Kyiv, Ukraine — A dozen leaders from Europe and Canada visited Ukraine’s capital Monday to mark three years since Russia’s invasion in a show of continued support from some of Kyiv’s most important backers.
The visitors were greeted at the train station by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and the president’s chief of staff, Andrii Yermak. Among the visitors were European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
SERGEI SUPINSKY / AFP via Getty Images
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 surrounding the three-year mark and discuss supporting Ukraine with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid a recent U.S. policy shift under President Trump.
In the latest sign of Europe’s efforts to rework its strategy on Ukraine to respond to Mr. Trump’s actions, Costa on Sunday announced that he would convene an emergency summit of the 27 EU leaders in Brussels on March 6, with Ukraine at the top of the agenda.
“We are living a defining moment for Ukraine and European security,” Costa said in a post on social media.
Virginia Mayo / AP
The three-year mark comes at a sensitive moment for Kyiv as Zelenskyy navigates a rapidly changing international environment upended by changes to U.S. policy by Mr. Trump.
The U.S. leader has sought to follow through on his campaign promises to end the war quickly, though his methods for doing so have alarmed many in Ukraine and Europe who believe his approach is too conciliatory toward Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin.
Russia’s foreign ministry said Saturday that preparations for a face-to-face meeting between Mr. Trump and Putin were underway, and U.S. officials have acknowledged that they had agreed with Moscow to reestablish diplomatic ties and restart economic cooperation.
And on Sunday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the state TASS news agency that Moscow and Washington would continue bilateral talks at the end of next week, adding that “quite a lot” of contact was ongoing between the Russian and American sides.
Leaders across the EU, fearing both that Mr. Trump’s approach to Ukraine would lead to an unfavorable settlement for Kyiv and that they – some of Ukraine’s most important supporters – would be sidelined in negotiations for peace, have rushed to assert their own response to the rapidly shifting environment.
On Monday, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna said Ukraine and the United States were “in the final stages” of working out an agreement that would give Washington access to Ukrainian mineral resources in exchange for its support.
“The negotiations have been very constructive, with nearly all key details finalized,” Stefanishyna said on social media.
“We are committed to completing this swiftly to proceed with its signature. We hope both U.S. and Ukraine leaders might sign and endorse it in Washington the soonest to showcase our commitment for decades to come,” Stefanishyna said.
Libkos / Getty Images
The U.K. was expected to announce new sanctions against Russia on Monday, having earlier described them as the biggest package since the early days of the war. Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Sunday said the measures would be aimed at eroding Russia’s “military machine and reducing revenues fueling the fires of destruction in Ukraine.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were to both visit Washington this week as Europe attempts to persuade Mr. Trump not to abandon Ukraine in pursuit of a peace deal.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian air defenses downed 113 drones launched by Russia at 12 regions overnight with another 71 “lost,” according to the daily air force report.
The report said that as a result of the attack, the Dnipropetrovsk, Odessa, Kyiv, and Khmelnytskyi regions “suffered” but didn’t provide further details.
Russia launched a record 267 drones into Ukraine very early Sunday, destroying infrastructure and killing at least 3 people the day before the world was to mark the third year of Moscow’s invasion.
Zelenskyy said on social media that it was “the largest attack since Iranian drones began hitting Ukrainian cities and villages.”
Ukraine’s air force said 138 drones were shot down over 13 Ukrainian regions, with 119 more lost en route to their targets.
