Donald Trump signals Ukraine should hold elections as part of Russia peace talks

Today’s agenda: Big Tech emboldened; KKR’s Italian telecoms pains; pushback on Elliott’s BP move; drastic cost cuts at renewables leader; and Bolsonaro charged

Good morning. We begin with Donald Trump’s first public remarks since he held high-level talks with Russia, in which he signalled there should be elections in Ukraine.

What he said: In comments critical of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s handling of the war, the US president said: “It’s been a long time since we’ve had an election” in Ukraine, he told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. “You have leadership [in Ukraine] now that’s allowed a war to go on that should have never even happened.” The president did not mention Russia’s role in destroying Ukrainian cities and towns during its invasion.

What’s at stake: Zelenskyy’s term expired last year, but Kyiv has said it can only hold an election after the fighting stops and martial law is lifted. David Arakhamia, head of Zelenskyy’s ruling party in parliament, said this month that elections should not be held earlier than six months after the end of martial law.

Holding elections would be a formidable challenge since millions of Ukrainians are displaced, living abroad or residing in areas under Russian occupation. Kyiv has also expressed security concerns around any polls, saying western peacekeepers or a security force would be needed to ensure voters’ safety. Read more about Trump’s remarks.

Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today:

• Economic data: The UK has January inflation data, while the Federal Reserve publishes minutes from its last meeting.

• Ukraine talks: French President Emmanuel Macron is leading an emergency meeting of European leaders, the second this week, amid Trump’s talks with Russia.

• Results: BAE Systems, Carrefour, Glencore, HSBC, Manchester United, National Occidental Petroleum, Philips and Rio Tinto report. Full list in The Week Ahead newsletter.

Five more top stories

1. Big tech companies are growing confident in their efforts to challenge EU regulations, believing new backing from the Trump administration will allow them to fight what they see as hostile rules on artificial intelligence and market dominance. Here are the Silicon Valley companies leading the pushback against EU technology laws.

2. Exclusive: KKR clashed with management over a projected €449mn earnings hole that threatened to derail its plans for the Italian telecoms company it bought last year in Europe’s biggest-ever private equity deal. The US firm has tightened its control over FiberCop after management presented earnings forecasts that jeopardised billions of euros in prospective dividends. Silvia Sciorilli Borrelli has more from Milan.

3. Exclusive: A group of 48 institutional investors has called on BP to give shareholders a vote on any plan to row back on its climate goals, setting up a potential clash with Elliott Management. The US activist hedge fund is pushing the energy group’s chief to divest some of its green energy investments. Here are the shareholders behind the intervention.

4. Exclusive: Finnish renewable energy group Neste has pledged to dramatically cut costs, including firing a tenth of its workforce. But the world’s largest producer of clean fuels for cars and planes says it remains bullish on decarbonisation. Read the FT’s interview with Neste chief Heikki Malinen.

5. Brazil’s former leader Jair Bolsonaro has been formally charged with leading an alleged coup plot intended to keep him in power after losing the 2022 election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The hard-right politician was accused by the attorney-general of leading a “criminal organisation” to subvert democracy in Latin America’s most populous nation.

News in-depth

European officials are awakening to a reality that Donald Trump has long underscored: the US no longer wants to be the region’s primary security guarantor. Although he is not the only US president to criticise Nato allies, he is the first to force Europe to consider seriously what it would have to do if the US were to remove its defence shield.

We’re also reading . . . 

Chart of the day

Chancellor Olaf Scholz last week dismissed the idea of privatising Germany’s rail system, arguing it would “end as badly as in England”. But data shows Deutsche Bahn consistently delivering one of the least reliable services in central Europe — even when compared with the UK network. Read the FT’s analysis based on 1.9bn data points.

Take a break from the news . . . 

Maria Callas is back in the spotlight thanks to a recent film starring Angelina Jolie as the opera phenomenon. FT Globetrotter takes us to the singer’s stamping grounds in Paris, where she shopped, dined and partied.