Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap for today!
The European Commission will move ahead with controversial plans to fund Ukraine with a loan based on Russia’s frozen assets (13:40, 13:41, 13:46, 13:47, 13:51).
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the proposals were intended to send a message to Russia that prolonging war “comes with high cost” (13:54).
But in a concession to concerns raised by Belgium (13:02), which hosts most of the assets, the EU executive has also proposed another option: an EU loan based on common borrowing.
The move was welcomed by Ukraine, with the country’s prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko saying it was “an important and responsible step forward.” (16:31).
Separately,
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte has warned that the alliance faced “real and lasting dangers” with Russia’s continuing attacks against Ukraine and its “reckless behaviour” towards the alliance (15:37).
In a direct rebuke to Vladimir Putin, he warned that while Nato remained a defensive alliance and had no intention to change it, it was “ready and willing to do what it takes” to defend its people and territory (15:42).
The former Dutch prime minister stressed the importance of keeping pressure on Russia, and continuing support for Ukraine (15:39, 15:41, but declined to get into speculations about the US-led peace talks (15:46, 16:01, 16:05).
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com.
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
What we know about Russia's claim of capturing Pokrovsk? — video
Defence and security editor
Earlier this week, we covered the importance of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine amid continuing battles for control over the city.
Here’s our defence and security editor Dan Sabbagh explaining this once again, better than I ever could, speaking from Ukraine.
And if you’re trying to understand the latest discussion on what Ukrainian territories Russia seems to be demanding to be recognised as Russian as part of a peace settlement, here’s a brilliant visual explainer by Seán Clarke.
EU has a plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine – how will it work?
The European Commission has proposed providing Ukraine with €90bn in funding over two years, which it says will meet two-thirds of Kyiv’s financing needs for 2026 and 2027 and allow it to engage in peace talks “from a position of strength”.
There are two options for generating the money.
It could be a “reparations loan” based on Russian assets frozen in the bloc, the option favoured by the commission but strongly resisted by Belgium, which hosts most of the assets.
Alternatively, in a concession to Belgium, the commission has also proposed common EU borrowing: raising the money on international capital markets, secured by the bloc’s long-term budget.
Here is how Russia’s frozen assets could be used to help fund all or part of the package, which still needs to be formally signed off by the European parliament and national leaders in the European Council.
Nato-Russia council 'no longer exists,' Poland's Sikorski says, as he says focus is on ensuring Europe's security against, not with, Russia
Poland’s foreign minister Radosław Sikorski told journalists that after today’s talks in Brussels the Nato-Russia Council, a consultation forum established in 2002, “no longer exists.”
He said the body had been “created in times when it seemed that European security could be built with Russia, [but] those times [are] now gone due to Russian decisions on invasions.”
“Today, we are creating European security against Russia, and this has finally found its institutional expression,” he said.
Responding to Putin’s hawkish comments towards Europe last night, Sikorski insisted that “Russia is in a significantly weaker position than it imagines itself to be.”
“Perhaps Putin is being lied to [to think that’s not the case], but in a certain way, the fact that he threatens us is useful, because it focuses minds here on the issue of supporting Ukraine.”
He also commented on the EU’s proposal for the reparations loan for Ukraine, saying it was a mechanism that “could decide the outcome of this war.”
“If Putin concludes that Ukraine has this money and can finance both the state and its defence for two or three years, he will have to recalculate (whether) he can afford to continue his war for 2-3 years,” he said.
Sikorski said he backed calls for the Belgian PM to drop his opposition stressing that “unblocking these assets for Ukraine could the the biggest factor accelerating peace,” but he said he understood Belgium’s concerns about risks, and he hoped the commission’s proposals would offer enough reassurance.
Ukrainian PM welcomes 'important and responsible' step forward on financing from frozen Russian assets
Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko has welcomed the EU’s proposal to push ahead with long-term financing for Ukraine using frozen Russian assets, saying it was “an important and responsible step forward.”
“A stable, predictable, and justice-based approach gives our people confidence, protects essential public services, and strengthens Ukraine’s path toward full European integration,” she said.
She added the proposal also “reaffirmed fundamental truth: aggression must never be rewarded, and accountability must remain central to Europe’s response.”
