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Doctors change pope’s treatment to tackle ‘complex’ situation, Vatican says

Vatican City — Doctors have changed treatment for Pope Francis’ respiratory tract infection to tackle a “complex clinical situation” and he will remain in hospital for as long as necessary, the Vatican said on Monday.

“The results of the tests carried out in recent days and today have demonstrated a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract, which has led to a further modification of the therapy,” said a brief statement.

“All tests conducted up to today are indicative of a complex clinical picture that will require an appropriate hospital stay,” it said.

The 88-year-old pontiff has been suffering from a respiratory infection for more than a week and was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pontiff was “in good spirits.” He did not specify whether the pope was suffering from a bacterial or viral infection, but said a further update on the pope’s condition would be issued later on Monday.

While a bacterial infection can be treated with antibiotics, viral infections cannot. Viruses usually have to run their course, but the patient can be assisted with other medicines to bring down their fever or help their body fight the infection.

A polymicrobial infection is one caused by two or more micro-organisms, and can be caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi.

The Vatican said on Monday that the pope’s planned weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square, set for Wednesday, had been cancelled “due to the continued hospitalization of the Holy Father.”

The pope’s doctors had earlier ordered complete rest, and Francis was unable to deliver his regular weekly prayer on Sunday to pilgrims in St Peter’s Square or lead a special Mass for artists to mark the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year.

‘Quite worried’ by pope’s absence

Pilgrims visiting the Vatican on Monday offered their hopes that Francis would recover soon.

“We certainly wish for him to get better very quickly,” said Rev. Tyler Carter, a Catholic priest from the United States. “He is our father and our shepherd, and so we want his continued health and blessing.”

Manuel Rossi, a tourist from Milan, Italy, said he was “quite worried” when the pope cancelled his appearance on Sunday.

“I am 18 years old so I have seen few popes in my life, and am very close to him,” said Rossi. “I hope he recovers as soon as possible.”

While in hospital over the weekend, the pope continued his recent practice of making phone calls to speak with members of a Catholic parish in Gaza, Italian broadcaster Mediaset reported on Monday.

One of the parish members said Francis had called on both Friday and Saturday and was in “good spirits” but sounded “a bit tired.”

“Thank you for the affection, prayer and closeness with which you accompany me in these days,” a post on the pope’s X account said on Sunday.
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France hosting European talks on Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron is set to host a group of European leaders for talks Monday focused on the situation in Ukraine amid a shift in the U.S. approach to the conflict and suggestions by U.S. officials that Europe would not have a role in peace talks.

Among those expected to attend were leaders from Britain, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark. NATO chief Mark Rutte, European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were also due to participate.

European leaders have in recent days pledged continued support for Ukraine, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying his government was ready to send troops to Ukraine as part of any postwar peacekeeping force.

“I do not say that lightly,” he wrote Sunday in the Daily Telegraph. “I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm’s way.”

Starmer said securing a lasting peace in Ukraine was essential to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from further aggression.

Sweden’s Prime Minister Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Monday his country would not rule out contributing troops to a peacekeeping force that has a “clear mandate.”

Costa said last week’s Munich Security Conference showed the clear message that the security of Ukraine and the European Union “cannot be separated.”

“There will be no credible and successful negotiations, no lasting peace, without Ukraine and without the European Union.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived Monday in Saudi Arabia for meetings including talks expected Tuesday with Russian diplomats about ending the war. U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and national security adviser Mike Waltz were also due to take part in the talks.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday the Russian delegation would include Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin agreed during an hour-long call last week to the immediate start of peace negotiations, but Rubio told CBS’s “Face the Nation” in an interview that aired Sunday, “A process towards peace is not a one-meeting thing.”   

“We’ll see in the coming days and weeks if Vladimir Putin is interested in negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, in a way that is sustainable and fair,” Rubio said.

A Ukrainian minister said an official delegation has arrived in Riyadh in preparation for a possible visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Whatever occurs this week in Saudi Arabia, Rubio said that once “real negotiations” begin, then Ukraine “will have to be involved.” 

In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday, Zelenskyy said, “I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine. Never. The war in Ukraine is against us, and it is our human losses.”

Zelenskyy said he told Trump in a call they had last week that Putin is only pretending to want peace.

“I said that he is a liar. And [Trump] said, ‘I think my feeling is that he’s ready for these negotiations.’ And I said to him, ‘No, he’s a liar. He doesn’t want any peace.'”

