6 days · 4 summary articles
Russia is pushing Europe to take the lead in brokering a settlement to the Ukraine war as senior diplomats from London, Paris and Berlin met Russian officials in Moscow on Thursday, seeking a diplomatic off-ramp even as fighting intensified across southern Ukraine.
The envoys—Britain’s Simon Manley, France’s Pierre Vimont and Germany’s Alexander Graf Lambsdorff—held talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, who accused the three countries of pursuing “destructive policies” by continuing to arm Kyiv through the Coalition of the Willing . The meeting came days after a London summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and ahead of a European Council gathering in Brussels on June 18–19, where EU leaders will assess whether to overhaul the bloc’s diplomatic service to better manage geopolitical crises .
Ukraine’s military chief, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Kyiv now fields 1.5 times as many first-person-view drones as Russia, a gap that has widened steadily over the past months . Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces struck a key Russian logistics hub in occupied Mariupol, cutting power to the port and disrupting supply lines to southern frontlines . Russian strikes overnight killed five and injured 69 across Ukraine, including attacks on cargo ships near Odesa and a passenger train in Sumy .
The European Union is also grappling with internal divisions. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned that Europe risks “moving blind” unless it designates a single authoritative negotiator for any future talks on Ukraine, criticising ad-hoc formats used by some member states . A new report by the European Council on Foreign Relations found that only one in ten Europeans now view the US as an ally, underscoring shifting transatlantic dynamics as Washington remains preoccupied with the Middle East .
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas faces growing pressure over the performance of the European External Action Service, with France and Germany pushing for reforms that could strip her of key powers or even dissolve parts of the EEAS and return functions to the European Commission and member states . European leaders plan to leverage the upcoming G7 summit in Evian to press US President Donald Trump to support a European-led initiative for renewed negotiations, though Moscow has so far dismissed Western mediation efforts .
Against this backdrop, the International Atomic Energy Agency warned that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant had lost all external power for the first time since Russia’s invasion, raising fresh concerns over nuclear safety in occupied southern Ukraine .
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