Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap!
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Pope Leo XIV in Castel Gandolfo, discussing “the urgent need for a just and lasting peace,” with the head of the Catholic church renewing his offer to hold peace talks between Russia and Ukraine at the Vatican (11:47, 14:47). Their meeting took place a day before the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome, starting on Thursday (16:05).
At least eight people were killed in Russian drone and bombing attacks on Ukraine overnight, with the Kremlin playing down Donald Trump’s criticism of Vladimir Putin and his handling of the conflict (13:31).
German chancellor Friedrich Merz has pledged to continue supporting Ukraine despite domestic criticism from far-right and far-left parties, as he warned that Russia sought to “destroy the political order” in Europe (10:46).
In other news,
French president Emmanuel Macron and British prime minister Keir Starmer acknowledged “the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions” to tackle irregular migration across the English Channel (17:54). The declaration came on the second day of Macron’s state visit to Britain, alongside meetings on emerging technologies and culture (17:40).
Police have raided the headquarters of France’s far-right National Rally (RN) and seized documents as part of an investigation into alleged illegal campaign financing that was denounced by the party’s leader, Jordan Bardella, as “a harassment campaign” (10:52, 11:23, 16:53).
EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said he bloc was hoping to “soon finalise our work” on a tariff deal with the US, praising “good progress” in talks with the Trump administration over the last week (15:11). The EU was understood to be on standby for an announcement as early as tonight (12:54, 13:00).
Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told the country’s parliament that Greece will suspend processing asylum applications for migrants arriving on boat from north Africa amid a surge in irregular migration from Libya (13:16).
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
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.
UK, France to pursue 'innovation solutions' to deter small boats
We just received a statement from 10 Downing Street, sheding a bit more light on what Starmer and Macron discussed in their bilateral talks earlier today.
In more newsy lines, it said “the leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions.”
“The prime minister spoke of his government’s toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats.
“The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.”