“We look forward to continued close cooperation with all EU Member States and to the European Council’s final endorsement,” she said.
“Ukraine continues to do its part – with steady resolve, clear purpose, and unbroken determination. And with European unity behind us, we have both the means and the will to prevail together.”
Pope Leo stresses importance of European involvement in efforts to end war in Ukraine
in Rome
Pope Leo has stressed the importance of Europe’s involvement in US efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, while suggesting that Italy specifically could play the role of mediator.
Russia and the US failed to make progress towards a peace deal for Ukraine during talks on Tuesday, with Vladimir Putin accusing Europe of “preventing the US administration from achieving peace on Ukraine”.
Speaking to reporters onboard the papal flight as he returned on Tuesday from a trip to Turkey and Lebanon, Leo said: “It is clear that, on the one hand, the president of the United States is thinking he can promote a peace plan that he would like to carry out and that, at least at first, is without Europe.
“But Europe’s presence is important, and that first proposal was also modified because of what Europe was saying.”
It looks like they reached the same conclusion as the last variation of this question ends the press conference.
It feels like we’re going round in circles now.
Rutte faces a yet another version of the same question as journalists try to pin down how does he intend to change the dynamics in the peace talks.
And he gives the same answer that he does not want to offer a running commentary on the talks as that would not be helpful, and that the allies just need to keep pressure on Russia.
Updated
Rutte faces also questions from somewhat sceptical journalists as to what is the alliance’s Plan B if the US walk away from the talks and supporting Ukraine.
He dismisses the suggestion, but says the key thing is to “make sure Ukraine has the weapons it needs to fight the war,” but also points out to increasingly severe impact of sanctions on the Russian economy.
“All of this is putting pressure on the Russians and we will continue doing so,” he says.
Rutte also discloses that two-thirds of Nato’s member states have already committed to helping Ukraine with purchases of US weapons through the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL, with commitments totalling $4bn.
He also said partner countries, like Austria and New Zealand, also indicated they would contribute to the purchases.
Asked about the use of frozen Russian assets, Rutte says it is something “which is, primarily, playing out at the level fot he EU,” but he says it was “indirectly” discussed during today’s meeting.
He says that, crucially, Ukraine needs the funds – if not through the reparations loan, then through another mechanism.
Rutte gets asked about the state of negotiations, praising US president Donald Trump he is “the only one person in the whole world who was able to break the deadlock when it comes to war in Ukraine.”
But he says:
“But getting this peace done, as also the American president has said, is not something [that can be done] in a straight line, in one go. You need a proposal on the table. You need to have discussions, and we have seen the meetings in Geneva, in Miami, now yesterday in Moscow. It will be a step by step approach.”
He says he doesn’t want to say anything to make negotiations more difficult, but stresses he regularly liases with the US, and they share the goal of securing a peace to protect the sovereignty of Ukraine.
'Ready and willing to do what it takes' to protect our people, Rutte hits back at Putin's hawkish comments
Closing his opening statement, Rutte sends Nato’s response to Vladimir Putin’s hawkish comments that Russia did not want it, but would be “ready for war” with Europe.
He says:
“Finally, Nato is a defensive alliance. We will remain a defensive alliance, but make no mistake, we are ready and willing to do what it takes to protect our 1 billion people and secure our territory.”
Updated
Rutte says that “Ukraine continues to show incredible resilience,” even as “Putin believes he can outlast us,” but he stressed “we are not going anywhere.”
He says today’s discussions were “another clear sign that he is wrong,” as Nato members discussed investing more to “increase defence investment, enhance production and step up support for Ukraine as we look through to the Ankara summit” next year.
On Ukraine, Rutte says “we all want the bloodshed to end,” as he praises Trump for his efforts to end the war.
But he says that “as negotiations proceed, we cannot waver in our commitment to Ukraine,” condemning continuing Russian attacks.
“Our support must continue unabated to help Ukraine defend itself today, and deter tomorrow, for their own sake and for ours,” he says.
He says the ministers were briefed on the latest on Ukraine, and discussed their support, which “is making a real difference on the ground.”
Nato faces 'reals and lasting dangers,' Nato's Rutte says
Nato’s Rutte says the alliance faces “real and lasting dangers.”
