Live: Macron ‘hopes to convince’ Trump to include Europe in Ukraine negotiations

EU leaders arrive in Kyiv to mark third anniversary of Russian invasion

The heads of the European Union arrived in Kyiv on Monday to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s February 2022 invasion, a show of solidarity amid a rift between Ukraine and new US President Donald Trump.

“We are in Kyiv today, because Ukraine is Europe. In this fight for survival, it is not only the destiny of Ukraine that is at stake. It’s Europe’s destiny,” EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on social media with a video of her arriving in Kyiv alongside Antonio Costa, president of the European Council.

Three years after Russia invasion, UN faces difficult votes on Ukraine

Defying Kyiv and its European allies, Washington plans on Monday to submit to the UN Security Council and General Assembly a draft text that calls for a “swift end” to the Ukraine conflict but makes no reference to its territorial integrity, in an early test of Donald Trump’s muscular approach to the crisis. 

Since Russian forces invaded Ukraine three years ago, the balance of power at the United Nations has been clear: the General Assembly, representing all members, has clearly and overwhelmingly supported Ukrainian sovereignty, while the 15-member Security Council has been paralysed by Russia’s veto power. 

But Trump’s return to the White House last month has brought a dramatic reshuffling of the diplomatic cards, as he undertakes a clear rapprochement with the Kremlin while dismissing his Ukrainian counterpart, the severely pressured Volodymyr Zelensky, as a “dictator.”

Against this tense diplomatic backdrop, Ukraine and more than 50 other states are planning on Monday — the third anniversary of the Russian invasion — to introduce a text before the General Assembly saying it is “urgent” to end the war “this year” and clearly repeating the Assembly’s previous demands: an immediate cessation of Russian hostilities against Ukraine and an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops. 

Amid heated speculation that the United States might abstain from the General Assembly vote — expected around midday — Washington generated widespread surprise Friday by proposing a competing text. 

The US resolution is “simple (and) historic,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said late Friday, as he urged member states to approve it.

Zelensky tells Germany’s Merz he looks forward to working together to bring peace to Ukraine

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated conservative leader Friedrich Merz on his party’s win in Germany’s parliamentary elections and said he was looking forward to working together to bring “real” peace to Ukraine.

“I congratulate the CDU/CSU and Friedrich Merz on their victory in the Bundestag elections,” Zelensky said in a post on X.

“We look forward to continuing our joint work with Germany to protect lives, bring real peace closer to Ukraine, and strengthen Europe.”

The leaders of France and Britain head to Washington to urge Trump not to abandon Ukraine

The leaders of France and Britain are making tag-team visits to Washington this week as Europe attempts to persuade President Donald Trump not to abandon Ukraine in pursuit of a peace deal in the three-year-old war with Russia.

There is an element of good cop, bad cop in efforts by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron to salvage American support for Kyiv.

Starmer, reluctant to openly confront Trump, speaks of being a bridge between Europe and the US administration. Macron has more strongly criticised Trump’s recent statements that echo Russia’s narrative and American moves to negotiate with Moscow while sidelining Ukraine.

The two leaders spoke by phone on Sunday and said the UK and Europe must “show united leadership in support of Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression,” Starmer’s office said. Both also stress that Ukraine’s voice and sovereignty must be at the center of any peace talks.

The French president warned Trump against appearing “weak in the face of President Putin.”

“It’s not you, it’s not your trademark, it’s not in your interest,” said Macron, who is due at the White House on Monday.

US pressures Ukraine to nix its UN resolution demanding Russian forces withdraw

The US has pressured Ukraine to withdraw its European-backed UN resolution demanding an immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine in favor of an American proposal that does not mention Moscow’s invasion, a US official and a European diplomat said Sunday.

But Ukraine refused to pull its draft resolution, and the UN General Assembly will vote on it Monday, the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, two European diplomats said.

The 193-nation General Assembly then is expected to vote on the US draft resolution, according to the diplomats and the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because private negotiations are still ongoing.

The Trump administration is also seeking a vote on its proposal in the more powerful UN Security Council. The 15-nation council will meet Monday afternoon on Ukraine, and late Sunday it scheduled the vote immediately afterward, but the European diplomats said it could be pushed to Tuesday at Russia’s request.

The dueling resolutions — the first since the invasion — highlight the tension between the US, Ukraine and European countries in the five weeks since President Donald Trump took office and has opened talks with Russia after years of isolation in a bid to end the war. 

Zelensky offers to resign in exchange for Ukrainian NATO membership

Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday — the eve of the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion — that he was ready to quit as Ukraine’s president if it meant Kyiv would be admitted to the NATO military alliance.

Zelensky, who has faced fierce criticism from the new US administration, also said he wanted to meet Donald Trump before the US president meets his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Zelensky has been calling for Ukraine to be given NATO membership as part of any deal to end the war, but the Washington-led alliance has been reluctant to commit.

“If there is peace for Ukraine, if you really need me to leave my post, I am ready,” Zelensky told a Kyiv news conference. “I can exchange it for NATO.”

Zelensky and Trump have been engaged in a war of words since US and Russian officials met last week in Saudi Arabia for their first high-level talks in three years. The move undermined the West’s policy of isolating the Kremlin and infuriated Ukrainian and European leaders, excluded from the meeting.

In recent days, Trump has branded Zelensky a “dictator”, falsely claimed Ukraine “started” the war, and claimed, contrary to independent opinion polls, that the Ukrainian leader was unpopular at home.

Ukraine hemmed in as US backing frays three years after Russian invasion

Ukraine enters the fourth year of all-out war with Russia on Monday, unsure it can rely any longer on its staunchest ally the United States as its exhausted troops fight to hold their ground against unrelenting enemy advances.

Donald Trump blasted Volodymyr Zelensky last week as an unpopular “dictator” who needed to cut a quick peace deal or lose his country, while the Ukrainian leader said the US president was living in a “disinformation bubble”.

Beyond the war of words, US officials opened direct talks with the Russian side in Saudi Arabia last week, shutting out Kyiv and Europe in a stunning change of policy on the war.

Washington has made clear it will send no troops as a security guarantee coveted by Kyiv if a peace deal emerges, placing the burden squarely on European powers that are likely to struggle without US backing.

Ukraine’s embattled leader, who has told Europe to create its own army while urging Washington to be pragmatic, has held more than a dozen phone calls mainly with European leaders since Friday to shore up support and scope out a way forward.

Rattled by Trump’s first month back in power, numerous European leaders are expected to visit the Ukrainian capital to commemorate the anniversary of the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War Two alongside Zelensky.