Ukraine latest: Macron to present Trump with peace proposal as EU leaders meet Zelensky in Kyiv to mark third year of Russia’s invasion

The Kremlin has today said it welcomed and supported what it called a new U.S. approach to dialogue with Russia, which it contrasted to that of Europe.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was responding to a question about comments from U.S. President Donald Trump last week in which he criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and suggested Kyiv had started the war.

He said Moscow hoped that Washington would fully examine the root causes of the Ukraine conflict, which Peskov said was necessary to bring about a settlement.

Peskov added that Russia does not see any grounds to renew dialogue with Europe for now, hours after the EU agreed on a sixteenth package of sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.

The U.S. and Ukraine are ‘very close’ to signing a minerals deal which could help to secure Kyiv’s future, former UK prime minister Boris Johnson has claimed.

The former Conservative leader told ITV’s Good Morning Britain:

I believe that we’re very close to getting this minerals agreement signed between the United States and Ukraine, and that commits the US not only to future financing of Ukraine, but also to a free, sovereign and secure Ukraine.

I think that it’s positive for Ukraine – and don’t forget, the fundamental loser in all that is going to be Putin, because what Putin wants is Ukraine to be a vassal state of Russia.

What this deal envisages is an economic partnership with America, and the two things are simply not compatible.

World leaders are meeting in the Ukrainian capital today to mark three years since Russia’s illegal invasion of the country, in a show of support by some of Kyiv’s most important backers as the United States threatens to pull its support.

The three-year mark of the war came at a sensitive moment for Kyiv as Volodymyr Zelensky navigates a rapidly changing international environment upended by Donald Trump’s major shift of US policy and warming relations with Moscow.

Washington has been accused of freezing Kyiv out of negotiations with Moscow, with Trump last week justifying doing so by wrongly calling Zelensky ‘a dictator without elections’ – despite votes only being halted in the war-torn country due to martial law.

Read Elena Salvoni’s report here:

An explosion has rocked the Russian Consulate in Marseille, with the building on lockdown as firefighters fight with the blaze on the third anniversary of the Ukraine war.

Russia’s consul general in Marseille Stanislav Oranskiy confirmed there had been an explosion inside the consulate, Russian news outlet RBC reported.

The explosion had ‘all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack’, according to Russian news agency Tass, citing the Russian foreign ministry.

Read more on this breaking news story here

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has posted a tweet praising the ‘absolute heroism’ of the country’s men and women to mark the third year of Russia’s invasion.

Zelensky thanked all those who have defended and supported Ukraine since the start of the conflict amid hopes of a peace deal.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Kyiv

Leaders from Europe and Canada are visiting Ukraine’s capital to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion in a show of support by some of Kyiv’s most important backers for the nation at war.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau were among the visitors greeted at the train station by Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha and the president’s chief of staff Andrii Yermak.

In a post on X, Ms von der Leyen wrote that Europe was in Kyiv ‘because Ukraine is in Europe’.

‘In this fight for survival, it is not only the destiny of Ukraine that is at stake. It’s Europe’s destiny,’ she wrote.

The guests, also including European Council president Antonio Costa as well as the prime ministers of Northern European countries and Spain, were set to attend events dedicated to the anniversary and discuss supporting Ukraine with President Volodymyr Zelensky amid a recent US policy shift under President Donald Trump.

President Trump last met with Emmanuel Macron in Paris in December

Good morning and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage as French President Emmanuel Macron heads to Washington to meet Donald Trump for Ukraine peace talks.

Macron is hoping to persuade the U.S. President when the two leaders meet to include European leaders in talks between Russia and the United States.

Trump sent shock waves around Europe when he declared his readiness to resume diplomacy with Russian President Vladimir Putin and to hold talks without the involvement of European nations or Kyiv.

Meanwhile, Several European leaders and Canada’s prime minister have today arrived in Kyiv in a show of support for Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

Stick with us as we bring you the latest updates from throughout the day.