Support for Ukraine's EU membership quest as Zelensky meets key European backers
It comes after US President Donald Trump's administration decided to halt some arms shipments promised to help Kyiv fight off Russia's invasion.
Russia's renewed push to capture more territory has put Ukraine's defences under severe strain, with the war now in its fourth year.
Russian missiles and drones are battering Ukrainian cities, while US-led efforts to find a peace settlement have stalled.
'Ukraine belongs in the EU. It is in the interest of both Denmark and Europe. Therefore, the Danish presidency will do everything we can to help Ukraine on its path towards EU membership,' Ms Frederiksen said in a statement.
Ukraine's EU membership path is being blocked by Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orban insists that the country should remain a buffer zone between Russia and Nato countries.
Increased military support, co-operation with the Ukrainian defence industry and new sanctions against Russia were also due to be discussed between EU officials and Mr Zelensky.
'We must partly strengthen Ukraine, partly weaken Russia. The first thing we do is increase military support. Ukraine is crucial for Europe's security,' Ms Frederiksen said. 'The second thing we do is sanctions. We must increase the pressure on Russia.'
Her government has invested in Ukraine's defence industry – which can produce arms and ammunition more quickly and cheaply than elsewhere in Europe – and has invited Ukrainian companies to set up shop on safer ground in Denmark.
Mr Zelensky is also scheduled to have an audience with King Frederik X of Denmark.
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The Guardian
38 minutes ago
- The Guardian
He was the EU's great Brexit survivor. Can Maroš Šefčovič now pull off a trade deal with Trump?
In May 2019 Maroš Šefčovič was travelling with Donald Trump and his entourage to a liquefied natural gas export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. The then European Commission vice-president in charge of energy had flown with Trump onboard Air Force One, calling his wife as the privilege of a first-time flyer on the presidential plane. Once at the facility, Trump gave a typically rambling speech, in which he name-checked Šefčovič from the stage, pointing into the crowd like a gameshow host: 'Maroš, thank you very much. Thank you.' 'Of course,' recalled someone familiar with the day, 'when Trump pronounced his name it was a bit of a disaster'. But for a top-ranking official of a multilateral organisation, this warm welcome was probably as good as it gets when it comes to the US president. More than six years later, Šefčovič is tasked with negotiating a trade deal with the second Trump administration. The pressure is on. Trump, who claims the EU was formed to 'screw the US', has threatened to impose 50% tariffs on the bloc's imports if there is no deal by 9 July. With the deadline looming, Šefčovič is back in Washington on Wednesday, where he is due to hold talks with his counterparts ahead of the US 4 July independence day holiday. Otherwise, he is crisscrossing the world, racing to nail down trade pacts with several countries, including India, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, while navigating Europe's complex relationship with China. During one intense week in May he spent just two nights in a bed, otherwise resting in planes during an itinerary taking in France, Germany, Singapore, Japan and Kenya. Of the current crop of EU commissioners, the Slovak diplomat is the longest-serving. Since arriving at the Berlaymont headquarters in 2009, he has built up a reputation as a reliable and trustworthy fixer. 'He is always in a good mood, always trying to find a way,' a senior EU diplomat told the Guardian. 'He is never in an extreme mood [of] 'lets start a trade war'.' Usually wearing a tie and matching pocket square, often with a smile and a joke, Šefčovič is seen as a diligent problem solver, not seeking to outshine his boss, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen. Although few mangle his name as spectacularly as Trump, plenty in Brussels mispronounce the Slovak č, pronounced 'ch'. Popular with his staff, he is reserved with the media, almost never giving interviews. 'He is the kind of person who doesn't make enemies. That is why when there is something difficult to do you ask him,' said Jean De Ruyt, a veteran Belgian diplomat, who worked alongside Šefčovič in the mid 2000s. All his diplomatic nous was needed when he took charge of the Brexit withdrawal agreement in February 2020 for the EU. The UK had just finalised its acrimonious divorce. Relations between Brussels and Boris Johnson's government were tense and mistrustful. Despite the froideur, Šefčovič struck up a rapport with his opposite number, Michael Gove, culminating in a handwritten note signed by the two men to resolve disputes over the Northern Irish border, including the transportation of chilled meats. Gove nicknamed Šefčovič 'the sausage king'. But it crumbled when Gove was succeeded by the Brexit negotiator David Frost, known as 'Frosty the No Man'. After the switch, the UK decided unilaterally not to apply parts of the painstakingly negotiated Northern Ireland protocol. It was a tough blow for Šefčovič, who had pushed EU officials to do the maximum. 