Tusk: Poland in talks with France on nuclear deterrence programme

"I explained the situation at the front and our needs in terms of missiles for air defence. We have information from intelligence about possible Russian attacks, which is why it is important now to do the maximum for protection," Zelensky noted. "We also discussed the negotiating path to achieve peace and how this may evolve in light of events in the Middle East," the Ukrainian leader specified on his Telegram channel.

"Friedrich updated us on his trip to China and the meetings that took place there. China has many tools that can significantly influence Russia and its willingness to end the war. In addition, we coordinated before the Chancellor's meeting with President Trump in Washington," Zelensky concluded.

Moscow reports that Russia remains open to negotiations with the United States. This was stated today by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

"It is in our interest to continue these negotiations. We will certainly remain open to these negotiations," Peskov told reporters.

Russia has national interests that the country must protect, the spokesman said.

"Of course, we continue to appreciate the mediation efforts of the United States, but we trust ourselves above all. We are the ones defending our interests. And we will continue to be guided by that," Peskov said. The official also said that negotiations with the US within the framework of the working group on economic issues were proceeding smoothly.

The death toll from Russian attacks in Ukraine today, Tuesday 2 March, including the attack on a commuter train, has risen to at least eight dead. This was announced by the Ukrainian authorities. Three people were killed in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, a Ukrainian stronghold towards which Russian forces are advancing, the head of the city's military administration specified. Two more were killed and thirteen wounded in the neighbouring town of Druzhkivka. The body of a 55-year-old man was found in the rubble of a house in the central region of Dnipropetrovsk, while a drone attack launched against a moving train killed a 75-year-old man and injured nine others, local officials said. Among them on board the convoy were two minors: a 10-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy. "The locomotive staff immediately stopped the train. The passengers were evacuated and received first aid,' said Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba.

During the night, the Russian army launched a massive drone attack on the Ukrainian town of Kryvyi Rih. A company was hit and several fires broke out. This was stated on Telegram by the head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional administration, Oleksandr Ganzhy, and the head of the city's defence council, Oleksandr Vilkul. "The enemy struck Kryvyi Rih. A company in the town was damaged. Several fires broke out. The fire brigade is eliminating the consequences. No persons were injured," reads Ganzhy's message.

The Russians also bombed the town of Kramatorsk, in the Donetsk region, Donbass, in the morning, killing at least three people. This was stated by the head of the military administration of the city of Kramatorsk, Oleksandr Honcharenko, on social networks, reported by the Ukrainian media.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces have hit a long-range space communications centre, a number of radar systems and two Russian soldier groupings. This was announced by the General Staff via social media, as reported by Ukrinform, specifying that the raids affected the centre near the Vitnyo settlement and a Podlyot-K1 radar station near Vynohradne in the Crimea region, as well as two other radar systems in the Luhansk region and Russian personnel groups from the Rubikon radio reconnaissance unit in the Kermenchyk (Donetsk) and Kinski Rozdory (Zaporizhzhia) areas. During the course of the night, Kiev forces struck other targets in the port of Novorossiysk, 'including military ships, a 30N6E2 fire control radar of the S-300PMU-2 Favorit system, a Pantsir-S2 missile-counteraircraft system and six of the seven oil loading docks of the Sheskharis oil terminal', the Ukrainian news agency recalls.

The Russian news agency Tass reports instead seven people were injured in a fire that broke out overnight at a fuel terminal in Novorossiysk, Russia, following a drone attack by Ukrainian security forces. Moscow television, citing authorities in the Krasnodar region, where Novorossiysk is located, announced that the fire had been extinguished. Earlier, the Telegram channel Astra, had reported that it was probably the Sheskharis oil export terminal and released pictures of the fire. "According to updated information, seven people were injured in the attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Novorossiysk," the Krasnodar Territory Operations Headquarters reported. Fragments of the downed drones damaged several buildings.

According to reports from the pro-Russian administration, five police officers were killed and six wounded in a shelling by Ukrainian forces on the part of the Kherson region occupied by Moscow troops. "On 28 February, Ukrainian armed forces attacked officers of the Golopristanskyi department of the Russian Interior Ministry. Five police officers were killed and six were wounded,' reads the communiqué of the Russian Interior Ministry for the Kherson region, reported today by the Tass news agency.

"By interrupting the Druzhba pipeline in this international crisis, Ukraine is deliberately undermining Hungary's energy security," said Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, adding that "in today's national security briefing we examined satellite images of the Druzhba pipeline. The images clearly show that there is no technical reason for the interruption," claiming that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is "lying"

"At a time when maritime oil transport is uncertain due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, blocking a functioning land supply route is a direct attack on Hungary," the Hungarian diplomat specified.