logo
Macron and Starmer will co-chair Ukraine talks in the UK

Macron and Starmer will co-chair Ukraine talks in the UK

LeMondea day ago
President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will co-chair talks with other European leaders on boosting Ukraine's defences, during the French leader's visit to the United Kingdom next week, the Elysée Palace said on Friday, July 4. Macron will pay a state visit to the UK from July 8 to July 10, and he will receive a royal welcome and address parliament. "There will certainly be a discussion on how to seriously maintain Ukraine's combat capability," the Elysée said, adding that Starmer and Macron will co-chair the video conference meeting of Kyiv's allies.
The meeting, on July 10, will come as United States-led peace talks on ending the more than three-year-old war against Ukraine have stalled. The US, Ukraine's biggest military backer since the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, said, on Tuesday, that it was halting some key weapons shipments to Ukraine.
During the Ukraine meeting, Macron and Starmer will speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the French presidency said.
'Reassurance force'
The summit will touch upon the deployment of "a reassurance force" to Ukraine after a ceasefire, the Elysée said. The discussions will also focus on "how to increase pressure on Russia to accept an unconditional ceasefire that it has consistently refused," the French presidency added.
Moscow has, in recent weeks, ramped up missile and drone attacks on Ukraine, as US support for Kyiv has appeared to waver under US President Donald Trump.
Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on Thursday. The US president said he made no progress with Putin on ending the Ukraine war, as the Kremlin insisted Putin would stick to his aims in the conflict.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Inside France: Air conditioning wars, football focus and balloons
Inside France: Air conditioning wars, football focus and balloons

Local France

time2 hours ago

  • Local France

Inside France: Air conditioning wars, football focus and balloons

Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. It's published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article. Breezy assurances France's most recent heatwave has sparked a furious political debate about air conditioning - a facility that is not widespread in France, and is in fact actively resisted by a significant portion of the population. Until recently there wasn't much discussion about this, simply because it wasn't needed in much of the country. But France's hotter summers and longer and more intense heatwaves mean that air conditioning has come to the forefront of the political discussion. Advertisement Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National - a party that is extremely reluctant to even talk about the climate crisis that is driving those warming temperatures, and in fact actively opposes renewable energy sources like wind turbines - has come with a 'grand plan for air conditioning'. The debate that followed seems to me to be a neat illustration of the difficulty of combating the simplified rhetoric of the far-right. Put simply, the RN position is: "It's hot. Let's have more air conditioning." Meanwhile the position of the left and the centre is: "Yes, it's hot and people in high-risk groups may need air conditioning during a heatwave. However, air conditioning is bad for the environment and it won't solve the underlying problem which is climate change. We need to look for alternative solutions as well, while working to tackle climate change." The problem is that one of those positions is a lot easier to communicate than the other. Also, when it's stiflingly hot, your apartment feels like an inner circle of hell and you couldn't sleep last night because the temperature never fell below 30C, one of those positions is instinctively more attractive than the other. That doesn't make it right, though. Air conditioning is a sticking plaster at best that solves none of the underlying issues and makes the problem worse. Even if we discount the overall environmental impact of AC units (and we definitely shouldn't) there's the simple fact that the heat chucked out by these units raises the temperature for everyone. Sustained use of air conditioning for just 10 days raises the overall temperature of a city by up to 2.4C, according to environment agency Ademe . ANALYSIS: Why are the French resistant to air conditioning?✎ Summer 2025 Predicting the future is always hard but it does seem like France is in for another hot summer . We have a go at predicting what else summer 2025 may bring - from strikes to political drama - in the latest Talking France podcast. Listen here or on the link below. The podcast is now taking a break for summer, but we hope to be back in September. You can catch up on our back catalogue here , and if you like what you hear you might consider supporting us by becoming a member of The Local, or recommending us to family and friends, which will allow us to keep making it. Advertisement Football focus A post on Bskysocial. France take on England on Saturday in the Women's Euro 2025 and we have a handy guide for some French phrases to use while watching les bleues . Incidentally, this is an example of the beautiful efficiency of the French language - les bleus = the France men's team, les bleues = the France women's team, les bleuets = the France junior team. Allez les bleues ! READ ALSO : How to watch the women's Euro 2025 tournament on French TV✎ Balloon In my opinion, the perfect way to end a summer's day is to go and see La vasque - the Paris hot air balloon that was here during the Olympics and Paralympics - rise. It's sunset ascent is quite calm; there's no announcement or soundtrack, at the appointed time it simply gently floats upwards above the Tuileries, accompanied by a murmur of joy from the assembled crowd. This will happen every evening (weather permitting) until September. The balloon rising above the Tuileries at sunset, as the assembled crowd take photographs. Photo: The Local Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. It's published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.

