US secretary of state Marco Rubio has warned the “old order is gone” ahead of a possible meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky at the Munich Security Conference.
Speaking before he departed the US, Mr Rubio said the world is at a “defining moment”, adding: “The Old World is gone, frankly, the world I grew up in.”
He said we live “in a new era in geopolitics, and it’s going to require all of us to re-examine what that looks like and what our role is going to be”.
World leaders are gathering in Munich for the summit which will see Mr Zelensky, Mr Rubio, British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, French president Emmanuel Macron, and several others take to the stage.
The meeting comes one day after Ukraine it will receive $38 billion (£27.9bn) in military aid from its allies in 2026, including a £500 million for air defence from the UK as part of a £3 billion support package.
The aid will be used to fund drones, air defence systems, and Patriot missiles, defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said.
Sybiha invites Chinese foreign minister to Kyiv and calls on Beijing to help end war
China could help end the four-year war between Ukraine and Russia, Kyiv’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha has said.
He invited Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi to visit Ukraine following a meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
“China can play an important role in bringing about a just peace for Ukraine,” Sybiha told Ukrainian TV channel Novyny.Live.
“We appreciate China’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, and we had a very substantive and pragmatic conversation.”
Three-way talks to be held in Geneva next week, says Kremlin
The next round of trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US will be held in Geneva next week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky will head the Russian delegation for the talks on Tuesday and Wednesday, he added.
They follow two rounds of negotiations in Abu Dhabi at which Russia’s team was led by Igor Kostyukov, its head of military intelligence.
A Ukrainian presidential aide confirmed to journalists that Kyiv’s delegation was preparing for talks in Geneva.
The return of Medinsky, who led the Russian team at earlier talks in Turkey in 2022 and 2025, could signal that Russia expects the focus to move beyond security issues to broader points of disagreement between the warring sides.
Kremlin announces further peace talks next week
The Kremlin has announced that the next round of peace talks on Ukraine will take place next week, without confirming a location.
Reuters news agency reported that US officials have proposed a trilateral meeting on Monday and Tuesday in Miami, after two previous rounds of talks were held in Abu Dhabi.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Moscow and Washington have been discussing bilateral trade and economic cooperation.
Peskov said Moscow hoped that dialogue would continue, but said it was unlikely that such discussions would move beyond talk before the conflict in Ukraine was settled.
US increasing pressure on Kyiv for concessions to Russia – report
The Trump administration is increasing the pressure on Kyiv for concessions to Russia in a push to end the war by early summer, according to a report in the New York Times which cited Ukrainian officials.
It comes as Ukraine prepares for another round of peace talks as early as next week, as Washington looks to push Moscow and Kyiv to agree a deal ahead of a June deadline.
Kyiv is treading a fine line as it looks to keep the US happy while outright rejecting conditions of peace which it deems unacceptable – such as ceding land to Russia in the Donbas region.
Ukraine has repeatedly expressed frustration that it is being pushed harder than Russia towards peace by the US.
Kyiv is being pushed to hold elections, something which aligns with Russia’s demands. Volodymyr Zelensky has said this cannot take place until a ceasefire has begun.
Watch: John Healey arrives at 2026 Munich Security Conference
Ukraine announces $38 billion (£27.9bn) in military aid from allies in 2026
Ukraine has announced it will receive $38 billion (£27.9bn) in military aid from its international allies in 2026.
The aid will be used to fund drones, air defence systems, and Patriot missiles, defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said after a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, known as the Ramstein group, an alliance of 57 countries providing military support to Kyiv.
The figures includes “over US$6 billion (£4.4bn) in specific assistance packages, with more than US$2.5 billion (£1.8bn) for Ukrainian drones, over US$500 million (£367m) for the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) programme and US$2 billion (£1.5bn) for air defence, as well as funding for artillery ammunition, training, naval capabilities and other areas”, Mr Fedorov said.
The UK will allocate £500 million for air defence and £150 million to the PURL initiative, in an overall package of £3 billion of military assistance which will be provided to Ukraine.
Germany has issued a €11.5 billion (£10bn) budget for assistance, which will include €1 billion (£871m) for drone procurement, and will help finance the project of an air defence ‘dome’ over Ukrainian cities.
Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Canada, Iceland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Slovenia, Australia, Portugal, and Turkey are all among the countries who will provide military assistance in 2026.
Nato is not a ‘charity’ but essential for US security, say former top US officials
Former top diplomats and senior military chiefs in the US have declared the Nato military alliance is not a “charity” or “act of generosity” but is critical for US security.
In a strong rebuke to Donald Trump’s repeated criticism of the alliance, nearly every living former US ambassador to Nato and former supreme allied commander warned the US president against withdrawing from the alliance.
“Nato is not an act of American generosity,” the 16-strong group said in a statement on the eve of the Munich security conference.
“It is a strategic bargain that ensures the United States remains the world’s most powerful and economically secure nation at a fraction of the cost of going it alone.”
The statement was coordinated by Iva Daalder and signed by Alexander Vershbow, Nicholas Burns, Victoria Nuland, Kurt Volker, Douglas Lute, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Julianne Smith. Former Nato supreme allied commanders include Wesley Clark, Joseph Ralston, James Jones, John Craddock, Philip Breedlove, Curtis Scaparrotti, Tod Wolters and Christopher Cavoli, according to The Times.
Rubio declares world is at ‘defining moment’ ahead of Munich conference
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has declared the world is at “a defining moment” before he departed the States for the Munich Security Conference (MSC).
“The world is changing very fast right in front of us,” he said.
“The Old World is gone, frankly, the world I grew up in, and we live in a new era in geopolitics, and it’s going to require all of us to re-examine what that looks like and what our role is going to be.”
Mr Rubio will be interviewed by MSC chairman Wolfgang Ischinger on Saturday morning in a talk titled “The US in the World”. On Friday, he is expected to meet Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen where they will discuss the future of Greenland.
“(The US is) deeply tied to Europe, and our futures have always been linked and will continue to be,” he added.
“So we’ve just got to talk about what that future looks like.”
Danish PM to meet Rubio at Munich conference
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen will meet with US secretary of state Marco Rubio at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
The pair will likely discuss the future of Greenland, which has caused significant tension between Washington and Europe in recent months.
The meeting is expected to be held in private.
Denmark to send four F-35 fighter jets to Nato Arctic Sentry mission
Denmark’s defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, said on Friday that Copenhagen will provide four F-35 fighter jets to Nato’s Arctic Sentry mission.
Earlier this week, Nato said it had launched the mission to strengthen its presence in the Arctic, part of an effort to defuse tensions within the alliance prompted by the US president’s push to acquire Greenland from Denmark.
“Our F-35 contribution strengthens the overall presence in the region and underscores Denmark’s role as an active ally in the Arctic and North Atlantic,” Mr Poulsen said in a statement.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the Munich Security Conference, Mr Poulsen said he expects the US to contribute to the Nato mission.
Source: independent.co.uk