Presidents and prime ministers from 13 countries are gathering in the Ukrainian capital on the third anniversary of the Russian invasion
Marc Bennetts
February 24, 2025
The Times
President Zelensky has praised the “absolute heroism” of the Ukrainian people as world leaders from Europe and Canada gathered in Kyiv to commemorate the third anniversary of the Russian invasion. “Three years of resistance. Three years of gratitude. Three years of absolute heroism of Ukrainians. I am proud of Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “Thank you to everyone who protects and helps it,” he added in a post on X, accompanied by a video showing the lives of Ukrainians on the front lines, including soldiers, medics and aid workers.
Tens of thousands of soldiers, from both sides, along with thousands of Ukrainian civilians, have been killed since President Putin launched the biggest European conflict since the Second World War, describing it as a “special military operation”.
Sir Keir Starmer said “we face a once in a generation moment for our collective security and values” three years on from Putin’s “barbaric full-scale invasion”. Writing on X, the prime minister added: “We continue to stand with Ukraine for a just and lasting peace.”
Arriving in the country’s capital by train on Monday, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said Ukraine was fighting “for survival”, adding that it was “not only the destiny of Ukraine that is at stake. It’s Europe’s destiny.” Thirteen leaders, including presidents and prime ministers from Canada, Sweden, Denmark and Spain, are expected in Kyiv.
Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, said he was “glad to be here” as Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff, greeted him at a railway station in Kyiv. Speaking later at the summit, he said that now was “the moment to defend democracy” in the face of “Russia’s desire to erase Ukrainian history and expand their empire”.
President Trump’s return to the White House has threatened to upend a united front against Putin’s aggression. US officials were in Saudi Arabia last week to discuss peace talks with Russia, freezing out European and Ukrainian representatives. Critics believe his approach has been too conciliatory toward Russia with Trump echoing Kremlin propaganda by claiming that Zelensky was a “dictator without elections”.
Ukrainian law prohibits elections from being held while martial law is in place. Over the weekend, however, Zelensky said he would willingly step down if doing so would bring lasting peace and Nato membership.
The Kremlin said it welcomed Washington’s new approach to the conflict under Trump. However, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said that Russia would not stop fighting in Ukraine until its demands were met. “We will only halt military actions when the negotiations produce a firm and lasting result that suits Russia,” he said during a visit to Turkey.
Sergey Ryabkov, the Russian deputy foreign minister, has said that Moscow had gained “no further understanding” of how Trump planned to end the war during last week’s US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia. “We need to find a long-term solution, which, in turn, must necessarily include an element of overcoming the root causes of what happened in and around Ukraine,” he said. “A ceasefire in itself is not a solution.” Moscow has said it wants iron-clad guarantees from Nato that Ukraine will never be allowed to join the western military alliance. It is also demanding that Ukraine surrender four territories in its east and south, as well as Crimea.
The number of Russians ready to support the withdrawal of troops from Ukraine without achieving the goals of the war has fallen to 40 per cent from 50 per cent in September, according to a new opinion poll by Chronicles, an independent research group in Russia. Analysts at the group said the decline was due to constant news coverage about the “successes of Russian troops, coupled with the lack of information about losses”.
A brutal campaign of political terror inside Russia has crushed all open opposition to the war. With most opposition figures now dead, in prison or in exile, there have been no large-scale protests since the early weeks of the invasion. In 2022 almost 19,000 people were arrested at anti-war protests across Russia, according to Ovd-info, a Russian rights group that monitors political repression. The number of arrests fell sharply in 2023 to 274, and there were only 41 arrests last year, the group said.
Lavrov said the US and Russia would hold consultations on normalising diplomatic missions this week, after his ministry previously claimed preparations for a face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin were under way. In an apparent rebuke to Trump, António Costa, president of the European Council, posted a picture of himself in Kyiv, saying: “In Ukraine, about Ukraine, with Ukraine.” In a separate post he added: “We are living a defining moment for Ukraine and European security.”
Costa also announced he would convene an emergency summit of the 27 EU leaders in Brussels in early March, putting Ukraine top of that agenda as Europe scrambles to rework its strategy in the face of America’s apparent foreign policy shift. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, the chair of Nato’s military committee, said Ukraine reminded “the world that freedom is never given — it is won”, describing Russia’s invasion as “unprovoked, unjustified, brutal”.
The Ministry of Defence estimated that more than 860,000 Russians have been killed or injured since their invasion of Ukraine, which they said undermined the “quality” of Russia’s military. “Pre-invasion attempts to build a modern professional force have been reversed by substantial losses. Russia is now reliant on mass over quality,” it added.
To mark the third anniversary of the invasion, the UK has unveiled new sanctions on Russian elites with links to the Kremlin, banning them from Britain. The EU approved a sanctions
package targeting not only “the Russian shadow fleet but those who support the operation of unsafe oil tankers, videogame controllers used to pilot drones, banks used to circumvent our sanctions, and propaganda outlets used to spout lies”, according to Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat.
A new report, however, estimates the bloc bought €21.9 billion (£18.1 billion) of Russian oil and gas in the third year of the war — €3 billion more than it spent on aid to Ukraine, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air said. In Marseilles, three improvised explosive devices were thrown at a Russian consulate, local police said. Only two of the three devices detonated and no one was injured during the incident.
President Zelensky described Monday’s visit of world leaders as a “turning point”, hoping to use the anniversary as a day to gain security guarantees from Kyiv’s backers and ensure that Russia does not use any ceasefire to rearm and attack again at a later date. “If to achieve peace, you really need me to give up my post, I’m ready,” Zelensky told a press conference on Sunday. “And I can also exchange it for Nato membership for Ukraine.” Earlier on Monday, the Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched 185 drones overnight, of which Ukraine shot down 113, with another 71 disappearing from radars after being jammed. The attack affected the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Kyiv and Khmelnytskyi.
Marc Bennetts has been covering Russia and the former Soviet Union, including Ukraine, for The Times and Sunday Times since 2015. He has reported from all across Russia, from Chechnya to deepest Siberia. He has also reported from Iran and North Korea. Marc is the author of two books: I’m Going to Ruin Their Lives, about Putin’s crackdown on the opposition, and Football Dynamo, about Russian football culture. He is now writing a thriller, set during the polar night in Russia’s far north.