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US President Donald Trump said Sunday he could meet “very soon” with Vladimir Putin, adding he believes his Russian counterpart genuinely wants to stop fighting in Ukraine.”No time set, but it could be very soon,” Trump told reporters, hours after Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to play down expectations of upcoming high-level talks in Riyadh on ending the war.With Rubio set to lead a high-level American delegation at the discussions with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia’s capital in the coming days, a flurry of diplomacy was taking place as the brutal Ukraine war nears its third anniversary.Trump, addressing reporters after a flight on Air Force One, said his team has been speaking “long and hard” with Russian officials, including his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff whom the president said met with Putin for about three hours recently.”I think he wants to stop fighting,” Trump said of Putin. Asked whether he believes Putin wants to seize the entirety of Ukraine, Trump said: “That was my question to him. “If he’s going to go on… that would have caused me a big problem,” Trump added. “I think he wants to end it, and they want to end it fast. Both of them,” he said, adding “Zelensky wants to end it too.”Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meanwhile said Sunday he believes Russia is preparing to “wage war” against a weakened NATO should Trump dilute US support for the alliance.Trump appeared to dismiss Zelensky’s remarks, telling reporters he was “not even a little bit” concerned about the Ukrainian leader’s messaging.The Republican had repeatedly insisted he would end the Ukraine conflict in a single day if he returned to the White House, but Rubio stressed it would “not be easy” to resolve such a long-running, bloody and complex conflict.”A process towards peace is not a one-meeting thing,” America’s top diplomat said in an interview with CBS on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.- ‘Nothing’ finalized -Rubio is set to lead a high-level US team to Riyadh, but it remains unclear whether there will be any Ukrainian participation. Rubio said he wasn’t even sure who Moscow was sending.”Nothing’s been finalized yet,” he said, adding the aim was to seek an opening for a broader conversation that “would include Ukraine and would involve the end of the war.”Witkoff and US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz are both expected to attend the talks.Trump and Putin held a lengthy phone call Wednesday in which they agreed to start ceasefire negotiations immediately.The call blindsided NATO allies as well as Kyiv, with Zelensky insisting there should be “no decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine.””Right now there is no process,” said Rubio, who spoke by phone Saturday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. “One phone call does not make peace.”In an interview with NBC broadcast Sunday, Zelensky had said Putin was a serial liar and could not be trusted as a negotiating partner.”I don’t think in geopolitics, anyone should trust anyone,” Rubio said.”The next few weeks and days will determine whether (Putin) is serious or not.”

At least nine people have died in the eastern United States, including eight in Kentucky, as powerful storms brought flooding and exceptionally powerful winds, downing trees and cutting power, local officials announced Sunday.Brutally cold weather is expected to hit much of the country later in the week.”I’m heartbroken to share we’ve lost at least 8 people to this storm,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said on X. “And remember, the severe weather continues.”He said the number of fatalities was likely to increase.In addition, one person died in the southern city of Atlanta, Georgia. The victim was killed when an “extremely large” tree fell on his house early Sunday, local fire official Scott Powell told local media.Most of the dead in Kentucky, Beshear said in an earlier news conference, drowned when trapped in their vehicles by fast-rising floodwaters. The victims included a mother and her child.The governor, who has declared a state of emergency, urged people to stay off the roads.Beshear said more than 1,000 people had been rescued by first responders within 24 hours.The storm was blowing up from the South and into the US Northeast, a region struck in recent weeks by a succession of extreme cold, snow, rain and powerful winds. More than 500,000 customers were without power Sunday from the South through New York state, according to monitoring website poweroutage.us. The National Weather Service predicted the center of the country would be hit this week by a mass of extremely cold Arctic air, bringing record temperatures that could hit brutal lows — even -60 degrees Fahrenheit (-51 degrees celsius) in the Plains states near the Canadian border.

