At G7 summit in France, leaders push for peace in Ukraine amid fresh attacks
World leaders at the G7 summit in France pledged support for Ukraine, with the UK promising new sanctions and nuclear fuel, while a Russian attack burned a UNESCO-listed cathedral in Kyiv. Ukraine officially launched EU membership talks.
As the G7 summit began in France, world leaders lined up in support of Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed to “choke off” Russian revenue with further sanctions and provided hundreds of millions of pounds worth of energy support, including enriched uranium for Ukraine's nuclear power plants.
French President Emmanuel Macron, preparing to meet with US President Donald Trump, said he wanted the US to say “we are with you, we will continue to support Ukraine, and we will increase the pressure on Russia to achieve a meaningful negotiation … The right negotiation is one in which Ukraine and Russia are at the table, but with Europeans and Americans present as well.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed hope that “for the first time, a window can open for diplomacy” on ending the war in Ukraine, and wanted to discuss this further with Trump. The US president, who arrived at the summit on Monday, said: “We had a very good conversation yesterday with President Zelenskyy and President Putin, and I think maybe we can do something there. I really do. I think they’re both open to it.”
Meanwhile, a Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber, used to attack Ukraine, crashed on Monday in Siberia’s Irkutsk region during a training flight. The Russian defence ministry said the four-person crew ejected safely.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said two Russian drones “deliberately” targeted Kyiv’s monastery quarter in a mass overnight barrage that set the UNESCO-listed Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra ablaze and killed 11 across the country. He described the attack as “one of Russia’s most serious crimes against Christian culture to date” and urged G7 leaders to take “decisive and substantive” action.
Russia denied targeting the cathedral and claimed it had been hit with a US-made Patriot air-defence missile. However, at the scene, state security officers found the remains of two Shahed-Geran type drones, widely used by Russian forces.
Amid Monday’s heavy Russian air raids on Ukraine, a drone struck the zoo in Kharkiv, killing 10 rabbits and injuring or distressing other animals, including an elephant, prosecutors said.
Russia is reportedly being forced to allow the sale of substandard fuel as Ukrainian attacks on oil pipelines, refineries, transport and storage squeeze supplies. The emergency measure, reported by Russian newspaper Kommersant, allows refineries to sell gasoline and diesel with sulfur levels about 15 times the maximum permitted in Europe, China, and India. On Monday, authorities in the Udmurtia region imposed temporary limits on gasoline at Tatneft stations after drone strikes forced a major refinery to shut down completely.
In Sevastopol, Crimea, long lines of cars formed, and a driver named Alyona said: “How can it be solved, how? Only if the special military operation ends.”
A Ukrainian drone strike killed three farm machine workers in the Russian border region of Bryansk, the region’s acting governor said. There was no independent confirmation. Ukraine denies targeting civilians.
On Monday, Ukraine officially began European Union membership negotiations. Ukrainian deputy prime minister Taras Kachka called it a “Rubicon” moment. “All Ukrainian society believes that joining the European Union is our dream.” Moldova also officially launched its membership talks.
