Donald Trump must not be misled by Vladimir Putin’s “stalling tactics” to delay peace in Ukraine, outgoing German minister Annalena Baerbock said during a visit to Kyiv.
The US president showed the first signs of frustration with his Russian counterpart over the weekend, telling NBC News he was “p***** off” and “very angry” with Putin over the failure to reach an agreement with a ceasefire - before threatening to unleash oil tariffs on Moscow.
Paying a final visit to Kyiv as Germany’s foreign minister - before a new government takes office with CDU leader Friedrich Merz at the helm - Ms Baerbock said she would raise the issue with US secretary of state Marco Rubio during a meeting of Nato foreign ministers this week.
"At the upcoming meeting of NATO foreign ministers, we will make it clear to the American side that we should not engage with Putin's stalling tactics," the 44-year-old Greens leader said in a statement released after her arrival in the Ukrainian capital.
Putin is "feigning readiness to negotiate but is not moving one millimetre from his position", she added.
Ms Baerbock said it was all the more crucial to back Kyiv unconditionally now that talks between Russia and the US had reached a “deadlock”.
Moscow has repeatedly said that ceasefire proposals cannot be accepted in their current form, calling for Russian demands to be heard before a complete halt to fighting can go ahead.
In quotes published by Russian magazine International Affairs on Tuesday, deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Moscow “can’t accept” Washington’s proposal to end the war “in its current form”.
He added: "As far as we can see, there is no place in them today for our main demand, namely to solve the problems related to the root causes of this conflict. It is completely absent, and that must be overcome.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha - who welcomed Ms Baerbock to Kyiv on Tuesday - told reporters that Ukraine would continue working with Washington towards a “mutually acceptable” minerals deal.
A round of consultations has already taken place on a new draft of the minerals deal, Mr Sybiha said, coming one month after the deal temporarily collapsed after Volodymyr Zelensky was booted out of the White House on a visit which intended to finalise a framework agreement.
Mr Sybiha’s statement came after Mr Trump said on Sunday that Mr Zelensky wants to back out of the deal - warning the Ukrainian leader that he would face big problems if he did.
Washington sent a revised proposal after the February meeting, which would require Kyiv to send Washington all profit from a fund controlling Ukrainian resources until Ukraine had repaid all American wartime aid, plus interest, according to a summary reviewed by Reuters.
On Friday, Mr Zelensky said Kyiv would not accept any mineral rights deal which threatened its integration with the EU, but did not pass judgement on the revised deal.
Ms Baerbock said on Tuesday that any minerals agreement must be compatible with European law, adding that Europe had already reached a deal with Ukraine.
"After all, this is our European continent... we are of course also in dialogue with all stakeholders accordingly," she said.
In Moscow, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi met with Putin and Russian minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss a strategic partnership between Beijing and Russia.
Senator delivers marathon speech in bold protest against Trump, Musk
Ukraine-Russia live: Moscow responds to ‘very angry’ Trump while drafting 160,000 men
UN agency closes the rest of its Gaza bakeries as food supplies dwindle under Israeli blockade
Donald Trump signs off Keir Starmer’s controversial Chagos Islands deal
Marine Le Pen slams ‘nuclear bomb’ court ruling as her party calls nationwide protest
Cyprus court acquits five Israeli men accused of raping British woman