President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend US overseas funding could result in millions more deaths from AIDS, the head of the UN’s programme for the illness warned Sunday.The United States is the world’s largest provider of official development assistance, with most funds directed through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).Trump ordered the bulk of US foreign assistance to be frozen for three months on returning to office in January, leaving global humanitarians scrambling to deal with the fallout.”It’s dramatic in many countries,” UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima told AFP.”I need to sound the alarm so that it’s very clear that this is a big part (of AIDS relief funding). If it goes away, people are going to die.”The US move included a 90-day suspension of all work by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), although his administration later issued waivers for medication under the programme.- ‘Tenfold’ death increase -That programme supports more than 20 million HIV patients and 270,000 health workers, according to an analysis from the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR).”We could see additional deaths increasing by tenfold” to 6.3 million in five years, Byanyima said, citing UNAIDS estimates.”Or we could see new infections increase up to 8.7 million” in the same period, she said.The United States has said that “life-saving treatments” would be exempt from the freeze — although front-line workers in Africa say facilities have already closed.Speaking on the sidelines of the African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Byanyima said she had discussed the issue with leaders, urging them to transition from foreign funding towards using domestic revenue.But she noted many African nations were saddled with huge debts — some at “more than 50 percent of their entire revenue collections” — which crippled their ability to even begin to plug the potential shortfall.”Part of the answer is in pushing very hard for an immediate and comprehensive debt restructuring,” she said.”For many of them, debt is crowding out what could be spent on health and education.”Founded in 1961, USAID has an annual budget of more than $40 billion, used to support development, health and humanitarian programmes around the world, especially in poor countries.

Marvel and Disney’s new superhero film “Captain America: Brave New World” easily dominated the North American box office this weekend, earning an estimated $100 million in the biggest opening of the year, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday. The film’s strong showing on a four-day US holiday weekend came despite tepid reviews and lukewarm audience scores, with analysts saying stories of superhero-movie fatigue may be exaggerated.Anthony Mackie stars as Sam Wilson, taking over the title role from Chris Evans, this time in a tale about an international struggle over a cache of super-powerful adamantium. Harrison Ford plays a US president who (spoiler alert) morphs into a monster. Columbia and Sony’s “Paddington in Peru,” the return of the earnest, floppy hatted, marmalade-loving bear, came in a very distant second, at an estimated $16 million for the Friday-through-Monday period, despite positive reviews. The live action/animation hybrid has Paddington, voiced by Ben Whishaw, returning to Peru to visit his aunt, who turns up missing. His friends the Browns, played by Hugh Bonneville and Emily Mortimer, come along. Made for an estimated $90 million, the film has already sold some $115 million in tickets overseas.Third place for the four days went to the animation “Dog Man,” a superhero comedy from Universal and DreamWorks, at $12.3 million. The film is a spinoff from the best-selling “Captain Underpants” books.In fourth was the Sony horror film “Heart Eyes,” at $11.1 million. Described as a “romantic comedy slasher” film, it stars Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding in the story of a serial killer who strikes on Valentine’s Day. And animation “Ne Zha 2″ from CMC Pictures came in fifth, at $8.5 million. The film has pulverized records in China with ticket sales exceeding $1 billion since its release there on January 29, the highest total ever for any movie in the big Chinese market. Loosely inspired by a famous 16th century novel and Chinese mythology, the movie has the supernaturally powerful Nezha taking on the Dragon King of the Four Seas. Its 2019 precursor broke animation records in China, ultimately grossing over $700 million. Rounding out the top 10 were:”Mufasa: The Lion King” ($5.3 million)”Love Hurts” ($5 million)”One of Them Days” ($3.3 million)”Companion” ($2.2 million)”Becoming Led Zeppelin” ($2 million)

Top US diplomat Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a united front Sunday against their common enemies, threatening to “open the gates of hell” on Hamas and “finish the job” against Iran.The pledges came during a joint address to reporters in Jerusalem, where Rubio began his first Middle East trip as secretary of state in President Donald Trump’s new administration.”Hamas cannot continue as a military or a government force… they must be eliminated,” Rubio said of the Palestinian Islamist group that fought Israel for more than 15 months in Gaza until a fragile ceasefire took effect on January 19.Standing beside Rubio, Netanyahu said the two allies had “a common strategy”, and that “the gates of hell will be opened” if all hostages still held by militants in Gaza are not freed.The comments came a day after Hamas freed three Israeli hostages in exchange for 369 Palestinian prisoners — the sixth such swap under the ceasefire deal, which the United States helped mediate along with Qatar and Egypt.Netanyahu’s comment echoed one made by Trump ahead of Saturday’s swap. Trump had said “all hell” would break loose and that he would call for the truce deal’s cancellation if the hostages weren’t freed on Saturday.Israel and Hamas have traded accusations of ceasefire violations.Adding to strain on the deal, Trump has made a widely condemned proposal to take control of rubble-strewn Gaza and relocate its more than two million residents.”We discussed Trump’s bold vision for Gaza’s future and will work to ensure that vision becomes a reality,” Netanyahu said.The scheme that Trump outlined earlier this month while Netanyahu visited Washington lacked details, but he said it would entail moving Gazans to Jordan or Egypt. Trump said Palestinians had “lived a miserable existence” in Gaza, and suggested the coastal territory could be redeveloped into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.