Closing summary
There are planned talks between Russia and the US expected to take place in Saudi Arabia in the coming days. US officials said that Ukraine was also invited – although Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country has received no such invitation. Kyiv is not expected to send a team to the talks.
Zelenskyy said earlier today that 100,000 people were without heating in the southern port city of Mykolaiv in cold temperatures after a Russian drone strike on “critical infrastructure”. “Those who genuinely seek peace and prepare for negotiations do not act this way,” the Ukrainian leader wrote on X.
European leaders, including British prime minister Keir Starmer, are set to gather in Paris tomorrow for an emergency summit on the war in Ukraine. The meeting is expected to discuss US efforts to exclude European leaders from the peace talks, the position Europe should adopt on Ukraine’s future membership of Nato and how Ukraine can be offered security guarantees.
Former UK prime minister John Major condemned JD Vance, the US vice-president, as hypocritical and “not statesmanlike” for lecturing Europe on free speech while also “cuddling” Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
The US has reportedly sent a questionnaire to European allies, asking them to provide detailed proposals on the weaponry, peacekeeping troops and security arrangements they could give Kyiv as part of any security guarantees that could be negotiated to bring an end to Russia’s full-scale invasion.
This blog is closing now. Thanks for following along. You can read all our Ukraine coverage here.
The French presidency has confirmed reports that the British prime minister Keir Starmer, German chancellor Olaf Scolz, Nato chief Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will all be attending the emergency summit in Paris tomorrow.
