That’s all from the Europe live blog today, here’s a summary of the latest developments:
The US and Kyiv have signed an agreement to share revenues from the future sale of Ukrainian minerals and rare earths. Donald Trump has said such an agreement will provide an economic incentive for the US to continue to invest in Ukraine’s defence and its reconstruction after he brokers a peace deal with Russia.
Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said on national television that the agreement, which must be ratified by Ukraine’s parliament, was “good, equal and beneficial”. In a post on social media he said the two countries would establish a Reconstruction Investment Fund with each side having 50% voting rights.
Ukraine would not be asked to pay back any “debt” for the billions of dollars in US weapons and other support since Russia invaded in February 2022 – a key demand for Kyiv – Shmyhal said. He also said the fund would not be an obstacle to Ukraine’s EU accession talks.
Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko, who was in Washington to sign the fund, gave further details including confirming that Ukraine would retain full ownership of resources “on our territory and in territorial waters belong to Ukraine.” There would be no changes to ownership of state-owned companies, she said and income would come from new licences for critical materials and oil and gas projects, not from projects which had already begun.
US treasury department secretary Scott Bessent said the “historic” deal “signals clearly to Russia that the Trump Administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term.” He added, “To be clear, no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine.”
It was unclear up until the last moment whether the US and Ukraine would manage to sign the deal. Washington reportedly pressured Ukraine to sign additional agreements, including on the structure of the investment fund, or to “go back home”. Bessent later said the US was ready to sign though Ukraine had made some last-minute changes.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio, who had threatened to step back from his mediation efforts between Russia and Ukraine over the past week, has called the minerals deal a “milestone in our shared prosperity and an important step in ending this war”. In a post on X he wrote:
Thanks to @POTUS’s leadership, today the U.S. and Ukraine signed the Reconstruction Investment Fund Agreement—a milestone in our shared prosperity and an important step in ending this war.
In a video message posted on X after the signing of what he called the “historic” agreement, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the deal would allow US and Ukrainian investments to “unlock Ukraine’s growth assets, mobilise American talent, capital and governance standards that will improve Ukraine’s investment climate and accelerate Ukraine’s economic recovery.”
Today’s agreement signals clearly to Russian leadership that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centred on a free, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine over the long term.
It’s time for this cruel and senseless war to end. The killing must stop and both the United States and the government of Ukraine look forward to quickly operationalising this historic economic partnership.
Thanks to @POTUS @realDonaldTrump’s tireless efforts to secure a lasting peace, I am glad to announce the signing of today’s historic economic partnership agreement between the United States and Ukraine establishing the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund to help… pic.twitter.com/N1jPa35DYh
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) April 30, 2025
Canada’s freshly re-elected prime minister, Mark Carney, says he has spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and “underscored Canada’s commitment to supporting Ukraine in achieving lasting peace and security” which can only be done “with Ukraine at the table”.
A statement from Carney’s office said the pair would remain in close contact and meet at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, in June.
Zelenskyy had earlier confirmed the telephone conversation in his daily evening address, saying he had congratulated Carney on his re-election and that “we greatly appreciate” Canada’s support for Ukraine.
The US treasury department has posted a picture of treasury secretary Scott Bessent and Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko signing the deal:
On April 30, the United States and Ukraine signed an agreement to establish the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund.
— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) April 30, 2025
This historic economic partnership clearly signals the Trump Administration’s commitment to a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/cKUACUhet9
What critical minerals does Ukraine have?
A 2022 article by the chair of Ukraine’s Association of Geologists, Hanna Liventseva, claimed her country contained about 5% of the world’s mineral resources, despite covering only 0.4% of the globe’s surface, thanks to a complex geology that takes in all three of the main components of the earth’s crust.
According to Ukraine’s own data, cited by Reuters, the country has deposits of 22 of the 34 minerals identified as critical by the EU, including rare earths such as lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, erbium and yttrium.
Before the outbreak of war with Russia, Ukraine was a key supplier of titanium, producing about 7% of global output in 2019, according to European Commission research, as well as manganese. It also claimed about 500,000 tonnes of lithium reserves, the largest in Europe, and one-fifth of the world’s graphite, a crucial component of nuclear power stations.