- ‘The only plan’ -Washington, Israel’s top ally and weapons supplier, says it is open to alternative proposals from Arab governments, but Rubio has said that for now, “the only plan is the Trump plan”.The international community, however, including Saudi Arabia and other Arab states, is largely in favour of a two-state solution, with a Palestinian state alongside Israel.Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday said establishment of a Palestinian state was “the only guarantee” of lasting Middle East peace.Rubio is heading to Saudi Arabia on Monday, and will also visit the United Arab Emirates.Hamas and Israel are implementing the first, 42-day phase of the ceasefire, which nearly collapsed last week.”At any moment the fighting could resume. We hope that the calm will continue and that Egypt will pressure Israel to prevent them from restarting the war and displacing people,” said Nasser al-Astal, 62, a retired teacher in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis.Since the truce began last month, 19 Israeli hostages have been released in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.Out of 251 people seized in Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war, 70 remain in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.In a statement on Sunday, Rubio condemned Hamas’s hostage-taking and called for the immediate release of all remaining captives, living and dead, particularly five Israeli-American dual nationals.”The fact that these terrorists continue to hold hostages and even dead bodies reflects their sick depravity,” Rubio said. “I call on our partners to help impress upon Hamas’s leaders that they are playing with fire.”Negotiations on a second phase of the truce, aimed at securing a more lasting end to the war, could begin this week in Doha, a Hamas official and another source familiar with the talks have said.Netanyahu’s office said he would convene a meeting of his security cabinet on Monday to discuss phase two.Separately, it said he was also dispatching negotiators to Cairo Monday to discuss the “continued implementation” of phase one.The team would “receive further directives for negotiations on Phase II” after Monday’s meeting, the office said.- ‘Finish the job’ -The Gaza war triggered violent fallout throughout the Middle East, where Iran backs militant groups including in Yemen and Lebanon. Israel fought a related war with Hamas’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah, severely weakening it. There were also limited direct strikes by Iran and Israel against each other.Rubio called Iran the “single greatest source of instability in the region”.Netanyahu said that with the support of the Trump administration, “I have no doubt that we can and will finish the job” against Iran.The October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,271 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.On Sunday, Hamas said an Israeli air strike killed three police officers near south Gaza’s Rafah in what the militant group called a “serious violation” of the truce. Israel said it had struck “several armed individuals” in south Gaza.It is at least the second Israeli air strike in Gaza since the ceasefire began.burs-lb/it/smw

Elon Musk said his startup xAI will release its Grok 3 chatbot on Monday and billed it as the “smartest AI on Earth” in a fiercely competitive market.The company’s flagship artificial intelligence product will go live with a demonstration on Monday night at 8:00 pm Pacific time (0400 GMT), the tech billionaire wrote Saturday on his social media platform X.Grok 3 was trained on synthetic data and is capable of reflecting on errors it makes by going over data in order to reach logical consistency.”Will be honing product with the team all weekend, so offline until then,” said Musk, the world’s richest person and a top advisor to President Donald Trump who is tasked with slashing government spending.Musk said last week that Grok 3 was in the final stages of development and would be released to the world in a matter of weeks.xAI is seeking a competitive edge in a market teeming with products like OpenAI’s ChatGPT as artificial intelligence spreads through contemporary life.Chinese startup DeepSeek shocked the global AI industry last month with the launch of its low-cost, high-quality chatbot — a challenge to US ambitions to lead the world in developing the technology.DeepSeek quickly overtook ChatGPT in downloads on the Apple app store.Musk has repeatedly warned that AI poses a risk to human civilization, but he is nonetheless pushing hard for a bigger slice of investment in the sector.xAI said in December it raised $6 billion in its latest funding round from investors that included US venture capitalists, chipmakers Nvidia and AMD, and investment funds from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, among others. It raised an initial $6 billion in May.The company is now one of the world’s most valuable startups, though still dwarfed by OpenAI.Musk, who also acts as boss of SpaceX and Tesla, launched the AI company in July 2023 shortly after he signed an open letter calling for a pause in the development of powerful AI models.OpenAI’s board chairman on Friday said it has unanimously rejected a Musk-led offer to buy the company for $97.4 billion.

