Putin-Trump call scheduled for afternoon, Kremlin confirms
We have just heard from the Kremlin on the exact timing of the Putin-Trump phone call, with officials saying it is scheduled for 1pm to 3pm GMT (2pm to 4pm CET).
“There is a large number of issues from the normalisation of our relations and the Ukrainian issue, all of which the two presidents will discuss,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, quoted by AFP.
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Key events
Ukraine at the centre of argument for German reforms
Kate Connolly
Berlin correspondent
Lars Klingbeil, head of the Social Democrats has told the Bundestag ahead of a vote on constitutional amendments to unlock up to €1 trillion in new spending to boost Germany’s defence and invest in infrastructure that the proposals will lead to a “positive new beginning for Germany… for Europe”.
He put Ukraine at the centre of his speech, arguing that Ukrainians have been fighting “heroically” for three years “for all of our freedoms” and stressed: “We are on the side of the Ukrainians”.
The country’s situation had become more precarious in recent weeks, he said, due to the increase in Russian brutality and the unpredictability of the US government. This has concentrated minds, regarding the new funding plans.
“We need to do our homework in Europe. We need to be stronger. We need to take care of our own security, that is our responsibility,” he says.
Germany needs to recognise the need for us to take a leading role in this, “and I believe we should take this role seriously”.
The (likely) new government of conservatives and his social democrats, will “do everything we can to ensure peace in Europe,” as well as to advance the economy, encourage social cohesion, to invest massively in infrastructure, in climate measures.
All this, he said, was necessary “to ensure a strong Germany, a strong Europe.”
Speaking for the Greens, who are expected to back the CDU/CSU and the SPD today after a political deal struck late last week, Britta Haßelmann offered her support for the proposal – even as she sharply criticised Merz’s change of heart on this issue in recent weeks.
Rejecting Merz’s comments about the new, challenging global circumstances, he said “the conditions are no different than they were on 1 January or in October last year,” after Trump was elected.
She bitterly spoke of sharp criticism faced by Green politicians who pointed out his “populist” rhetoric during the election campaign.
“But that doesn’t make [today’s proposal] wrong,” she added, “because reforming the debt brake, investing in infrastructure, and investing in climate neutrality by 2045 are urgently needed.”
Haßelmann also agreed that the broader global context, including Trump’s “abandonment” of Europe, required further investment in the German security infrastructure – understood not only as the army, but with other elements, including civil protection and support for attacked countries, like Ukraine.
Just like Klingbeil and Merz, she also repeatedly criticised the far-right Alternative für Deutschland, highlighting risks associated with the rising support for radical and extremist parties.
German reforms needed because of ‘Putin’s war against Europe,’ Merz says
Addressing the Bundestag just now, presumed next chancellor Friedrich Merz told lawmakers that the proposed package of reforms was primarily motivated by “Putin’s war of aggression against Europe”.
“A war against Europe, and not just a war against the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” he said.
He warned that it is also part of hostile and disruptive activities against Germany, pointing at attacks on critical infrastructure, arson attacks, spying and disinformation campaigns, as well as broader “attempts to divide and marginalise the European Union.”
“We will defend ourselves against these attacks on our open society, on our freedom … with everything at our disposal,” he promised.
Merz said that Germany had to “rebuild our defence capabilities, in part from scratch,” naming his priorities in procurement, European satellite systems, drones, among others.
In a hint of his future policy as a chancellor, he also said that contracts “should go to European manufacturers, whenever possible,” acknowledging it is “a paradigm shift in defence policy.”
Merz also said the German move could pave the way to “a new European defence community,” open not only to EU member states, but also other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Norway.
In broader comments, he also said that further reforms need to follow proposed changes, calling for “a technological boost,” an overhaul of planning and approval procedures, and “a genuine reduction” in regulations, including from the EU.
Speaking before him, the SDP’s co-leader Lars Klingbeil said lawmakers were facing “a historic decision,” that could “give our country’s history a new direction, a positive beginning for Germany, a positive beginning for Europe.”
He said that Europe needs to acknowledge it finds itself between “aggressive” and “neo-imperial” Russia and “unpredictable” US, and “must now do our homework.”
