European countries vow billions in military support for Ukraine as US envoy meets Putin

BRUSSELS (AP) — European countries vowed Friday to sends billions of dollars in further funding to help Ukraine keep fighting Russia’s invasion, as a U.S. envoy pursued peace efforts in a trip to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid growing questions about the Kremlin’s willingness to stop the more than three-year war.

Russian forces hold the advantage in Ukraine, with the war now in its fourth year. Ukraine has endorsed a U.S. ceasefire proposal, but Russia has effectively blocked it by imposing far-reaching conditions. European governments have accused Putin of dragging his feet.

“Russia has to get moving” on the road to ending the war, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on social media. He said the war is “terrible and senseless.”

In Russia, the Kremlin said Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in St. Petersburg. Witkoff, who has been pressing the Kremlin to accept a truce, initially met with Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev, footage released by Russian media showed.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Witkoff during his visit to Russia was discussing efforts to end the war with Putin and other officials. “This is another step in the negotiating process towards a ceasefire and an ultimate peace deal,” she said.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said Witkoff's meeting with Putin lasted 4 1/2 hours, and cited the Kremlin as saying that the two discussed “aspects" of ending the war, without providing any details.

After chairing a meeting of Ukraine's Western backers in Brussels, British Defense Secretary John Healey said that new pledges of military aid totaled over 21 billion euros ($24 billion), “a record boost in military funding for Ukraine, and we are also surging that support to the frontline fight.”

Healey gave no breakdown of that figure, and Ukraine has in the past complained that some countries repeat old offers at such pledging conferences or fail to deliver real arms and ammunition worth the money they promise.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said last week that Ukraine’s backers have provided around $21 billion so far in the first three months of this year. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Friday that more than $26 billion have been committed.

Ahead of the “contact group” meeting at NATO headquarters, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said a key issue was strengthening his country’s air defenses.

Standing alongside Healey at the end of it, Umerov described the meeting as “productive, effective and efficient,” and said that it produced “one of the largest” packages of assistance Ukraine has received. “We’re thankful to each nation that has provided this support,” he said.

Britain said that in a joint effort with Norway just over $580 million would be spent to provide hundreds of thousands of military drones, radar systems and anti-tank mines, as well as repair and maintenance contracts to keep Ukrainian armored vehicles on the battlefield.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has renewed his appeals for more Patriot systems since 20 people were killed a week ago, including nine children, when a Russian missile tore through apartment buildings and blasted a playground in his home town.

Zelenskyy joined Friday's meeting by video link.

The Russian delay in accepting Washington's proposal has frustrated Trump and fueled doubts about whether Putin really wants to stop the fighting while his bigger army has momentum on the battlefield.

“Russia continues to use bilateral talks with the United States to delay negotiations about the war in Ukraine, suggesting that the Kremlin remains uninterested in serious peace negotiations to end the war,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said in an assessment late Thursday.

Washington remains committed to securing a peace deal, even though four weeks have passed since it made its ceasefire proposals, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.

“It is a dynamic that will not be solved militarily. It is a meat grinder,” Bruce said Thursday about the war, adding that “nothing else can be discussed … until the shooting and the killing stops.”

Ukrainian officials and military analysts believe Russia is preparing to launch a fresh military offensive in coming weeks to ramp up pressure and strengthen the Kremlin’s hand in the negotiations.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that his country would provide Ukraine with four IRIS-T short- to medium-range systems with missiles, as well as 30 missiles for use on Patriot batteries. The Netherlands plans to supply a Hawkeye air defense system, an airborne early warning aircraft.

Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said that his country is monitoring the world armaments market and sees opportunities for Ukraine’s backers to buy more weapons and ammunition.

Pevkur said he believes Putin might try to reach some kind of settlement with Ukraine by May 9 — the day that Russia marks victory during World War II — making it even more vital to strengthen Kyiv’s position now.

“This is why we need to speed up the deliveries as quickly as we can,” he said.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was absent from the forum that the United States created and led for several years, although he spoke via video.

At the last contact group meeting in February, Hegseth warned Ukraine’s European backers that the U.S. now has priorities elsewhere — in Asia and on America’s own borders — and that they would have to take care of their own security, and that of Ukraine, in future.

Associated Press writers Lolita Baldor, Michelle L. Price and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.

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

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff shake hands prior to their talks in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, April 11, 2025. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff greet each other prior to their talks in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, April 11, 2025. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, right, talks with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas during a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, left, talks as he sits next to German Inspector General of the Armed Forces Carsten Breuer during a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Britain's Defense Secretary John Healey, left, talks with Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius during a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Britain's Defense Secretary John Healey, left, talks with Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov during a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Britain's Defense Secretary John Healey, left, talks with Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov during a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Britain's Defense Secretary John Healey, left, talks with Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius during a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Britain's Defense Secretary John Healey, left, Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, second from left, and Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, right, arrive for a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Sweden's Defense Minister Pal Jonson arrives for a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Belgium's Defense Minister Theo Francken, right, talks with Estonia's Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur during a coalition of the willing defence ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Flags of the Alliance members flap in the wind prior to a coalition of the willing defence ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu, right, talks with Romania's Defense Minister Angel Tilvar as they arrive for a coalition of the willing defence ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Britain's Defense Secretary John Healey, center, talks with Romania's Defense Minister Angel Tilvar as they arrive for a coalition of the willing defence ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov arrives for a coalition of the willing defence ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)