However, with Russia controlling about one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory, a lot of these reserves have been lost.
According to estimates by Ukrainian thinktanks cited by Reuters, up to 40% of Ukraine’s metal resources are in land under occupation. Russian troops also hold at least two of Ukraine’s lithium deposits, one in Donetsk and another in Zaporizhzhia.
What are critical minerals?
Critical minerals are the metals and other raw materials needed for the production of hi-tech products, particularly those associated with the green energy transition, but also consumer electronics, artificial intelligence infrastructure, and weapons.
The rush to tackle climate breakdown and move away from fossil fuels has triggered a scramble for energy transition minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium and nickel, which are useful for the electrification of transport and the construction of wind turbines.
The same minerals and others are also used for the manufacture of mobile phones, AI datacentres and military assets such as F-35 fighter aircraft, placing them in high demand.
As the world’s economy and technology transforms, the value of critical minerals has soared and geopolitical competition for access to them is rising.
In 2023, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimated that the market for energy transition minerals had reached £320bn in 2022, double its value five years earlier. And if countries fully implement their clean energy and climate pledges, demand is expected to more than double by 2030 and triple by 2040, the agency says.
The deal has been a source of great friction between the US and Ukraine, including a disastrous February meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which Trump and his vice-president, JD Vance, shouted at the Ukrainian leader in front of live TV cameras.
Ahead of the meeting Zelenskyy had alleged the US was pressuring him to sign over more than $500bn (£395bn) in mineral wealth – about four times what the US has contributed to Kyiv since the start of the war and which Zelenskyy had said would take 10 generations of Ukrainians to pay back.
Trump has also pressed Ukraine to accept territorial concessions to Russia in a peace agreement with Russia, including Crimea. Zelenskyy has insisted the Black Sea peninsula is an integral part of his country.
Updated
In Kyiv, prime minister Denys Shmyhal said on national television that the agreement was “good, equal and beneficial”, AFP reports.
Updated
Here’s our full report on the deal, by Andrew Roth and Shaun Walker:
The US and Kyiv have signed an agreement to share revenues from the future sale of Ukrainian minerals and rare earths, sealing a deal that Donald Trump has said will provide an economic incentive for the US to continue to invest in Ukraine’s defense and its reconstruction after he brokers a peace deal with Russia.
The minerals deal, which has been the subject of tense negotiations for months and nearly fell through hours before it was signed, will establish a United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund that the Trump administration has said will begin to repay an estimated $175bn in aid provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
“This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump Administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term,” said Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, in a statement.
“President Trump envisioned this partnership between the American people and the Ukrainian people to show both sides’ commitment to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine. And to be clear, no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, confirmed in a social media post that she had signed the agreement on Wednesday.
“Together with the United States, we are creating the fund that will attract global investment into our country,” she wrote.
In a post on Facebook, Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko gave further details of the fund, which she said would “attract global investment”.
She confirmed that Ukraine would retain full ownership of resources “on our territory and in territorial waters belong to Ukraine.”
“It is the Ukrainian state that determines where and what to extract," she said.
There would be no changes to ownership of state-owned companies, she said, “they will continue to belong to Ukraine”. That included companies like Ukrnafta, Ukraine’s largest oil producer, and nuclear energy producer Energoatom.
Income would come from new licences for critical materials and oil and gas projects, not from projects which had already begun, she said.
Income and contributions to the fund would not be taxed in the US or Ukraine, she said, “to make investments yield the greatest results”.
In a post on Telegram, Ukraine’s prime minister Denys Shmyhal said that the two countries would establish a Reconstruction Investment Fund with each side having 50% voting rights.
“Ukraine retains full control over its subsoil, infrastructure and natural resources,” he said.
Meeting a key concern for Kyiv, he said Ukraine would not be asked to pay back any “debt” for the billions of dollars in US weapons and other support since Russia invaded in February 2022.
He also said the fund would not be an obstacle to Ukraine’s EU accession talks.