A flood of presidential trade policy announcements has kept US automakers on edge since Donald Trump returned to the White House last month.While some signature threats –- like 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada — have been wielded and then paused, Trump’s multipronged assault on the international trade order is building up incremental cost pressures, according to auto industry experts.An additional 10 percent tariff on imports from China — a major auto parts supplier — has already been imposed, and a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum imports that takes effect March 12 is likely to add another layer to supply and manufacturing costs.”It’s like, a little here, a little there,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said this week. “They won’t be small together.”And there has been no letup in the stream of trade directives emanating from the Oval Office.On Thursday, when Trump signed plans for sweeping “reciprocal tariffs” with trading partners, he highlighted an imbalance between US and European Union levies on car imports as a prime example of what he was targeting.And the following day, the president said he planned to unveil tariffs on foreign cars in early April, though he did not specify how large the levies would be or which countries would be initially earmarked.If the paused Mexico and Canada tariffs are eventually imposed, Farley said they would “blow a hole” in the US auto industry, which has been integrated with its neighbors since the 1990s North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).”Most folks recognize the threat, but they don’t believe he’s going to drop the bomb,” said Cox Automotive economist Charlie Chesbrough.Besides the Detroit giants, foreign automakers also have extensive investments in Mexico and Canada. Honda has factories in the United States, Canada and Mexico and none of the cars it sold in the US market in 2024 were imported from Japan, according to figures from the consultancy GlobalData.- New US investment? -Trump administration officials have characterized tariffs as a potential revenue source as well as an incentive for global companies to add manufacturing capacity in the United States.Trump has placed tariffs at the center of his “America First” approach, describing the levies as a way to right past “unfair” treatment from trade allies. A White House fact sheet released Thursday pointed out that the European Union imposes a 10 percent tariff on imported cars, while the United States levy stands at 2.5 percent.Within the EU, German automakers are the biggest source of direct US car imports from Europe. This group includes luxury brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi that either have or are part of companies that also operate manufacturing facilities in the United States.Placating the Trump administration on the EU auto tariff could be relatively painless for Brussels, said Jeff Schuster, vice president of global research at GlobalData.”US vehicles, especially the vehicles that are popular here, would not be popular in Europe,” said Schuster, who expects eliminating the EU tariff would have little impact.Auto analysts believe foreign automakers may in the coming months unveil plans to expand or build new factories in the United States. However, they face a dilemma about what kind of vehicles to manufacture due to the shifting winds of US politics.At the same time the Trump administration is pursuing a shake-up to international trade, it is signaling a reversal on efforts to boost electric vehicle capacity, placing the United States out of step with Europe, China and other major markets.The long lead-time in the auto industry means the cars resulting from current investment decisions may not hit the market for four or five years.As global companies, “it’s not efficient to have different strategies in every market,” Schuster said.

He courted young, angry men during his presidential campaign. Now Donald Trump is back in the White House, where he and his acolytes are applying what they see as a decidedly masculine stamp on all they do.Seeking a return to traditional gender norms, the new administration is making a big show of centering men — from Elon Musk declaring that “testosterone rocks!” to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth doing push-ups to redefining government acronyms from a male perspective.And the push goes well beyond the performative, with the fist-pumping Trump moving to sign executive orders eroding healthcare access for transgender people and declaring the country will recognize only two genders — men and women — in his first days in office.Musk, Trump’s top donor and most powerful ally, whom the president has tapped to lead government cuts and, specifically, to slash programs targeting racism and inequality, has repeatedly been at the vanguard of the push to make America manly again. The billionaire Tesla and SpaceX boss on Wednesday warned of what he said were risks facing men from policies that seek to combat discrimination. In a videoconference, he offered the bizarre-sounding suggestion that an artificial intelligence-based program designed to promote “diversity at all costs” could even “decide that there were too many men in power and execute them. So problem solved.”The world’s richest person, Musk also posted a message on his X platform saying “Testosterone rocks.”New Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, who has criticized the presence of women in combat roles and vowed to bring “warrior culture” back, on Friday shared photos of himself jogging and exercising with US troops on a snowy path in Poland.  Hegseth, a military veteran, said he had done five series of 47 pushups — a reference to Trump as the 47th American president.The Trump administration has even imposed a male-centric stamp on some government acronyms.A warning system for pilots known as NOTAM, for “Notice to Air Missions” has been changed officially to the “Notice to Airmen.” – ‘Nostalgic patriarchy’ -There is a method to all this maleness, experts say.”The emphasis on a rigid gender binary is an outgrowth of a nostalgic patriarchy that wants to return to a mid-20th century understanding of gender relations, with white, heterosexual men at the pinnacle of a hierarchical identity pyramid,” said Karrin Anderson, a communications professor at Colorado State University.Trump, of course, is at the heart of the movement.Shortly after his return to power on January 20, the president ordered an end to passports with a gender-neutral “X” option and moved to restrict gender transition procedures for people under the age of 19. The 78-year-old billionaire, who has promised to “protect” women “whether the women like it or not,” also signed an order banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports events. At the signing event, he surrounded himself with women and young girls.His administration even went so far as to scrub all references to transgender and queer people from the National Park Service-administered website for a monument to the 1969 Stonewall riots, a foundational moment in the struggle for LGBTQ rights. The approach can take on a religious hue, with Trump not averse to presenting himself as a providential emissary from God. Newly confirmed health minister Robert F. Kennedy Jr. compared the president on Thursday to “a man on a white horse” arriving at a gallop to save America.