Ukraine war live: Macron warns European force in Ukraine could ‘respond’ if attacked

Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of flouting a truce on energy strikes brokered by the United States last week, and conditions set by the Kremlin have cast a shadow over a planned ceasefire in the Black Sea announced on Tuesday.

Three days of talks culminated in an agreement to “eliminate the use of force” in the Black Sea and to continue working towards a halt to attacks on energy infrastructure in Russia and Ukraine. But hours after the latest agreement, Russia launched a drone attack on the Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv, which provides the country with access to the Black Sea.

Vladimir Putin’s latest demand is that Russia’s agricultural sector be allowed to use the Swift banking system as a reward for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, allowing it to move its grain and other farming exports.

The move is a sleight of hand to end the banking sanctions imposed by the US and Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

After three days of intense negotiations, the Trump administration, Ukraine and Russia agreed to a limited ceasefire in which the key details, including what was covered and how it will start, were disputed by the warring sides, indicating the road to a complete truce will be long and mired with contention.

The negotiations focused on easing Black Sea shipping and halting long-range strikes on energy infrastructure, relatively low-hanging fruit that both sides had experience in negotiating before the US brokered indirect talks.

While much is yet unknown, here is a breakdown of the key elements of the partial ceasefire and what is at stake in the coming weeks as talks continue.

Both sides differed on the start time of halting strikes on energy sites and accused the other of violating the ceasefire.

Russia also conditioned its part in opening Black Sea shipping on the US lifting sanctions, which Kyiv dismissed.

Russia’s new ambassador to the United States will informally present his credentials to the Trump administration today, the US State Department said last night.

Alexander Darchiev, who was recently named as Russian ambassador to the US, will present credential at 2.15am eastern time (1815 GMT), according to the department’s public schedule.

The department said Louis L Bono, the Senior Bureau official for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, will attend.

Moscow has not had an ambassador in the US since its last ambassador left his post in October.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said he wanted the US and Kyiv’s other Western allies to remain strong in countering Russia’s demands and narrative in its three-year war on his country.

Pro-Kremlin comments by Washington were weakening US pressure on Russia and bringing peace no closer in the war, Mr Zelensky said.

“They are posing conditions on sanctions to the American side. If America stands strong… we are standing on our own land and are defending ourselves,” Mr Zelensky said, speaking to a panel of European journalists in Paris.

“We have shown our resilience. And now it is very important for our partners to be at least as resilient as we are, though they have more capabilities,” he said.

On being asked whether he believed the Americans would remain strong, he answered, in English: “I hope so. God bless they will.”

European troops deployed in Ukraine to monitor a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow could respond to a Russian attack, French president Emmanuel Macron said.

Speaking after talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr Macron said European armies could respond to a “conflict situation” if one emerged.

“If there was again a generalised aggression against Ukrainian soil, these armies would be under attack and then it’s our usual framework of engagement,” Mr Macron said.

“Our soldiers, when they are engaged and deployed, are there to react and respond to the decisions of the commander in chief and, if they are in a conflict situation, to respond to it.”

French president Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday it was “much too early” to lift sanctions against Russia.

“The question of (lifting) the sanctions will come, but in due time within the framework of a solid and lasting peace. So it is much too early,” Mr Macron said alongside Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Paris.

The United States reached separate deals on Tuesday with Ukraine and Russia to pause their attacks at sea and against energy targets, with Washington agreeing to push to lift some sanctions against Moscow.

British troops must be ready to fight Vladimir Putin’s forces to defend Ukraine, a senior Volodymyr Zelensky aide has said.

ZIgor Zhovkva, a top Ukrainian negotiator, said European soldiers should be prepared to fight Russia and defend Ukraine if deployed to the country after any ceasefire agreement.

It comes after Sir Keir Starmer has urged a “coalition of a willing” to organise a European peacekeeping force to monitor Ukraine’s border and enforce a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv.

“It’s not the amount which matters… it’s also their readiness to fight, their readiness to defend, their readiness to be equipped,” Mr Zhovkva told AFP.

France will provide €2bn euros of extra military aid to Ukraine, president Emmanuel Macron said.

He also accused Russia of reinterpreting and rewriting recent limited ceasefire deals.

“I can announce today €2bn of extra military support to Ukraine,” Mr Macron said alongside Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Paris.

Mr Macron added that anti-tank missiles, surface-to-air missiles and drones were part of the new military equipment aid to be provided to Kyiv.