Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap from me, Jakub Krupa.
Here are the three things to take away from today’s Europe Live blog:
European leaders reiterated their continuing support for Ukraine as they registered their scepticism about the US rush to strike a peace deal with Russia, warning it would have to involve Ukraine and provide meaningful security guarantees, including a US backstop, to be lasting (18:23, 19:56, 20:16, 20:42, 21:08, 21:54).
Her comments come just hours before US and Russian officials are due to meet in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for their first bilateral exploratory talks, led by US state secretary Marco Rubio and foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. The latter taunted European leaders by suggesting there was no point in inviting them to the table as “if they are going to sit at the negotiating table with the aim of continuing war, then why invite them there?” (11:57, 12:24, 21:46).
Pope Francis remains in hospital in Rome, Italy, after latest tests confirmed a “complex clinical image” of his on-going “polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract,” which requires further treatment (13:44).
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today. See you again tomorrow.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at [email protected].
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Scholz back in Berlin at ARD election debate
As reported earlier, it appeared that German chancellor Olaf Scholz had left the Paris summit earlier than other leaders to return to Berlin for a televised debate on ARD1 ahead of the election this Sunday (20:55).
We now know he is indeed back in Berlin and on TV.
He had to wait for his turn as CDU/CSU’s frontrunner to be the next chancellor Friedrich Merz took questions first, but he’s now live and answering questions from the studio audience.
When the two briefly stood to each other, they were asked which portfolio they would give to their rival in case they end up in a coalition after the vote.
Merz joked it was a “bold hypothesis,” but insisted he would have to wait for the results.
“Where he is right, he is right,” Scholz responded laughing, adding that they both wanted the same job of the chancellor, and so “the citizens will decide.”