“The fund’s profits will be reinvested exclusively in Ukraine,” he said, adding:
Thanks to this agreement, we will be able to attract significant resources for reconstruction, start economic growth, and receive the latest technologies from partners and a strategic investor in the United States.
A draft of the deal seen by Reuters news agency says it would give Washington preferential access to new Ukrainian natural resources deals.
However it did not automatically hand Washington a share of Ukraine’s mineral wealth or any of its gas infrastructure.
It provided for creation of a joint US-Ukrainian fund for reconstruction which will receive 50% of profits and royalties accruing to the Ukrainian state from new natural resources permits in Ukraine.
US and Ukraine sign reconstruction investment fund
The US and Ukraine have signed an agreement to share revenues from the future sale of Ukrainian minerals and rare earths, sealing a deal that President Donald Trump has suggested will provide an economic incentive for the US to continue to invest in Ukraine’s defense and its reconstruction after a future peace deal with Russia.
The minerals deal, which has been the subject of tense negotiations for months, will establish a United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund that the Trump administration has said will help repay an estimated $175 billion in aid provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
“This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump Administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term,” said treasury secretary Scott Bessent. He continued:
President Trump envisioned this partnership between the American people and the Ukrainian people to show both sides’ commitment to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine. And to be clear, no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Critics of the deal have said that the White House has taken advantage of Ukraine by linking military aid against the Russian invasion to a firesale of critical minerals and rare earths.
Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko confirmed that she had signed the agreement on Wednesday. In a post on X she wrote:
Together with the United States, we are creating the fund that will attract global investment into our country.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It’s 10.15pm in Kyiv and Moscow, and 3.15pm in Washington. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
Ukraine and the US said they were ready to sign a minerals deal, amid reports that a last-minute obstacle injected uncertainty into the timing. “Our side is ready to sign. The Ukrainians decided last night to make some last-minute changes,” US treasury secretary Scott Bessent told reporters. “We’re sure that they will reconsider that and we are ready, if they are.”
Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, is on her way to the US to sign the minerals deal, according to a senior source in the Ukrainian presidency. Ukraine’s prime minister, Denis Shmyhal, said on Wednesday that the reworked deal would be signed within the next 24 hours and would have to be ratified by the Ukrainian parliament. But later reports claimed the US was pushing Ukraine to sign additional documents, but that Kyiv felt they were not ready yet.
Vladimir Putin said some small groups of Ukrainian soldiers were still holed up in basements and hideouts in Russia’s western Kursk region. Speaking at an event in Moscow on Wednesday, the Russian leader said radio intercepts suggested that the few Ukrainians left behind were asking commanders to urgently evacuate them to safety.
The EU is preparing a “plan B” on how to keep economic sanctions against Russia should the US abandon Ukraine peace talks and seek rapprochement with Moscow, according to the bloc’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas. “We see signs that they are contemplating whether they should leave Ukraine and not try to get a deal with the Russians because it’s hard,” Kallas told the Financial Times.
Russia and North Korea have begun construction of a road bridge between the two countries as part of an effort to strengthen their strategic partnership, Russia’s prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, said. It comes after South Korean lawmakers said about 600 North Korean troops have been killed fighting for Russia against Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, held a call on Wednesday during which the Ukrainian leader congratulated Carney on his victory in the Canadian federal elections on Monday.
Zelenskyy, in a post on X, said he and Carney discussed steps that could “bring us closer to a full, unconditional ceasefire and a dignified peace.”
We also talked about the prospects of Canada’s G7 presidency this year and our cooperation within the Coalition of the Willing. We are preparing various formats of cooperation in the near future.
“Thank you, Canada, for your support. We are counting on effective cooperation,” Zelenskyy added.
The EU is preparing a “plan B” on how to keep economic sanctions against Russia should the US abandon Ukraine peace talks and seek rapprochement with Moscow.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign and security policy, told the Financial Times:
We see signs that they are contemplating whether they should leave Ukraine and not try to get a deal with the Russians because it’s hard.
Kallas said there was a “plan B” to maintain economic pressure on Russia should Hungary block the rollover of EU economic sanctions in July. She stressed that Brussels was still focused on keeping all EU member states aligned.
