France, Germany and Britain will meet on Sunday to help shape Ukraine’s position before President Zelenskyy holds high-stakes talks with Donald Trump in Washington.
The virtual summit, set for 1300 GMT, brings together French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who are seeking to reinforce Kyiv’s hand amid pressure from the U.S. to accept a peace deal with Moscow.
The European powers want security guarantees for Ukraine with U.S. involvement and are aiming to set up a trilateral summit involving Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, diplomatic sources said.
The move follows Trump’s meeting with Putin in Alaska on Friday, where the Russian leader reportedly offered to freeze the front lines in exchange for Kyiv ceding all of the Donetsk region. A source familiar with the discussions said Zelenskyy rejected the proposal.
"Stopping the killing is a key element of stopping the war," Zelenskyy said on X, responding to Russia’s refusal to pause hostilities.
Trump, who reversed his earlier stance on demanding a ceasefire, has said Ukraine should “make a deal” because “Russia is a very big power, and they're not.”
Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 60 drones and one ballistic missile overnight; 40 of the drones were intercepted or jammed.
Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet Trump in Washington on Monday. European leaders may accompany him and are expected to offer strategic advice. Merz said he believed the meeting would be less confrontational than Zelenskyy’s previous Oval Office visit in February, which saw public rebukes from both Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
Despite European unity, Merz noted that the U.S. still held the key to shifting Moscow’s position. "The American president has the power both militarily and via appropriate sanctions and tariffs to ensure that Russia moves more than it currently does," he told ZDF.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. It currently controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory, including much of Donetsk, which it partially occupied as early as 2014.
Former UK national security adviser Mark Lyall Grant called the Alaska summit a “clear win” for Putin, citing Trump’s retreat from demanding a ceasefire. Still, he said U.S. engagement in long-term security guarantees for Ukraine was “absolutely critical”.
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The Middle East crisis intensifies after the deadly attack on the compound of the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei on Saturday that killed him, other family members and senior figures. Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on U.S. targets in the region.
The U.S.-Iran crisis has entered its third day, with further strikes reported across the Middle East and the death toll rising. Oil prices have surged to levels last seen during the Covid-19 pandemic, raising fears of economic disruption and higher prices worldwide.
Türkiye and Iran have suspended day-trip passenger crossings at their shared border, Türkiye's trade minister said Monday, as a U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran entered its third day.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov following recent military strikes carried out by the United States and Israel on targets in Iran, as tensions in the Middle East continue to rise.
Follow the latest developments and global reaction after the U.S. and Israel launched “major combat operations” in Iran, prompting retaliation from Tehran.
Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant Saudi Aramco closed its Ras Tanura refinery on Monday following an Iranian drone strike, an industry source told Reuters as Tehran retaliated across the Gulf after a U.S.-Israeli attack on Iranian targets over the weekend.
The Kremlin is utilising the recent United States and Israeli military strikes on Iran to validate its ongoing war in Ukraine. Russian officials are pointing to the escalation in the Middle East as evidence that Western nations do not adhere to international rules.
The Middle East crisis intensifies after the deadly attack on the compound of the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei on Saturday that killed him, other family members and senior figures. Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on U.S. targets in the region.
Ayatollah Alireza Arafi has moved into a pivotal constitutional role following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, becoming the clerical member of Iran’s temporary leadership council under Article 111 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The U.S.-Iran crisis has entered its third day, with further strikes reported across the Middle East and the death toll rising. Oil prices have surged to levels last seen during the Covid-19 pandemic, raising fears of economic disruption and higher prices worldwide.
The UK said it's allowing the U.S. to use its bases for defensive strikes against Iran amid escalating missile attacks, after a suspected drone strike hit a British airbase in southern Cyprus, causing limited damage.
The Kremlin is utilising the recent United States and Israeli military strikes on Iran to validate its ongoing war in Ukraine. Russian officials are pointing to the escalation in the Middle East as evidence that Western nations do not adhere to international rules.
European Union stands with its member states in the face of any threat, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in response to the drone strike that hit Britain's Royal Air Force base of Akrotiri in southern Cyprus overnight.
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