World

Kyiv, Ukraine — President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday said he wanted to "make things right" with Donald Trump and to work under the US president's "strong leadership" to secure a lasting peace in Ukraine.

In his first public comments since Trump halted US military aid to Ukraine, Zelensky said his public bust-up with Trump last week was "regrettable" and pledged to sign a key minerals deal with Washington.

He also called for a "truce" in the sea and sky as a first step to ending the three-year war.

A dramatic collapse in the Kyiv-Washington wartime alliance has played out in the open since an Oval Office clash between Zelensky and Trump last week, crescendoing with Ukraine's top ally suspending crucial military aid.

"My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump's strong leadership to get a peace that lasts," Zelensky wrote on X.

"Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be," the Ukrainian leader added. "It is time to make things right."

Trump's stunning decision Monday to halt aid to Ukraine deepened fears in Kyiv and many European capitals that America was pivoting away from its allies -- and towards Russia.

Moscow hailed Trump's decision, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling it a "solution which could really push the Kyiv regime to a peace process".

The European Union, which -- along with Ukraine -- is excluded from US-Russian negotiations towards a potential truce, has been scrambling to bolster support for Kyiv.

The urgency heightened with last week's Trump-Zelensky clash, when Trump warned his Ukrainian counterpart "won't be around very long" without a ceasefire deal.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday presented an EU plan to mobilise some 800 billion euros ($840 billion) for Europe's defence.

The funding, she said, would "massively step up" support to Ukraine and provide it "immediate military equipment".

The EU on Thursday is to hold an emergency summit aimed at cementing joint European support for Ukraine.

 'Stab in the back'

Ordinary Ukrainians speaking to AFP were shocked at what they viewed as a betrayal by Trump.

"It's like a stab in the back," a 33-year-old financial assistant in Kyiv who gave only her first name, Sofia, told AFP.

Trump "wants Ukraine's surrender, the deaths of our people, the surrender of our territories," army volunteer Sergiy Sternenko said on Telegram.

Poland's government noted that America's decision was made without consulting NATO allies, and the impact was already being seen at a weapons and aid logistics hub for Ukraine it hosts.

"Reports coming in from the border, as well as from our hub confirm the announcements made by the American side," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou told lawmakers in Paris that "entire trains" carrying US supplies for Ukraine "are being stopped and prevented from reaching their destination".

He said that France would seek to rally "all possible means" to fill the aid gap left by the US decision.

The US pause impacts hundreds of millions of dollars of weaponry in the process of being sent to Ukraine, The New York Times reported.

EU summit

Last week, Zelensky visited Washington to sign the multi-billion-dollar minerals deal -- but that fell through after his showdown with Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Zelensky said Tuesday that Kyiv was ready to sign a deal giving the US preferential access to Ukraine's natural resources and minerals at "any time and in any convenient format".

Ukraine is seeking tough security guarantees for an end to the war.

With the United States opposing its bid to join NATO, Kyiv is turning to other, Western-backed measures.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has rallied to Zelensky's support, spoke with him by phone Tuesday, telling him "no one wanted peace more than Ukraine", Downing Street said.

After weekend crisis talks in London, Britain and France are investigating how to propose a one-month Ukraine-Russia truce -- potentially backstopped by troops on the ground.

Vance, in a Monday interview with Fox News, mocked the idea of "some random country that has not fought a war in 30 or 40 years" sending soldiers to Ukraine. That prompted angry responses from French and British politicians.

Vance insisted Tuesday he had not mentioned France or Britain, and said both had "fought bravely" alongside the United States over the past two decades.

BERLIN — Germany said on Tuesday that it will suspend new aid to Rwanda over an offensive by the M23 group in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that UN experts say is supported by Rwandan soldiers.

"Germany will further restrict bilateral cooperation with Rwanda," the development ministry said in a statement. 

"In particular, we will suspend new financial commitments [and] review existing development cooperation with the Rwandan government."

The ministry said it "strongly condemns" the offensive, in particular the capture of the main cities of Goma and Bukavu, which it labelled "a violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of" the DRC. 

German development ministry aid to Rwanda averages around 50 million euros  a year, in areas such as economic development, production of vaccines and climate protection. 

The offensive by the M23 has drawn widespread international condemnation. 

The German move comes after Britain recently suspended most direct bilateral aid to Rwanda and Canada imposed sanctions on the country over the conflict.

Rwanda was informed in advance about the German decision, the ministry said.

The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has seized large swathes of the mineral-rich eastern DRC, in the face of limited resistance from Congolese forces.

It now controls large tracts of the troubled region and its rapid advance has sent thousands fleeing.

SEOUL — North Korea has slammed the United States for "political and military provocations" over the visit of a US Navy aircraft carrier to the South Korean port of Busan.

