With a mixture of regret, laced with incredulity, European leaders gathered in Brussels to marshal their forces for a power struggle not with Russia, but with the US.
Even now, of course at the 11th hour, most of Europe hopes this coming battle of wills can be averted and the Trump administration can still be persuaded that forcing Ukraine to the negotiating table, disarmed and blinded, will not be the US’s long-term strategic interest.
Russia warned Macron not to threaten it with nuclear rhetoric after the French president said he was open to discussions on extending France's nuclear umbrella to allies.
New Zealand's top diplomat to the UK, Phil Goff, was fired after making seemingly disparaging comments about President Donald Trump during an event in London.
Officials have suggested that the pause in weapons shipments and intelligence sharing could be relatively short-lived if Ukraine’s president bends to White House demands.
Razor-wire defenses in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, which borders Russia’s Kursk region. The loss of one of Kyiv’s most important benefactors will make it easier for Russia to assault Ukrainian lines of defense, analysts say.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain and President Emmanuel Macron of France have been prodding and counseling Volodymyr Zelensky on how to deal with President Trump.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, left, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain and President Emmanuel Macron of France in London on Sunday.
A Ukrainian artillery unit near the front lines in the Dnipro region last month. After President Trump ordered a halt to military assistance, officials differed on whether the United States was continuing to share intelligence.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada warned that the Trump administration’s tariffs were leading to a trade war. Mexico’s leader vowed to impose countermeasures on Sunday.
“This is a time to hit back hard and to demonstrate that a fight with Canada will have no winners,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada said on Tuesday.
Presidents typically use these speeches to promote their accomplishments and lay out their plans. President Trump is expected to touch on Ukraine and government cuts.
Because President Trump was just sworn in, the speech is not an official State of the Union address. But it will look very similar, with all three branches of government converging inside the House chamber.
President Trump’s threat to abandon Ukraine added urgency to plans to fund security or reconstruction with the roughly $300 billion owned by Russia’s central bank.
Saltivka, a residential area of Kharkiv, in northern Ukraine. Before the war, Saltivka was a densely populated neighborhood, home to some 400,000 residents.
Shortly after the contentious meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and President Trump on Friday, the Trump administration began discussions about cutting off or reducing military assistance.
After a startling clash with President Trump, who has echoed the Kremlin view of the war, Ukraine’s leader is trying to shore up European support and smooth over relations with Washington.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine vowed to use all diplomatic avenues to pursue an end to the war with Russia, but acknowledged there was “a long way to go.” He met with European and Canadian leaders in London on Sunday.
European leaders met in London to formulate a plan to help end the war in Ukraine. But even potential peacekeepers face political and economic hurdles.
The defense secretary’s instructions, which were given before President Trump’s blowup with the Ukrainian president, are apparently part of an effort to draw Russia into talks on the war.
U.S. and Russian officials have identified the Arctic as a possible area for economic cooperation, according to people familiar with the situation, part of the broader detente President Donald Trump is pursuing with Moscow. Read More
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