Ukraine updates: Russia says it can't accept US peace deal

The value of Russian assets frozen in Switzerland due to sanctions on Moscow is now worth more than $8 billion.

Switzerland imposed sanctions against Russia obliging banks to pass on information on clients or firms shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 

At the end of March, the Russian assets were valued at 7.4 billion Swiss francs ($8.4 billion, €7.75  billion), the Swiss government said on Tuesday.

That's an increase of $1.8 billion compared to a year ago, it said, adding that the increase was due to the identification and blocking of addition funds.

Frozen assets include real estate, luxury cars, aircraft and artworks, authorities said.

Switzerland, which isn't a member of the European Union, has mostly adopted in full EU sanctions against Russia.

Russia cannot accept a proposal from US President Donald Trump's administration for a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine, according to comments by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

"We take the models and solutions proposed by the Americans very seriously, but we can't accept it all in its current form," Ryabkov was quoted by state media as telling the Russian magazine "International Affairs" in an interview released on Tuesday.

Ryabkov added that the US proposals, in Moscow's view, do not address Russian concerns about the cause of the war. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and illegally annexed the Ukrainian region of Crimea in 2014.

The Russian statement came after Trump said over the weekend that he was "pissed off" by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The US president also floated the idea of harsher sanctions on Russian oil imports.

The 45 Armoured Brigade of the German army formally entered service with a military ceremony taking place in Vilnius, Lithuania.

"We have a clear mission," said the unit's leader, Brigadier General Christoph Huber. "We have to ensure the protection, freedom and security of our Lithuanian allies here on NATO's eastern flank."

Berlin pledged to permanently station a brigade of up to 5,000 soldiers in Lithuania in response to the threat presented by Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

The German army said the unit would receive its own unit insignia and would be fully operational in Lithuania by 2027.

The first troops were stationed in Lithuania in 2024. The current 150 members of the German military will rise to 500 by the end of the year.

Lithuania shares a border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Russia's close ally Belarus.

Lithuania and other Baltic states see Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a direct threat to national security.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal confirmed that €3.5 billion ($3.8 billion) in financial support from the EU has been received.

"Ukraine stays firmly on the path to the sustainable peace, recovery, and a European future. Grateful to the EU for strategic trust and partnership!" Shmyhal said in a post on X.

Ukraine's Finance Ministry said €3.1 billion would be "concessional loans" or low-interest loans and €400 million are grants.

The financial support is part of the EU's Ukraine Facility program, which will provide €50 billion in support until 2027.

Kyiv has so far received €16 billion under the arrangement this year as it continues to defend itself from Russia's ongoing full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.  

Speaking after her announced arrival in Ukraine, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said steps needed to be taken about the "deadlock" in truce talks, citing a lack of movement in meetings between the United States and Russia.

Baerbock emphasized that Europe's role in supporting Ukraine and a future peace deal was "crucial," as was its role in any minerals deal like the one being negotiated between Kyiv and Washington.

"After all, this is our European continent...we are of course also in dialogue with all stakeholders accordingly," she said of a potential deal, stressing that it must be made in accordance with EU law, particularly as Ukraine has applied to join the bloc.

Finland has announced it will be the latest NATO member to withdraw from the 1997 Ottawa convention banning the use of anti-personnel landmines.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo confirmed the news, citing the threat from neighboring Russia.

"Withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention will give us the possibility to prepare for the changes in the security environment in a more versatile way," he said.

Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have also recently withdrawn from the treaty.

Finland, which joined NATO following the invasion of Ukraine, guards the alliance's longest land border with Russia. Orpo said that Helsinki plans to increase its defense spending to at least 3% of GDP by 2029 to fall in line with the group's guidelines.

China's top diplomat Wang Yi has said his country was eager to work with Russia on the "cause of peace" as he prepared to meet his counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

Wang added that the pair would be pushing Chinese-Russian relations to a "new level."

"We will work together to make new contributions to the cause of peace and development for humanity," Wang said in Moscow.

He added that "the comprehensive cooperation between China and Russia in the new era will definitely rejuvenate with new vitality and advance to a new stage."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told a press conference on Tuesday that Washington and Kyiv were still working on a mutually acceptable text for a minerals deal between their two countries.

He said that a first round of negotiations had already taken place over a new text, a month after President Donald Trump clashed with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a White House meeting.

"This process will continue and we will work with our American colleagues to reach a mutually acceptable text for signing," Sybiha said.

Zelenskyy left the first meeting on February 28 without signing a deal, as intended. A new deal will reportedly include language that calls for a strong US business presence in Ukraine.

Outgoing German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday morning, on the heels of Berlin promising a further €130 million ($140 million) in aid for Ukraine.

In a short statement about her trip, Baerbock warned the United States not to misled by what she described as "stalling tactics" by the Kremlin. US President Donald Trump has made repeated concessions to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, but that has yet to yield results at the negotiating table.

"At the upcoming meeting of NATO foreign ministers, we will make it clear to the American side that we should not engage with Putin's stalling tactics," Baerbock said.

"It is Putin who is playing for time, does not want peace and continues his illegal war of aggression," she added.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was due to visit Russia on Tuesday for talks on Ukraine as Beijing eyes a more direct role in ceasefire negotiations.

Wang was expected to meet directly with President Vladimir Putin to discuss "prospects for a resolution of the Ukraine crisis," the Kremlin said.

After his arrival, Wang issued a statement saying that China and Russia would be "friends forever, never enemies."

China has been repeatedly criticized internationally for supporting Moscow since its invasion of Ukraine, and has been accused of more or less covertly supplying weapons for its war effort.

Germany's outgoing foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday on a previously unannounced visit.

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

The trips come as the United States, Russia and Ukraine negotiate the terms of a potential ceasefire and minerals deal.