The world in brief

Vladimir Putin visited Russian troops in Kursk, a border region partly held by Ukraine. The trip—his first since Ukraine’s surprise assault last summer—came shortly after Ukraine agreed in principle to a 30-day ceasefire proposed by America. Donald Trump said American officials were travelling to Russia to discuss the idea and that he could “do things financially that would be very bad for Russia” if it did not go ahead.

Mr Trump said he would “of course” respond to the European Union’s decision to introduce $28bn in tariffs on American imports, without detailing his plans. The EU’s move came in response to America introducing a global 25% levy on steel and aluminium entering the country. Canada also introduced $21bn-worth of retaliatory tariffs on its neighbour.