Russia-Ukraine updates: ‘Coalition of the willing’ vows Ukraine protection

Click here to read about how a Russian national was sentenced to life imprisonment in Finland for war crimes committed in Ukraine.

See inside the reconstruction efforts of the Ukrainian town of Borodyanka with this story.

And check out our analysis on whether a US decision to sever intelligence-sharing with Ukraine helped Russia make advances in Kursk.

This live page will soon close. Here are the main developments:

• President Zelenskyy said Russia wants to achieve a “stronger position” militarily before committing to any ceasefire in the war in Ukraine.
• Russian troops have retaken control of two settlements in the Kursk region of Russia as Moscow’s advances continue against occupying Ukrainian forces.
• British Prime Minister Starmer said President Putin “must prove he is serious about peace”, adding Western military leaders willing to contribute peacekeepers in Ukraine will meet on Thursday.
• Italy does not envision sending soldiers to Ukraine for peacekeeping purposes in case of a ceasefire, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said.
• Russia and Ukraine continued their aerial attacks against each other as both sides reported more than 100 enemy drones over their territories.
• Zelenskyy said the question of what territory Ukraine and Russia will hold after the war is “complicated” and should be discussed in detail at a later date.

The British prime minister says the Russian leader “must prove he is serious about peace and sign up to a ceasefire on equal terms” with Ukraine.

In a statement released, he added: “We agreed that now the ball was in Russia’s court.”

Russia earlier this week did not immediately agree to a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States as President Vladimir Putin raised questions about the initiative.

“The Kremlin’s dithering and delay over President Trump’s ceasefire proposal, and Russia’s continued barbaric attacks on Ukraine, run entirely counter to President Putin’s stated desire for peace,” Starmer said.

French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed doubts about the Russian leader’s intention to halt fighting with Ukraine.

“Russia doesn’t give the impression of wanting peace in earnest,” Macron said after today’s video meeting with other European and Western leaders.

Rather than responding to the US-led truce proposal, Russia is intensifying its assault, he added.

“President Putin wants to obtain everything – then negotiate. If we want peace, Russia must respond clearly and pressure must be clear, in coordination with the US, in order to reach a ceasefire.”

Umerov has met his counterpart in the Czech Republic to discuss military assistance and battlefield needs.

In Prague, the Ukrainian defence minister expressed gratitude to Jana Cernochova for military support since the start of Russia’s war. He emphasised the importance of the “Czech Initiative”, which has supplied Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of munitions.

The talks also covered further assistance in training and equipping Ukrainian soldiers according to NATO standards.

“Czechia was among the first to help Ukraine after February 24, 2022. We will always remember this support,” Umerov said in a statement.

The Ukrainian president says Russia wants to achieve a “stronger position” militarily before committing to any ceasefire in the war in Ukraine.

Russia earlier this week did not immediately agree to a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States, as President Vladimir Putin raised questions about the initiative.

“They want a stronger position before the ceasefire,” Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv.

“I think the delaying of the process is exactly because of what I said. They want to improve their situation on the battlefield.”

Zelenskyy said he chose an official delegation to represent Kyiv in any possible peace talks.

He appointed his presidential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, to head the delegation, with Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, and deputy chief of presidential staff Pavlo Palisa to take part as delegation members.

Kyiv, Ukraine – Since the dawn of his rule 25 years ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his public relations team have carefully sculpted his image as a strong, stern macho man.

Russian television and Kremlin photographers have shown him wearing a judo uniform while throwing his opponents to the ground, playing hockey and scoring goals, horse-riding bare-chested, hunting, fishing and swimming.

What the ex-colonel with the KGB has almost never done in public is don a military uniform – despite his status of Russia’s commander-in-chief.

Read the full story here.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has urged Russia to finally work towards peace in Ukraine after three years of bloody war.

“It is now up to Russia to put an end to its daily attacks against Ukrainian cities and civil infrastructure, and to finally take the way of a lasting and just peace,” Scholz said in a statement after participating in the virtual summit hosted by Starmer.

Overnight fighting continued in the relentless war with Russia saying it has taken two more villages in its Kursk border region, where it launched an offensive to wrest back territory seized by Ukrainian forces.

Putin is noncommittal as Washington’s diplomatic drive to end the Ukraine war intensifies.

