Macron denies reports that he had warned of US betrayal
French president Emmanuel Macron has said that unity between Europe and the US was key in the support of Ukraine, adding there is “no mistrust” and denying a report he had said there was a risk Washington could betray Ukraine.
“Unity between Americans and Europeans on the Ukrainian issue is essential. And I say it again and again, we need to work together,” Macron told reporters during a visit to China, Reuters reports.
German magazine Spiegel yesterday cited a transcript of a confidential call showing the French president and German chancellor have voiced scepticism about efforts by the US government and its envoys to negotiate a peace between Ukraine and Russia.
“I deny everything,” Macron said, when asked about the Spiegel report. “We need the United States for peace. The United States need us for this peace to be lasting and robust.”
Key events
Closing summary
The Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine is coming to a close. Here’s a round-up of today’s key events, including the results of a summit between Russia’s president Vladimir Putin and India’s prime minister Narendra Modi:
French president Emmanuel Macron denied a report that he had said there was a risk Washington could betray Ukraine. He said that unity between Europe and the US was key in the support of Ukraine, adding there is “no mistrust”. “I deny everything,” Macron said, when asked about the report. “We need the United States for peace. The United States need us for this peace to be lasting and robust.”
The US wants Europe to take over the majority of NATO’s conventional defence capabilities, from intelligence to missiles, by 2027, Pentagon officials told diplomats in Washington this week. The message was recounted by five sources to Reuters. Such a shift would dramatically change how the US, a founding member of the post-war alliance, works with its most important military partners.
Russia’s defence ministry said that its forces captured the village of Bezimiane, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. President Vladimir Putin earlier warned that Ukrainian troops must withdraw from Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, which includes Donetsk, or Russia will seize it, rejecting any compromise over how to end the war in Ukraine.
A Kremlin aide said Russia is encouraged by negotiations with the US over the Ukraine war and is ready for more talks. Russia and the United States were making progress in talks over a deal on Ukraine and Moscow was ready to continue working with the current US team, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
Russian drones struck a house in central Ukraine, killing a 12-year-old boy, officials said. Drones struck Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region, destroying a house where the boy was killed and two women were injured.
Ukraine’s military said that it had carried out long-range strikes overnight on an oil refinery in the Russian city of Syzran and the Temryuk port in the Krasnodar region. Syzran’s mayor Sergei Volodchenkov said Ukraine had targeted the city with drones without providing more detail.
Also today:
India and Russia signed multiple agreements following a summit between leaders Vladimir Putin and Norendra Modi. Putin said that Russia is ready to continue to provide uninterrupted fuel supplies for India.
Russia and India will reshape their defence ties to take account of New Delhi’s push for self-reliance, the two countries said in a joint statement after the summit. Moscow has been India’s top arms supplier for decades and has said that it wants to import more Indian goods in an effort to grow trade to £75bn by 2030 that so far has been skewed in its favour due to New Delhi’s energy imports.
Russi proposed that India localise the production of stealth fighter jets, the Sukhoi Su-57, on its territory, said Sergei Chemezov, CEO of the Russian state corporation Rostec, as quoted by the state news agency TASS, Reuters reports. India is the world’s top buyer of Russian arms and seaborne oil.
US president Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were set to meet yesterday in Miami with a Ukrainian delegation but there was no official confirmation whether the meeting took place, AP reports.
Those scheduled talks came after discussions between president Vladimir Putin and the US envoys at the Kremlin on Tuesday.
Previous diplomatic attempts to break the deadlock have come to nothing and the nearly four-year war has continued unabated. Officials largely have kept a lid on how the latest talks are going, though Trump’s initial 28-point plan was leaked.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country’s delegation in Miami wanted to hear from the US side about the talks at the Kremlin.
Zelenskyy, as well as European leaders backing him, have repeatedly accused Putin of stalling in peace talks while the Russian army tries to press forward with its invasion.
India’s foreign secretary Vikram Misri told reporters following today’s summit between Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi that the recent sanctions imposed on Russian oil were discussed, AP reports.
Without specifying India’s position on its purchases, Misri said the government’s priority was to secure the energy needs of its 1.4 billion people.
Misri said India’s private and state-run oil companies make decisions based on evolving market dynamics and commercial issues they confront while sourcing supplies.
“We are continuing our cooperation between the two countries,” he said.
Hannah Ellis-Petersen
Vladimir Putin told the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, earlier today that Russia is ready to continue “uninterrupted” shipments of oil to India, signalling a defiant stance as the two leaders met in Delhi and affirmed that their ties were “resilient to external pressure”.
The statement, made after the India-Russia summit, appeared to be directed at western countries – particularly the US – that have attempted to pressure New Delhi into scaling back its ties to Moscow.
In his statement, Putin made it clear that Russia did not intend to back down faced with US pressure over its energy cooperation with India.
“Russia is a reliable supplier of energy resources and everything necessary for the development of India’s energy sector,” Putin said. “We are ready to continue ensuring the uninterrupted supply of fuel for the rapidly growing Indian economy.”
Modi did not mention oil directly in his statement, but said that “energy security has been a strong and important pillar of the India-Russia partnership”.
Read more:
Germany’s parliament has approved a controversial new military service law that aims to boost Bundeswehr numbers and meet NATO targets as tensions with Russia spur calls for stronger defence capabilities, Reuters reports.