The United States has been Ukraine’s biggest arms supplier during the conflict, but Trump has wavered on continued support and declined during a political debate last year to say that he wants Ukraine to win.

Zelenskyy said that without continued U.S. military support, “Probably it will be very, very, very difficult” to defeat Russia. “And of course, in all the difficult situations, you have a chance. But we will have low chance — low chance to survive without support of the United States.”

Russia now controls about 20% of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory, including the Crimean Peninsula it unilaterally annexed in 2014, the eastern portion of Ukraine pro-Moscow separatists captured after that, and areas Russian forces have taken since February 2022.

Ukraine’s military said Monday it shot down 83 of the 147 drones that Russian forces used in overnight attacks.

The intercepts took place over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia regions, the military said.

Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram that Russian shelling injured four people, while damaging eight apartment buildings and four houses.

In Kharkiv, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported damage to three warehouse buildings and 14 houses from Russia’s attacks.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday it destroyed 90 Ukrainian aerial drones, including 38 over the Sea of Azov, 24 over the Krasnodar region, 15 over Russia-occupied Crimea and seven over the Black Sea. Russian air defenses also shot down drones over the Kursk, Rostov, Bryansk and Belgorod regions, the ministry said.

Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on Telegram that falling debris from downed drones injured one person and damaged 12 houses.

Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters
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Turkish delegation meets with Kurdish leader in Iraq amid peace efforts

Baghdad — A Turkish opposition party delegation arrived in Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region Sunday against the backdrop of peace efforts between Ankara and a banned Kurdish separatist movement in Turkey.

The delegation led by Sirri Sureyya Onder and Pervin Buldan, two senior officials with the pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, in Turkey, met with Masoud Barzani, the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party — the dominant Kurdish party in Iraq — in Irbil Sunday.

Barzani’s office said in a statement that they discussed “the peace process in Turkey” and that the Turkish delegation conveyed a message from Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of Turkey’s banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

Barzani “stressed the need for all parties to intensify their efforts and endeavors to enable the peace process to achieve the desired results” and reiterated “his full readiness to provide assistance and support to the peace process in Turkey and make it a success,” the statement said.

The DEM party has long pressed for greater democracy in Turkey and rights for the country’s Kurdish population, and to improve conditions for the imprisoned Ocalan.

Ocalan, 75, founded the PKK, in 1978, which began an armed insurrection for an autonomous Kurdish state in Turkey’s southeast in 1984, costing tens of thousands of lives. The group is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies. The central Iraqi government in Baghdad announced a ban on the group, which maintains bases in northern Iraq, last year.

Captured in 1999 and convicted of treason, Ocalan has been serving a life sentence on Imrali Island in the Marmara Sea.

The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has traditionally had an antagonistic relationship with the left-wing DEM party, frequently ousting its elected officials on charges of ties to the PKK and replacing them with state appointed officials.

However, this icy relationship began thawing last October, when Erdogan’s coalition partner, far-right nationalist politician Devlet Bahceli suggested that Ocalan could be granted parole, if his group renounces violence and disbands.

The peace effort comes at a time when Erdogan may need support from the DEM party in parliament to enact a new constitution that could allow him to stay in power for unlimited terms.

The Turkish Constitution doesn’t allow Erdogan, who has been in power since 2003 as prime minister and later as president, to run for office again unless an early election is called — something that would also require the support of the pro-Kurdish party.

Even as the latest peace efforts are underway, Erdogan’s government has widened a crackdown on the opposition, arresting journalists and politicians. Several elected Kurdish mayors have been ousted from office and replaced with state appointed officials, the latest this Saturday, when the mayor of Van municipality in eastern Turkey was removed from his post and replaced with the state-appointed governor.

Meanwhile, conflict is ongoing between Turkish-backed armed groups and Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria.

Turkey views the Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S.-backed military Kurdish alliance in Syria, as an extension of the PKK. The SDF is in negotiations with the new government in Damascus following the ouster of then Syrian President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive.

While most former insurgent groups have agreed to dissolve and integrate into the new Syrian army, the SDF has refused so far.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Saturday that the government would reconsider its military presence in northeastern Syria if that country’s new leaders eliminate the presence of the PKK in the area. Also Saturday, Kurds in northeastern Syria staged a mass protest to demand Ocalan’s release.
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Rubio plays down immediate breakthrough on Russia-Ukraine peace

Top U.S. officials headed Sunday to Saudi Arabia for talks with Russian diplomats in the coming days on ending Moscow’s three-year war on Ukraine, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed prospects for an immediate breakthrough.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin agreed during an hour-long call last week to the immediate start of peace negotiations, but Rubio told CBS’s “Face the Nation” in an interview aired Sunday, “A process towards peace is not a one- meeting thing.”

