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Top European leaders will travel to Washington on Monday to join U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy in critical talks aimed at ending the war with Russia.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will attend the White House meeting, officials confirmed on Sunday.
The talks follow Trump’s closed-door summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, which the former U.S. leader described as a step towards a possible deal.
“Now it’s really up to President Zelenskyy to get it done,” Trump told Fox News. “And I would also say the European nations, they have to get involved a little bit, but it’s up to President Zelenskyy.”
Putin said after the three-hour meeting that he and Trump had reached an “understanding,” though details remain undisclosed.
Germany described the Washington talks as an “information exchange,” with Chancellor Merz expected to focus on peace terms, territorial issues, and maintaining pressure on Moscow.
“Chancellor Merz will discuss the current peace efforts with the heads of state and government and underscore Germany's interest in a swift peace agreement,” government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said.
Von der Leyen said she would travel to the U.S. at Zelenskyy’s request, after hosting the Ukrainian leader in Brussels on Sunday and attending a meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing” – a group of countries backing Ukraine’s defence.
In Helsinki, the Finnish presidency confirmed that Stubb would attend the meeting “on peace in Ukraine.” The Elysee Palace and Italian news agency ANSA also confirmed the participation of Macron and Meloni respectively.
The expanded diplomatic effort underscores growing pressure on Kyiv to consider a negotiated settlement with Moscow. However, key sticking points remain, including Russia’s territorial demands and the absence of a ceasefire.
Zelenskyy rejected Putin’s reported proposal to freeze current front lines in exchange for Ukraine ceding all of Donetsk province, which Russia partially occupied in 2014 and now claims almost entirely.
Winter weather has brought air travel in the German capital to a complete halt, stranding thousands of passengers as severe icing conditions make runways and aircraft unsafe for operation and force authorities to shut down one of Europe’s key transport hubs.
Storm Leonardo hit Spain and Portugal on Tuesday, forcing more than 11,000 people from their homes, as a man in Portugal died after his car was swept away by floodwaters and a second body was found in Malaga.
An attacker opened fire at the gates of a Shiite Muslim mosque in Islamabad on Friday before detonating a suicide bomb that killed at least 31 people in the deadliest assault of its kind in the capital in more than a decade.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 6th of February, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Iran and the United States opened nuclear talks in Oman on Friday, with Tehran calling the meeting a good start and both sides agreeing to continue discussions after returning to their capitals for consultations.
Speedskater Francesca Lollobrigida has given host nation Italy its first gold medal of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, winning the women’s 3,000 metres in Olympic-record time on Saturday.
France and Canada opened new consulates in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, on Friday, stepping up their Arctic presence in a show of support for Denmark, a NATO ally, amid renewed demands by U.S. President Donald Trump to acquire the strategically located territory.
Russia launched a large-scale overnight attack on Ukraine’s energy system early on Saturday (7 January), hitting power generation and distribution facilities with more than 400 drones and around 40 missiles, Ukrainian officials have said.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 7th of February, covering the latest developments you need to know.
U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators have discussed an ambitious goal of reaching a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine by March, though the timeline is widely viewed as unrealistic due to deep disagreements over territory, according to multiple sources familiar with the talks.
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