United 24 Media:
Lithuania is investing in the Ukrainian defense industry by purchasing weapons from Kyiv for €20 million. According to the Lithuanian Defense Ministry, these weapons will be transferred to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. For security reasons, the list of purchased weapons has not been disclosed.
The ministry emphasized that Ukraine’s defense industry has a high level of expertise, as its research and development are based on real battlefield experience.
❗️UK and France will work with Ukraine to present US peace plan, says Starmer
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has strongly criticized U.S. President Donald Trump over his contentious meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House.
“Yesterday’s scene in the White House took my breath away. I would never have believed that we would ever have to defend Ukraine from the U.S.,” Steinmeier said in an interview with German news agency dpa.
He emphasized that Europeans remain committed to freedom, democracy, and the rule of law.
“We must not allow Ukraine to be forced to accept submission,” he added.
Steinmeier also stated that Germany, following last week’s snap elections, “urgently needs a strong government” to address the unfolding crisis.
Previously, both the current and likely future German chancellors, Olaf Scholz and Friedrich Merz, expressed their support for Kyiv.
For Europe's security, it needs to take a once-in-a-generation step, says British Prime Minister
Zelenskyy, during a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Meloni in London, discussed a joint action plan for a just end to the war in Ukraine.
❗️ Statements after the summit of European leaders on the situation in Ukraine:
▫️ Britain will help Ukraine buy 5,000 missiles for air defense. Keir Starmer announced a deal for 1.6 billion pounds, with the missiles to be purchased through export financing.
▫️ A number of European countries have expressed their desire to be part of a coalition working with Ukraine on a plan to end hostilities. Starmer did not specify which ones.
▫️ Ukraine must have a strong army after the war, which will be the main task of the allies, said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
▫️ The summit participants expressed their readiness to increase defense spending, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said. According to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, some European leaders have already privately outlined new plans for defense spending. Europe urgently needs rearmament, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Starmer said he would soon hold another meeting with Trump to discuss plans for Ukraine.
“We need to work with America now. We have agreed that we will meet the American president very soon to work together until we have a common plan. This is not a moment for empty talk. This is a moment to unite for a lasting peace,” he said following the summit in London.
Russia’s demand for the demilitarization of Ukraine is unacceptable, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.
Scholz said Ukraine should have a strong army after the war is over—this will be the main task of the allies.
The German Chancellor said that EU leaders would continue discussing the issue of maintaining strong support for Ukraine and increasing defense spending at a summit in Brussels on Thursday.
“For Russia, it has always been about installing a government in Ukraine that dances to the Russian tune. This cannot be allowed. Ukraine is a European country that has decided to join the European Union, a democratic and sovereign country, and it must remain that way,” Scholz said.
We are all working together in Europe to create a reliable basis for cooperation with the US for the sake of real peace and guaranteed security, — Zelenskyy.
Canadian authorities are considering all options to guarantee Ukraine's security, including sending military personnel to the country, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau said.
❗️”In the air, at sea and in energy”: Macron proposes a month-long ceasefire for Ukraine.
He revealed the Franco-British plan for Ukraine. Macron does not believe in the option with agreements between the US and Russia, because he is convinced that Putin will seek first of all to humiliate Ukraine, in particular by demilitarizing it.
Zelenskyy said the war with Russia was far from over, and any peace agreement must be fair and contain clear security guarantees.
He categorically denied the possibility of any territorial concessions and stressed that Ukraine would never recognize the occupied territories as part of Russia.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejects calls for an immediate ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia without security guarantees — Financial Times.
Zelenskyy said a cessation of hostilities without detailed security guarantees would be “a disaster for everyone.”
The Ukrainian president said he saw no need to repair the aftermath of a heated row with Donald Trump in the White House or develop a plan to salvage relations with the U.S. president, although he renewed his gratitude to the American people.
“This relationship will continue because it is more than a one-off relationship,” Zelenskyy said, speaking after meeting more than a dozen European leaders at a summit in London.
Trump and his allies have said Kyiv should be ready for a ceasefire agreement, a view echoed on Sunday by Lord Peter Mandelson, the British ambassador to Washington.
Zelenskyy said Russia’s failure to uphold a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine since the 2014 invasion had convinced him that it would be a mistake to agree to a ceasefire without a mechanism for enforcement backed by military force.
The Ukrainian leader was asked about a report in the French newspaper Le Figaro that France and Britain had proposed a “month-long ceasefire in the air, at sea and in energy infrastructure,” but he declined to comment.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would work on plans to create a stabilization force in Ukraine with the participation of France and possibly other countries before presenting them to Trump in the hope of convincing him to provide U.S. support for any European mission.
