President Donald Trump said he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday about ending the Ukraine war, with territorial concessions by Kyiv and control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant expected to feature prominently in the talks.
The interim government in Damascus will take part on Monday in a conference to gather aid pledges for Syria, facing the prospect of diminishing assistance as it struggles with humanitarian and security problems after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
Thousands of people gathered on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach on Sunday in a show of support for former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, who faces charges of leading a plot to topple the government and undermine the country's democracy after he lost a 2022 election.
Trump and Putin to hold talks on ending Ukraine war
President Donald Trump said he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday about ending the Ukraine war, with territorial concessions by Kyiv and control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant expected to feature prominently in the talks.
“We want to see if we can bring that war to an end,” the US president told reporters on Air Force One during a flight back to the Washington area from Florida.
“Maybe we can, maybe we can’t, but I think we have a very good chance.
“I’ll be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday. A lot of work’s been done over the weekend.”
Trump is trying to win Putin’s support for a 30-day ceasefire proposal that Ukraine accepted last week, as both sides continued trading heavy aerial strikes through the weekend and Russia moved closer to ejecting Ukrainian forces from their months-old foothold in the western Russian region of Kursk.
Asked about what concessions were being considered in ceasefire negotiations, Trump said: “We’ll be talking about land. We'll be talking about power plants… We’re already talking about that, dividing up certain assets.”
Trump gave no details but was most likely referring to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia facility in Ukraine, Europe’s largest nuclear plant. Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of risking an accident at the plant with their actions.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Monday that Putin would speak with Trump by phone but declined to comment on Trump’s remarks about land and power plants.
The Kremlin said on Friday that Putin had sent Trump a message about his ceasefire plan via US envoy Steve Witkoff, who held talks in Moscow, expressing “cautious optimism” that a deal could be reached to end the three-year conflict.
In separate appearances on Sunday TV shows in the US, Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, emphasised that there were still challenges to be worked out before Russia agrees to a ceasefire, much less a final peaceful resolution to the war.
Asked on ABC whether the US would accept a peace deal in which Russia was allowed to keep Ukrainian territory that it has seized, Waltz replied: “We have to ask ourselves, is it in our national interest? Is it realistic? Are we going to drive every Russian off of every inch of Ukrainian soil?
“We can talk about what is right or wrong but also have to talk about the reality of the situation on the ground,” he said, adding that the alternative to finding compromises on land and other issues was “endless warfare” and even World War Three.
Russia would seek “ironclad” guarantees in any peace deal that Nato nations excluded Kyiv from membership and that Ukraine would remain neutral, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Russian media outlet Izvestia in remarks published on Monday that made no reference to the ceasefire proposal.
“We will demand that ironclad security guarantees become part of this agreement,” Izvestia cited Grushko as saying.
Moscow has demanded that Ukraine drop its Nato ambitions, that Russia keeps control of all Ukrainian territory seized, and that the size of the Ukrainian army be limited. It also wants Western sanctions eased and a presidential election in Ukraine, which Kyiv says is premature while martial law is in force.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said on Monday that the conditions demanded by Russia to agree to a ceasefire showed that Moscow does not want peace.
Syria’s new rulers face likely aid drop at EU conference
The interim government in Damascus will take part on Monday in a conference to gather aid pledges for Syria, facing the prospect of diminishing assistance as it struggles with humanitarian and security problems after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
The annual conference has been hosted by the EU since 2017 — but took place without the government of Assad, who was shunned for his brutal actions in a civil war that began in 2011.
This year, however, the pledges at the Brussels gathering are expected to be lower than in previous years.
After Assad’s overthrow in December, European Union officials hope to use the conference as a fresh start, despite concerns about deadly violence this month that pitted the new, Islamist rulers against Assad loyalists.
“This is a time of dire needs and challenges for Syria, as tragically evidenced by the recent wave of violence in coastal areas,” said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
But she said it was also “a time of hope”, citing an agreement struck on 10 March to integrate the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which control much of Syria's northeast, into new state institutions.
The total number of pledges is expected to be less than in previous years due to the United States’ cuts to humanitarian and development aid, said European Commissioner Hadja Lahbib on Monday ahead of the conference.
“The EU is committed to supporting the Syrian people and is ready to participate in Syria’s recovery, but we can’t fill the gap left by others,” said Lahbib.
About 16.5 million people in Syria require humanitarian aid, with 12.9 million people needing food aid, according to the EU.
The destruction from the war has been compounded by an economic crisis that has sent the Syrian pound tumbling and pushed almost the entire population below the poverty line.
“While the needs are increasing, the support is decreasing. And this is, of course, tragic, because we know that the next few months will be critical,” said Pederson.
Thousands gather in Rio to demonstrate support for Bolsonaro
Thousands of people gathered on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach on Sunday in a show of support for former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, who faces charges of leading a plot to topple the government and undermine the country's democracy after he lost a 2022 election.
Charges against the former army captain and several key allies will go before a five-judge panel at Brazil's Supreme Court on 25 March. If judges agree to hear the trial, Bolsonaro and others will become defendants.
Bolsonaro and his representatives have denied wrongdoing.
“The President never condoned any movement aimed at dismantling the democratic rule of law or the institutions that support it,” said his defence attorneys.
Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet filed the charges last month against Bolsonaro, a veteran politician with nearly three decades in Congress, accusing him of organising a criminal group trying to break with the country’s democracy. The alleged plans included a plot to poison President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who won the 2022 race and succeeded Bolsonaro in office.