'I'd say that hurt him a lot. He had been pragmatic. He pushed his officials to go as far as they could go,' a UK source told the Guardian. But although Šefčovič launched legal action, he held off on a blazing trade war. In the end, patience paid off and he outlasted five British Conservative interlocutors: Gove, Frost, Liz Truss, James Cleverly and David Cameron. Colleagues praise his willingness to listen, whether to Swiss trade unions or Northern Irish politicians. But it is not just meeting and greeting. 'He has a way of creating an atmosphere that is conducive to creating a solution,' one senior EU official said. The meetings with Cleverly were some of the liveliest, the person recalled: 'They would have the meeting rooms crying with laughter through their banter.' Cleverly, the foreign secretary who negotiated the Windsor framework with Šefčovič, told the Guardian their good personal relationship had made a difference. 'We had to explore ideas that, had they been leaked in an incomplete fashion, would have been incredibly damaging to one of us, or the other, or indeed both.' Cleverly said he felt able to present proposals knowing 'the conversation wouldn't be used as some kind of leverage or wouldn't be leaked'. Against this smooth record, one failure stands out: Šefčovič's defeat in the 2019 Slovakian presidential elections to Zuzana Čaputová, a liberal lawyer who triumphed on a platform of tolerance and anti-corruption. The election was held the year after the murders of the investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová. Slovakia's ruling Smer party, badly tainted by the killings, could not find anyone to stand. Šefčovič, not a Smer party member, was persuaded to run but seemed ill-cast for the role of anti-system populist that party strategists wanted. Nonetheless, facing Čaputová in the final round, Šefčovič attacked her supposed 'super-liberal agenda' as being against Christian values. Shocking some EU observers, he criticised same-sex partnerships and the European policy of migrant quotas. Martin Burgr, a political strategist on Čaputová's team, said Šefčovič began as 'a very decent opponent', but by the end 'was forced … to be harder and more populistic'. That was misguided, Burgr suggested: 'He was seen as a liberal from Europe, as a Brussels guy, not a conservative person. I think this was a mistake to try to make him something that he wasn't and that he is not.' Since that defeat, Šefčovič has been twice renominated as Slovakia's EU commissioner. Returning in 2024, he was given the trade brief, one of the biggest jobs in the commission, reporting directly to von der Leyen. He has a good relationship with his workaholic boss, another pragmatic dealmaker. The two are the only senior EU officials said to use the basement gym in the commission's headquarters. Šefčovič, a student athlete, favours Diet Coke, and walks his two golden retrievers twice a day. Meantime, he has plenty on his plate. European insiders are downbeat about the prospects of a zero-tariff deal with the US. 'I cannot imagine how we will agree,' the senior EU diplomat said. 'They [the US] want to collect tariffs; they want to be beautifully rich.' But Šefčovič will not give up, the person insisted. 'He will be coming with new proposals, other proposals, trying to convince.'
The Review Geek
2 hours ago
- The Review Geek
Heads of State (2025) Ending Explained – Do Sam & Derringer save the day?
Heads of State Plot Summary Head of State is an Amazon Prime action film starring Idris Elba, John Cena, and Priyanka Chopra. The film follows the U.S. President Will Derringer (John Cena), as he embarks on his first trip to the UK to meet the British Prime Minister Sam Clarke (Idris Elba). These two don't exactly see eye to eye, and things blow up in public during a press conference. Meanwhile in Spain, a covert mission led by Clarke's ex, Noel, goes awry. The mission to capture a wanted terrorist, Gradov, leaves Noel presumed dead, and the media hounds the two leaders for answers. The rivalry between the two at the press conference makes things worse, causing their advisors to scramble to salvage the situation. To change the narrative, their advisors suggest that the beefing leaders fly together to the NATO meeting in Trieste on Air Force One. What happens during the flight? After putting up a united front, the two leaders embark on their journey. During the flight, Derringer and Sam continue to bicker over their differences. It turns out Sam doesn't respect Derringer because he was a renowned action star who ran for president and won. On the other hand, Derringer is hurt that Sam subtly endorsed his rival during the campaign season. As they bicker over drinks, Gradov's inside man launches an attack on the plane. He also sends the plane's location to his colleagues. His colleagues launch an air attack, bringing the plane down. Thankfully, thanks to the bodyguard, Derringer and Sam survive. However, everyone assumes they died along with the others in the crash. What happens after the crash? Derringer and Sam land in Belarus (enemy territory) near the border of Poland. As the world mourns the two leaders, Derringer and Sam bicker over their next options as they make their way to the safe house in Poland. Derringer