Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said a ceasefire with Russia is not under discussion with Ukraine’s European allies as he urged more western support ahead of winter during a whistle-stop tour of four capitals. The Ukrainian president discussed his proposed “victory plan” with the leaders of Britain, France and Italy as well as the incoming head of Nato. “The next peace summit has to be in November. The plan will be on the table … early November the plan will be with all the details,” the Ukrainian president told reporters in Paris on Thursday when asked about a potential peace conference. He dismissed reports he was discussing the terms of a ceasefire with Russia, citing Russian disinformation, and gave no details in London or Paris on the “victory plan”.
Zelenskyy also discussed whether Ukraine could use western missiles against targets in Russia in talks earlier on Thursday with Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, and Mark Rutte, the Nato chief. “We discussed it today, but in the end it is up to the individual allies,” Rutte told reporters in Downing Street after the talks. Starmer’s spokesperson said there had been no change to the UK government’s position on the use of long-range missiles.
Four people were killed by a Russian missile strike in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region on Friday, the governor said. A ballistic missile struck a two-storey building where civilians lived and worked, Oleh Kiper said on Telegram. Ten more people were wounded.
Zelenskyy was due to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican and the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, in Berlin on Friday, concluding his European tour.
The Italian prime minister announced Rome would host the next “recovery conference” to help Ukraine’s reconstruction, after talks with Zelenskyy on Thursday. “Ukraine is not alone and we will stand with it for as long as needed,” Giorgia Meloni told reporters after having dinner with the Ukrainian leader. After previous conferences in Switzerland, London and Berlin, Meloni said the next Ukraine recovery conference would take place on 10-11 July 2025 in Rome.
In Paris, the French president sought to show that his country is still fully behind Kyiv in its war despite political difficulties at home that have raised questions about how much help France will be able to give in the coming months. Emmanuel Macron said France would keep to its current commitments, which include €3bn ($3.28bn) in support this year. Paris is training and equipping a brigade of 3,000 Ukrainian troops and plans to send Mirage fighter jets to Ukraine at the beginning of next year.
A Ukrainian journalist who was captured by Moscow while reporting from occupied east Ukraine has died in Russian detention, according to Ukrainian officials. Victoria Roshchyna, who would have turned 28 this month, disappeared in August last year after travelling to Russian-held east Ukraine for a report. She remained missing until April this year, when her father received a letter from Moscow’s defence ministry saying she was being held in Russian detention, according to Ukraine’s main journalist union. The circumstances of her arrest were not made public and it was not clear where she was being held inside Russia.
The World Bank’s executive board has approved the creation of a financial intermediary fund to support Ukraine, with contributions expected from the US, Canada and Japan, Reuters reported three sources familiar with the decision as saying. The only objection to the vote came from Russia, two sources said. The fund, to be administered by the World Bank, will help fulfil a pledge by G7 countries to provide Ukraine with up to $50bn in additional funding by the end of the year, the sources said on Thursday. Exact amounts to be contributed by the US, Japan and Canada were still being worked out but would be backed by interest from frozen Russian sovereign assets, one of the sources said.
Ukraine’s presidency has been accused of pressuring the country’s Ukrainska Pravda news outlet, an allegation legislators urged prosecutors to “verify”. The outlet accused Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s administration on Wednesday of “exerting pressure” in order to influence editorial policy. Ukrainska Pravda said the issue was “particularly outrageous” during Russia’s invasion, “when our common struggle for both survival and democratic values is essential”.
Russia attacked Ukraine’s port infrastructure almost 60 times in the past three months and is intensifying such strikes, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister has said. “The purpose of these attacks is to reduce our export potential,” Oleksiy Kuleba said. “We are talking about deliberately provoking a food crisis in those parts of the world that directly depend on Ukrainian grain supplies.” Kuleba added that strikes damaged or destroyed almost 300 port infrastructure facilities and 22 civilian vessels.