- ‘Healthy masculinity’ -“The revitalization of American masculinity is our nation’s most pressing need,” Jim Daly of the conservative evangelical group Focus on the Family said last month.Writing in the Washington Examiner, he said that Trump, like conservative US president Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, was promoting what he called “healthy masculinity.”  With Reagan’s portrait hanging in the Oval Office, it has been under the gaze of the former Western movie actor that Trump deploys his thick black marker to sign orders that, Anderson says, confirm his muscular approach to power.”By bypassing Congress and flouting Constitutional checks and balances,” she said, “Trump demonstrates his might by exercising masculinized, autocratic authority rather than engaging in collaborative, democratic decision-making.”Trump 2.0 is not entirely an old boys club, however.While the Republican president has named a male-dominated cabinet, he has brought in more women than during his first term, some in strategic positions.His new chief of staff Susie Wiles — whom Trump calls “the ice maiden” for her coolness under fire — is the first woman in that influential post.

European leaders on Saturday scrambled to force their way to the table for any talks on the Ukraine war, as Washington announced a team of senior US officials was planning to meet in Saudi Arabia with counterparts from Moscow and Kyiv.US President Donald Trump upended the status quo this week when he announced he was likely to soon meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin to start talks to end the conflict, leaving US allies in Europe concerned their interests would be sidelined.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will head to Saudi Arabia for ceasefire talks with Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, US officials said Saturday, without giving details on when the meeting would happen.Rubio had already been due to visit Saudi Arabia as part his first tour of the Middle East, which began Saturday when he arrived in Israel, an AFP journalist reported.The top US diplomat also had a call Saturday with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, in which he “reaffirmed President Trump’s commitment to finding an end to the conflict in Ukraine,” spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement.In Munich, NATO chief Mark Rutte said Europe had to come up with “good proposals” for securing peace in Ukraine if it wanted to be involved in US-led talks.”If Europeans want to have a say, make yourself relevant,” Rutte told journalists at a gathering of top policymakers.Rutte also said he would head to Paris on Monday to take part in an expected meeting of European leaders convened by French President Emmanuel Macron.A spokesman for Macron’s office told AFP “discussions” were ongoing over a “possible informal meeting”.UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday that Europe “must take on a greater role in NATO” and work with the United States to “secure Ukraine’s future”.As part of any eventual “security guarantees” for Ukraine, talks have begun in Europe over a potential deployment of peacekeepers. But those discussions are at an embryonic stage — and others argue the focus needs to be on building up Ukraine’s own forces. – Europe has ‘input’ -Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for the creation of a European army, arguing the continent could no longer count on Washington.”We can’t rule out the possibility that America might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it,” Zelensky said. “I really believe that time has come. The Armed Forces of Europe must be created.”The push for a joint continental force has been mooted for years without gaining traction and Zelensky’s intervention seems unlikely to shift the balance.Zelensky’s rallying cry came a day after he met US Vice-President JD Vance and as Kyiv tries to ensure it is not sidelined by Trump’s engagement with Putin. “Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement,” Zelensky said in a speech. “No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine. No decisions about Europe without Europe.”But Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, gave Europeans reasons to doubt they would be heard.Europe would not be directly involved in talks but would still have an “input”, Kellogg said in Munich.- ‘Lasting peace’ -US officials have sought to assure Ukraine that it will not be left in the cold after three years of battling Russia’s invasion. Vance said after his sit-down with Zelensky that the United States was looking for a “durable, lasting peace” that would not lead to further bloodshed in coming years.But Washington has sent mixed messages to Kyiv, with Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth appearing to rule out Ukraine joining NATO or retaking all of its territory.Trump has also pushed for access to Ukraine’s stocks of rare earth minerals as compensation for the military aid provided by the United States.Zelensky said Saturday he blocked a deal that would have given the US access to vast amounts of Ukrainian natural resources as it lacked “security guarantees” for Kyiv.”In my opinion, it does not protect us… our interests,” Zelensky told journalists.The situation for his forces on the ground has continued to deteriorate. Despite suffering heavy battlefield losses, the Russian army has been creeping forward in eastern Ukraine for more than a year.Outside the Munich conference, several hundred pro-Ukrainian demonstrators voiced fears about what may come from talks. “It’s terrifying,” said Ukraine-born protester Nataliya Galushka, 40, who left the country when she was a child.”The fact that (Trump is) talking to Putin, a criminal, what kind of world is this?”