“We’ll see in the coming days and weeks if Vladimir Putin is interested in negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine in a way that is sustainable and fair,” Rubio said.

Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz said they were headed to Riyadh for the talks, while a Ukrainian minister says that an official delegation has arrived there in preparation for a possible visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The shape of the talks remained uncertain.

Rubio said he wasn’t even sure who Moscow was sending. “Nothing’s been finalized yet,” he said, adding that the hope was for an opening for a broad conversation that “would include Ukraine and would involve the end of the war.”

Trump’s call with Putin blindsided NATO allies as well as Kyiv, with Zelenskyy later saying that there should be “no decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine.”

Whatever occurs this week in Saudi Arabia, Rubio said that once “real negotiations” begin, then Ukraine “will have to be involved.”

In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday, Zelenskyy said, “I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine. Never. The war in Ukraine is against us, and it is our human losses.”

Zelenskyy said he told Trump in a call they had last week that Putin is only pretending to want peace.

“I said that he is a liar. And [Trump] said, ‘I think my feeling is that he’s ready for these negotiations.’ And I said to him, ‘No, he’s a liar. He doesn’t want any peace.’”

The United States has been Ukraine’s biggest arms supplier during the conflict, but Trump has wavered on continued support and declined during a political debate last year to say that he wants Ukraine to win.

Zelenskyy said that without continued U.S. military support, “Probably it will be very, very, very difficult” to defeat Russia. “And of course, in all the difficult situations, you have a chance. But we will have low chance — low chance to survive without support of the United States.”

Russia now controls about 20% of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory, including the Crimean Peninsula it unilaterally annexed in 2014 and the eastern portion of Ukraine pro-Moscow separatists captured after that and since the full-scale February 2022 Russian invasion.
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Russian troops intensify attacks on Ukrainian forces in east, military says 

KYIV — Russian troops have sharply stepped up their attacks in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv’s military said on Sunday, as a NATO official predicted Moscow would increase the pace and intensity of its assaults with talks to end the war approaching.

The main attacks were concentrated near the imperiled logistics hub of Pokrovsk, Kyiv said, with U.S. and Russian officials expected to hold talks in the coming days in Saudi Arabia and U.S President Donald Trump pushing for peace.

Kyiv’s military reported 261 combat engagements with Russia over a 24-hour period on Saturday, easily the largest number recorded this year and more than double the roughly 100 per day it reported in previous days.

“Today was the hardest day of 2025 at the front,” the Ukrainian DeepState military blog wrote late on Saturday.

Moscow’s troops advanced steadily in the east for much of the second half 2024, announcing the capture of village after village, though the intensity of the fighting dropped in January this year, according to Ukrainian military data.

Russian forces have seized a swathe of territory to the south of Pokrovsk and are now pushing upwards to its southwest, threatening a main supply route into the outpost, the capture of which could open up more lines of attack for Russia.

Despite being on the backfoot, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reported a “good result” in the east on Thursday and a military spokesman said Kyiv’s forces had recaptured the village of Pishchane, about 5 km to Pokrovsk’s south.

“It isn’t so much the result of something collapsing for the Russians or some kind of magical weapon being delivered to Ukraine, no. Certain organizational actions were taken to help Ukrainians act more effectively,” Viktor Trehubov, a military spokesman, told Reuters.

Ukraine has been using drones for deep strikes on Russia in an effort to inflict pain and strengthen its overall position. Russia has continued to conduct regular drone and missile strikes, while making advances on the ground in the east.

“I would expect a much stronger push. I would expect that we would see … a lot of Russian efforts to advance,” a NATO official who requested anonymity told Reuters.

Though Ukrainian officials are careful to praise Trump, his push to engage directly with the Russians without first consulting with Kyiv and to leave out the Europeans entirely is a cause for alarm in Ukraine and Europe.

Kyiv has said it was not invited to take part in the talks in Saudi Arabia and that in any case it wants to devise a joint strategy with its U.S. and European allies before meeting Russian officials.

France said on Sunday it would host a summit of European leaders on Monday to discuss the Ukraine war and European security as the continent scrambles to respond concretely to Trump’s unilateral approach to the conflict.

Zelenskiy gave figures for Russian strikes with aerial bombs and missiles that appeared to suggest they had increased in size in the last week.

