Foreign leaders arrive in Ukraine’s capital to mark anniversary
A dozen leaders from Europe and Canada arrived in Ukraine’s capital by train Monday morning to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion, the Associated Press reports.
The visitors were greeted at the station by Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha and the president’s chief of staff Andrii Yermak. Among them were European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
In a post on X, 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 amid a recent US policy shift under President Donald Trump.
Key events
In a joint statement, the president of the European parliament Roberta Metsola, the president of the European council António Costa, and the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen have said “in a challenging international and geopolitical environment, we stress the importance of maintaining transatlantic and global solidarity with Ukraine.”
Paying tribute to those who had lost lives in the conflict, and saying that “Russia and its people are paying a price for their leader’s actions,” the statement said:
Three years ago Russia started its full-scale and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. Russia’s brutal war deliberately targets civilian and critical infrastructure. Russia and its leadership bear sole responsibility for this war and the atrocities committed against the Ukrainian population. We continue to call for accountability for all war crimes and crimes against humanity committed.
The European Union will continue to provide Ukraine with regular and predictable financial support, including reconstruction of the country after the war. We have taken unprecedented actions at the EU level to ramp up European defence industry production, and we will continue to increase our capacity. This will allow us to step up our military support and cooperation with Ukraine while simultaneously strengthening our defence readiness and European sovereignty.
You can watch the “Support Ukraine” event being held in Kyiv today with world leaders on this video feed.
Putin and Xi hold call in which Russian president gave update on US-Russia talks
Tass reports that Russia’s president Vladimir Putin has spoken by phone to China’s president Xi Jinping. The state-owned news agency said that Putin informed his Chinese counterpart about the recent talks between the US and Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Lisa O’Carroll
Ireland is to donate part of its ageing defence systems to Ukraine in a significant change in its contributions to the war effort.
As the war enters its fourth year it will donate at least three of its seven Giraffe radar surveillance trucks.
Due to its policy of neutrality, Ireland has participated proportionally in the EU contribution to Kyiv, but with the money ringfenced for “non-lethal” purposes such as diesel for artillery vehicles and landmine sweeping.
The department of defence told the Irish Times “In terms of the Giraffe system, we are waiting on arrangements with the Ukrainian armed forces in relation to their acceptance of the systems and the provision of training.”
The government will not be donating the linked ground-to-air missile launchers in line with its non-lethal aid policy.
Foreign minister Simon Harris, who is in Brussels today to meet his counterparts said continued support for Ukraine is a “necessity” and “not a choice.
Speaking from Moscow, the Sky News correspondent Ivor Bennett has told viewers of the news channel that the mood in Moscow in recent days has shifted to being triumphant, but there are no formal events marking the anniversary of the invasion.
He said it was not a milestone that president Vladimir Putin would have wanted to reach, and authorities are not inclined to draw attention to Russia’s losses during the conflict. He continued:
The mood in Moscow, certainly in the last couple of weeks, is much more triumphant. They’re really kind of doubling down on this narrative that they are in this existential struggle against the west, that they are the victims, and that things are now going their way.
You’ve got a sense of that this morning from the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov. Responding to the news that Europe and the UK have launched another round of sanctions, he said that Europe continues to follow the path of sanctions and the conviction of continuing the war. Very much casting Russia themselves as the peacemakers here, and Europe as the aggressors.
And you get the sense that they are really enjoying their kind of newfound status as the ones calling the shots with peace talks looming, because in Donald Trump, they appear to have found an ally.
Russia [is] very much in the ascendancy, even though they did not want to reach this three year anniversary.
Keir Starmer said on Monday that the west faces a “once-in-a-generation moment”, as he marked the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The UK’s prime minister said “Three years on from Putin’s barbaric full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we face a once-in-a-generation moment for our collective security and values. We continue to stand with Ukraine for a just and lasting peace.”
Outgoing Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has described Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “a war on our way of life, a war on democracy, on the rule of law and self determination, a war on justice, a war on truth” and condemned what he called Russia’s “disgusting war crimes”.
Speaking in Kyiv he said “Ukrainians will triumph because Ukrainians are fighting for what is right, but they cannot and should not do it alone.”
