Alert – Ukraine latest: Macron arrives at White House to present Trump with peace proposal as EU leaders meet Zelensky in Kyiv to mark third year of Russia’s invasion

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Conservative media personality Dan Bongino has scored the No. 2 position at the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

Recently sworn-in FBI Director Kash Patel announced on Monday that the one-time NYPD officer-turned-Secret Service agent will serve as his Deputy Director.

Bongino had a show on Fox News until April 2023 and after that continued his media commentary on Rumble.

The New York Times in November 2020 wrote about what they claimed to be the ‘top five election misinformation spreaders’ and put Bongino on that list.

Kari Lake is not bothered by MAGA drama.

The former candidate for Arizona governor spoke exclusively to Daily Mail’s Welcome to MAGAland podcast to share her thoughts on tension among Donald Trump’s fiercest supporters.

‘I don’t pay attention to that,’ Lake said on the sidelines of conservative conference CPAC when asked about tensions among Trump allies after Steve Bannon called Elon Musk a ‘parasitic illegal migrant.’

‘I just don’t spend any of my energy on that. I know that deep down there’s respect going both ways there.’

Calling both Bannon and Musk ‘patriots,’ Lake added that the pair respect each other – ‘and they both have a lot to offer’ the Trump administration.

More now on the attack on a Russian consulate building in Marseille as the French government condemned it.

‘France condemns any infringement of the security of diplomatic compounds,’ a foreign ministry spokesperson said after the attack in which nobody was injured and that occurred on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Three improvised explosive devices were thrown at the Russian consulate in Marseille, a police source said.

Only two of the devices detonated in the attack. The consulate was sealed off by police and AFP journalists heard a detonation caused by a bomb disposal robot.

The Russian foreign ministry denounced what it called a ‘terrorist attack’.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russian reporters.

The explosions on the territory of the Russian consulate general in Marseille have all the signs of a terrorist attack. We demand that the host country undertake exhaustive and speedy investigative measures, as well as steps to strengthen the security of Russia’s foreign missions.

Keir Starmer put on a united front with Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders today as they marked the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Ahead of a potentially stormy showdown with Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday, the PM told a summit that Kyiv must be involved in peace talks for a deal to ‘endure’.

He pleaded for ‘unity’ insisting Vladimir Putin does not hold ‘all the cards’ and had seen his military and economy downgraded.

Read more here:

Irish premier Micheal Martin has said Ireland will increase financial contributions towards Ukraine whose sovereignty he said is ‘so important for small nations’.

Addressing a meeting of Ukraine’s allies in Kyiv via video link, Mr Martin (pictured) said Ireland will work with other countries to ensure there will be accountability for war crimes, particularly noting Ukrainian children who have been abducted.

He said:

For a small country like Ireland, the international rules-based order is ultimately the only basis for our security.

You are protecting and fighting to uphold the principles of the United Nations Charter and in terms of sovereignty and integrity, but also in terms of the rules-based order.

Kursk has been at the centre of the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Russia has struck a deal with Ukraine and the Red Cross to evacuate residents from the embattled Kursk region, parts of which have been seized by Ukraine, it has emerged today

Kyiv launched a surprise cross-border assault on the Russian region more than six months ago, capturing dozens of villages and trapping many Russian civilians on the opposite side of the front line.

Some residents have now crossed into Ukraine’s neighbouring Sumy region and are awaiting evacuation via Belarus, Russian rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said.

‘There are people who are already in Sumy today. And there is an agreement with the Red Cross and the Ukrainian side that they will be evacuated through Belarus to Russia,’ Moskalkova said, according to Russia’s RIA news agency.

Moskalkova did not say how many Kursk residents would be evacuated under the agreement.

Putin was pictured speaking with Xi via videoconference in January

More now from China’s president Xi Jinping who held a call with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin earlier today.

Xi told Putin he was pleased with Moscow’s efforts to hold a summit with the US towards ending the war in Ukraine, China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Putin updated Xi on the latest contacts with the US and Xi said that ‘China is pleased to see that Russia and relevant parties have made positive efforts to resolve the crisis’, according to the report.

