From 1h ago
08.28 CET
Macron
says ceasefire could come in 'weeks' as US sides with Russia at UN
Hello and
welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
French
president Emmanuel Macron has said a truce “could be done in the weeks to
come”, shortly after meeting Donald Trump at the White House where he told the
US president a deal should not mean the “surrender” of Ukraine.
“[A] truce
on air, sea [and] infrastructure,” the French president told Fox News. “If it
is not respected, it will be the best evidence of the fact that Russia is not
serious.”
“We want
peace. And I think the initiative of President Trump is a very positive one.
But my message was to say be careful because we need something substantial for
Ukraine,” he added.
At a press
conference with Macron, the US president claimed he had made more progress in
the past month than was made in the previous three years. “I believe that
Emmanuel agrees with me on many of the most important issues,” he said. “Europe
must take a central role in ensuring the long-term security of Ukraine.”
Macron’s
visit comes days before that of UK prime minister Keir Starmer. The pair had
agreed to show “united leadership in support of Ukraine” ahead of their
meetings with Trump.
While Macron
and Trump met in Washington, the US sided with Russia at the UN, pushing for a
resolution on the three-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of
Ukraine that did not mention Moscow’s role as the aggressor.
The
resolution was passed in the security council, by 10 votes to 0. France,
Britain, Denmark, Greece and Slovenia abstained in the vote.
The UN
general assembly earlier backed a resolution drafted by Ukraine and the EU
condemning Moscow, while spurning the rival US resolution that did not include
any mention of Russia aggression.
In other key
developments:
Donald
Trump said Vladimir Putin would accept European peacekeepers in Ukraine as part
of a potential deal to end the three-year war. Speaking before bilateral talks
at the White House, French president Emmanuel Macron said Europe was prepared
to provide security guarantees to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire including
peacekeepers, although they would not be sent to the frontline. Trump said he
saw no objection to European troops being sent to Ukraine to serve as
peacemakers, adding that he had raised the idea with Putin.
Trump
described a potential minerals deal with Ukraine as “very close” and said he
might meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy soon to seal the agreement.
Trump added that he would also be meeting Putin at some point. Zelenskyy last
week rejected US demands for $500bn in mineral wealth from Ukraine to repay
Washington for wartime aid, contending that the US had supplied nowhere near
that sum so far and offered no specific security guarantees in the agreement.
More than
a dozen world leaders gathered in Kyiv on Monday to mark the third anniversary
of Russia’s full-scale invasion. A coordinated Europe-led show of solidarity
took an overnight train for a summit with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, including the
European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, Canada’s prime minister,
Justin Trudeau, and Finland’s president, Alexander Stubb.
The
coordinated Europe-led show of solidarity on Monday came after a torrid week,
in which Trump blamed Ukraine for starting the war against Russia, described
Zelenskyy as a “dictator without elections”, and made it clear Europe would
have to enforce and pay for any future peace settlement. There was strong
collective pushback against the US president’s upside down version of recent
history and a consensus that Ukraine had to take part in negotiations over its
future.
Russia’s
foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow will cease its military actions only
if the outcome is “satisfactory” to Russia. He said that many more countries
had become “realistic” in their position on Ukraine, and that the recent
meeting in Riyadh raised the hope of having normal dialogue between Russia and
the US.
EU
foreign ministers have discussed sending billions of military aid to Ukraine,
ahead of a summit dedicated to European defence next week. At a meeting in
Brussels on Monday a handful of countries proposed military aid for Ukraine in
2025 ranging from €20bn to €40bn, according to several diplomatic sources.
The EU is
spending more money on Russian fossil fuels than on financial aid to Ukraine,
according to a new report. The EU bought €21.9bn (£18.1bn) of Russian oil and
gas in the third year of the war, an amount equalling one-sixth greater than
the €18.7bn the EU allocated to Ukraine in financial aid in 2024.
Downing
Street said Trump has changed the global conversation around Ukraine “for the
better”, as the UK imposed further sanctions on Russia in an effort to force
Putin to make concessions. Keir Starmer’s spokesperson did not comment on
Trump’s false claims that Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a dictator. Starmer will hold
talks with Trump in Washington on Thursday.
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