wants to make contact with his team, but Sam fears it is too risky, given the recent breach. He believes there has to be a spy in their midst. They decide to hot-wire a car, but that puts them in more danger than they anticipated. An epic fight scene ensues with some Belarusian men before an old lady offers them help. She sneaks them across the border and delivers them safely to the safe house. Unfortunately, Gradov used the change of guard in the American government to infiltrate Echelon, a secret surveillance programme. This leads Gradov right to the safe house after the programme intercepts footage of Derringer and Sam arriving at the safe house in Warsaw. Gradov sends his men after them. What happens at the safe house? At the safe house, Sam and Derringer meet the station agent, Marty Comer. Marty is elated to meet his hero, Derringer, even under these circumstances. Before they can come up with a playbook, Gradov's men attack them. Comer sacrifices his life to give the two a chance to escape. They are about to be cornered when Noel miraculously appears and saves the day. Apparently, a bulletproof vest saved her life, and she has been low-key investigating Gradov, which led her to Sam and Derringer. In Trieste, a diplomatic crisis unfolds as sensitive documents are leaked from the Echelon servers, testing the limits of diplomatic relations. The documents expose covert missions amongst NATO nations against each other. Gradov is using Echelon to tear NATO apart, but the Vice President, currently the acting President, is working to save NATO. Why is Gradov after the US and the UK? According to Noel, Gradov used to be a weapons developer working along with his son. His son was a genius scientist with incredible breakthroughs. He was on the brink of making the first nuclear reactor incapable of melting down when he was killed during a mission. The UK and the US took his technology and claimed it as their own. In fact, the press conference was to launch the technology. Gradov is after revenge and won't stop at anything to kill the men who killed his son. Now, Noel, Sam, and Derringer have to figure out who helped Gradov before reaching out to their teams. Derringer thinks the spy is Sam's right-hand man, Quincy. Simultaneously, Noel has to get them to Trieste, currently the safest place on the planet. Does the trio make it to Trieste? The three of them make it on a train and start their journey to Spain. During the ride, Noel and Sam try to get closure from their past relationship. It turns out they were in the army together, but Sam gave it up to run for office. Noel wasn't ready to do so, and they broke up. However, they still have feelings for each other, and Derringer encourages Sam to pursue Noel again. Unfortunately, the Echelon servers pick up on their location. Gradov sends two men after them. Luckily, one of the men is Arthur. Arthur is Gradov's IT specialist. Before he dies, he gives the trio a clue to find the spy. He sends them to a secret, secure location and gives them a prompt that will allow them to run a programme and check Gradov's communications. The trio jumps out of the train and makes it to the secret location. Once again, Gradov finds them. This time, he personally comes after them. The trio manages to get into the programme and discover the identity of the spy. In a surprising turn of events, the spy turns out to be Bradshaw, Derringer's chief of staff. Unfortunately, Gradov launches a missile at the building while Sam is inside. Derringer and Noel assume Sam is dead and make their way to Trieste. They need to make it in time to save NATO from falling apart. After getting to the Port of Trieste, Derringer calls the acting President, Kirk, and fills her in on the situation. He orders her to send the presidential car, the Beast, to pick them up. Do they save NATO? In another twist, it is revealed that Kirk was the true mastermind behind everything. She used Bradshaw as a cover and had her men ready to take out Gradov. Unfortunately for her, Gradov, Sam, and Derringer all make it to Trieste as the NATO meetings start. Gradov's men come after Sam and Noel with a renewed vengeance. A wild car chase ensues as Gradov tries to take them out. Sam arrives in a fire truck and tries to intervene. The chase continues, and Sam is forced to jump into the Beast and take over the wheel. Thanks to his mad driving skills and the art of dodging bullets and missiles, they barely make it to the meeting. Just as the countries start voting to pull out of NATO, Sam and Derringer arrive and give a passionate speech on unity. Before they can vote, Gradov and his men infiltrate the building and open fire. An intense fight scene ensues as they each take down their multiple attackers. Gradov is about to escape, but Sam and Derringer work as a team to take him down. They manage to kill Gradov when his plane explodes after a crash. How does Heads of State end? Two months after the whole ordeal, the media reports that the NATO alliance remains strong. The film ends with Sam flirting with Noel over texts since she is away on a mission. In the meantime, he takes Derringer for lunch, and they bicker over which country between the two has better food condiments. We also get a sweet surprise that Comer also made it out of the safe house alive.
