Ursula von der Leyen says troops will have backing of US capabilities; Ukrainian president says ‘new deep strikes’ planned on Russia after drone attacks on energy infrastructure. What we know on day 1,285
Europe is drawing up “pretty precise plans” for a multinational troop deployment to Ukraine as part of post-conflict security guarantees that will have the backing of US capabilities, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday. “President Trump reassured us that there will be [an] American presence as part of the backstop,” von der Leyen told the FT, adding that “That was very clear and repeatedly affirmed.” The deployment is set to include potentially tens of thousands of European-led troops, backed by assistance from the US, including control and command systems and intelligence and surveillance assets, the report said, adding that this arrangement was agreed at a meeting between US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and senior European leaders last month.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a showpiece summit in China on Sunday and is expected to stay on for a military parade in Beijing on Wednesday to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war. Russian analysts have said the Ukraine war is now a main pillar of the bilateral relationship and that Moscow would want know how Beijing would respond if the US were to ask it to put pressure on Russia to end the fighting. “The longer the war [on Ukraine] drags on, the more Russia will need China’s assistance, whether economically or other forms,” Lim said. “China also recognises that it is unlikely for Sino-US relations to return to their pre-2018 state and thus has no choice but to accept a close alignment with Russia.”