There is also a plan B but we have to work for plan A; because otherwise you concentrate on plan B and then that will happen.
Here’s more on the reported “last-minute hurdles” that appeared amid reports that Ukraine and the US were poised to sign a minerals deal.
As we reported earlier, Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko was due to be in Washington on Wednesday to sign the deal.
But a source told Reuters that the US was pushing Ukraine to sign two additional documents as well as the main minerals deal.
The Trump administration urged Ukraine to sign all three documents connected to the deal, but Kyiv felt they were not ready yet, Politico reported. A source told the outlet:
All three documents need to be signed today, but the Ukrainians are trying to reopen terms which have already been agreed upon as part of the package — this will be up to the Ukrainians, as the US is ready to sign.
The US told Svyrydenko not to travel to Washington on Wednesday unless the agreements were finalised, according to the outlet.
US says it is 'ready to sign' minerals deal 'this afternoon'
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said Washington is “ready to sign” a minerals deal with Ukraine.
At a cabinet meeting at the White House, Donald Trump was asked by a reporter about the deal, which he then directed to Bessent.
“Our side is ready to sign,” Bessent said, adding that the Ukrainians had “decided last night to make some last-minute changes”. He added:
We’re sure they will reconsider that, and we are ready to sign the afternoon.
Bessent said “nothing has been removed” from the agreement.
It’s the same agreement that we agreed to on the weekend. No changes on our side.
The announcement of the construction of a new road bridge connecting Russia and North Korea comes after reports that about 600 North Korean troops have been killed fighting for Russia against Ukraine.
North Korea has suffered about 4,700 casualties so far, including injuries and deaths, out of a total deployment of 15,000, South Korean lawmakers said on Wednesday, citing the country’s intelligence agency.
In return for dispatching troops and supplying weapons to Russia, North Korea appears to have received technical assistance on spy satellites, as well as drones and anti-air missiles, they said.
Lee Seong-kweun, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, told reporters:
After six months of participation in the war, the North Korean military has become less inept, and its combat capability has significantly improved as it becomes accustomed to using new weapons such as drones.
On Monday, North Korea confirmed for the first time that it had sent troops to fight for Russia in the war in Ukraine under orders from its leader, Kim Jong-un.
Russia and North Korea have begun construction of a road bridge between the two countries as part of an effort to strengthen their strategic partnership, Russia’s prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, said.
Mishustin announced work had started on the bridge across the Tumnen river while in a video meeting with the chair of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly, Pak Thae-song, on Wednesday.
“This is a truly a milestone for Russian-Korean relations,” Mishustin said.
It symbolises our common desire to strengthen friendly, good-neighbourly relations and increase inter-regional cooperation.
The bridge is being built near the existing “Friendship Bridge”, a rail bridge which was commissioned in 1959 after the Korean war.
Pak was quoted as saying:
It will become an eternal historical memorial structure symbolising the unbreakable Korean-Russian friendly relations.
Putin says a small number of Ukrainian troops are still holed up in Russia's Kursk region
Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that some small groups of Ukrainian soldiers were still holed up in basements and hideouts in Russia’s western Kursk region.
Putin earlier this week phoned his top commanders in Kursk to congratulate them on “victory” and the end of their operation to expel Ukrainian forces from the region after a Ukrainian force stormed across the border last August, Reuters reported.
Speaking at an event in Moscow, Putin said radio intercepts suggested that the few Ukrainians left behind were asking commanders to urgently evacuate them to safety.
Ukraine has said that some of its forces are still inside Kursk and in Russia’s nearby Belgorod region.
Updated
Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that he had no doubt that Moscow would sooner or later repair its relations with European countries.
Speaking at a forum in Moscow, Putin said many in Europe share Russia’s position on certain issues.
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting at Pope Francis’s funeral was “indicative” of the “effort” being put in to secure a peace deal for Ukraine, UK foreign secretary David Lammy has said.
The US and Ukrainian presidents were pictured in discussion at the Vatican over the weekend, having both travelled to Rome for the service, PA reported.
