Zelensky dismisses U.S. peace plan for Ukraine ahead of meeting with JD Vance: Live updates

Saudi Arabia has declared its support for U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet in the country for talks to end the Ukraine-Russia war.

In a statement posted on X by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the country said it ‘commends’ the call earlier this week between the two leaders and that it welcomed the opportunity to host a meeting.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has already said he would not agree to any deal without his country’s involvement.

We can now bring you footage from President Zelensky’s address at the Munich Security Conference where he has claimed Vladimir Putin could be preparing a war against NATO next year.

In case you’re just joining us, we have been reporting live updates from the Munich Security Conference where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he does not believe the U.S. has a peace plan to end the war with Russia.

Earlier this week, Donald Trump caused shockwaves when he declared he had spoken to Vladimir Putin about resolving the three-year conflict.

Here’s everything you need to know today:

• President Zelensky has said he believes the U.S. does not have a peace plan in place and that talks held so far with Trump were ‘definitely not enough’ to form one
• He was speaking on the opening day of the Munich Security Conference where he he will meet U.S. Vice President JD Vance this afternoon
• Vance has said European countries should ‘of course’ be included in talks to end the war amid alarm leaders have been cut of negotiations by Trump and Putin
• The Vice President has also been called on to clarify remarks suggesting the United States could take military action against Russia if Vladimir Putin won’t agree to a peace deal with Ukraine
• U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is also in Europe and told an audience in Poland that Americans cannot be relied upon forever as he was asked how long troops would remain in the continent

JD Vance appears not to have endeared himself to Germany during his visit to Munich this week as a government spokesperson urged the Vice President to refrain from interfering in the upcoming elections.

The Wall Street Journal had cited Vance as saying he would urge German politicians to work with all parties, including the far-right Alternative for Germany, which other parties have refused to cooperate with.

The snap poll takes place in Germany on February 23.

A government spokesperson said:

I don’t think it is right for foreigners, including those from friendly foreign countries, to interfere so intensively in an election campaign in the middle of an election period.

It is good practice for the citizens of a country to decide who they vote for and what their principles are, and not to take advice from others.

Vance is the latest top U.S. official to make comments about Germany’s politics after billionaire businessman Elon Musk criticised Chancellor Olaf Scholz and backed the AfD.

Speaking earlier today at the Munich Security Conference, JD Vance reiterated Trump’s demand for European nations to contribute more financially to NATO so the U.S. can focus on challenges posed by China.

The Vice President started his day in the German city by meeting eparately with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and British foreign secretary David Lammy.

He used the engagements to reiterate the Republican Trump administration’s call for NATO members to spend more on defense. Currently, 23 of NATO’s 32 member nations are hitting the Western military alliance’s target of spending 2% of the nation’s GDP on defense.

‘NATO is a very important military alliance, of course, that we’re the most significant part of,’ Vance told Rutte.

But we want to make sure that NATO is actually built for the future, and we think a big part of that is ensuring that NATO does a little bit more burden sharing in Europe, so the United States can focus on some of our challenges in East Asia.

Rutte said he agreed that Europe needs to step up. ‘We have to grow up in that sense and spend much more,’ he said

Here’s footage of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declaring he would reject any peace deal struck by the U.S. and Russia.

It comes after President Trump and Putin spoke earlier this week with further talks supposedly planned for Munich.

After Sir Keir Starmer declared Britain’s support for Ukraine to join NATO, Zelensky has publicly thanked him with a post on his X account.

Ukraine’s President also called on Americans and Europeans to work together amid concerns from some quarters after President Trump held unilateral talks with Vladimir Putin.

This morning, it was revealed Starmer has spoken to Trump about visiting the U.S. where talks would likely include the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Germany’s defence secretary has told the Munich Security Conference it was a mistake to take Ukraine’s NATO membership off the table as well as territorial concessions before peace negotiations started.

Describing the US offer as ‘clumsy,’ Pistorius said:

It would have been much better to talk about possible Nato membership and territorial changes at the negotiating table.

Boris Pistorius warned Vladimir Putin ‘hasn’t moved an inch’ and added European countries are not in a position to provide ‘credible deterrence’ in Ukraine without the help of the U.S.

In remarks that will undoubtedly play positively in the U.S, Pistorius also called on NATO members to increase spending, adding ‘nobody believes’ the current level of investment at 2% of GDP is enough.

While Zelensky was speaking in Europe, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been speaking in Warsaw where he reiterated the propsect of Ukraine’s membership to NATO as part of a negotiated settlement was ‘unlikely’.

Hegseth said it was his job to ‘introduce realism to the conversation’ as he again called on European nations to increase defence spending commitments.

