Good morning. We’re covering Vladimir Putin’s conditions for a cease-fire and a new U.S. tariff threat against Europe. Plus: The movies of the century, so far.
Putin demands Ukrainian concessions for a trucePresident Vladimir Putin of Russia has not ruled out a U.S. and Ukrainian proposal for a monthlong cease-fire, but he set down numerous conditions yesterday that would probably delay any truce, or could make one impossible to achieve. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said Putin had made so many demands “that nothing will work out at all” or “it will not work out for as long as possible.” Putin suggested he would insist on limits to Ukraine’s ability to mobilize more troops and import arms during a cease-fire. He said Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region wouldn’t be allowed to peacefully withdraw, saying Kyiv could order them “to simply surrender.” His comments suggested that he saw Russia as having the upper hand on the battlefield and that it would benefit him to draw out the negotiations. The Kremlin had yet to comment on Putin’s scheduled talks yesterday with Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East envoy, to discuss the cease-fire proposal Ukraine has agreed to. The Kremlin said Putin had spoken by phone with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, who has emerged as a middleman on Ukraine. From the U.S.: Trump said yesterday that the U.S. and Ukraine had been discussing land that Kyiv would have to give up as part of a deal to end the war, and he told reporters that “a lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed.” Front lines: Russia claimed to have retaken Sudzha, the main population center in the part of the Kursk region that Ukraine captured last summer. Here’s what to know. Ripple effects: Israel-Hamas cease-fire talks were in limbo as the U.S. turned its attention to talks with Russia over Ukraine.
Trump threatened Europe with a 200% wine tariffPresident Trump escalated his trade war with the E.U. yesterday, saying he would soon put 200 percent tariffs on its wine and other alcoholic beverages unless the bloc reversed its own tariffs on U.S. goods, planned for April 1. Stocks tumbled, slipping into correction territory and underscoring investors’ souring mood over Trump’s policies. European leaders have made it clear that they would rather make a deal with Trump than enact tariffs. In an interview yesterday, Howard Lutnick, the U.S. commerce secretary, warned other countries against retaliating. “If you make him unhappy, he responds unhappy,” Lutnick said of Trump. What’s next: The E.U. trade commissioner will have calls with his U.S. counterparts in Washington today, a spokesman said. Vineyards: A 200 percent tariff “would kill the business totally,” said an owner of a small Champagne house that exports 10 to 12 percent of its annual production to the U.S.
A U.N. panel said Israel tried to prevent Gazan birthsA U.N. commission accused Israel of targeting hospitals and other facilities in Gaza that provide reproductive services, in what it called an effort to prevent Palestinian births. It also documented what it said were wide-ranging sexual abuses, including forced stripping and nudity, sexual harassment, rape or threats of it, and the sexual torture of detainees. The report called Israel’s actions “genocidal” and accused it of punishing Palestinians collectively for the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed 1,200 people. Response: Israel’s mission to the U.N. in Geneva immediately rejected the report, accusing the panel of “a shameless attempt to incriminate” the Israeli military “to advance its predetermined and biased political agenda.” Israel has long accused the human rights council of singling it out for criticism. Syria: More than 13 million people fled their homes during the civil war. Photos and video show the destruction they are returning to.
Japan’s government held a rare auction this week of nearly 150,000 metric tons of rice from its emergency stockpile, selling it off to drive prices down during a national shortage. Nobody is quite sure what caused the shortage, but experts think speculators may be hoarding rice in anticipation of rising prices. Lives lived: James Reason, a British professor who used Swiss cheese to explain human error, died at 86.
25 years of movie recommendationsWhat movie will you watch this weekend? A “small and marvelous” film about a camel from 2000? A |