The foreign secretary told the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee on Wednesday that Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron have done “a lot of the heavy lifting” in terms of trying to bring nations together to support any potential future agreement.
It comes as Ukrainian official indicated they are willing to sign a minerals resources agreement with the US, perhaps as soon as Wednesday, with the country’s economy minister in Washington looking to iron out the final technical details.
The meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy on Saturday was the first since their fraught White House encounter earlier this year. In the hours after, the American president appeared to criticise Vladimir Putin, writing on TruthSocial that the Russian leader could be “just tapping me along”.
The United States wants Ukraine to sign two additional documents together with their minerals deal, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
However, Kyiv thinks the two supplements need more work, Reuters reported.
… and on that note, that’s a wrap from me, Jakub Krupa, but I leave you with Tom Ambrose who will guide you through the evening and bring you all the latest updates on the minerals deal.
Russia's ceasefire proposal in fact seeks concessions to help Putin's war machine, Zelenskyy's top aide warns
As we wait to hear more on the US minerals deal, let me bring you new comments from Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office.
Writing for the Guardian, Yermak, Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s most senior aide, explained Moscow’s seemingly contradictory logic as Russia calls for a three-day ceasefire in May, while stalling on a longer ceasefire and proper peace talks.
He said:
On Monday, the Kremlin offered a three-day pause in hostilities against Ukraine in May, to coincide with Moscow’s celebrations of the end of the second world war.
In a context where Ukraine is calling for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, and the US a permanent one, Russia wants concessions before a lasting pause or permanent peace can even be discussed.
Central to the Kremlin’s demands is the removal of sanctions – especially those restricting its aviation sector.
We must be cautious not to make concessions prematurely, under the guise of quick progress. The short pause offered would not make a meaningful difference to the war, and accepting it would enable a regime that has repeatedly shown intent to prolong its war of aggression and undermine this chance for a just, fair and lasting peace.
Yermak went on to explain the problem with removing the requested sanctions, saying that “the apparent humanitarian and economic nature of Russia’s request masks the political and military advantage that any softening of aviation sanctions would hand the Russian president and his war machine.”
You can read his comment in full here:
Updated
There’s a lot of conflicting reporting on when the minerals deal could be signed, and if it really could be as early as today – as some reports suggested earlier (14:33).
In the last few minutes, the Financial Times (£) said that the talks “ran into last-minute hurdles,” as a US source told the newspaper that the “negotiations had not concluded because Ukraine had sought to revisit terms agreed at the weekend.”
We will keep an eye on this for you and bring you all the latest updates here.
Updated
Ukrainian PM says Kyiv ready to sign minerals deal 'within 24 hours'
Ukrainian prime minister Denis Shmyhal has offered his take on the US minerals deal, with Reuters reporting his comments that the reworked agreement has become a “real partnership deal”.
He said the deal is to be signed within the next 24 hours, with two additional agreements to follow.
Shmyhal added that the deal will have to be ratified by the Ukrainian parliament, with consultations set to start tomorrow, Reuters said.
He added that future US aid for Ukraine can be considered as part of US contribution to the investment fund to be established under the deal, according to Reuters.
Let’s wait for more details or, ideally, the full text of the deal though.
It is believed that the text has evolved significantly since the first attempt at signing it in February, which ended with that Oval Office spat between Trump, JD Vance and Zelenskyy.
Updated
Kremlin claims Russia's Putin open to ending its war in Ukraine, but it's complex
Elsewhere, the Kremlin claimed that president Vladimir Putin was open to peace despite its continuing aggression on Ukraine, but stressed that the conflict is so complicated that the rapid progress that Washington wants is difficult to achieve, Reuters reported.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov insisted that Putin “remains open to political and diplomatic methods of resolving this conflict” started by Russia.
But news agency TASS quoted Peskov as saying that the root causes of the war were too complex to be resolved in one day.
After the Kremlin’s remark, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv was ready for peace talks in any format if Moscow signed up to an unconditional ceasefire, Reuters noted.
Ukraine expects to sign US minerals deal today, reports say
Ukraine expects to sign a much-anticipated minerals deal with the United States on Wednesday, a senior source in the Ukrainian presidency told AFP.
