said the example of the United States holding elections during World War II is inapplicable because the U.S. didn’t have to fight on its territory.

Vindman noted that European countries also suspended elections for the duration of that war.

Democratic Representative Seth Magaziner suggested that a strong statement from Trump supporting Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion would make it easier for Ukrainians to “develop a timeline for elections.”

Republican Representative Don Bacon pointed out that Russia is in no position to demand elections from Ukraine. “They haven’t had free elections in 25 years. Putin’s murdered all his rivals. They’ve been thrown off the buildings. They’ve been poisoned. They’ve been killed in GULAGs,” he told VOA in an email.

Katya Andrusz, spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, told VOA that at the request of Ukrainian authorities, her office has begun work to ensure that when all the prerequisites are in place, Ukraine can hold elections “in line with international standards and the commitments Ukraine has made as an OSCE country for holding democratic elections.”

“ODIHR is working with Ukraine in many areas, and we very much appreciate and respect the country’s democratic strength amidst all the ongoing challenges,” she said.

VOA’s Kateryna Lisunova contributed to this report.
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Moscow airport resumes flights after brief suspension, officials say

Moscow’s Sheremetevo Airport resumed flight arrivals and departures early on Friday after a temporary suspension of operations, Russia’s aviation authority said.

“Restrictions on the arrival and departure of aircraft were lifted at Sheremetevo Airport at 03:45 Moscow time (0045 GMT),” the aviation authority said on its Telegram app. The authority said the restrictions were introduced to ensure the safety of civil aircraft flights.

During the period of restrictions, one aircraft flying to Sheremetevo landed at the alternate airfield in Pulkovo, the authority said on Telegram.

TASS news agency earlier reported that the airport had briefly suspended operations at 2:41 Moscow time.
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