European leaders on Saturday scrambled to force their way to the table at any talks on the Ukraine war after US President Donald Trump moved to engage with Russia directly, increasing fears that Europe can no longer rely on Washington’s backing for defence.Trump upended the status quo this week when he announced he was likely to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin soon to start talks to end the conflict. The possibility of direct US-Russia talks left US allies in Europe reeling and worried that their interests would be sidelined in any deal on Ukraine. NATO chief Mark Rutte said Europe had to come up with “good proposals” for securing peace in Ukraine if it wanted to be involved in US-led talks.”If Europeans want to have a say, make yourself relevant,” Rutte told journalists at a gathering of top policymakers in Munich.Rutte also said he would head to Paris on Monday to take part in a meeting of European leaders convened by French President Emmanuel Macron.The gathering would focus on defence spending and planning so that “when a deal is reached in Ukraine, that we have absolute clarity what Europe can contribute,” he said.A spokesman for Macron’s office told AFP “discussions” were ongoing over a “possible informal meeting”, without giving a date or an indication of the attendees.As part of any eventual “security guarantees” for Ukraine, discussions have begun in Europe over a potential deployment of peacekeepers. But those talks are only at an embryonic stage — and others argue the focus now needs to be on building up Ukraine’s own forces. – Europe has ‘input’ -Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for the creation of a European army, arguing the continent could no longer count on Washington.”Let’s be honest –- now we can’t rule out the possibility that America might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it,” Zelensky said. “I really believe that time has come. The Armed Forces of Europe must be created.”The push for a joint continental force has been mooted for years without gaining traction and Zelensky’s intervention seems unlikely to shift the balance.Zelensky’s rallying cry came a day after he met US Vice President JD Vance as Kyiv scrambles to ensure it is not sidelined in Washington’s push to wrap up the conflict. “Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement,” Zelensky said in a speech. “No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine. No decisions about Europe without Europe.”European leaders backed up Zelensky’s call to action and echoed the need for the continent to play a key role in talks.Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X “Europe urgently needs its own plan of action concerning Ukraine and our security”. Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg however gave Europeans reasons to doubt they would be heard in any negotiations.Europe would not be directly involved in the talks but would still have an “input”, Kellogg said in Munich.- ‘Lasting peace’ -US officials have sought to assure Ukraine that it will not be left in the cold after three years of battling Russia’s invasion. Vance said after his sit-down with Zelensky that the United States was looking for a “durable, lasting peace” that would not lead to further bloodshed in coming years.But Washington has sent mixed messages to Kyiv, with Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth appearing to rule out Ukraine joining NATO or retaking all of its territory.Trump has also pushed for access to Ukraine’s stocks of rare earth minerals as compensation for the military aid provided by the United States.Zelensky said Saturday he blocked a deal that would have given the US access to vast amounts of Ukrainian natural resources as it lacked “security guarantees” for Kyiv.”In my opinion, it does not protect us. It is not ready to protect us, our interests,” Zelensky told journalists on the sidelines of the Munich conference.The situation for his forces on the ground, though, has continued to deteriorate. Russia’s army on Saturday claimed to have captured a village in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region close to a road linking key towns as Moscow slowly eats up territory.Despite suffering heavy battlefield losses, the Russian army has been creeping forwards in eastern Ukraine for more than a year.Outside the Munich conference, several hundred pro-Ukrainian demonstrators voiced fears about what may come from talks. “It’s terrifying,” said Ukraine-born protester Nataliya Galushka, 40, who left the country when she was a child.”The fact that (Trump is) talking to Putin, a criminal, what kind of world is this?”