| Mineral Resources | Ukraine is close to signing off on a draft document outlining its handover of some of its mineral resources to the US, we’re told. Part of the deal is a US commitment to a “free, sovereign and secure” Ukraine, according to documents we’ve seen. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna confirmed yesterday Kyiv and Washington are in the final stages of negotiations. Russian Narrative | The Trump administration is embracing Russia’s narrative on Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said yesterday ahead of a meeting with the bloc’s foreign ministers in Brussels. On the third anniversary of the war, ministers approved a 16th sanctions package against Moscow, targeting aluminum, Russia’s shadow shipping fleet and gaming consoles. Coalition Building | Germany’s economy needs to pick up speed, its politics are increasingly fractured and the country must brace for potential fallout from Trump’s tariffs. Those are just some of the pressing matters driving German conservative leader and election winner Friedrich Merz to vow to move quickly on forming a new coalition government with the Social Democrats of ousted Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Defense Splurge | Merz is already talking with the SPD about quickly approving as much as €200 billion in additional defense spending, we’re told. Party officials are discussing ways to get around tight restrictions on government borrowing and considering an attempt to push a vote on the new package through the current parliament before the new legislature sits for the first time on March 24. Polish Plan | Europe, including the UK, needs a common institution, such as a bank or joint fund, to finance its defense push, Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski told us. Poland, which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, plans to present frameworks for financing European rearmament ambitions in the coming weeks, Domanski said. | 