The legislation, backed after months of heated debate, introduces a dual-track system: a more lucrative voluntary service is intended to attract young recruits, but if enlistment falls short, lawmakers can activate needs-based conscription.
The bill sets ambitious expansion goals for the Bundeswehr, targeting up to 260,000 active soldiers – up from 183,000 currently – and at least 200,000 reservists by 2035.
Here are some of the latest pictures of Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi meeting in India:
Jon Henley
Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, will meet the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, and Belgium’s prime minister, Bart De Wever, for emergency talks on Friday as the EU races to save its sorely needed financing plan for Ukraine.
The three leaders will dine in private in Brussels, a German government spokesperson said on Thursday, as Belgian officials continued to express strong opposition to the scheme, which involves the unprecedented use of frozen Russian assets.
With Russia’s attacks intensifying, Washington pushing for a peace deal that favours Moscow and Kyiv fast running out of money and Europe struggling for influence at US-led talks, the bloc must find a solution or suffer a major blow to its credibility.
Read more here:
Sweden will increase its monetary support for Ukraine by phasing out development aid to five countries in coming years, Reuters reports.
The country will cut aid to the African countries Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mozambique, Liberia as well as Bolivia in South America.
“Ukraine is Sweden’s most important foreign policy and aid policy priority and therefore the government is going to increase aid to Ukraine to at least 10 billion Swedish crowns ($1.06 billion) in 2026,” Dousa said.
Russia has proposed that India localise the production of the fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, the Sukhoi Su-57, on its territory, said Sergei Chemezov, CEO of the Russian state corporation Rostec, as quoted by the state news agency TASS, Reuters reports.
Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi agreed to expand and diversify trade beyond oil and defence following a summit today.
India is the world’s top buyer of Russian arms and seaborne oil, and it has rolled out the red carpet for Putin during his two-day state visit, his first to New Delhi since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russia will continue its military operation in Ukraine if Kyiv refuses to negotiate a settlement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, according to state news agency TASS.
It comes as the US pushes for a peace deal in Ukraine that is seen as favouring Moscow.
Here are some of the latest pictures coming from the wires …
Ukraine’s military said that it had carried out long-range strikes overnight on an oil refinery in the Russian city of Syzran and the Temryuk port in the Krasnodar region.
Earlier, Syzran’s mayor Sergei Volodchenkov said Ukraine had targeted the city with drones without providing more detail.
US wants Europe to take over most Nato defence capabilities by 2027 – reports
The US wants Europe to take over the majority of NATO’s conventional defence capabilities, from intelligence to missiles, by 2027, Pentagon officials told diplomats in Washington this week, Reuters reports.
The message, recounted by five sources familiar with the discussion, including a US official, was conveyed at a meeting in Washington this week between Pentagon staff overseeing NATO policy and several European delegations.
Such a shift would dramatically change how the US, a founding member of the post-war alliance, works with its most important military partners. In the meeting, Pentagon officials indicated that Washington was not yet satisfied with the progress Europe has made to boost its defence capabilities since Russia’s expanded invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The US officials told their counterparts that if Europe does not meet the 2027 deadline, the US may stop participating in some NATO defence coordination mechanisms, according to the sources. Some officials on Capitol Hill are aware of and concerned about the Pentagon’s message to the Europeans, one US official said.
Russian drones struck a house in central Ukraine, killing a 12-year-old boy, officials said, while long-range Ukrainian strikes reportedly targeted a Russian port and an oil refinery, AP reports.
Drones struck Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region, destroying a house where the boy was killed and two women were injured, according to the head of the regional military administration, Vladyslav Haivanenko.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia fired 137 drones of various types during the night.
Ukrainian drones attacked a port in Russia’s Krasnodar region on the border with Ukraine. The attack sparked a fire at the Temryuk sea port and damaged port infrastructure, officials said.
Ukrainian drones also aimed deeper inside Russia, attacking the city of Syzran on the Volga river, mayor Sergei Volodchenkov said without providing more details.
The Russian defence ministry said its air defences intercepted 85 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and the illegally annexed Crimea overnight.
Macron denies reports that he had warned of US betrayal
French president Emmanuel Macron has said that unity between Europe and the US was key in the support of Ukraine, adding there is “no mistrust” and denying a report he had said there was a risk Washington could betray Ukraine.
“Unity between Americans and Europeans on the Ukrainian issue is essential. And I say it again and again, we need to work together,” Macron told reporters during a visit to China, Reuters reports.
German magazine Spiegel yesterday cited a transcript of a confidential call showing the French president and German chancellor have voiced scepticism about efforts by the US government and its envoys to negotiate a peace between Ukraine and Russia.
“I deny everything,” Macron said, when asked about the Spiegel report. “We need the United States for peace. The United States need us for this peace to be lasting and robust.”
Russian forces capture Bezimiane village in Donetsk
Russia’s defence ministry said that its forces have captured the village of Bezimiane, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
President Vladimir Putin earlier warned that Ukrainian troops must withdraw from Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, which includes Donetsk, or Russia will seize it, rejecting any compromise over how to end the war in Ukraine.
“Either we liberate these territories by force, or Ukrainian troops will leave these territories,” he told India Today. Moscow now controls 85% of Donbas.