Fiery start to Bundestag debate on Merz’s spending plans
Kate Connolly
Berlin correspondent
We’ve seen a fiery start to the Bundestag debate ahead of a historic vote to change two articles of the constitution and establish a 500 billion Euro fund for infrastructure, in Germany’s outgoing parliament.
An attempt by the far-right AfD, far-left Die Linke, and the left-wing conservative BSW to stop the proposals has failed in the opening few minutes.
Bernd Baumann, parliamentary head of the AfD, which last night failed in its attempt to block the debate in the constitutional court and tried again in the Bundestag this morning, said it was an insult to the electorate that the old parliament was being used to push the legislation through.
Merz, he said, “endorsed by the Bundestag, which has long been voted out of office” was trying to “take over the chancellorship with the (help of the) SPD and the Greens as if it were a Banana Republic”.
Christian Görke of Die Linke accused Friedrich Merz of backtracking on one of his main election promises not to relax the rules of Germany’s constitutionally enshrined debt brake. At the same time he emphasised the need for its reform, as it had caused previous governments to ‘break our country’ by pursuing an obsessive savings policy, rather than investing where necessary.
Jessica Tatti of BSW, the breakaway group from Die Linke, referred to the proposals as ‘war credits’ (Kriegskredite) which had to be stopped. She slammed the social democrats in particular, for backing Merz’s deal, quoting from a letter she said a long-term party member announcing his departure from the party had shared with her.
“Please spare us the sabre-rattling and the nuclear threat,” the outgoing SPD member wrote. The party should instead “strive for peace and forging a speedy understanding with Russia, with whom we could have a lot of good things in common”. By backing the spending deal which Tatti said will see billions of Euros of investment in German defence spending as well as saddling younger generations with immense debt for years to come, the SPD had renounced its core values of “freedom, justice, solidarity and peace”, Tatti said, quoting from the letter.
These voices will set the tone for the debate over the coming hours in what the tabloid Bild, often good at snappily capturing the mood, has succinctly nicknamed ‘Die Schulden-Schlacht’ – the debt battle.
Poland and the Baltics intend to withdraw from antipersonnel land mine ban convention
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have signalled their intention to withdraw from an international convention that bans antipersonnel land mines due to the growing threat posed by Russia after its invasion on Ukraine.
The defence ministers of the four countries said in a joint statement that they “unanimously recommend withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention.”
They said:
Since the ratification of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (Ottawa Convention), the security situation in our region has fundamentally deteriorated.
Military threats to NATO Member States bordering Russia and Belarus have significantly increased.
In light of this unstable security environment marked by Russia’s aggression and its ongoing threat to the Euro-Atlantic community, it is essential to evaluate all measures to strengthen our deterrence and defense capabilities.
We believe that in the current security environment it is of paramount importance to provide our defence forces with flexibility and freedom of choice of potential use of new weapon systems and solutions to bolster the defence of the Alliance’s vulnerable Eastern Flank.
They added:
With this decision, we are sending a clear message: our countries are prepared and can use every necessary measure to defend our territory and freedom.
Despite our withdrawal, we will remain committed to international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians during an armed conflict. Our nations will continue to uphold these principles while addressing our security needs.
Putin-Trump call scheduled for afternoon, Kremlin confirms
We have just heard from the Kremlin on the exact timing of the Putin-Trump phone call, with officials saying it is scheduled for 1pm to 3pm GMT (2pm to 4pm CET).
“There is a large number of issues from the normalisation of our relations and the Ukrainian issue, all of which the two presidents will discuss,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, quoted by AFP.
Daniel Boffey
Chief reporter
While Donald Trump talks of the “big beautiful ocean” separating the US from the war in Ukraine, 1,000 miles of rail track links London St Pancras to the city of Lviv in western Ukraine.
The 19-hour trip takes in Brussels, the German economic powerhouse of Frankfurt, and Vienna, the Austrian capital, before the train rattles into Kraków in south-east Poland and Przemyśl, the Polish border town where the slimmer railway gauges of western Europe meet the wider tracks of Ukraine and Russia to the east.
At each stop, Europeans are grappling in different ways with new and unsettling realities after the US president appeared in recent weeks to herald the end of Pax Americana.
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You can read Daniel Boffey’s account of his train trip from London to Lviv, to follow how Trump’s new world order has shaken Europe, here.