The Chinese side ‘expressed support’ for the dialogue between Russia and the US, and said it is prepared to assist to peacefully resolve the conflict, a Kremlin statement said.

The call came as a dozen leaders from Europe and Canada visited Ukraine’s capital on Monday to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion and show their support for Kyiv.

Sir Keir said the UK and its allies must ‘keep dialling up economic pressure’ to force Putin to make concessions in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking via video link to a conference of global leaders in Kyiv, the Prime Minister added:

So today, we’re announcing the UK’s largest packet of sanctions since the early days of the war, going after Russia’s shadow fleet and going after companies in China and elsewhere who are sending military components.

Later today, I will be discussing further steps with the G7 and I’m clear that the G7 should be ready to take on more risk, including the oil price cap, sanctioning Russia’s oil giants and going after the banks that are enabling the evasion of sanctions.

Sir Keir also reiterated said the UK is willing to provide troops on the ground to enforce peace in Ukraine ‘with the right conditions in place’.

Sir Keir Starmer has today declared Donald Trump has changed the ‘global conversation’ around Ukraine.

Addressing a summit of EU leaders in Kyiv, Sir Keir said:

It has created an opportunity. Now we must get the fundamentals right. If we want peace to endure, Ukraine must have a seat at the table, and any settlement must be based on a sovereign Ukraine backed up with strong security guarantees.

The UK is ready and willing to support this with troops on the ground, with other Europeans and with the right conditions in place, and ultimately, a US backstop will be vital to deter Russia from launching another invasion in just a few years’ time. So we will do everything we can to get the best outcome for Ukraine and for us all.

Sir Keir is expected to travel to the U.S. later this week for talks with Trump.

Good morning, if you’re just joining us we are reporting live updates on the latest situation in Ukraine as world leaders meet to discuss an end to the conflict with Russia.

Today marks the third anniversary of the Russian invasion which has seen EU leaders and Canadian premier Justin Trudeau head to Kyiv to show support for Ukraine.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump will welcome French President Emmanuel Macron to Washington later for further talks.

Here’s what you need to know today:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed a complete exchange of all prisoners of war with Russia as the ‘start’ of a process on ending the conflict
• Vladimir Putin has today spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping who has reiterated China and Russia are ‘true friends’ as EU leaders lend support for Zelensky
• Ukraine has confirmed it is in the ‘final stages’ of sealing a minerals deal with the U.S. which may include security guarantees for the country.
• Canadian premier Justin Trudeau has warned the world cannot return to ‘might is right’ as he urged leaders to defend democracy in Ukraine
• French President Emmanuel Macron will meet Donald Trump for talks later today before Sir Keir Starmer visits the U.S. capital on Thursday

Ukraine’s minister of justice Olga Stefanishyna has confirmed the country is in the ‘final stages’ of a minerals deal with the US which could have implications for Ukrainian security.

Ms Stefanishyna disclosed negotiations are almost completed in a statement on X after former UK prime minister Boris Johnson said a deal was close.

Whilst exact details of the deal are unknown currently, it is believed to allow the U.S. access to rare Ukrainian minerals in exchange for security guarantees.

EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was set on Ukraine’s ‘capitulation’, as she announced €3.5 billion euros of fresh aid to Kyiv.

‘The war in Ukraine remains the most central and consequential crisis for Europe’s future. Putin is trying harder than ever to win this war on the ground. His goal remains Ukraine’s capitulation,’ von der Leyen said at a summit in Kyiv.

Canadian premier Justin Trudeau has warned the world cannot return to ‘might is right’ as he called on leaders to defend democracy in Ukraine.

The outgoing leader has spoken at a summit of EU leaders in Kyiv to show support for Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

Addressing President Zelenksy directly, Mr Trudeau said:

Let us be frank. You and the Ukrainian people should never have had to endure a single day of this unjustified, brutal war, let alone 1,096 of them. This is not a conflict Ukraine wanted, provoked or asked for in any way.

This is a war started for one reason and one reason only – Russia’s desire to erase Ukrainian history and expand their empire.