US officials met in Moscow with their counterparts after winning Ukrainian backing for a 30-day ceasefire. Is the war nearing an end, and what are the obstacles?

Jolted into action by Trump’s reluctance to keep underwriting Europe’s and Ukraine’s security, other Western countries have been forced to show they are prepared to step up.

Britain and France have both said they could send peacekeepers to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said after today’s video meeting that his country is also open to requests to contribute to a future peacekeeping effort.

But even if a ceasefire is agreed, much remains unclear. Russia has said explicitly it will not accept Western forces being deployed on Ukrainian soil.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last month that Moscow would view that as a “direct threat” to Russia’s sovereignty.

Ukrainian Minister of Defence Rustem Umerov has met his Italian counterpart, Guido Crosetto, to discuss military support and industrial cooperation with Rome.

“Ukraine is ready to establish joint ventures and attract new investments to enhance our defence sector,” Umerov said.

“Additionally, we identified promising areas for defence development, particularly in drone technology and maritime systems.”

🇺🇦🤝🇮🇹 https://t.co/QnTtfyTTef

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) March 15, 2025

Zelenskyy says the question of what territory Ukraine and Russia will hold is “complicated” and should be discussed in detail at a later date.

He made the remark during a news briefing in Kyiv, where he said Ukraine would never recognise occupied territory as Russian and he’s unaware of what exactly US and Russian officials discussed during recent talks in Moscow.

In September 2022,  Russia unilaterally announced it had “four new regions”, calling the residents of Ukraine’s partially occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions “our citizens forever”.

President Zelenskyy welcomes anything that will come out of this meeting between the UK and the EU, but really what he wants to see is more pressure being applied on Russia by the US, as this is the main power in this equation.

The reality is while the United Kingdom is talking about what it will do in the future, Russian forces are advancing in Sumy and Kursk and it’s not looking good for Ukraine.

Here in Ukraine there is still a sense of hope that a ceasefire may be agreed on. But there is also a considerable amount of scepticism as people do not trust Putin, believing he broke several agreements in the past.

Ukraine’s leader has blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for failing to agree to a ceasefire after talks with European leaders via video.

“We talked about who would delay peace and slow everything down – and now we see it clearly. A ceasefire could have already happened, but Russia is doing everything to prevent it,” said Zelenskyy.

“Putin is also lying about how a ceasefire is supposedly too complicated. In reality, everything can be controlled, and we have discussed this with the Americans.”

I addressed the meeting of European leaders stating that the path to peace must begin unconditionally. And if Russia doesn’t want this, then strong pressure must be applied until they do. Moscow understands one language. pic.twitter.com/4RewM39OJp

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 15, 2025

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof says it’s vital to keep up the pressure on Russia to come to a ceasefire with Ukraine.

“It is now important to continue to exert pressure on Russia to come to the negotiating table,” Schoof said in a message after taking part in the virtual meeting with other leaders about Ukraine hosted by Britain.

Schoof said there is “broad agreement” among the leaders to continue military and financial support for Ukraine.

The proposals from the US and Ukraine for a ceasefire “also give hope,” he added, warning Europe will also continue to work hard on new sanctions on Russia.

UK Prime Minister Starmer’s remarks are likely to be ignored or even mocked by Russian officials. The position in Moscow is that threats coming from the UK and EU are not going to have any weight.

Since Trump took office in January, he has been the real dealmaker in this conflict, while the UK and EU are no longer players able to influence the outcome.

From the outset of the war in 2022, Russia has come under unprecedented sanctions from the EU. Just last week the bloc passed its 16th package of sanctions. But Russia continues to function and maintain a defiant position despite the economic hardships.

It is also no longer reliant on the EU buying gas. About 40 percent of the EU was relying on Russian gas before the war started. But now that is down to 8 percent.

Volgograd regional Governor Andrei Bocharov has confirmed falling drone debris sparked a fire close to a Lukoil oil refinery in eastern Russia.

The incident occurred in Krasnoarmeysky district. Nearby airports temporarily halted flights, local media outlets reported. No casualties were reported.

The Volgograd refinery has been attacked by Kyiv’s forces on several occasions since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said it shot down 126 Ukrainian drones, 64 of which were destroyed over the Volgograd region. Drones were also shot down over the Voronezh, Belgorod, Bryansk, Rostov and Kursk regions.