The statement by Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korea's ruler Kim Jong Un, was published Tuesday by the state-owned Korean Central News Agency [KCNA].

"As soon as its new administration appeared this year, the US has stepped up the political and military provocations against the DPRK, 'carrying forward' the former administration's hostile policy," her statement read.

DPRK is the acronym for the North's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The USS Carl Vinson, the flagship of a carrier strike group, arrived in Busan for a scheduled port visit on Sunday, the US Navy said in a statement.

"The visit to Busan exemplifies the US commitment to the region, further enhancing relationships with ROK leaders and the local population," the US Navy said, using the acronym for the South's formal name.

Military cooperation between Seoul and Washington regularly invites condemnation from Pyongyang, where the government sees such moves as preparation for an invasion, and often carries out missile tests in response. 

"The US vicious moves for confrontation with the DPRK have been intensified in March with the appearance of Carl Vinson in the Korean peninsula," said Kim Yo Jong.

South Korea's ministry of defense said that Kim's statement is "nothing more than an excuse aimed at justifying its nuclear missile development and creating a pretext for provocations."

"North Korea's nuclear ambitions can never be tolerated, and the only path to its survival is to abandon its obsession and delusions about nuclear weapons," said the ministry said in a statement. 

Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul have been at one of their lowest points in years, with the North launching a flurry of ballistic missiles last year in violation of UN sanctions.

Last week, North Korea carried out a test-launch of strategic cruise missiles in the Yellow Sea, in a drill Pyongyang said was aimed at showing off its "counterattack" capabilities.

Joint South Korea-US "Freedom Shield" military exercises are set to begin this month.

The two Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Kim Yo Jong's missive ended with what appeared to be a threat to "renew its records" in the testing of nuclear-capable missiles and other such technology.

"If the US continues to renew its records in the anti-DPRK military demonstration, the DPRK will be naturally compelled to renew its records in the exercise of strategic deterrence," she said.

She said the United States and its allies were the "root cause of escalating tension" in the region, and that the North "bitterly condemns the reckless visible actions and muscle-flexing" of Washington.

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump suspended military aid to Ukraine on Monday, a White House official said, sharply escalating pressure on Kyiv to agree to peace negotiations with Russia.

The move comes just days after a stunning public clash between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump, who is seeking a rapid end to the war.

Trump earlier on Monday had declined to rule out a pause when quizzed by reporters, but any disruption in the flow of US arms to the front line would rapidly weaken Ukraine's chance of beating back Russia's invasion.

"The President has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well," a White House official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution," the official added.

Congressional Democrats immediately condemned the pause as dangerous and illegal.

"My Republican colleagues who have called Putin a war criminal and promised their continued support to Ukraine must join me in demanding President Trump immediately lift this disastrous and unlawful freeze," said Gregory Meeks, top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Trump also warned he would "not put up" much longer with Zelensky's defiance, and said Ukraine's leader should be "more appreciative" of US support.

Speaking at the White House, Trump said Zelensky "won't be around very long" without a ceasefire deal with Moscow.

The pause has gone into effect immediately and impacts hundreds of millions of dollars of weaponry in the process of being sent to Ukraine, The New York Times reported.

Zelensky for his part said Monday he was seeking for the war to end "as soon as possible."

The comment came after Zelensky accused Russia ,which invaded Ukraine in 2014 and greatly expanded the conflict in 2022 , of not being serious about peace.

He insisted tough security guarantees were the only way to end the war.

But Trump's stance has upended US support for Ukraine, and Washington's allies more broadly, and stoked concern about Washington pivoting to Russia.

European support

After weekend crisis talks in London, Britain and France are investigating how to propose a one-month Ukraine-Russia truce "in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure" ,potentially backstopped by troops on the ground.

Zelensky said discussions were still focusing on the "first steps," adding: "An agreement on ending the war is very, very far away" ,a comment that angered Trump.

Zelensky added in a video statement that "real, honest peace" would only come with security guarantees for Ukraine, which agreed to denuclearize in 1994 only in exchange for protection provided by the United States and Britain.

"It was the lack of security guarantees for Ukraine 11 years ago that allowed Russia to start with the occupation of Crimea and the war in Donbas, then the lack of security guarantees allowed Russia to launch a full-scale invasion," Zelensky said.

Russia dismissed the comments, accusing him of not wanting peace , echoing US criticism after he was shouted down Friday in the Oval Office.

On the ground, Ukrainian officials reported fatalities from a Russian missile strike on a military training facility some 130 kilometres from the front line.

A respected military blogger said between 30 and 40 soldiers were killed and 90 more wounded in the attack near Dnipro on Saturday.