Telling leaders the world cannot return to an approach of ‘might is right’, he urged those to ‘seize’ the moment to end the conflict.

It’s up to all of us in this room and around the world to meet this moment. We can’t wait the moment to stop this war of aggression. The moment to defend democracy, the moment to stand for our shared values is now. So let us seize it.

The US and Ukraine are ‘very close’ to signing a minerals deal that could guarantee future security, Boris Johnson said today.

The former PM sounded an upbeat tone after weeks of bitter wrangling between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump.

Speaking in Kyiv, where he is joining events to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Mr Johnson argued that Vladimir Putin would be the ‘loser’ from the mooted pact to develop Ukraine’s natural resources.

Read the full story here from our Political Editor James Tapsfield:

Chinese President Xi Jinping has said China and Russia are ‘true friends’ who ‘support each other’, state media has reported.

State news agency Xinhua reported Xi as saying that ‘history and reality show that China and Russia are good neighbours that cannot be moved away, and true friends who share weal and woe, support each other and achieve common development’.

Xi (pictured) and Putin spoke by telephone this morning.

Details of the call have yet to be revealed but the two are known to have a close relationship, which is also reflected in bilateral ties.

China has become a major customer for Russian oil and gas and a source of key technologies amid sweeping Western sanctions on Moscow.

Starmer embraces Zelensky after meeting in Kyiv in January

Sir Keir Starmer said the West faces a “once-in-a-generation moment” as world leaders mark the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Prime Minister will join a call with leaders including US President Donald Trump, whose overtures to Russia’s Vladimir Putin have alarmed Ukraine’s allies.

The discussion between leaders of the G7 group of wealthy democracies will follow a gathering of Ukraine’s allies in Kyiv, which Sir Keir will address remotely.

On a day of intensive diplomatic activity, Sir Keir 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.

France’s Emmanuel Macron is in Washington for talks with Mr Trump ahead of Sir Keir’s own visit to the White House later this week, as European leaders attempt to show a united front in support of Ukraine.

Mr Trump’s talks with Russia, his description of Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky as a ‘dictator’ and claim that Kyiv started the war have shattered the transatlantic alliance on the issue.

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov speaking in Ankara, Turkey

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has said the country is ready for negotiations on the Ukraine war but will only stop fighting when a peace settlement “suits” Moscow.

‘We will stop hostilities only when these negotiations produce a firm and sustainable result that suits the Russian Federation,’ Lavrov said in a press conference with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan.

Lavrov also called on the United States to appoint a representative for future peace talks with Russia, after what he said were his ‘positive’ discussions in Saudi Arabia last week with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday accused Europe of wanting to prolong the fighting, unlike the United States.

‘The Europeans continue on the path of a sanctions nosedive, on the path of conviction in the need to continue the war,’ Peskov told reporters, adding:

This conviction of the Europeans completely contrasts with the mindset of finding a settlement on Ukraine, which we are now doing with the Americans.

Today marks the third year anniversary of the Russian invasion and violence continues today as Ukraine declares it attacked a Russian oil refinery overnight.

Kyiv has hit several Russian energy sites in long-range drone strikes it says are retaliation for Moscow’s missile attacks that have crippled Ukraine’s energy grid and cut off power to millions during Russia’s three-year invasion.

‘The Ryazan refinery, one of the largest in Russia, was attacked,’ said Andriy Kovalenko, the spokesman of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council’s Countering Disinformation Centre.

He added the refinery produced aviation fuel ‘critical for the frontline aviation of the Russian army.’

The Ryazan region governor, Pavel Malkov, said on Telegram that a ‘fire broke out on the territory of an enterprise due to falling debris’ after the drones were downed.

The Russian defence ministry said it shot down 22 Ukrainian drones overnight, including two over the Ryazan region, southeast of Moscow.

Zelensky has also proposed a complete exchange of all prisoners of war with Russia as the ‘start’ of a process on ending the conflict.

‘Russia must release Ukrainians. Ukraine is ready to exchange all for all, and this is a fair way to start,’ Zelensky said in a summit in Kyiv on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb President Zelensky in Kyiv

President Zelensky has today called for long-term and sustainable peace in Ukraine this year, in comments marking the third anniversary of the Russian invasion.

