Zelenskyy to lead Ukraine’s delegation at Munich Security Conference which JD Vance will attend

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will lead Ukraine’s delegation at the Munich Security Conference next week, which U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, are also expected to attend, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff said Thursday.

Andriy Yermak, who will attend, told The Associated Press the Ukrainian delegation will present the country’s position on ending the war and their views on how “a long and lasting peace” can be achieved.

“It’s necessary that the leaders and the experts in politics who will be in Munich realize that this is momentum,” he said about Ukraine’s message for the event. “That we are very near to really ending this war by a just and lasting peace, but (it’s) necessary to be together… Not to give Russia an opportunity to divide the world, to divide partners.”

The Munich summit is a regular forum for global international security discussions which has taken on new significance amid Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine and other challenges.

The annual conference comes at a pivotal moment for Ukraine, which is striving to establish a relationship with the new U.S. administration — a key partner during the nearly three-year war against Russia.

During his election campaign, President Donald Trump promised to end the fighting within 24 hours, revising that later to within six months of taking office. However, Russia and Ukraine remain far apart, and it is unclear how a ceasefire deal would take shape.

At the Munich meeting, Yermak said Ukraine hopes to discuss what security guarantees could be put in place to prevent repeated aggression by Russia.

The presidential aide said there is still no set date for a meeting of Zelenskyy and Trump but he reiterated that it should happen as soon as possible, adding “we are working on it.”

Yermak confirmed that Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia will visit Kyiv after the Munich Security Conference, around the end of February.

In an attempt to get the new U.S. administration up to speed, Ukrainians plan to provide Kellogg with “full and real information” about the situation on the battlefield, ongoing mobilization efforts, and the status of weapons and equipment delivery.

“I think it’s important that we go through these consultations and negotiations before the (Trump) administration has any plans,” he said. “Because our position is that it’s impossible to have, and will be a big mistake to have, any plans without participation by Ukraine in preparing this plan.”

On Monday, Trump indicated that he wants to reach an agreement with Ukraine to gain access to the country’s rare earth materials as a condition for continuing U.S. support for its war against Russia. The remark aligns with elements of Zelenskyy’s “victory plan,” which he presented to Kyiv’s allies, including Trump, last autumn.

Trump also suggested that he’s received word from the Ukrainian government that it would be willing to make a deal to give the U.S. access to the elements critical to the modern high-tech economy.

Yermak said there is not yet a framework of discussion on the subject, but that Ukraine is looking into a strategic partnership with the U.S. even after the war ends, and that it is part of Zelenskyy’s strategy in approaching the new administration.

“We want that Americans to look to us not just for democracy, which they helped to survive during this terrible war of Russia against Ukraine,” he said. “But to look to us as a very important and very interesting strategic partner in the future”

Ukrainian forces struck an airfield in southern Russia that was being used to launch Iran-designed Shahed drones, Ukraine’s General Staff claimed Thursday. France, meanwhile, said it had delivered the first batch of Mirage fighter jets to Ukraine and the Netherlands sent more F-16s.

The nighttime attack on the Primorsko-Akhtarsk airfield in Russia’s Krasnodar region started a fire, the General Staff wrote on Facebook. The facility houses and fires drones and maintains aircraft used to attack Ukraine’s Kherson and Zaporizhzhia border region.

It was not possible to independently verify the claim. The Russian Defense Ministry reported downing Ukrainian drones over Krasnodar, but it didn’t say where or mention the airfield.

Ukraine has developed its own long-range drones as part of its effort to grow its domestic arms industry and become less dependent on Western help to fight its almost three-year war with Russia. The drones have at times reached deep into Russia, hitting oil refineries, weapons stores and airfields.

France said it had delivered the first fighter jets promised to Ukraine by President Emmanuel Macron last June.

“The first of them arrived in Ukraine today,” Sebastien Lecornu, the minister of the armed forces, said on social platform X. Lecornu did not say how many planes were delivered.

Ukraine also received more F-16s from the Netherlands, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said, though it didn't specify how many.

European countries have previously supplied F-16s, though Ukrainian officials have rarely mentioned them in official comments about the fighting.

Russian forces fired 77 Shahed and other types of drones, as well as two ballistic Iskander-M missiles, at Ukraine overnight, according to Ukraine’s air force. A statement said 56 drones were destroyed and 18 others were jammed and lost mid-flight.

Some buildings were damaged, but no casualties were reported.