Zelenskyy said Starmer’s statement was a “good signal,” but many details still needed to be worked out.
“We will have a working action plan and a clearer vision of what security guarantees can be provided to Ukraine. For us, security guarantees are the confidence that the same thing will not happen after this heated phase is over,” he said.
The Ukrainian president said he had not had direct contact with Trump since Friday’s argument, but there had been contact between officials and he was “ready to continue the dialogue.” He said he was ready for his ministers to sign a controversial agreement on joint exploitation of Ukraine’s subsoil with the U.S. government, which he was due to do in the Oval Office on Friday.
Zelenskyy also said it was important to meet the president face to face because there were too many mixed signals coming from the Trump administration.
“All these structures are sending signals to each other. And I think it would be easier to have more time for direct dialogue. I don’t know their tactics.”
The Ukrainian president added that he does not want “surprises” in the talks with the United States. He said that a frank conversation with Trump is the right thing to do but criticized the “absolutely open” format of Friday’s talks, which took place in front of the media.
Asked how long Ukraine would be able to defend itself against a full-scale Russian invasion without additional U.S. military assistance, Zelenskyy said that Kyiv “would like to hope for new assistance,” as well as the supplies approved at the end of former President Joe Biden’s term.
⚠️ The Russians plan to increase drone production and are preparing massive attacks on Ukraine using up to 500 UAVs simultaneously, said Deputy Chief of the Defense Ministry Major General Vadym Skybytskyi.
The main targets of the strikes remain the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ command system, aviation and airfields, energy and gas transportation infrastructure, as well as defense industry enterprises.
🇬🇧 The British government says that there is no agreed vision for the idea of a “partial ceasefire,” which Macron spoke about as his own and British Prime Minister Starmer.
“There are many different options on the table, which will be discussed in depth with American and European partners, but the idea of a ‘month-long ceasefire’ has not been agreed,” said British Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard.
Ukraine is fighting for a normal and safe life that it deserves, for a just and reliable peace. We want this war to end. But Russia does not want it and continues its aerial terror: over the past week, more than 1,050 strike drones, almost 1,300 aerial bombs, and more than 20 missiles were fired at Ukraine to destroy cities and kill people, — Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Those who want negotiations do not deliberately hit people with ballistic missiles. To force Russia to stop the strikes, we need a greater joint force of the world,” — the president’s message says.
Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Moshe Reuven Azman has defended Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called a “pure Nazi” and a “traitor to the Jewish people,” and stressed that there is no ethnic conflict in Ukraine, and anti-Semitism is considered a criminal offense.
“I want to say that the Ukrainian people are fighting for their independence and freedom today. You invaded here and started a war, killing Ukrainians — not only Ukrainians, but citizens of Ukraine of different nationalities: Russians, Jews, Tatars, and others, who lived here in peace, freedom, and dignity before your invasion. There is no interethnic conflict in Ukraine. … But I don’t need to prove anything to you. Look at yourself, review your actions, and understand that Nazism today is embodied in those who are trying to destroy entire peoples,” the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel quotes his statement as saying.
He noted that modern Nazis are those who want to wipe out other states, such as Israel. Iran and Hamas, which are supported by Russia, want to destroy the latter.
“You welcome delegations from Hamas and Hezbollah, refuse to recognize them as terrorist organizations, and even provide them with weapons with which they kill Jewish soldiers in Israel. Therefore, your statements about Nazism are not only immoral — they are complete manipulation,” Moshe Azman pointed out.
He also added that only the Jewish people can decide who is a hero and who is a disgrace to their nation.
“It is not for you to decide. You can make your own judgment in your country, but we, the Jewish people, will decide for ourselves,” the rabbi emphasized.
Azman recalled that the Russians killed his adopted son Anton and took thousands of innocent lives with their invasion of Ukraine, and he would pray for a “just verdict” for their actions.
US National Security Advisor Mike Walz said the Trump administration wants to hear from Zelenskyy that he regrets the Oval Office row and wants to negotiate peace.
He said the skirmish showed that the Ukrainian president is not ready to “talk peace.”
Walz also hinted that the administration is ready to resume work with Ukraine on an agreement to provide access to rare earth minerals.
“We’ll see what happens in the next 48 hours, but we certainly hope to move forward in a positive direction,” he said.
“Closing [military aid] is not beneficial to anyone. It will be assistance exclusively to Putin,” he said.