Asked if U.S. will maintain the level of troops it currently has in Europe, Hegseth said he could not commit to them being there indefinitely.

You can’t make an assumption that America’s presence will last forever. America has to stare down a lot of threats to include the communist Chinese. As of today, we are very proud of our partnership in Europe.

Zelensky told the Munich Security Conference that European nations must unite around Ukraine to protect themselves and that he wants his country to be part of NATO.

Speaking in Munich, Ukraine’s President said: ‘We want to be in Nato, yes. We trust Nato’s security guarantees. I think this is the cheapest option for everyone.’

But Ukraine’s membership was placed in doubt by President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth who suggested it was unrealistic.

‘I don’t see any way that a country in Russia’s position could allow … them to join NATO,’ Trump said on Thursday. ‘I don’t see that happening.’

Earlier on Friday, Zelensky received a boost when British Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared Ukraine should be on ‘irreversible path to NATO’.

The U.S. Vice President has said European countries should join any talks for a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia.

Vance made the intervention at the Munich Security Conference amid alarm nations could be excluded from such talks following a direct call between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Asked by a reporter on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference whether Europe should be involved in negotiations along with the United States, Russia and Ukraine, Vance said: ‘Sure they should. Of course.’

President Zelensky’s remarks in Munich come after he claimed Russia launched a drone attack on the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant overnight significantly damaging a radiation shelter.

Zelensky said on X that a Russian attack drone ‘with a high-explosive warhead struck the shelter protecting the world from radiation at the destroyed 4th power unit of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.’

He said the shelter was damaged but that the fire has since been extinguished. The cover is used to prevent radiation after the 1986 nuclear disaster which sent a radioactive cloud across Europe.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported an ‘explosion’ at the site and said it is continuing to monitor the plant, but added that radiation levels have not increased and remain stable.

CCTV footage posted by the Ukrainian leader showed a blast on the side of the Chernobyl structure in footage that was timestamped 02:02 am (0002 GMT).

The video also showed a fire erupting and hole in the roof, with firefighters using a hose to extinguish the blaze from the inside of the dome.

Russia has declared none of its officials will attend the Munich Security Conference because the country was not invited to the event.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stressed Russia’s position at a weekly news briefing this morning.

Zakharova said the conference had changed in nature over the years and gone from being a security event to become an event supporting the ‘regime in Kyiv’ and an event which she said was involved with implementing security policies that were destructive for Europe’s own security.

It comes as the U.S. seeks to advance a peace agreement to end the three year war between Russia and Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters, Zelensky added he was unaware about a touted meeting with Russians at the Munich Security Conference.

Trump has said Russian and U.S. officials are due to meet in the German city today, adding Ukraine is also invited.

Zelensky has added he will visit the United Arab Emirates, then Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

President Zelensky has told the Munich Security Conference he does not think the U.S. does not yet have a plan for peace in Ukraine.

Zelensky said previous discussions he had held with Trump are so far ‘definitely not enough to form a plan’ for peace.

He also added signals coming from the U.S. are ‘strong’ and ‘varied’ ahead of his talks later with Vice President Vance.

Moscow has said it will seek ‘clarifications’ as it responded to JD Vance’s comments in the Wall Street Journal.

According to Russian news channel RBC, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: ‘These are new elements of the position, we have not heard such formulations before, they have not been voiced.

‘We hope that we will receive some additional clarifications.’

Vance told the Wall Street Journal that ‘everything is on the table’ in an effort to guarantee Kyiv’s long-term independence as Trump prepares to meet with his Russian counterpart and iron out a deal.

‘There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage’ the U.S. could use against Putin,’ Vance told the newspaper.

Vance teased the prospect of a peace plan while insisting that the president would not hold back when it came to negotiating with Putin.

‘The president is not going to go in this with blinders on. He´s going to say, “Everything is on the table, let´s make a deal,”‘ Vance said.

‘I think there is a deal that is going to come out of this that´s going to shock a lot of people.’

• The meeting between Zelensky and Vance in Munich is expected to take place at 11am EST (5pm local time)

Hello and welcome to today’s Dailymail.com live blog as Donald Trump seeks to press ahead with plans to negotiate peace between Ukraine and Russia.

The European nations have been at war for three years but Trump promised a swift end to the conflict when he regained the White House.

The President also spoke to Zelensky and described his talks with both leaders as ‘great’, adding there was a ‘good possibility of ending that horrible, very bloody war’.

JD Vance and Marco Rubio are expected to meet with Zelensky later in Munich as world leaders gather for a major security conference.

Stick with us as we bring you the latest updates throughout the day from the U.S and Europe.