He said: “Ukrainians have lost their lives fighting courageously for their land, children [have been] taken from their families and homes and communities, which is a disgusting war crime.”
He said prisoners of war taken by Russia had been subject to violence.
A French security source has told Reuters two projectiles were thrown at the perimeter wall of Russia’s consulate in the southern French port city of Marseille, one of which exploded. It was not immediately clear if the projectiles cleared the wall. BFM TV said the projectiles were molotov cocktails and that they landed in the consulate’s garden. Russia’s consul general in Marseille, Stanislav Oranskiy, had said earlier on Monday there had been an explosion inside the consulate.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has held his daily media briefing in Moscow.
Tass reports that he said it would be impossible to resolve the conflict in Ukraine unless all sides understand the root cause of it, and that Russia does not at this point see any need to resume dialogue with the EU. He said that unlike the US, the path the EU was following was to prolong the conflict.
Following the incident in Marseille this morning Peskov called on unfriendly countries to strengthen the protection around Russian diplomatic missions. He also said that president Vladimir Putin would be holding international telephone calls today.
Local media reports that a controlled explosion has taken place at the Russian consulate in Marseille after first responders attended following earlier reports on an explosion at the building.
Reuters has a quick snap that France’s interior ministry has said that plastic bottles were thrown at the wall of consulate and one exploded. There are no reports of any casualties.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson has said the incident bears “the hallmarks of a terrorist attack”
More details soon …
Jakub Krupa
As European leaders gather in Kyiv to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s aggression on Ukraine, presumed next German chancellor Friedrich Merz offered his take on the war, writing in a social media post that “Europe remains firmly on the side of Ukraine.”
“Now more than ever, we must put Ukraine in a position of strength. For a just peace, the attacked country must be part of peace negotiations,” he said.
Here are the full quotes from Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on the reports of an explosion at the Russian consulate in Marseille:
The explosions on the territory of the Russian consulate general in Marseille have all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack. We demand exhaustive and prompt measures to investigate, as well as steps to strengthen the security of Russian foreign missions.
Lavrov: military action in Ukraine will only end after a satisfactory outcome for Russia
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is in Turkey today, and has been giving a joint press conference alongside his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan.
Lavrov has said, according to Tass, that Russia is ready to negotiate with both Ukraine and Europe, but its military actions will only cease if the outcome is satisfactory to Russia.
He said that many more countries had become “realistic” in their position on Ukraine, and that the recent meeting in Riyadh raised the hope of having normal dialogue between Russia and the US.
The Anadolu news agency reports that Fidan said Ankara attaches great importance to the US initiative regarding a Russia-Ukraine peace deal.
António Guterres has called for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. Speaking on the third anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion, the UN secretary-general is quoted by Reuters saying to the UN human rights council in Geneva that “we must spare no effort to bring an end to this conflict, and achieve a just and lasting peace in line with the UN charter, international law and general assembly resolutions.”
Zakharova: reported blast as Russian consulate in Marseille has ‘hallmarks of terrorist attack’
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has told Russian state-owned news agency that the incident at Russia’s consulate in Marseille has “all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack.”
Reuters reports Russia’s consul general in Marseille, Stanislav Oranskiy, said on Monday there had been an explosion inside the consulate. French media reports that firefighters were at the site. There are no reports of any casualties.
More details soon …
Reports are coming in of a blast at Russia’s consulate in Marseille. Reuters has a quick snap that the Russian consul general there has confirmed an explosion took place. No casualties have been reported.
More details soon …
Shaun Walker reports from Kharkiv on the fate of Ivan Zabavskyi, who was looking for his mother, Maryna, in September 2022 when he went missing. He appeared in a courtroom in St Petersburg last month, accused of being a Ukrainian spy. Shaun writes:
As Russia’s full-scale invasion reaches its three-year mark, Ivan and Maryna’s story of kidnapping, torture and separation is just one of hundreds of thousands of family tragedies that have afflicted Ukrainians across the country, both those who are serving in the armed forces and those who are not.
You can read the full story here: Kidnapped, tortured and jailed – one woman’s quest to bring her son home from Russia