He says:
“Russia continues its brutal war against Ukraine, increasingly targeting its people and critical infrastructure as winter sets in.
Russia is also demonstrating increasingly reckless behaviour when it comes to Nato, such as violating our airspace, conducting cyber attacks and deploying spaceships to map allies undersea infrastructure.
These incidents underscored a need for unwavering vigilance.”
He says Nato members are “stepping up significantly,” but they need to do even more going forward.
Nato's Rutte briefing media after Brussels talks
Rutte is speaking now.
You can also watch his comments here:
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte will brief the media on today’s talks between the alliance’s defence ministers shortly.
There is a live video feed at the top of the page, but don’t worry: I will bring you all the key lines here.
European Commission plans ‘reparations loan’ to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets — full story
in Brussels
The European Commission will move ahead with a controversial proposal to fund Ukraine with a loan based on Russia’s frozen assets, it has announced.
But in a concession to concerns raised by Belgium, which hosts most of the assets, the EU executive has also proposed another option: an EU loan based on common borrowing.
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Wednesday the two proposals would ensure “Ukraine has the means to defend [itself] and take forward peace negotiations from a position of strength”.
The publication of a long-awaited legal text of the reparations loan comes ahead of an EU summit later this month at which EU leaders are being urged to agree a two-year funding plan for Ukraine to avert a looming cash crunch.
Leaders failed in October to agree on a proposed “reparations loan” to Ukraine using the Russian assets, but the question is becoming increasingly urgent, with Kyiv forecast to run out of money from next spring. EU officials estimate Ukraine needs €136bn (£119bn) in 2026 and 2027 to continue its defence and keep the country running.
The stakes became even higher after the Trump administration floated a plan to invest some of Russia’s frozen assets in joint US-Russia projects, as well as taking profits from $100bn (£75bn) of the funds that it had earmarked to reconstruct Ukraine. European leaders strongly pushed back against these ideas, which were part of a 28-point plan for Ukraine that has since been amended.
We have to 'put pressure on [Russia] in every conceivable way,' UK PM says
Just circling back quickly to what the UK PM said in parliament today on Putin’s lack of action on reaching a deal, as covered on our UK politics blog here.
“We all know that Putin is the aggressor here,” Keir Starmer told Commons.
“Putin is dragging his feet, not wanting to come to the table, not wanting to reach an agreement.
We have to continue to put pressure on in every conceivable way.
That is in supporting Ukraine with capability and resource, but also ensuring that our sanctions, acting with allies, do as much damage to the economy in Russia as we can, and pressure that we can put on, will continue to do so, but he’s absolutely right to raise it.”
Updated
Zelenskyy on Telegram says he’s urged the defence minister Denys Shmyhal to carry out an urgent renewal of supervisory boards in the defence sector.
“It’s through supervisory boards that management and oversight of internal processes in companies are carried out, and this must be ensured one hundred percent,” the Ukrainian leader says.
Obviously this comes in the wake of the corruption scandals in the energy sector that have rocked Ukraine for weeks and destabilised Zelenskyy’s centre of power. The president fired his top adviser, Andriy Yermak, last Friday over allegations he siphoned off funds and was involved in an alleged $100-million kickback scheme.
State-owned companies such as oil and gas firm Naftogaz, power grid operator Ukrenergo and nuclear energy company Energoatom dominate the Ukrainian energy sector.
Updated
Downing Street has dismissed Putin’s comments that Russia is “ready” for war with Europe as “yet more Kremlin claptrap”.
A spokesman for UK PM Keir Starmer told reporters after the UK parliament’s questioning session that the PM had “rightly pointed out that it was “yet more rhetoric from President Putin about Europe wanting to go to war. It’s as dangerous as it is wrong.”
“European nations are united in supporting Ukraine‘s right to self-defence under international law and Nato’s ready to respond to any threats with unity and strength.”
Pressed on whether Britain was prepared for war, the official said “our armed forces always stand ready to defend this country” and reiterated that “this is yet more Kremlin claptrap from a president who isn’t serious about peace”.
Updated
Von der Leyen also clarifies some of the maths behind the proposal.
She says that while the total of immobilised Russian assets amount to €210bn, but the commission looked at Ukraine’s needs in 2026 and 2027 estimated at €137bn.
