Donald Trump has said Volodymyr Zelenskyy is doing “pretty well” in Ukraine’s war against Russia. The US president – who previously said the Ukrainian president lacked the “cards” to win – told journalists in the Oval Office that Zelenskyy was “holding his own, at least. A lot of people dying on both sides, but I think he’s doing pretty well.” Analysts say Ukraine is increasingly holding up well on the battlefield but its cities are still the target of deadly Russian attacks. Trump and Zelenskyy met most recently during the G7 summit in France, where leaders agreed to intensify pressure on Russia to end more than four years of war.
European allies want to send “a strong signal of support for Ukraine” at the Nato summit in Ankara in July, Germany’s chancellor said as he hosted the leaders of France, Britain, Italy and Poland. “The message to Russia is: Ukraine remains strong,” Friedrich Merz said at a joint press event in Berlin on Wednesday after the European leaders had also spoken by video link with the Nato chief, Mark Rutte. Merz said the German government “proposes that we, as European Nato allies, give Kyiv a strong financing commitment” and stressed that “Europe’s support is not wavering”. Leaders from 32 nations, among them Trump, will attend the 7-8 July Nato summit in the Turkish capital.