Associated Press journalist Illia Novikov contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo provided by the Press Service of The President of Ukraine on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine's Presidential Office, sits during an interview with The Associated Press in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine via AP)

A Ukrainian soldier repairs a FPV drone in a drone repair workshop close to the front line near Siversk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Roman Chop)

A Ukrainian soldier repairs a FPV drone in a drone repair workshop close to the front line near Siversk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Roman Chop)

FILE - Ukraine's Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak speaks at a news conference in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

People come to say goodbye to Kateryna Zapishnya, 38, Diana Zapishnya, 12, Danyil Zapishnyi, 8, Serhii Zapishnyi, 40, Dmytro Yavorskyi, 37, Sofia Yavorska, 9, and Olena Yavorska 38, who were killed on Feb. 1 by a Russian strike on residential building during a funeral ceremony in Poltava, Ukraine, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A woman cries as she says goodbye to Dmytro Yavorskyi, 37, Sofia Yavorska, 9, Olena Yavorska 38, who were killed on Feb. 1 by a Russian strike on residential building during a funeral ceremony in Poltava, Ukraine, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Relatives say goodbye to Dmytro Yavorskyi, 37, Sofia Yavorska, 9, Olena Yavorska 38, who were killed on Feb. 1 by a Russian strike on residential building during a funeral ceremony in Poltava, Ukraine, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A priest blesses coffins of Kateryna Zapishnya, 38, Diana Zapishnya, 12, Danyil Zapishnyi, 8, and Serhii Zapishnyi, 40, who were killed on Feb. 1 by a Russian strike on residential building of Poltava, during a funeral ceremony in Dykanka, Ukraine, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Relatives stand near coffins of Kateryna Zapishnya, 38, Diana Zapishnya, 12, Danyil Zapishnyi, 8, Serhii Zapishnyi, 40, Dmytro Yavorskyi, 37, Sofia Yavorska, 9, and Olena Yavorska 38, who were killed on Feb. 1 by a Russian strike on residential building during a funeral ceremony in Poltava, Ukraine, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A boy puts a toy on a coffin as he says goodbye to Dmytro Yavorskyi, 37, Sofia Yavorska, 9, Olena Yavorska 38, who were killed on Feb. 1 by a Russian strike on residential building during a funeral ceremony in Poltava, Ukraine, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

In this photo taken from a video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, a Russian self-propelled multiple rocket launcher Uragan (Hurricane) is fired toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location in the Kursk region border area. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal agents carrying out immigration arrests in Minnesota's Twin Cities region already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside, part of what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest enforcement operation ever.

In a dramatic scene similar to those playing out across Minneapolis, agents captured a man in the home just minutes after pepper spraying protesters outside who had confronted the heavily armed federal agents. Along the residential street, protesters honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt the operation.

Video of the clash taken by The Associated Press showed some agents pushing back protesters while a distraught woman later emerged from the house with a document that federal agents presented to arrest the man. Signed by an immigration officer, the document — unlike a warrant signed by a judge — does not authorize forced entry into a private residence. A warrant signed by an immigration officer only authorizes arrest in a public area.

Immigrant advocacy groups have conducted extensive “know-your-rights” campaigns urging people not to open their doors unless agents have a court order signed by a judge.

But within minutes of ramming the door in a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, the handcuffed man was led away.

More than 2,000 immigration arrests have been made in Minnesota since the enforcement operation began at the beginning of December, said Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News on Sunday that the administration would send additional federal agents to Minnesota to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement.

The Twin Cities — the latest target in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign — is bracing for what is next after 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer on Wednesday.

“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”

Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.

People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners Sunday in the neighborhood where Good was killed, watching for any signs of federal agents.

More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .

“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.

The protests have been largely peaceful, but residents remained anxious. On Monday, Minneapolis public schools will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.

Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.

While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said that the investigation into Good's shooting death should not be overseen solely by the federal government.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.

“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened," Smith said on ABC’s "This Week."

The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.

Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”

"That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.

Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn't be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”

The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests in cities across the country over the weekend, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Oakland, California.

Contributing were Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Thomas Strong in Washington; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.

A woman gets into an altercation with a federal immigration officer as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A federal immigration officer deploys pepper spray as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A family member, center, reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Bystanders are treated after being pepper sprayed as federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A family member reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Federal agents look on after detaining a person during a patrol in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

Bystanders react after a man was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)

People stand near a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

A man looks out of a car window after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Border Patrol agents detain a man, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

People shout toward Border Patrol agents making an arrest, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

Protesters react as they visit a makeshift memorial during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)