Since the EU wants to provide two-thirds of the funding required, that’s the €90bn mentioned earlier.
And that ends the press conference.
Updated
New proposals send message to Russia that prolonging war 'comes with high cost for them,' von der Leyen says
Von der Leyen also says that the EU has informed the US administration about the proposal, speaking to treasury secretary Scott Bessent, and “it was positively received.”
She says other countries that have immobilised Russian assets are also welcome to join in the proposed legal structure.
More broadly, she says “we are in for the long haul with Ukraine,” as “Russia has everything to prolong the war, and is so far not willing, for example, to come to the negotiation table that President Zelensky constantly offers.”
“Therefore, it is a very clear message also to Russia that the prolongation of the war on their side comes with a high cost for them,” she says.
“To be very, very clear: we want peace, and … no one wants more peace than Ukraine, and therefore this is an invitation to the negotiation table,” she says.
In her opening comments, von der Leyen hinted that the proposal could be adopted without Belgium as it only required a qualified majority.
This gets later confirmed by Dombrovskis, but he is very diplomatic about it and says the commission will want to “hear from member states based on concrete proposals which are put forward to see how we move forward with this.”
Asked about Belgium’s concerns, von der Leyen says that the EU will continue with its consultations on this issue, and says “it’s very important that we accommodate all the concerns and perceived risks,” but essentially says the proposal addresses most of them through extending the scope and improving the burden sharing provisions.
EU economy commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis says “we stand at a crossroads,” and the EU “must act now” to “provide this lifeline to Ukraine.”
“In providing this lifeline to Ukraine, we are also enhancing our security. Not providing support that Ukraine needs to continue its fight for survival would come with a high cost, not only to Ukraine, but also to our entire continent’s security and freedom,” he says.
He also stresses that “everything we propose today is legally robust, fully in line with the EU and international law,” pointing to a “robust system that builds on existing safeguards.”
Dombrovskis insists that “these protections will cover the unlikely event” of a legal action against Belgium or the EU.
Details of the proposed EU plans are here, and they still need to be formally signed off working with the European Parliament and the European Council.
EU pushes ahead with plans to use frozen Russian cash balances despite Belgium's opposition
Von der Leyen says the EU is proposing to cover two-thirds of Ukraine’s financing needs for the next two years – that’s €90bn – with the rest to be covered by international partners.
She says the EU wants to help Ukrainians to “equip them with the means to defend themselves and to lead peace negotiations from a position of strength.”
“Since pressure is the only language the Kremlin responds to, we can dial it up. We have to increase the costs of war for Putin’s aggression, and today’s proposal gives us the means to do this,” she says.
It cound be funded through EU borrowing – raising capital on capital markets – and the use of cash balances from the immobilised Russian assets in the EU.
“We propose to cover all financial institutions that have accumulated such cash balances, and these institutions would have to move the cash into the instrument of the reparations loan. So in other words, we’re taking the cash balances, we’re providing them to Ukraine as a loan, and Ukraine has to pay back this loan if and when Russia is paying reparations,” she explains.
She says the funds will be used “predominantly” to produce and buy military support for Ukraine from Europe and the EEA countries, with occassional purchases “from the outside.”
Responding to Belgium’s continuing opposition to the plan, von der Leyen says the commission has “listened very carefully” to its concerns, and “have taken almost all of them into account.”
(Well, that’s not what Belgium’s foreign minister said earlier today, as we reported earlier at 12:02)
She says there will be “very strong safeguards” in place to make sure the funds are used in the right way, and to protect Belgium from any legal action.
“We will share the burden in a fair way,” she says.
Updated
EU's von der Leyen briefing media on plans to fund Ukraine
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is now briefing the media after the commission’s weekly meeting, presenting the bloc’s plan to help fund Ukraine’s continuing fight against Russia.
I will bring you the key lines here.
Hungary and Slovakia to challenge EU plan to phase out Russian gas imports, foreign minister says
Meanwhile, Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó has said that Hungary and Slovakia would challenge the EU’s plan to phase out Russian energy imports at the Court of Justice of the European Union as soon as it’s ready.