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Trump says he ‘didn't make any progress' with Putin after call
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a phone call earlier in the day with Vladimir Putin resulted in no progress at all on efforts to end the war in Ukraine, while a Kremlin aide said the Russian president reiterated that Moscow would keep pushing to solve the conflict's 'root causes.' The two leaders did not discuss a recent pause in some US weapons shipments to Kyiv during the nearly hour-long conversation, according to a readout provided by Putin aide Yuri Ushakov. US attempts to end Russia's war in Ukraine through diplomacy have largely stalled, and Trump has come under increased pressure – including from some Republicans – to increase pressure on Putin to negotiate in earnest. 'I didn't make any progress with him at all,' Trump told reporters in brief comments at an airbase outside Washington, before departing for a campaign-style event in Iowa. Putin, for his part, has continued to assert he will stop his invasion only if the conflict's 'root causes' have been addressed – Russian shorthand for the issue of Nato enlargement and western support for Ukraine. Within hours of the call's conclusion, an apparent Russian drone attack sparked a fire in an apartment building in a northern suburb of Kyiv. In Kyiv itself, witnesses reported explosions and sustained heavy fire overnight as air defence units battled drones over the capital, while Russian shelling killed five in the eastern part of the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters in Denmark earlier in the day that he hopes to speak to Trump as soon as Friday about the ongoing pause in some weapons shipments, which was first disclosed earlier this week. The diplomatic back-and-forth comes as the US has paused shipments of certain critical weapons to Ukraine due to low stockpiles, just as Ukraine faces a Russian summer offensive and increasingly frequent attacks on civilian targets. A senior commander meanwhile warned that the death of an experienced Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot in battle against Russian drones showed the high-risk tactics Kyiv will increasingly adopt if it is unable to obtain critical new air defences. Dozens of people have been killed during intensifying Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, a trend officials have said will worsen if Kyiv's allies do not step up supplies of critical munitions. At the funeral for fighter pilot Maksym Ustymenkoin, Oleh Zakharchuk, deputy commander of Ukraine's western air command said: 'Everyone must understand that there is no such thing as enough weapons. If we cannot use the missiles because we do not get them, then it will be very difficult.' Russia killed two people in an airstrike on the central Ukrainian city of Poltava on Thursday and damaged a military draft office there in what Kyiv said was a concerted campaign to disrupt recruitment for its war effort. The strike on Poltava, which also injured 47 people and caused a fire at the city's main draft office, followed a drone attack on Monday near a recruitment centre in Kryvyi Rih. Both cities are regional capitals. 'We understand that their [Russia's] goal is to disrupt the mobilisation process,' Vitaliy Sarantsev, a spokesperson for Ukraine's ground forces, told Ukraine's public broadcaster. The Russian military said Thursday it had captured the village of Milove in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, opening a new front on their shared border. Ukraine did not immediately comment on Russia's claim. Milove lies on a section of the border that Moscow's forces had not penetrated since their offensive began in 2022, and was home to several hundred people before the conflict. The US company Techmet is likely to bid in the first pilot project of the Ukraine-US joint Reconstruction Investment Fund on a lithium mine in the centre of the country, Ukraine's first deputy prime minister said on Thursday. Yulia Svyrydenko, writing on Facebook, reported on a meeting between Zelenskyy and US businesses, with much of the focus on the fund, meant to exploit Ukrainian minerals and rare earths. Svyrydenko said Ukraine hoped to have three pilot projects up and running in the first 18 months of operation, including the lithium mine in Kirovohrad region. A deputy commander of the Russian navy who had previously led one of the military's most notorious brigades was killed near the frontline with Ukraine, Moscow confirmed. Maj Gen Mikhail Gudkov, who was responsible for Russia's marine units, was killed on Wednesday in a Ukrainian missile attack on a field headquarters in the Kursk region, amid reports the position had been revealed by poor security. An explosion Thursday killed a former official in the Russian-occupied eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk, local Moscow-installed authorities said. There have been a series of assassinations in occupied Ukraine and inside Russia during Moscow's full-scale offensive that have been linked to – or claimed by – Kyiv's security services. 'Today, as a result of a vile attack in the centre of Luhansk, the former head of the administration of our regional capital, Manolis Pilavov, was killed,' the Russian-backed head of the region, Leonid Pasechnik, said on Telegram.
