Russian invasion

Negotiations
Zelenskyj wants at least 20 years of security guarantees

Ukraine needs at least 20 years of security guarantees from the US before it can sign a peace treaty with dignity intact, says President Zelenskyj according to The Guardian.

– The Americans often return to the issue of concessions, but too often it is about Ukraine rather than Russia, he says during the Munich Security Conference.

Zelenskyj says he hopes that next week's third round of talks between Russia, the US and Ukraine will be productive, but adds:

– Honestly, sometimes it feels like the parties are talking about completely different things.

Europe's frustration with the US's unwillingness to formulate concrete security guarantees for Ukraine is perhaps the most infected issue in European-American relations at the moment, the newspaper writes.

Sanctions
Europe may start seizing ships from the Russian shadow fleet

European countries are considering starting to seize tankers from the Russian shadow fleet, reports Bloomberg. The matter was discussed during a meeting between British Defense Secretary John Healey and his Nordic and Baltic colleagues during the Munich Security Conference.

Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur says there is a common understanding that Europe needs to act more proactively, even if no decisions have yet been made.

“The message is that countries that allow the shadow fleet to sail under their flags should know that other countries can take action,” he said after the meeting.

The shadow fleet consists of around 1,500 ships that sail under the flags of other countries on behalf of Russia. Around 600 tankers in the fleet are subject to sanctions from the EU, the US and the UK.