He said Russia had fired about 1,220 aerial bombs, more than 850 drones and 40 missiles at Ukraine, compared with 1,206, bombs, 750 drones and 10 missiles the week before.
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Austrian official says suspect in fatal stabbing attack had ‘Islamic terror motive’ 

VIENNA — Austrian authorities said the man accused of stabbing six passersby in broad daylight, killing a 14-year-old boy and wounding five others, was motivated by “Islamic terrorism.” 

The suspect, a 23-year-old Syrian man, was arrested after the attack in the southern city of Villach on Saturday. 

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said Sunday he felt “anger about an Islamist attacker who indiscriminately stabbed innocent people here in this city.” 

Karner told reporters in Villach that the attacker had ties to the Islamic State group and radicalized himself online within a very short time. 

State governor Peter Kaiser thanked a 42-year-old man, also a Syrian working for a food delivery company, who drove toward the suspect and helped prevent the situation from getting worse. “This shows how closely terrorist evil but also human good can be united in one and the same nationality.” 

This marks the second deadly jihadi attack in Austria in recent years. In November 2020, a man who had previously attempted to join the Islamic State group carried out a rampage in Vienna, armed with an automatic rifle and a fake explosive vest, killing four people before being fatally shot by police. 

Austria’s President Alexander Van der Bellen called the attack “horrific.” 

“No words can undo the suffering, the horror, the fear. My thoughts are with the family of the deceased victim and the injured,” he posted on X. 

The Free Syrian Community of Austria issued a statement on Facebook distancing itself from the attack and expressing its deepest condolences to the victims’ families. “We all had to flee Syria, our home country, because we were no longer safe there — no one left their country voluntarily. We are grateful to have found asylum and protection in Austria,” the association said. 

“Finally, we would like to emphasize: Anyone who causes strife and disturbs the peace of society does not represent the Syrians who have sought and received protection here,” the statement concluded. 

Carnival procession canceled as police gather evidence 

Villach, a popular tourist destination near the borders of Italy and Slovenia, is known for its laid-back atmosphere, which blends Mediterranean and Alpine traditions. The city hosts annual carnival processions in March and an event on Saturday was canceled in the wake of the attack. 

The Austrian Ministry of Interior activated a platform for witnesses to upload videos or photos related to the attack. Local authorities said a crisis response team will be available to support pupils when schools open on Monday. 

Calls to strengthen migration rules 

Far-right leader Herbert Kickl wrote on X that he is “appalled by the horrific act in Villach” and called for a rigorous crackdown on asylum. 

“At the same time, I am angry — angry at those politicians who have allowed stabbings, rapes, gang wars and other capital crimes to become the order of the day in Austria. This is a first-class failure of the system, for which a young man in Villach has now had to pay with his life,” Kickl said. 

“From Austria to the EU — the wrong rules are in force everywhere. Nobody is allowed to challenge them, everything is declared sacrosanct,” he said, adding that his party had outlined what he viewed as necessary changes to immigration laws in its election platform. 

Conservative party leader Christian Stocker said on X that the attacker “must be brought to justice and be punished with the full force of the law.” 

“We all want to live in a safe Austria, adding that this means political measures need to be taken to avoid such acts of horror in the future,” he said. 

The leader of the Social Democrats, Andreas Babler, said, “Crimes like this one simply should not happen in our society.” 
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Nun takes top Vatican job running city state administration

ROME — An Italian nun is taking over a top management job in the Vatican: Sister Raffaella Petrini was named Saturday as president of the Vatican City State, making her essentially the governor of the 44-hectare (108-acre) territory in Rome that is home to the Catholic Church. 

Petrini, 56, had previously been the secretary general of the Vatican administration, which among other things is responsible for the city state’s infrastructure and the Vatican Museums, a major source of revenue for the Holy See. She moves into the top job on March 1, following the retirement of Cardinal Fernando Vergez Alzaga, who turns 80 that day. 

Pope Francis had previously announced Petrini’s promotion, part of his effort to place women in decision-making roles in the Vatican to serve as models for the rest of the church. The Vatican officially published the appointment Saturday while the pope was hospitalized with a respiratory tract infection. 

Last month, Francis named the first woman to head a major Holy See office, appointing another Italian nun, Sister Simona Brambilla, to become prefect of the department responsible for all the Catholic Church’s religious orders. 

While women have been named to No. 2 spots in some Vatican offices, never before have women been named to the top jobs of the Holy See Curia or Vatican City State administration. 