Deputy prime minister and economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko will be in Washington later to sign the agreement, the final draft of which the Ukrainian government “has yet to approve”, the source said, adding that the agreement provides for a “50/50” joint fund between Kyiv and Washington.
Reuters reminded that the two sides signed a memorandum on 18 April as an initial step towards clinching an accord on developing mineral resources in Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials hope that signing the deal promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump will help to firm up softening American support for Kyiv in the war triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion more than three years ago, Reuters added.
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What happens next for Merz's government? - analysis
The way is now paved for the Merz administration to finally take up office.
On Monday, the coalition agreement will be signed, and we’re also expecting the SPD to announce its cabinet posts. Then on Tuesday, Merz is due to be voted into office by the Bundestag, after which his government will be sworn in.
Rumour has it that Merz will hold his first cabinet meeting on Tuesday afternoon, sending out the signal that he means to get down to business straight away amid looming challenges, from economic malaise, to grave domestic concerns, such as how to tackle irregular migration, overburdensome bureaucracy, and not least how to outflank the far-right AfD (recent polls showing them to have overtaken the CDU/CSU for the first time).
There’s also the question that has been on the minds of everyone since his controversial multi-billion Euro financial bonanza he pushed through parliament in March – what exactly is he going to do with the money, and how long will it be before malcontent Germans start to feel the effects of it?
That’s even before touching on the myriad geopolitical complications.
Merz has long since sent out the signal that Ukraine will be at the top of his agenda, having appointed a pro-Kyiv ex soldier as foreign minister and pledged to continue Germany’s support.
The closer he has got to taking office, the more cautious he has become in his rhetoric towards US President Trump, but Merz has made no mistake he knows what is at stake, saying on Monday:
“We have come to the realisation that we can no longer be certain of the transatlantic relationship in the spirit of freedom and the rules-based order.”
German coalition deal vote reveals 'scepticism' among some in SPD over being in government - analysis
With this morning’s news that the Social Democrats’ party base has voted in favour of the party’s coalition agreement with the conservative CDU/CSU alliance, the last hurdle has finally fallen for the long awaited new German government to be formed, ending six months of grindingly painful political gridlock and (hopefully also) the chronic national ennui.
Almost 85% were in favour of the deal, which at first glance looks high, yet, voter participation among the 358,000 members of Germany’s oldest political party was only 56%, itself a clear expression of the disgruntlement – or, as the SPD’s general secretary Matthias Miersch put it this morning, at the briefest of press briefings at the SPD’s headquarters, the Willy Brandt Haus, in Berlin – the “scepticism” many members feel about participating at all in this new administration.
After all, the SPD, after three years of being at the helm under Chancellor Olaf Scholz, is now the junior partner in the new government of Friedrich Merz, and the fear within the party is that its already diminished profile in the political landscape – having delivered its worst ever election result in February – will become even more watered down, as will its ability to imprint its social democratic principles on Europe’s biggest economy.
“Yes, there is scepticism,” Miersch admitted, and many “open-ended questions”, but hopefully, he added, “this scepticism can be dispelled” once the government gets to work, stressing: “es geht nicht um uns, es geht um das Land” – “this isn’t about us, it’s about the country”. He thanked party members for their support and “trust especially in these times of great uncertainty”.
This is certainly the tenor of the new era. As Merz said on Monday, presenting his new ministers, this is “no time for euphoria”
Window washer stuck 240m above Madrid during blackout tells his story
In Spain, harrowing stories have continued to emerge after much of the Iberian Peninsula was plunged into an hours-long blackout earlier this week.
Jonathan Bernal, a window washer in Madrid, has detailed how he and a co-worker were cleaning the outside windows of a skyscraper when the power went out. For four hours they ended up stranded on hanging scaffolding, some 240 metres above the city.
“It was overwhelming, the uncertainty of it all,” he told broadcaster Cuatro.
The pair had been cleaning windows on the 34rd floor of the building when Bernal’s co-worker realised that the lights had gone out on their machine. “There was nothing; no lights, all the breakers were down, all the safeties were off,” said Bernal.