MANNHEIM, Germany — A car driven into a crowd in southwest Germany on Monday killed at least one person and injured several more, police said, adding that a suspected "perpetrator" had been arrested.

Armed police shut down the inner city of Mannheim where a damaged Ford passenger vehicle sat near a pedestrian shopping arcade with the front windshield smashed. 

Two car ramming attacks in other German cities since December have killed eight people, while Mannheim was the scene of a stabbing attack at an anti-Islam rally in May that killed a policeman and wounded five other people.

Police did not call the latest incident an attack but said a suspected "perpetrator" had been arrested after the car was driven through a downtown shopping area around 12:15 pm (1115 GMT).

"We can now confirm that a car was driven into a pedestrian zone and that one person was killed," said police spokesman Stefan Wilhelm, adding that several people were injured. 

"One suspect was arrested," he said, adding that "the investigation is continuing".

"It's heartbreaking," cafe owner Kasim Timur, 57, was quoted as telling news site Der Spiegel, adding that one of his staff members had seen seriously injured people, among them children.

"We only see wounded people and the dead person, and we don't know what to do," a shopkeeper was quoted as saying by the local daily Mannheimer Morgen. 

Wilhelm said residents had been urged "to avoid the inner city area" amid the major police operation. 

Officers with heavy weapons cordoned off the area and police helicopters were seen in the air.

The Bild daily said two people were killed and 25 injured in the incident, with pictures showing ambulances near the city's historical water tower.

A reporter at the scene for news channel NTV said that "at least one person is lying covered under a tarpaulin" and that children's shoes were among the clothes and debris scattered on the ground.

 Spate of attacks 

The Baden-Wuerttemberg state interior ministry had warned the population of a "life-threatening situation" through its disaster warning app as the first reports of the incident emerged.

The intensive care unit of Mannheim's university hospital declared a disaster alert. 

German cities have seen several violent attacks in recent months, including stabbing sprees and car ramming attacks blamed on asylum seekers.

Last month a man drove a car into a trade union demonstration in the southern city of Munich, killing a two-year-old girl and her mother. Police arrested a 24-year-old Afghan suspect.

In December a car-ramming attack targeted a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg, killing six people and wounding hundreds. Police arrested a Saudi man at the scene.

Mannheim itself was the scene of a stabbing attack at an anti-Islam rally in May in which a policeman was killed and five others wounded, with a Syrian man now on trial over the attack.

Authorities were on high alert as Monday is the high point of traditional German carnival celebrations before the beginning of Lent.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said before the incident in Mannheim that festivities were taking place "with high security precautions".

Mannheim had seen thousands take to the streets on Sunday for its own carnival parade.

Faeser cancelled her visit to the Rose Monday parade in Cologne to travel to Mannheim.

Security was a major theme in last month's general election, which was won by the centre-right CDU/CSU under Friedrich Merz.

Amid the spate of attacks, which fuelled support for the far-right AfD, Merz pledged a "zero tolerance" law and order drive. 

Merz's party is now in talks with the Social Democrats of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz to form a new coalition government.

PARIS — France on Monday said a plan for a one-month truce between Russia and Ukraine would test Moscow's commitment to ending the war it began with its 2022 invasion.

A day after European leaders rallied around Ukraine at a summit in London after a stormy White House dispute between Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also warned that the Ukraine "front line keeps getting closer to us".

President Emmanuel Macron said after the London talks that France and Britain were proposing a one-month truce in Ukraine "in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure", though not, initially at least, covering ground fighting.

Barrot said such a move "would allow to prove the good will of (Russian President) Vladimir Putin if he commits to a truce".

"And it's then that real peace negotiations would start. We want a solid peace and a durable peace," he told France Inter radio.

In an initial phase, it is "a way of verifying that Russia is willing to end this war", Barrot said, emphasising that no withdrawal of Russian troops on the ground was envisaged during the truce.

 'Risk of war in Europe' 

While Macron's attendance at the London summit called by Prime Minister Keir Starmer has placed Franco-British cooperation at the heart of the search for peace, UK armed forces minister Luke Pollard said "no agreement has been made on what a truce looks like".

"But we are working together with France and our European allies to look at what is the path to how... we create a lasting and durable peace in Ukraine," Pollard told Times Radio.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a UK government official added: "There are various options on the table, subject to further discussions with the US and European partners, but a one-month truce has not been agreed."

Friedrich Merz, the right-wing politician set to be Germany's next chancellor after last month's elections, meanwhile thanked Starmer for his "leadership to bring a lasting and just peace" to Ukraine.

"We have to remain united in our goal to end Russia's war of aggression," he added on X.

Asked by France Inter to respond to Trump's accusation that Zelensky was "gambling with World War III", Barrot acknowledged the danger of the conflict spreading.