Catholic women have long complained of second-class status in an institution that reserves the priesthood for men. Francis has upheld the ban on female priests and tamped down hopes that women could be ordained as deacons. 

But there has been a marked increase in the percentage of women working in the Vatican during his papacy, including in leadership positions, from 19.3% in 2013 to 23.4% today, according to statistics reported by Vatican News. In the Curia alone, the percentage of women is 26%. 

Critics complain that making women managers of the church doesn’t compensate for the continued ban on ordaining them as ministers. 

In addition to her job running the Vatican City State administration, Petrini also serves as one of three women who are members of the Vatican office that vets bishop nominations. When they were named in 2022 it marked the first time women had had a formal role in the Vatican process of selecting bishops. 

A member of the Meriden, Connecticut-based Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist religious order, Petrini otherwise keeps a relatively low public profile. 

But during a 2023 Women’s Day speech at Rome’s Pontifical Holy Cross university, she acknowledged that her nomination as secretary general of the Vatican City State had raised eyebrows, “more than I expected in my ingenuity.” 

“Even in non-ecclesial organizations, resistance is part of the process of change,” said Petrini, who has also been a professor of welfare economics at Rome’s Pontifical Angelicum University. 
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US, Russia officials to meet in Saudi Arabia to start talks on Ukraine

MUNICH/WASHINGTON — U.S. and Russian officials will meet in Saudi Arabia in coming days to start talks aimed at ending Moscow’s nearly three-year war in Ukraine, a U.S. lawmaker and a source familiar with the planning said on Saturday. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Germany on Friday, said Ukraine was not invited to the talks in Saudi Arabia and Kyiv would not engage with Russia before consulting with strategic partners.  

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Saudi Arabia, U.S. Representative Michael McCaul told Reuters. It was not immediately clear who they would meet from Russia.  

Rubio spoke by phone on Saturday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and agreed on regular contacts to prepare for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said.   

The phone call was held at the initiative of the U.S. side, it added.   

“The two sides expressed their mutual willingness to interact on pressing international issues, including the settlement around Ukraine, the situation around Palestine and in general in the Middle East and other regional directions,” the ministry said in a statement. 

On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, McCaul said the aim of the talks was to arrange a meeting that included Zelenskyy, Trump and Putin “to finally bring peace and end this conflict.”  

A source with knowledge of the plans confirmed the talks in Saudi Arabia between U.S. and Russian officials. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  

Zelenskyy said on Saturday Ukraine would never accept any peace deals reached behind its back or without Kyiv’s involvement. Ukraine has repeatedly said it wants to come together with the United States and Europe to devise a joint strategy before any Trump-Putin meeting. 

Trump, who took office on January 20, has repeatedly vowed to swiftly end the Ukraine war. He made separate phone calls to Putin and Zelenskyy on Wednesday, leaving Washington’s European allies alarmed that they will be cut out of any peace process.  

Those fears were largely confirmed on Saturday when Trump’s Ukraine envoy said Europe won’t have a seat at the table, after Washington sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security guarantees for Kyiv. 

Keith Kellogg, special envoy for Ukraine-Russia talks, told the Munich conference that the U.S. would act as an intermediary in the talks, with Ukraine and Russia as the two protagonists. 

Asked about the prospects of the Europeans being at the table, Kellogg said: “I’m (from) a school of realism. I think that’s not gonna happen.” 

At a later event at the conference, Kellogg sought to reassure Europeans by declaring this did not mean “their interests are not considered, used or developed.” 

But European leaders said they would not accept being shut out of the talks. 

Zelenskyy said on Friday he would visit the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but did not say when. However, the Ukrainian leader said he had no plans to meet with U.S. or Russian officials during those visits. 

Moscow controls a fifth of Ukraine and has been slowly advancing in the east for months, while Kyiv’s smaller army grapples with manpower shortages and tries to hold a chunk of territory in western Russia.  

Russia has demanded Kyiv cede territory and become permanently neutral under any peace deal. Ukraine demands Russia withdraw from captured land and wants NATO membership or equivalent security guarantees to prevent attack by Moscow. 

The United States and Europe have given Ukraine tens of billions of dollars in military aid since the war started. Trump has said he backs Ukraine but is seeking security for U.S. funding for Kyiv.  

The U.S. and Ukraine are negotiating a deal that could open up Ukraine’s vast natural wealth to U.S. investment. Three sources said the U.S. proposed taking ownership of 50% of Ukraine’s critical minerals. Zelenskyy said on Saturday that the draft deal did not contain the security provisions Kyiv needed.  

