Ukrainian president speaks in Dutch parliament ahead of crucial EU meeting on use of frozen Russian assets

Commenting on Berlin talks, Zelenskyy says he held “really intensive” talks with US counterparts in Germany, “working in a great detail on documents that could stop the war and guarantee security.”

But he says “every single detail matters,” adding that nothing in the proposed peace deal should be allowed to “become a reward for Russia’s aggression.”

I truly hope that the next time I address your parliament it will be with gratitude for a peace that has been achieved.

Ukraine’s Nato ambitions, the future of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and elections were also discussed

Separately, the commission’s deputy chief spokesperson Olof Gill has just confirmed that commission president Ursula von der Leyen will attend the Berlin talks this evening.

Not a surprise at all, but good to have it formally confirmed.

Foreign ministry says there has been ‘significant increase in Russian hybrid activities’ and government will decide on further diplomatic measures later

Russia’s central bank said it was suing the Belgium-based Euroclear financial group, which holds Moscow’s frozen international reserves, as the EU moves closer to using the funds to support Ukraine, AFP reported.

The bank said it was filing “a lawsuit against Euroclear in the Moscow Arbitration Court” due to what it called “the illegal actions” of the institution.

Some warn proposal will decimate US tourism industry as free speech advocates say it will lead to people self-censoring

Free speech advocates have accused Donald Trump of “shredding civil liberties” and “censorship pure and simple” after the White House said it planned to require visa applicants from dozens of countries to provide social media, phone and email histories for vetting before being allowed into the US.

In a move that some commentators compared to China and others warned would decimate tourism to the US, including the 2026 Fifa World Cup, the Department for Homeland Security said it was planning to apply the rules to visitors from 42 countries, including the UK, Ireland, Australia, France, Germany and Japan, if they want to enter the US on the commonly used Esta visa waiver.

US president says Europeans pushing for meeting as ‘Coalition of Willing’ due to hold call about war

In other news, we will also hear from Nobel peace prize winner María Corina Machado later today, as she arrived in Oslo overnight after a truly incredible trip from Venezuela.

The Wall Street Journal reported on the details of the operation to get her out of the country and over to Norway, describing how she “slipped through 10 military checkpoints to reach a fishing boat bound for Curaçao and a private jet headed to Norway,” where she met members of her family for the first time in almost two years.