France’s Macron calls snap Élysée summit of leaders from European countries; Zelenskiy says ‘clear plan’ for defence when Russia restarts offensive
Our central and eastern European correspondent Shaun Walker has this analysis of the war as it enters year three.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has an unenviable task over the coming months. As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its third year, the Ukrainian president has a very difficult balancing act to manage.
Russia launched 14 attack drones and a barrage of missiles at Ukraine over Sunday night and Monday morning, with air defence systems destroying nine drones as well as three guided missiles over the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, Ukraine’s air air force said. Russia also launched two S-300 missiles from anti-aircraft missile systems and one air-to-surface Kh-31P missile, the air force said.
European leaders are due to gather in Paris on Monday to send Vladimir Putin a message of European resolve on Ukraine and, France has said, to counter the Kremlin’s narrative that Russia is bound to win. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has invited his European counterparts to the Élysée Palace for a working meeting at short notice because of what his advisers say is an escalation in Russian aggression. The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the British foreign secretary, David Cameron, and the Dutch PM, Mark Rutte, as well as leaders from Scandinavian and Baltic countries are among those scheduled to attend.
An attack on Sunday destroyed the train station, shops and homes in the town of Kostiantynivka near the frontline of Ukraine’s two-year-old war against Russia. Police said a guided aerial bomb hit the station and four S-300 missiles followed in the pre-dawn hours. Kostiantynivka lies 30km (18 miles) west of Bakhmut, which fell to Russian forces in May 2023, and north of Avdiivka, captured by the Russians last week.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has for the first time put a number on Ukrainian soldier deaths, saying 31,000 troops have been killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion. The Ukrainian president told a news conference in Kyiv that he could not disclose the number of wounded because it would help Russian military planning.
Ukraine’s defence minister, Rustem Umerov, said his country was “losing territory” in its grinding war with Russia because “50%” of weapons promised by western partners failed to arrive on time.
Russian forces would attempt another offensive in late May or summer, Zelenskiy said. “We will prepare for their assault. Their assault that began on 8 October has not brought any results, I think.” Ukraine had a “clear” plan for a new counteroffensive, Zelenskiy said, but he could not disclose details. Troop rotations were critically important for the war effort and Ukraine needed to better prepare its reserve forces, he said.
Joe Biden plans to meet with congressional leaders on Tuesday for discussions including a stalled national security bill that provides assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, according to the US president’s aides.
Rishi Sunak, Britain’s prime minister, has urged the west to be “bolder” in seizing Russian assets and to give Ukraine any interest already accrued on frozen Russian funds.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had taken a more advantageous position near Avdiivka in Ukraine and repelled counterattacks.
Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, said Russia could be invited to a peace summit if the Kremlin “want[s] to genuinely end this war”.