Szijjártó – who has been regularly travelling to Moscow despite the ongoing Russian invasion on Ukraine and was there as recently as last week accompanying prime minister Viktor Orbán on his trip to see Vladimir Putin – insisted that it was impossible for Hungary to accept and implement the EU plan and that it would endanger the country’s energy security, Reuters reported.
‘Just peace’ in Ukraine is unlikely, Finland’s Stubb warns
Any deal to stop the fighting in Ukraine is unlikely to meet all conditions for a just peace, Finland’s president Alexander Stubb said in an interview with Finnish television, AFP reported.
Stubb insisted that European countries are working to preserve Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, but added that “the reality is that peace can be either good, bad, or some kind of compromise.”
“The reality is that also we Finns must prepare ourselves for the moment when peace is achieved, and that all the conditions for a just peace that we have talked about so much over the past four years are unlikely to be met,” he said.
He also admitted that the original 28-point US plan revealed last month had been frustrating to read.
Stubb also separately published an essay on “the West’s last chance” to “build a new global order before it’s too late” in the Foreign Affairs magazine (£).
“The world has changed more in the past four years than in the previous thirty,” he says in the essay, warning that “we live in a new world of disorder.”
On Ukraine, he says there that “when some suggest that Finlandization might be a solution for ending the war in Ukraine, I vehemently disagree.”
“Such a peace would come at too great a cost, what would effectively be the surrender of sovereignty and territory.”
Putin did not reject US proposals, just found some of them 'unacceptable,' Kremlin spokesperson says
We also got more reactions from the Kremlin this morning, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisting that Russia was ready to continue engagement with the US on Ukraine peace deal for as long as it takes to get an agreement – even as he branded some of the proposals “unacceptable”.
Peskov insisted that Putin had not rejected any proposals, but merely “some things were accepted, some things were marked as unacceptable – this is a normal working process of finding a compromise.”
The Kremlin spokesman pointedly thanked US president Donald Trump for convening the talks, and said the EU leaders were not involved in the talks as “they are still obsessed with the idea of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia.”
Separately, Peskov also responded to the bloc’s move to turn off taps on Russian energy (10:24) would “only accelerate the process that has been under way in recent years of the European economy losing its leading potential.”
EU reparations loan for Ukraine 'worst of all' options, with Belgium's concerns 'not being heard', minister says
We are expecting the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to present the EU’s proposal on the reparations loan for Ukraine, backed by frozen Russian assets, later today.
But Belgium – Brussels-based Euroclear holds most of Russia’s frozen assets – does not appear to be any closer to being convinced about the idea.
Speaking on his arrival at this morning’s Nato ministerial, Belgian foreign minister Maxime Prévot said that the government continues to see the reparations loan “the worst of all” options, as “it is risky [and] has never been done before.”
“The reparation loan scheme entails consequential economic, financial, and legal risks,” he says.
He said Belgium has been frustrated with “not being heard” and having its concerns “downplayed.”
“The text the Commission will table today does not address our concerns in a satisfactory manner. It is not acceptable to use the money and leave us alone facing the risks,” he said.
Prévot said that Belgium would need strong guarantees and coverage against all risks arising from the proposal to be persuaded. “Any member state would ask for the same,” he said.
But preferably, he said, the EU should “borrow the amount needed from the markets,” calling it a “robust and well-established option with predictable parameters.”
Updated
Former EU top diplomat among three held in fraud investigation
in Brussels
In other news, Belgian police have arrested three people including the EU’s former top diplomat Federica Mogherini and raided the headquarters of the EU foreign service and the elite College of Europe as part of an investigation into suspected fraud.
The three were detained “as part of a probe into suspected fraud related to EU-funded training for junior diplomats”, the European public prosecutor’s office said in a statement, without naming individuals.
The Belgian newspaper De Standaard, citing judicial sources, was among the first to report that Mogherini, now the rector of the College of Europe, was among the three arrested.
A source confirmed to the Guardian that Mogherini was among those held. The Belgian paper said two others from “diplomatic circles” had also been arrested over possible “procurement fraud, corruption and conflicts of interest”. The College of Europe did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Police carried out searches at the Brussels headquarters of the EU’s foreign service, the European External Action Service, as well as several buildings of the College of Europe in Bruges at the request of the prosecutor’s office. Searches also took place at the houses of the suspects, the prosecutor’s office said.
