Temporary protection should be rolled back for Ukrainian men of military age wanting to shelter in Europe, while EU visas should also be refused to Russians coming for “shopping weekends and fancy trips”, Sweden’s migration minister, Johan Forssell, said on Thursday. EU ministers heard the proposals at a Luxembourg meeting. After Russia’s 2022 invasion, the EU activated a “temporary protection directive” granting residency, work and welfare rights to manage large-scale arrivals of displaced Ukrainians.
“It is essential for us to provide Ukrainians with protection, but at the same time the war needs to be fought and won,” said Forssell. “For that to happen, it is essential that more men stay in Ukraine and fight.” Any restrictions should apply only to new arrivals seeking temporary protection status, not to those already covered by the scheme, he said. The European Commission would need to propose any extension or modification of the scheme, which must then be approved by EU countries. More than 4.33m people who have fled Ukraine currently receive protection under the directive, according to Eurostat data. Most are in Germany, followed by Poland and the Czech Republic.
A group of member states has meanwhile demanded the EU make it harder for Russians to holiday in Europe. The issue was raised in a letter by Poland, Norway, the Baltic states and another nine members of the free-movement Schengen area at the Luxembourg meeting on Thursday. Despite wartime restrictions, more than 470,000 tourist Schengen visas were issued to Russian citizens in 2025, many multi-entry, according to the letter.
“I want there to be no more shopping weekends. I want there to be no more fancy trips to Europe while Ukrainians are dying on the battlefield,” said Sweden’s Forssell. “This situation is completely insane and it needs to be stopped.” According to Agence France-Presse, member states wrote: “It has been deeply troubling to witness increasing numbers of Russian tourists enjoying leisure travel on European beaches and in European resorts while missiles and drones continue to strike civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for face-to-face negotiations in a public letter addressed directly to Vladimir Putin. “It is leaders who resolve the key issues. That has always been the case, and it always will be,” he wrote. “I propose to set a clear date for such a meeting.” Zelenskyy suggested Switzerland, Turkey or Arab states as possible hosts.
Donald Trump, the US president, responded by saying “we had a lot to do with it” and both sides would need to agree to compromises that were his idea. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin had not seen the letter yet and repeated his statement that Zelenskyy could come to Moscow if he wanted talks. Vladimir Putin said at his drone-affected St Petersburg economic event on Thursday that Trump had asked Russia to make some compromises for a Ukraine peace deal and Russia was ready to do so provided Ukraine did the same.
Putin acknowledged the damage from Ukrainian drone attacks. “To our regret, some of them break through,” Putin said of the strikes on his home town of St Petersburg. “Russia has an air defence system, we need to improve it, strengthen it, and we will do that.”
Asked whether the war had become a strategic disaster for Moscow, Putin falsely claimed that “Russian troops are advancing along the entire line of contact”. Russian-controlled Crimea tightened its rationing of fuel supplies on Thursday as attacks by Kyiv have constricted supplies from adjoining Russian-controlled territory in south-east Ukraine. Ukraine’s military said on Thursday that it struck a Russian gunpowder factory in the Ryazan region. As a result of the strike, a fire covering an area of more than 400 sq m (4300 sq ft) broke out, said the Ukrainian general staff.
The US House of Representatives has passed legislation that would aid Ukraine and sanction key segments of the Russian economy. The 226-195 vote, which included 18 Republicans, is a sign of impatience with Trump and his approach of trying to appease and cajole Putin. It seeks to provide more than $1bn in security and reconstruction aid, and make another $8bn available for Ukraine’s defence through loans.
Republican leaders objected to the bill, but supporters forced action by gathering 218 signatures on a discharge petition, which allows a majority of the House to bypass leadership and bring on a vote. Supporters know the Senate would also have to pass the bill, which is unlikely without Trump’s endorsement. The Senate has been dithering over its own bill that would impose sweeping tariffs and secondary sanctions on countries that purchase Russia’s oil, gas, uranium and other exports. Marco Rubio, Trump’s secretary of state, told a Senate subcommittee on Wednesday that there would be news “pretty soon” on $400m Congress has approved for Ukraine-related needs but which has been delayed at the defence department.