Ukraine says it struck a Russian airbase as Moscow steps up assault
Ukraine says it struck a Russian airbase as Moscow steps up assault

Euronews

time3 hours ago

  • Euronews

Ukraine says it struck a Russian airbase as Moscow steps up assault

Ukraine claimed it struck a Russian airbase on Saturday, while Russia continued to pound Ukraine with hundreds of drones overnight as part of a stepped-up bombing campaign that has further shattered hopes for a breakthrough in negotiations to end the more than three-year-old war. According to Ukraine's military General Staff, Ukrainian forces struck the Borisoglebsk airbase in Russia's Voronezh region, a base it described as the 'home base' of Russia's Su-34, Su-35S, and Su-30SM fighter jets. Writing on Facebook, the General Staff said it hit a depot containing glide bombs, a training aircraft, and 'possibly other aircraft." Russian officials did not immediately comment on the attack. The claim came as Russia continued its assault on Ukraine, firing 322 drones and decoys into Ukraine overnight into Saturday. According to Ukraine's airforce, the Russian attack was primarily directed at the Khmelnytskyi Oblast city of Starokostiantyniv. It said that 135 UAVs vanished off radar and 157 were shot down, though the impact of the Russian attack was felt in four locations, with debris falling in six places, but no casualties were reported. Russia has been stepping up its long-range attacks on Ukraine with waves of drones and missiles targeting the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, overnight into Friday, killing at least two people and wounding at least 26 others. Is Trump's mediation effort failing? The fresh wave of attacks came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he had a 'very important and productive' phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump. The two leaders discussed how Ukrainian air defences might be strengthened, possible joint weapons production between the US and Ukraine, and broader US-led efforts to end the war with Russia, according to a statement by Zelenksyy. Asked Friday night by reporters about the call, Trump said, 'We had a very good call, I think.' When asked about finding a way to end the fighting, Trump said, 'I don't know. I can't tell you whether or not that's going to happen.' Trump's call with Zelenskyy came amid growing concern about the supply of American weapons to Ukraine, and shortly after his call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who offered no hope on Trump's attempts to end the war. The US has paused some shipments of military aid to Ukraine, including crucial air defence missiles. Going by the potential risk, Ukraine's main European supporters are thinking about how they may assist in making up the difference. According to Zelenskyy, efforts are underway to expand Ukraine's domestic armaments sector, but it will take time to scale up.

The opportune return of Reza Pahlavi, Iran's crown prince, following US airstrikes
The opportune return of Reza Pahlavi, Iran's crown prince, following US airstrikes

LeMonde

time4 hours ago

  • LeMonde

The opportune return of Reza Pahlavi, Iran's crown prince, following US airstrikes

A discreet activist Reza Pahlavi, 64, always reemerges on screens whenever the mullahs' regime in Iran appears close to collapse. The crown prince of Tehran's last royal dynasty – the Pahlavis, ousted by the 1979 revolution – has ridden the shockwave of the June 21 US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites. Although caught off guard by the ceasefire declared by Donald Trump on June 24, the prince, who is based in the United States, has not given up preparing for what comes next. On June 30, Pahlavi was in London to meet with British lawmakers. On social media, he promoted an online mailbox for members of the Islamic Republic's security services who might consider switching sides. In Washington, his lobbyists have been championing a bill in Congress known as the Maximum Support Act for the Iranian people. This activism aims to support the next wave of protests. A polite democrat Wearing a black suit closely fitted across his chest and a tie in the signature blue of the former regime – shimmering and textured in the American style – Pahlavi offered his services on the eve of the ceasefire between Iran and Israel on June 23 in Paris. Before dozens of international media outlets, including Le Monde, gathered at a Maison de la Chimie, an international conference center, event, he declared himself "ready to lead the political transition" in his country.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store