Also on Saturday, France discussed with its allies holding an informal summit of European leaders to discuss Ukraine, a French presidency official said on Saturday, and four European diplomats said the meeting was likely to go ahead on Monday.  

Speaking on a panel at the Munich conference on Saturday, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski also said that French President Emmanuel Macron had called for a summit of European leaders in Paris.  

“President Trump has a method of operating, which the Russians call reconnaissance through battle. You push and you see what happens, and then you change your position, legitimate tactics. And we need to respond,” Sikorski said.   

The Dutch news agency reported that Prime Minister Dick Schoof would go to Paris on Monday for the summit.  

It was unclear whether Zelenskyy would be invited.  
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Carafano: ‘A free, independent Ukraine is in America’s best interest’

WASHINGTON — James Carafano, senior counselor to the president and national security expert at The Heritage Foundation, responsible for its defense and foreign policy team, spoke with VOA’s Ukraine Service about the Trump administration’s goals and considerations in the negotiation process to achieve peace in Ukraine.

He explained that while not a vital interest, a free and independent Ukraine that can defend itself is in America’s best interests, and he outlined how to achieve this goal.    

Voice of America: How do you and The Heritage Foundation see ending the war in Ukraine, and what is the strategy behind it? 

James Carafano, The Heritage Foundation: It is in America’s best interest that there be a free and independent Ukraine that can defend itself. And the reason for that is the United States. The United States is a global power with global interests and global responsibilities. 

A peaceful Europe, whole, free and at peace, that is a vital American interest. The transit Atlantic community is important to us. And the number one threat, physical threat to that is the destabilizing actions of Russia. And the most concerning and destabilizing action is the security of the Eastern front of NATO and Ukraine, that is free and independent, that can defend itself is an obstacle to the Russians, whether it’s in NATO or not. 

Now, to be honest, it’s not a vital interest in the United States. For the practical matter is, the United Europe can defend itself and the United States can defend Europe if Ukraine’s occupied by Russia. Now having said that, are we way better off? I mean, way, way better off with the Russians on the other side of Ukraine? And the answer is “absolutely.” 

At this point, what is in America’s interest is that the war stops and that there is a ceasefire that is both from a strategic perspective to preserve Ukraine, and that we have to be realistic about Ukraine’s capacity to recover territory that’s been occupied. But also from a humanitarian perspective, and I think this is very deeply reflected in our president. More Ukrainians dying is never going to reconquer all of Ukrainian territory. A war of attrition is never going to create a stronger Ukraine. 

I think everybody is focused on what the deal looks like. I think the deals are relevant. Stopping the war is the objective. The real question is, what do we do the day after the war to ensure there’s a free and independent Ukraine in the future?

VOA: The defense secretary said we don’t want Minsk 3.0. Are we falling into the trap of Munich 2.0, where we appease the dictator, give away territories, embolden the aggressor, and end up in a world war? 

Carafano: I don’t think that’s the peace that the U.S. envisions. So, I’ll tell you what appeasement would be. Appeasement would be giving the Russians something at the negotiating table that they didn’t win on the battlefield. That’s appeasement. 

Recognizing that the Russians have territory they have and the inability of the Ukraine [forces] to retake that territory — maybe they trade territory, I don’t know — that’s called being realistic. 

VOA: If Russia is allowed to keep its spoils of war, what message would it send to other would-be aggressors?    

Carafano: That Russia has failed. Russia’s goal was to conquer and destroy Ukraine. It failed. Russia’s goal was to have NATO fall apart. It failed. If Russia is stopped in Ukraine, and look what they have achieved, they’ve achieved some marginal territorial gains at the cost of destroying the Russian army, crippling the Russian economy, and making themselves a global pariah. If that’s a victory, it’s a kind of really weird Pyrrhic victory. 

VOA: Then, why would [Defense Secretary] Pete Hegseth articulate these concessions?  

Carafano: They’re not concessions. They are statements of reality. We all know it’s true. If you give Putin something at the negotiation table that he wasn’t able to take on the battlefield, that is a concession. So, if for example you said, Ukraine has to give up the sovereignty of its territory even its occupied territory, I would say that’s a really bad deal. That’s a concession. We have never ever forced any country to actually give up the sovereignty of its territory.”

VOA:  What about [Ukraine`s membership] in NATO? Here is a counterargument: Why Russia should have a veto power over NATO? 