"Never has the risk of a war in Europe, in the European Union been so high... the threat keeps getting closer to us, the front line keeps getting closer to us," he said.

"To end the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, we want the United States, through pressure, to be able to bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and agree to put an end once and for all to his imperialist ambitions which have moved the front line closer and closer to home," Barrot added.

 'Desire to humiliate' 

In their Oval Office meeting on Friday, Trump berated Zelensky, telling him to be more "thankful" for US support against the invading Russian army in the three-year-old war and demanding he "make a deal" with Moscow.

Following the televised clash with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance, Zelensky departed the White House without signing an expected deal on Kyiv's rare minerals.

But the Ukrainian leader has maintained he is still open to signing a mineral deal as a step towards "security guarantees".

France's Prime Minister Francois Bayrou in parliament later on Monday saluted the fact that Zelensky did not "fold" to US pressure, describing Trump and Vance's attempted takedown of the Ukrainian leader as "a shocking scene, marked by brutality and a desire to humiliate".

He said the scene had left two victims: "the security of Ukraine" and "a certain idea of the alliance" between the United States and Europe.

"It is up to us Europeans to guarantee the security and defence of Europe," he said at a debate on Ukraine and European security.

TOKYO — More than 2,000 fire-fighters are battling Japan's biggest forest fire in three decades, officials said Monday, as some 4,600 residents remain under an evacuation advisory.

One person died last week in the blaze in the northern region of Iwate, which follows record low rainfall in the area and last year's hottest summer on record across Japan, as climate change pushes up temperatures worldwide.

"Although it is inevitable that the fire will spread to some extent, we will take all possible measures to ensure there will be no impact on people's homes," Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said in parliament.

The fire near the city of Ofunato has burned through some 2,100 hectares since Thursday, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Monday.

Fire-fighters from 14 Japanese regions, including units from Tokyo, were now tackling the blaze, with 16 helicopters, including from the military, trying to douse the flames.

It is estimated to have damaged 84 buildings by Sunday, although details were still being assessed, the agency said.

Around 2,000 people have left the area to stay with friends or relatives, while more than 1,200 evacuated to shelters, according to officials.

Morning footage from Ofunato on national broadcaster NHK showed orange flames close to buildings and white smoke billowing into the air.

The number of wildfires in Japan has declined since the peak in the 1970s, according to government data.

But there were about 1,300 across the country in 2023, concentrated in the February to April period when the air dries and winds pick up.

Ofunato saw just 2.5 millimetres of rainfall in February, breaking the previous record low for the month of 4.4 millimetres in 1967 and below the usual average of 41 millimetres.

Some types of extreme weather have a well established link with climate change, such as heat waves or heavy rainfall.

Other phenomena like droughts, snowstorms, tropical storms and forest fires can result from a combination of complex factors.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis, 88, has been in hospital in Rome since February 14, suffering two respiratory crises but reported by the Vatican on Sunday evening to be in a "stable" condition.

Here is what we know about the health of the Argentine pontiff, head of the Catholic Church and its almost 1.4 billion followers since 2013.

- Stable but complex condition -

Francis was admitted to the Gemelli hospital initially for bronchitis, but this then developed into pneumonia in both lungs.

On February 22 the Vatican revealed he had suffered a "prolonged asthmatic attack" which required him to receive "high-flow" oxygen via a nasal cannula.

Francis also required blood transfusions for thrombocytopenia, a condition that occurs when the platelet count in the blood is too low, which can prevent clotting and lead to continued bleeding.

Over the following days, the Vatican reported an incrementally more positive picture, but there was another major issue on February 28.

The pope suffered "an isolated crisis of bronchospasm" , a tightening of the muscles that line the airways in the lungs, which caused "an episode of vomiting with inhalation", the Holy See said.

He began "non-invasive mechanical ventilation", receiving oxygen through a mask, according to a Vatican source,  and was nevertheless reported to be "in good spirits".

On March 2, a Vatican source revealed that more than 48 hours after the crisis, it appeared there had been "no further consequences" from the episode.

The pope's condition "remained stable", the Holy See said in its official update that day, saying he had no fever and had on Sunday morning participated in mass.

However, "in view of the complexity of the clinical picture, the prognosis remains reserved".

 Work continues 

The pope has been staying in a special papal suite on the 10th floor of the Gemelli hospital, praying and performing some work, according to a Vatican source.

He has been reading and signing documents, notably appointments of bishops around the world, as well as making telephone calls.

Francis has twice received Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state, and Edgar Pena Parra, a Venezuelan archbishop who is Parolin's numbers two.

But he has not yet been seen in public, notably missing his Sunday Angelus prayers, which in previous hospital stays he delivered from the Gemelli balcony.

Instead, the Vatican has published his written texts each week.