In May, Ukraine regained more land from Russian forces than it lost for the second consecutive month, according to an analysis of Institute for the Study of War data conducted by AFP earlier this month.
French, German, and UK leaders will convene with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London on Sunday to coordinate efforts to pressure Russia amid its military failures in the invasion, the French presidency announced on Friday.
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French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer are set to discuss strategies with Zelenskyy at a time when «Russia, facing military, economic, and strategic defeats, continues unsuccessfully with a destructive war,» according to the Élysée Palace.
The meeting, scheduled to begin at Downing Street around 5:30 pm, will also «review progress made towards achieving a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and across the European continent,» the French presidency added.
At an EU-Western Balkans summit in Montenegro, Macron announced that the next session of the Coalition of the Willing will be held in Paris on July 13-14.
«In a few days, we will meet President Zelenskyy to organize and structure support within the Coalition of the Willing,» Macron stated.
The Coalition of the Willing, led by France and the UK, unites about 25 nations committed to forming a multinational force for deployment in Ukraine following the signing of a peace agreement with Russia.
Macron’s statement follows Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s open letter proposing a direct meeting with Vladimir Putin, offering readiness for a «complete ceasefire.»
Macron described the proposal as a «positive initiative,» which was also supported by the EU and Germany.
Night-time strikes, reclaimed areas
In contrast, Russian air operations overnight into Friday resulted in at least seven fatalities in Ukraine.
An attack on a food processing facility near Kyiv killed four people. This strike in Brovary targeted a factory producing dairy products for children.
«The enemy targeted a peaceful civilian food production enterprise,» Mykola Kalashnyk, governor of Kyiv region, stated on Telegram.
«Russia again shows that it aims not at military targets, but at ordinary citizens living and working on their land,» he added.
There might be additional casualties trapped beneath the debris.
Additional attacks caused the deaths of three more people, including a woman in the Zaporizhzhia area. Two fatalities were also reported by Oleksandr Ganzha, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, due to strikes there.
Ukraine estimates that Russian forces launched 216 long-range drones and two missiles overnight, with Ukrainian defenses intercepting 198 of these.
For the second month running, Ukraine reclaimed more territory from Russian troops in May than it lost, based on Institute for the Study of War data analyzed by AFP earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Russia’s offensive has triggered inflation, increased taxes, borrowing costs at levels unseen in two decades, closures of businesses, and labor shortages, driving the economy into its most difficult phase since the full-scale invasion of February 2022.
Additional sources • AFP