It said an investigation was ongoing “to assess whether any criminal offences have occurred”, adding: “All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty by the competent Belgian courts of law.”
Zelenskyy's aides to meet with European national security advisors to discuss peace talks
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pledged to “work constructively in pursuit of a real peace,” as he continues Ukraine’s diplomatic offensive today, with his security advisor, Rustem Umerov, meeting with the European national security advisors in Brussels.
In a post on X, he said that Umerov will be joined by the chief of the general staff Andrii Hnatov, with the meetings aimed at ensuring “ongoing coordination with partners.”
“Ukrainian representatives will brief their colleagues in Europe on what is known following yesterday’s contacts by the American side in Moscow, and they will also discuss the European component of the necessary security architecture,” he said.
Zelenskyy added that Umerov and Hnatov will also “begin preparations for a meeting with envoys of president Trump in the US.”
'Pretty obvious' Putin doesn't want peace in Ukraine, European ministers warn
Back to Brussels, the foreign ministers from European Nato countries showed little patience with Moscow this morning.
“What we see is that Putin has not changed any course. He’s pushing more aggressively on the battlefield,” Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said in comments reported by AP. “It’s pretty obvious that he doesn’t want to have any kind of peace.”
Finland’s foreign minister Elina Valtonen struck the same note. “So far we haven’t seen any concessions from the side of the aggressor, which is Russia, and I think the best confidence-building measure would be to start with a full ceasefire,” she told reporters.
Europe 'turning off tap on Russia gas, forever' as political deal on banning Russian imports by 2027 reached
Meanwhile, European Union lawmakers and member states reached a deal to ban all imports of Russian gas by autumn 2027, as the bloc seeks to choke off key funds feeding Moscow’s war chest, AFP reported.
The overnight accord aims to break a dependency the bloc has struggled to end despite the invasion of Ukraine, and marks a compromise between EU capitals and the European Parliament, which wanted the ban to hit sooner.
“We’ve made it: Europe is turning off the tap on Russian gas, forever,” EU energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen wrote on X.
“We are sending a clear message to Russia: Europe will never again let its energy supply be used as a weapon,” he said.
AFP noted that under the deal, long-term pipeline contracts – considered the most sensitive because they can run for decades – will be banned from 30 September 2027, provided storage levels are sufficient, and no later than 1 November 2027.
For liquefied natural gas (LNG), long-term contracts will be prohibited from 1 January 2027, in line with a call by Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to tighten sanctions on Moscow.
Short-term contracts will be phased out earlier: from 25 April 2026 for LNG and 17 June 2026 for pipeline gas.
The overnight deal also calls on the Commission to draft a plan in the coming months to end Russian oil imports to Hungary and Slovakia by the end of 2027.
The timeline must still get final approval from the European Parliament and member states.
Morning opening: Okay, so what do we do now?
Russia and the US did not make progress toward a peace deal for Ukraine during their talks, a senior aide to Vladimir Putin has said, hours after the Russian president issued threats that Russia was ready for war with Europe.
Despite lots of pressure being put on Ukraine over the last week, the much-hyped talks in Moscow did not bring any results as Russia disagreed with the US proposals.
So, we are back to square one. The question is: what’s next?
Ahead of a ministerial meeting in Brussels today, Nato’s Mark Rutte was determined to look for positives as he insisted “the peace talks are ongoing,” but conceded that “we are not sure when they will end” and so the alliance should be ready to keep supporting Ukraine “to fight back against the Russians.”
Rutte declined to comment on Putin’s comments.
In a further sign that will worry Europeans, particularly after Putin’s war warning, US state secretary Marco Rubio is not attending the meeting. His deputy, Christopher Landau, is representing the US, despite appearing to question the need of Nato just a few months back.
But Rutte insisted there was nothing special about any of that, saying it was “totally acceptable” that Rubio could not come given his other duties, and saying that he had a dinner with Landau last night, who he thought would be “really great at the table.”
Let’s see what comes out of this meeting, with a press conference expected in the afternoon.
We should also hear from Ukraine’s Zelenskyy at some point with his take on yesterday’s talks at the Kremlin.
I will bring you all the key updates throughout the day.
It’s Wednesday, 3 December 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