Trump’s plan is for Ukraine to ‘surrender’ to Russia, former head of US forces in Europe warns
Daniel Boffey
Chief reporter
A former head of US forces in Europe has said that Donald Trump’s peace plan is for Ukraine to “surrender” to Russia.
Retired US general Ben Hodges, who was Commanding General of United States Army Europe until 2018, castigated Trump for siding with Russia and cited the humiliation of Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House as evidence of his intent.
Hodges said:
This is anything but a peace plan. It is a surrender. It’s a pressure from the United States for Ukraine to surrender to Russia.
The mask came off when we saw this debacle in the Oval Office two weeks ago, and then all the actions that have taken place since.
The administration only expects Ukraine to make any say, to give up anything, especially territory, and I don’t understand why the administration thinks this is good for America’s strategic interests.
Trump is due to speak to Vladimir Putin on Tuesday over a proposed 30 day ceasefire in the war in Ukraine.
Hodges said there was no indication that the Kremlin would seek any form of peace unless it meant victory in their goal of leaving Ukraine as a broken state.
I think that this idea that somehow Russia would live up to any agreement, is nonsense.
“There’s no evidence in history that Russia would live up to any agreement where there wasn’t a large force that would compel them to do so. And and then finally, I would say they don’t see any indication of [Russia] actually being interested in a peaceful solution, except where they control everything.”
Hodges, who lives in Frankfurt, was speaking to the Guardian’s chief reporter, Daniel Boffey, as he travelled by train from London to Lviv, in western Ukraine, to explore how Europe is adapting to the new political, security and economic realities.
Hodges said: “It’s clear that the Trump administration has zero respect for Europe as a whole, or frankly, for most European countries. I mean, they don’t take European interests into consideration. They don’t care, except to demand that Europe buys American goods.”
He added: “I would ask, please don’t give up on the United States. I mean, you know, our relationship between the US and many European countries has been lacking over the decades. But you know, eventually we would always kind of get it sorted out. So even as bad as it seems right now, don’t give up on the United States.”
Germany set to vote on Merz’s plans to unlock record level of state borrowing
Kate Connolly
Berlin correspondent
Germany’s likely next chancellor is to face a key vote on plans to unlock a record level of state borrowing, which he argues is necessary to boost the country’s military spending and inject growth into its ailing economy.
Friedrich Merz intends to release a €500bn infrastructure fund and relax debt rules – currently protected by the constitution – via the outgoing parliament, where parties in favour of the proposals – his conservatives, the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens – have the necessary two-thirds majority.
Merz needs the support of almost all the MPs who have signalled their willingness to back the scheme as he also reckons with some dissenters, including a former CDU general secretary who Merz sacked in 2023.
Financial markets have followed the developments closely, reacting positively to the news last week that Merz had secured the Greens’ support. Experts have said the fiscal injection has the power to lift Germany’s economic fortunes after two years of negative growth, but some have warned that they must be accompanied by robust reform proposals.
Jakub Krupa
Elsewhere, we will also be monitoring the situation in Germany today, where the Bundestag will vote on a historic package of spending reforms proposed by chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz.
The sitting starts very soon, at 10am (9am GMT), with votes expected around 2pm (1pm GMT).
So let’s hear from our Berlin correspondent on the significance of the vote…
Morning opening: Waiting for the call
Jakub Krupa
US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin will speak on the phone today discussing the next step in Trump’s plans for bringing about a ceasefire in Ukraine.
On Sunday, Trump said that negotiators had already talked about “dividing up certain assets”, including power stations. The legal status of Russia-occupied territories is also believed to be on the table.
Much to Europe’s frustration, it once again finds itself not at the table and having to rely on readouts from Washington or Moscow containing only what they choose to disclose.
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha sought to strike an upbeat tone this morning, telling reporters in India that “with leadership of president Trump, we could achieve long-lasting, just peace.” But he also repeated some of Kyiv’s red lines, including its refusal to recognise any of the occupied territories as Russian.
For now, Europe continues its work on a security arrangement that could support a ceasefire or a peace deal, if one is agreed. On Thursday and Friday, European leaders will meet again for the European Council in Brussels, and army chiefs will continue their coordinations in London.
But today’s Trump-Putin phone call will define the future of the talks.
We will bring you all the updates throughout the day.
It’s Tuesday, 18 March 2025, and this is Europe live. It’s Jakub Krupa here.
Good morning.