Carafano: First of all, Hegseth has never said Russia should have a veto power over the entry of Ukraine into NATO. Hegseth has said, “This is not going to be part of the negotiation and Ukraine is not going to get into NATO now.” That’s no different from the Biden policy and that’s actually just a reflection of reality. NATO is a consensus organization. Every member has to agree. Every member does not agree. So, we all know, the Russians know, we know, everybody in NATO knows, Ukraine is not going to get NATO membership now.”

VOA: What about the future?  

Carafano: He didn’t say that Ukraine shouldn’t join NATO in the future. He just said that NATO membership is not going to be part of the negotiation. 

VOA: So, the main issue here is security guarantees. 

Carafano: That’s also wrong. Somehow that we’re going to say something that’s going deter Putin in the future. That’s nonsense and ridiculous. What’s going to deter Putin in the future is, does Ukraine have the capacity to defend itself? 

VOA: So how do we deter the Russians? 

Carafano: We have a Ukraine as a country that can defend itself and that is free, and its economy grows, and it builds a defense industrial base. And we strengthen NATO because that will equally deter the Russians. 

And we do the other things, which by the way Donald Trump is going to do already, whether there’s a peace deal or not. Donald Trump is going to put a lot of pressure on the Russians. He’s going to lower the price of oil. He’s going to increase sanctions. He’s going to [do] a lot of things that are going to hamstring the Russian economy. Russia is going to be weaker. He’s going to do a lot of things to go after the Iranians. So, the Iranians are going to have a lot less capacity to support the Russians. He’s going to do a lot of things to put a lot of pressure on the Chinese. 

The Chinese are going to be less able to support the Russians. Donald Trump can do a lot to North Korea. 

Regardless of what happens in the actual peace deal in Ukraine, Trump is going to do a lot to the Russians, the Chinese, the North Koreans and the Iranians that really diminishes their capacity to sustain this war. 
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Serbia’s striking students, president hold parallel rallies

KRAGUJEVAC, SERBIA — Serbia’s striking students and supporters of populist President Aleksandar Vucic were holding parallel rallies Saturday as both marked the country’s Statehood Day with notably contrasting messages.

The student-led protest is the latest in a nationwide anti-graft movement that reflects mounting calls for fundamental political changes in the Balkan state, triggered after a concrete canopy on a railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed on Nov. 1, killing 15 people.

The rally in the central industrial city of Kragujevac drew tens of thousands of people demanding justice over the accident and respect for the rule of law. The movement has been seeking to root out rampant endemic corruption.

Students chose Kragujevac for Saturday’s rally because of its history. In 1835, Serbia was still part of the Ottoman Empire, and people in Kragujevac announced a new constitution that sought to limit the powers of the then-rulers. The date is now celebrated as Statehood Day.

People from all over the country streamed into Kragujevac for Saturday’s gathering.

“I am here to support this student rebellion, which has grown into a civil rebellion, and to fight for the rule of law and justice in this society, so that Serbia becomes a country where life is dignified,” said a woman from Belgrade who identified herself only by the name Teodora.

The students arrived Friday to cheers from the residents. Ahead of the protest, they organized marches in various parts of the country, encouraging people to converge in Kragujevac. Some walked; others ran or cycled. Along their journey, people greeted them with food and refreshments and offered accommodation, many crying and expressing hope for change.

The president’s rally

Meanwhile, in Sremska Mitrovica, a small town northwest of Belgrade, Vucic is expected to recycle a traditional nationalist theme, warning that the West wants to unseat him by force and that this could lead to the breakup of the country.

Serbian authorities were set to bus in thousands of supporters from throughout the country as well as neighboring Bosnia. Some opposition activists have said they will try to prevent their arrival.

Vucic said on Instagram that his supporters wish to “defend and save Serbia from those who want to destroy it.”

The anti-graft movement is Vucic’s biggest challenge in recent years. The president — who has ruled Serbia with a firm grip on power for more than a decade — and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have been previously accused of stifling democratic freedoms, publicly discrediting opponents and rigging elections, according to international vote observers.

The canopy disaster, widely believed to have happened due to government corruption, has become a flashpoint for wider discontent with the authoritarian rule, with university students at the forefront of the anti-graft uprising. Their determination, youth and creativity have struck a chord among people widely disillusioned with politicians.

Prosecutors have charged 13 people over the canopy fall, and protests have forced the resignation of Serbia’s prime minister. But students have said their protests will continue until their demands for full accountability are met.