As per the company’s emergency protocol, they picked up the company phone to call for help. But the blackout, which grounded flights, paralysed trains and metros and knocked out traffic lights across much of Spain and Portugal, had also cut off mobile communications.
“There was no signal,” said Bernal, recounting how they tried to call with their personal phones after the company phone wouldn’t work. “We kept trying to call, by WhatsApp, by phone line. We were desperate.”
He managed to catch a tiny bit of signal on his own phone – not enough to reach anyone but enough to allow an alert to come through, informing them that Spain had been plunged into a blackout. “We thought, ‘now what do we do? How do we get people to locate and rescue us?’”
While there was no way to open the windows where they were, the pair managed to get the attention of two women inside. Using the screens on their mobile phones to communicate, Bernal and his co-worker explained their dilemma. “All we could think of was ‘please come get us now,’” he said.
Over the next few hours, a small crowd steadily gathered below, from their supervisor to emergency workers and the building’s management. Finally, a co-worker began climbing the stairs of the building to reach the 58th floor, where a machine controlling the scaffolding was located.
“There’s a handbrake lever there that needs to be released slowly to allow us to descend,” said Bernal. “If it goes too fast, however, there’s a safety mechanism that kicks in and halts the descent.”
After four hours spent dangling over Madrid with the strong midday sun beating down on them, they were slowly, painstakingly lowered to the ground
The next day, as Bernal was headed back to work, he instead found himself again grappling with fallout from the blackout.
He had turned up early on the morning, only to find the metro line he needed was closed. “I stayed there until nearly 10am and I had no choice but to return home,” he said.
Updated
EU inquiries into causes of Spain, Portugal blackouts continue
The power is back on in Spain and Portugal, but the inquiries into the causes of the massive blackouts on the Iberian peninsula are only just beginning. Under EU law at least two investigations are expected to be triggered following Monday’s huge power cuts.
From the end of the crisis being declared, Spain and Portugal each have three months to issue a report setting out causes, impact and necessary improvements to avoid a repeat scenario. The two countries could issue a joint report.
Separately an expert panel is expected to convene, led by a grid-system expert from a non-affected country. This kind of panel is organised to examine the most serious power cuts. While the Iberian peninsula outage is yet to be classified on the serious incident scale, previous less wide-ranging blackouts have been classified as major incidents, triggering such investigations.
The expert panel will include representatives from transmission system operators from all affected countries. The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators, intended to ensure the smooth running of Europe’s single market for electricity, will also be invited.
The report from this panel takes more time than the national reports; within six months they have to present a technical fact-finding report, followed later by a final report setting out recommendations.
Speaking of controversial or unpopular regulations that Merz talked about earlier (9:42), our Berlin correspondent Deborah Cole has one unusual example for you – and it’s about dogs.
Half of the pet dogs in Berlin are being kept illegally owing to a suspected “boycott” of unpopular registration rules rolled out after a surge in ownership during the pandemic, figures have shown.
Dogs have long been taxed in the German capital, primarily for sanitation costs.
However, a policy introduced in 2022 requiring every owner to also register their pooch with data from an implanted microchip – mandatory from the age of three months – prompted a backlash over the additional expense and nuisance.
German economy grows marginally faster than expected
In other slightly encouraging news for the new government, the German economy grew faster than expected at the start of the year, AFP reported.
Gross domestic product (GDP) in Europe’s biggest economy expanded 0.2 percent from January to March compared to the previous quarter, according to provisional figures from federal statistics agency Destatis.
This was better than a forecast of 0.1 percent by analysts surveyed by financial data firm FactSet, and followed a 0.2 percent contraction at the end of last year, AFP noted.
After two years of contraction driven by surging energy prices after Russia invaded Ukraine and post-pandemic supply chain woes, the German economy was expected to start making a modest recovery this year, AFP said, but it noted that the government last week downgraded its growth forecast for 2025 to zero, blaming Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
SPD's co-leader Klingbeil to serve as vice-chancellor, finance minister
SPD’s secretary general Matthias Miersch just spoke at a press conference on the members’ vote.