In Sunday’s demonstration, people demanded a pardon for supporters of the former president, who were accused of ransacking government buildings days after the inauguration of Da Silva.
Bolsonaro told supporters that a bill proposing a pardon for people who participated in the 8 January riots had enough support to be approved in the lower house.
“We are talking about innocent people who have no idea or power over what they were doing,” he said during his speech, which was interrupted after some people felt sick from the heat. “What democracy is that which arrests the innocent. ... Without freedom of expression there is no democracy.”
Canada’s PM Carney in Europe to work with ‘reliable allies’
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said that it was important for Canada to strengthen ties with “reliable allies” in Europe, as he met French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday for his first overseas visit amid tensions with the US.
Carney’s decision to visit Paris instead of Washington, as is usual for Canadian leaders, comes after Trump escalated trade tensions with both Canada and Europe, and floated threats of annexing Canada.
“[It]is more important than ever for Canada to strengthen its ties with reliable allies like France,” Carney said, ahead of a working lunch with Macron at the Elysee Palace, noting that Canada was “the most European of non-European countries”.
In a veiled reference to Trump, Macron said Canada was a good example of a country that defended its national interests while being collaborative on the global scene.
“I think we both believe that fair trade that respects international rules is good for everyone’s prosperity, and is certainly more effective than tariffs,” said Macron.
US judge questions Trump’s deportation of Venezuelans
A US judge on Monday ordered Trump administration officials to explain whether the administration violated his order when they deported hundreds of Venezuelan gang members over the weekend and potentially set up a constitutional clash between the president and the federal judiciary.
The White House asserted on Sunday that federal courts “have no jurisdiction” over Trump’s authority to expel foreign enemies under an 18th-century law historically used only in wartime.
Judge James Boasberg in Washington set a hearing for 5pm ET on Monday and instructed the government to provide details on whether the flights that transported the Venezuelans to El Salvador took off after his order or were in the air at the time.
The hearing was scheduled in response to an overnight filing by the American Civil Liberties Union and other advocates seeking clarity on the flights.
The rapid developments represent a potential escalation in Trump’s challenge to the US Constitution’s system of checks and balances and the independence of the judicial branch of government.
At an emergency hearing on Saturday requested by the ACLU, a civil rights group, Boasberg issued a two-week temporary block on Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport 238 alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang.
The judge said in court that any flights already en route should return to the US.
On Sunday, El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, posted footage on X showing men being pulled off a plane in the dark of night.
“Oopsie ... too late,” wrote Bukele above a news story about the judge's order.
On Monday, Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, said the flights were already in international airspace when the judge’s orders came and that more flights would continue.
“Once you're outside the border, you know, it is what it is. But they’re in international waters, already on the way south, close to landing. You know what? We did what we had to do,” he told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” programme.
Asked what was next, Homan said: “Another flight, another flight every day. We’re not stopping. I don’t care what the judges think.”
Ex-South Korea defence minister denies insurrection in martial law plot
A former South Korean defence minister charged with insurrection for his role in trying to enforce martial law defended his actions at the start of his trial on Monday and blamed “wicked behaviour” by the opposition for triggering a political crisis.
Prosecutors have accused Kim Yong-hyun, who resigned and is now detained, of conspiring with President Yoon Suk-yeol to stage an insurrection through martial law over the opposition’s control of parliament, indictments against him show.
Kim has denied wrongdoing and said imposing martial law was intended to raise alarm over the opposition’s dominance and gather information related to election fraud concerns.
“Wicked behaviour by the huge opposition party got worse,” Kim, dressed in a grey suit and a turtleneck, told the court, citing the Democratic Party’s moves to impeach multiple officials using its majority in parliament.
Last December, President Yoon shocked the nation by declaring martial law, saying he wanted to root out “anti-state forces” and overcome political deadlock.
Yoon and Kim deployed troops to six locations including parliament and the National Election Commission, and sought to block access from outside, according to the indictments.
Within hours, 190 legislators had defied cordons of troops and police and voted down Yoon’s order, prompting the president to rescind it.
“Did I stage an illegal coup or insurrection? No, I didn’t... How can you [prosecutors] call it conspiring or plotting when it was a discussion?” Kim said, referring to his alleged conversation with Yoon to plan martial law.
Prosecutors also told the court that former army intelligence commander Noh Sang-won visited Kim’s residence every day from four days before the martial law order, and ordered military officers to prepare equipment such as cable ties to arrest election commission officials.
Lawyers for Kim say Noh, who is a co-defendant charged with insurrection, had nothing to do with the martial law and no connection to Yoon.
During Monday’s opening arguments, prosecutor Yoo Byung-kuk said martial law was not justified because it was not “a state of national emergency, or equivalent to wartime.
“They [Kim and Yoon] mobilised the military and police to blockade the National Assembly ... arrested and detained officials at the National Election Commission without a warrant,” said Yoo.
In reply, Kim’s lawyer Lee Ha-sang said prosecutors’ accusations were insufficient to amount to a crime of insurrection.
“Insurrection means harming stability and peace over a long time, but we don’t understand that martial command’s work such as restricting access could fit as insurrection,” he said.
Yoon is also facing a criminal trial for insurrection, though he was freed from detention earlier this month.
In addition, the president is waiting on an impeachment ruling expected in the coming days from the Constitutional Court to decide whether to remove him from office. DM