Putin is ready to talk with France's Emmanuel Macron over the war in Ukraine, the Russian president's spokesman said in an interview published Sunday. Putin has "expressed readiness to engage in dialogue with Macron", Dmitry Peskov told state news agency RIA Novosti. "Therefore, if there is mutual political will, then this can only be assessed positively."
As we know, the opposition is led by Belgium and its outspoken prime minister Bart de Wever, with Bulgaria, Czech Republic, and Malta also against. Italy has some doubts too (at least for now?), and Hungary, traditionally, is against anything that would help Ukraine. Slovakia appears to be leaning towards against too, with prime minister Robert Fico saying this morning that he won't support anything that prolongs the war and would increase military spending.
Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner have been meeting top Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov and Andrii Hnatov, the chief of staff of Kyiv's armed forces. Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia's readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings, said a summary of the talks.
The European Commission has presented its plan to use frozen Russian state assets to help fund Ukraine. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the proposal would create a reparations loan, drawing on cash balances from immobilized Russian assets in the EU. "We have strong safeguards in place throughout to protect member states and reduce risks as much as possible," von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels. "For example, to ensure that an illegitimate award outside the Union cannot be enforced within.
Finland on a possible Russia-Ukraine deal, Trump's leverage and Europe's stance as a NATO state on Russia's border. Finland's Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen speaks to Talk to Al Jazeera about the prospects for a Russia-Ukraine peace deal, whether Trump can bring Putin and Zelenskyy to the negotiating table, and why Europe insists on clear red lines. From frozen Russian assets to NATO deterrence and Finland's unique position as a NATO member sharing a long border with Russia, Valtonen explains what a realistic settlement would require,
Ukraine sent drones towards Moscow for the third consecutive night, closing airports, Russian authorities said late on Tuesday. Rosaviatsiya, the air transport watchdog, said Moscow's Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports had flights halted or restricted. Russia usually says all incoming drones were destroyed, regardless of the outcome, and typically gives limited details about the effects of Ukrainian strikes unless civilians or civilian infrastructure are hit. Over the previous two nights, Russia's defence ministry said there were 35 Ukrainian drones destroyed over the Moscow region.
News that a highly anticipated meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been put on hold will offer some relief to Ukraine's EU allies, who were left rattled by the prospect of the bloc's most Russia-friendly member playing host to talks on the future of Europe's security. Key summits in Brussels and London later this week could now test Europe's capacity to deliver as it tries to unlock fresh financial support for Kyiv,
Power was restored to over 800,000 residents in Kyiv on Saturday, a day after Russia launched major attacks on the Ukrainian power grid that caused blackouts across much of the country, and European leaders agreed to proceed toward using hundreds of billions of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine's war effort. Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK, said Saturday that "the main work to restore the power supply" had been completed,