He said the SPD’s final picks for ministers will be presented on 5 May, ahead of the formal confirmation of Friedrich Merz as the chancellor the following day.
But he confirmed that SPD’s Lars Klingbeil will be the vice-chancellor and federal finance minister in the new government.
Miersch also thanked for “strong grassroots support” for the deal, and said he hoped that some scepticism in parts of the party could be overcome, so “even those who voted no will ultimately see it was worth joining this government and standing up for the basic social democratic values.”
Focus shifts to first 100 days of Merz's government - snap analysis
Marion Muehlberger, economist and political analyst at Deutsche Bank Research:
“SPD members have approved the coalition agreement, as hoped, and cleared the way for the election of the next German chancellor on 6 May.
Markets will now be focused on the new government’s 100-day programme, which is expected to be announced next week.
How quickly the new government draws up the budget (and whether it will be passed before the summer break) will be decisive for whether economic policy impulses contained in the 100-day programme can still take effect over the summer.”
Social Democrats approve German coalition deal
And it’s now done: SPD members have approved the coalition deal with the overwhelming “yes” from 84.6% of those who cast their votes.
15.4% voted against, with 56% turnout, SPD said in a social media update.
In a separate emailed update, SPD’s secretary general Matthias Miersch said “in these very difficult times in global politics, we bear responsibility for our security, for economic growth, secure jobs and equal opportunities,” Reuters reported.
The approval paves the way for Friedrich Merz to be confirmed as the next German chancellor next week.
Updated
Multiple people questioned as part of Uppsala investigation
Speaking at a press conference, chief of Uppsala police, Erik Åkerlund, said that multiple people were questioned as part of the “fast-paced” investigation over night, with one arrest made.
He also confirmed that the attack took place in a hair salon.
Åkerlund said the shooting appeared to be an isolated incident and was deemed to not be an active threat as Swedes prepare for the Walpurgis night celebrations tonight.
Updated
Swedish police arrest Uppsala shooting suspect
Elsewhere, Swedish police said they have apprehended a suspect after a shooting in which three people were killed in the city of Uppsala on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
A large area was cordoned off in the centre of Uppsala, a university city 45 miles north of Stockholm, after witnesses described hearing multiple shots at about 5pm local time and seeing people running in different directions and hiding.
A masked person was seen fleeing the crime scene on an electric scooter.
Morning opening: Is this a Ja, SPD?
Germany could see its next government all but confirmed today, as the Social Democrats (SPD) are set to confirm how its 358,000 members voted on the coalition agreement with the conservative CDU/CSU.
The vote closed just before midnight, and the announcement is expected around 10.30am Berlin time.
If the deal is approved, it will be formally signed on Monday, paving the way for Friedrich Merz to be elected chancellor the next day.
Speaking at the summit of centre-right European People’s Party congress in Valencia yesterday, Merz appeared very confident about the outcome of the vote as he promised “more German leadership than we have seen in the last years.”
In a wide-ranging speech, he promised to “invest a lot of energy into moving Europe forward,” saying that “the challenges we are faced with, surpass our ability to deal with them alone on a national level.”
“This … is … the hour of Europe, or more precisely, the European Union,” he declared.
Outlining his plans for Germany and Europe, Merz pledged to “stand even more strongly” for values of sovereignty, freedom and democracy by supporting Ukraine, and warned about Donald Trump’s policies “putting our transatlantic alliance to a test” by “threatening to plunge the world into a new age of protectionism.”
Merz publicly backed the current European Commission, but also vowed to “pledge regulation on all levels,” pointing to fixed bottle caps and new safety rules for cars as irritants for many Europeans.
“Do we really [want to] make the EU more unpopular with such kinds of regulation? … Let’s not destroy popular [support] for our great European Union and our great European project with such nonsense,” he said.
I will bring you all the latest throughout the day on the outcome of the SPD vote, but also with more updates from Spain and Portugal as they reel off the blackout on Monday, from Greenland where the Danish king continues his formal visit amid Trump’s interest, and across the continent.
It’s Wednesday, 30 April 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