In the past three months, the president has shifted between accusing the students of working for foreign powers to offering concessions and claiming he has fulfilled each of their demands. But during a trip to the Serb-controlled part of neighboring Bosnia this week, Vucic has reiterated claims about an alleged plot from abroad to overthrow him and his government.

The authorities, Vucic said, “couldn’t believe how much money has been invested to bring down the government in Serbia.” He offered no proof for the claims.

Vucic’s trip to the Serb-controlled part of Bosnia was apparently designed to stress Serbian unity with the Serbs in Bosnia, where a bid to create a pan-Serb state in the 1990s’ was widely blamed for triggering a bloody war that killed more than 100,000 people killed and displaced millions.
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Zelenskyy calls for creation of ‘Armed Forces of Europe’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the creation of a unified European military force, saying the continent must be self-reliant amid a persistent threat from Russia and uncertainty about U.S. support — a situation he described as “this new reality.”

“We must build the Armed Forces of Europe so that Europe’s future depends only on Europeans and decisions about Europe are made in Europe,” Zelenskyy said in a speech at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 15.

Amid concerns in Kyiv and Brussels that they could be sidelined in efforts to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, resulting in a deal favoring Moscow, he repeated that Ukraine and Europe must be involved in any negotiations.

“Ukraine will never accept deals behind our backs without our involvement,” Zelenskyy said. “The same rule should apply to all of Europe. No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine — no decisions about Europe without Europe.”

“We must act as Europe, not as some separate people,” Zelenskyy said.

Speaking almost three years after Russia launched the full-scale invasion, he said he would “not take NATO membership for Ukraine off the table” and said Kyiv would not agree to any ceasefire without real security guarantees.

“If not NATO membership, then conditions to build another NATO in Ukraine,” he said.

He questioned the U.S. commitment to Europe, saying: “Does America need Europe? As a market, yes, as an ally — I don’t know.”

Zelenskyy’s address came a day after meeting with top U.S. officials, including Vice President JD Vance, who stressed the need for a “durable, lasting peace” in Ukraine in his speech to the conference on Feb. 14.

Zelenskyy told Vance that Ukraine wants “security guarantees” from Washington before any negotiations with Russia on ending almost three years of war.

The United States has sent mixed signals on its strategy, sparking worry in Kyiv that Ukraine could be forced into a bad deal that leaves Putin emboldened.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told NATO defense ministers earlier this week that it’s “unrealistic” to expect Ukraine’s borders to return to their pre-2014 positions and said NATO membership is not seen by the White House as part of the solution to the conflict.

Ukraine demands Russia withdraw from captured territory and says it must receive NATO membership or equivalent security guarantees to prevent Moscow from attacking again.

Speaking in Warsaw on Feb. 14, he again warned that America’s European NATO partners would have to do far more for their own defense and to secure a future Ukraine peace.

Hegseth also argued that you “don’t have to trust” President Vladimir Putin to negotiate with Russia.

Two days earlier U.S. President Donald Trump said he had a “lengthy and highly productive” phone call with Putin and said they agreed that their teams should begin negotiations immediately.

Zelenskyy responded by saying he wouldn’t accept any deals made without Ukraine’s involvement.

Asked in an interview with NBC on Feb. 14 if he believed that Ukraine would be vulnerable in another few years if a ceasefire were reached, Zelenskyy said: “Yes, I think this can be.”

He said Putin wanted to come to the negotiating table not to end the war but to get a cease-fire deal to lift some sanctions on Russia and allow Moscow’s military to regroup.

“This is really what he wants. He wants pause, prepare, train, take off some sanctions, because of ceasefire,” Zelenskyy said.

Vance, who is representing Trump at the high-profile gathering of world leaders and foreign policy experts, said the United States wants “the kind of peace that’s going to have Eastern Europe in conflict just a couple years down the road.”

There have been a number of “good conversations” with Ukraine, and more would follow “in the days, weeks and months to come,” Vance said.

Zelenskyy agreed, calling the meeting with Vance “a good conversation” and said Kyiv wants to work toward ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, but added that “we need real security guarantees.”

Some information for this report came from NBC News. 
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Ukraine, US weigh critical minerals agreement

Ukraine’s vast reserves of critical minerals give it the potential to be a strategic supplier for the West. President Donald Trump is considering a deal that would continue U.S. support for Ukraine in the war against Russia in exchange for access to its minerals. That proposed agreement is set for discussion at the Munich Security Conference. Myroslava Gongadze has the story from Warsaw, with reporting from Anna Chernikova in Kyiv.
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