He said:

This year should be the year of the beginning of a real, lasting peace. Putin will not give us peace or give it to us in exchange for something. We have to win peace through strength and wisdom and unity.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has joined EU leaders in Kyiv to show support for Ukraine on the third anniversary of the Russian invasion.

Here are some photographs of his visit in the Ukrainian capital this morning.

The Kremlin has today said it welcomed and supported what it called a new U.S. approach to dialogue with Russia, which it contrasted to that of Europe.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was responding to a question about comments from U.S. President Donald Trump last week in which he criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and suggested Kyiv had started the war.

He said Moscow hoped that Washington would fully examine the root causes of the Ukraine conflict, which Peskov said was necessary to bring about a settlement.

Peskov added that Russia does not see any grounds to renew dialogue with Europe for now, hours after the EU agreed on a sixteenth package of sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.

The U.S. and Ukraine are ‘very close’ to signing a minerals deal which could help to secure Kyiv’s future, former UK prime minister Boris Johnson has claimed.

The former Conservative leader told ITV’s Good Morning Britain:

I believe that we’re very close to getting this minerals agreement signed between the United States and Ukraine, and that commits the US not only to future financing of Ukraine, but also to a free, sovereign and secure Ukraine.

I think that it’s positive for Ukraine – and don’t forget, the fundamental loser in all that is going to be Putin, because what Putin wants is Ukraine to be a vassal state of Russia.

Mr Johnson added:

What this deal envisages is an economic partnership with America, and the two things are simply not compatible.

World leaders are meeting in the Ukrainian capital today to mark three years since Russia’s illegal invasion of the country, in a show of support by some of Kyiv’s most important backers as the United States threatens to pull its support.

The three-year mark of the war came at a sensitive moment for Kyiv as Volodymyr Zelensky navigates a rapidly changing international environment upended by Donald Trump’s major shift of US policy and warming relations with Moscow.

Washington has been accused of freezing Kyiv out of negotiations with Moscow, with Trump last week justifying doing so by wrongly calling Zelensky ‘a dictator without elections’ – despite votes only being halted in the war-torn country due to martial law.

Read Elena Salvoni's report here:

An explosion has rocked the Russian Consulate in Marseille, with the building on lockdown as firefighters fight with the blaze on the third anniversary of the Ukraine war.

Russia’s consul general in Marseille Stanislav Oranskiy confirmed there had been an explosion inside the consulate, Russian news outlet RBC reported.

The explosion had ‘all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack’, according to Russian news agency Tass, citing the Russian foreign ministry.

Read more on this breaking news story here

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has posted a tweet praising the ‘absolute heroism’ of the country’s men and women to mark the third year of Russia’s invasion.

Zelensky thanked all those who have defended and supported Ukraine since the start of the conflict amid hopes of a peace deal.

At the weekend, Zelensky said he would be prepared to relinquish his presidency if it meant Ukraine could secure security guarantees by joining NATO.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Kyiv

Leaders from Europe and Canada are visiting Ukraine’s capital to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion in a show of support by some of Kyiv’s most important backers for the nation at war.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau were among the visitors greeted at the train station by Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha and the president’s chief of staff Andrii Yermak.

In a post on X, Ms 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 with President Volodymyr Zelensky amid a recent US policy shift under President Donald Trump.

President Trump last met with Emmanuel Macron in Paris in December

Good morning and welcome to ‘s live coverage as French President Emmanuel Macron heads to Washington to meet Donald Trump for Ukraine peace talks.

Macron is hoping to persuade the U.S. President when the two leaders meet to include European leaders in talks between Russia and the United States.

Trump sent shock waves around Europe when he declared his readiness to resume diplomacy with Russian President Vladimir Putin and to hold talks without the involvement of European nations or Kyiv.

Meanwhile, Several European leaders and Canada’s prime minister have today arrived in Kyiv in a show of support for Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

Stick with us as we bring you the latest updates from throughout the day.