Zelensky Warns Conflict Will Determine Europe's Future Ahead of G7 Summit

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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Conflict will determine future of Europe, Zelensky warns ahead of G7 Summit

‘We are fighting for our state, for our independence, and for our right to choose our own path and to be Europe,’ Ukraine’s president says

Volodymyr Zelensky has said the Russia-Ukraine conflict will “determine the future of Europe” ahead of the anticipated G7 summit next week.

In a post online, the Ukrainian president said his country is making “the greatest sacrifices for Europe” as it fights for its independence.

He wrote: “We are not simply carrying out internal reforms, nor are we simply going through a transformation. We are fighting for our state, for our independence, and for our right to choose our own path and to be Europe.

“That is why the fate of Europe is being decided here – it is being decided in Ukraine, in this war, and in how this war ends – and whether Russia will still have the strength and the desire after this war to threaten the existence of Ukraine and its other neighbors, and the entirety of Europe.”

It comes as Ukraine has used AI-powered “terminator” drones to kill Russian soldiers without human oversight for the first time, a senior military general has claimed.

Alexander Kokhanovskyy, a senior figure in Ukraine’s defence industry, said that AI-controlled drones were used on the frontline in a one-off test.

It has not yet been implemented more widely after the test took place two years ago, he told the New Scientist.

One killed in Russia's Krasnodar after Ukrainian strike

A person was killed and three were injured in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region in a Ukrainian drone attack, local officials said.

Drone debris sparked a fire at a sea terminal, local governor Veniamin Kondratyev said.

He did not give details, but Russian news outlets reported that a Black Sea export terminal transporting terminal crude oil, petroleum products and liquefied gas in the village of Volna was damaged.

Ukraine's General Staff did not comment on the Krasnodar strike Saturday, but said that its forces had hit an oil preparation and pumping station overnight in Russia's Volgograd region, as well as Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine's Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

The attack comes after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said his country's forces had struck several military and energy infrastructure sites deep inside Russia, including a military factory that he said supplied components for Russian drones and missiles.

Shweta Sharma14 June 2026 06:23

Russia will be ready to attack Nato in three years, says German army chief

Russia will be ready to “invade a Nato partner” by 2029, a German army chief has warned.

Lieutenant General Christian Freuding said all 32 Nato members agree that Vladimir Putin could have the capability to launch a large-scale assault on allied territory before the end of the decade.

In an interview with Politico, he said “speed is of the essence” as he urged German leaders to increase investment in the country’s military.

Russia will be ready to attack Nato in three years, says German army chief

European defence chiefs have consistently warned that Putin is a threat to Europe

Maryam Zakir-Hussain14 June 2026 06:00

Hungary’s missing €3.5 billion – and the move to investigate Orban’s inner circle

Senior officials in Viktor Orban’s inner circle must be investigated over €3.5bn of missing EU funds, the chief of Hungary’s anti-corruption watchdog has told The Independent.

Central to the latest allegations are claims that several communications companies were awarded contracts from the Hungarian government to the tune of €10bn over the past four years – roughly €3.5bn of which the Hungarian Integrity Authority (HIA) believes may be the result of artificially inflated pricing.

Alex Croft reports:

Hungary’s missing €3.5 billion – and the move to investigate Orban’s inner circle

Viktor Orban’s popularity is still in freefall even after his landslide election loss in April. But as further corruption allegations emerge in a mysterious case of a missing €3bn, his legacy may be dead and buried. Alex Croft reports

Maryam Zakir-Hussain14 June 2026 05:00

Russians are finding ways to skirt Putin’s digital iron curtain – one phone at a time

In a quiet cafe popular for its free Wi-Fi ​and good coffee, a Russian interior designer logs onto a virtual private network so she can chat with friends abroad using the U.S. messaging service WhatsApp, which is blocked inside Russia.

Later, she toggles off the VPN to buy a ticket on the Russian Railways website, which bars anyone using the tools to obscure their location. She then picks up a second phone to check for messages from clients on the state-controlled app MAX.

Russians are finding ways to skirt Putin’s digital iron curtain – one phone at a time

Frustration over the curbs – together with rising prices, tax hikes and war fatigue – is widely believed to have contributed to Putin's falling approval ratings

Maryam Zakir-Hussain14 June 2026 04:00

Trump to meet with Mideast leaders, attend Ukraine session at G7, US officials say

Donald Trump will meet with Middle Eastern leaders and attend a working session with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the G7 summit in France next week, senior U.S. administration officials said on Saturday.

Trump is scheduled to travel to Evian, France, for the G7 summit early on Monday after attending Sunday's mixed martial arts event at the White House. He will speak to a number of European leaders with whom he has squabbled over trade, tariffs, Ukraine and NATO since his return to the White House early in 2025.

Trump will participate in a working session on Tuesday with Zelensky and G7 leaders. The meeting comes at a time when Russian advances in Ukraine have slowed and Ukraine seeks more military funding from its allies.

One of the senior U.S. ‌officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity about Trump's trip, said Russian gains have "more or less stopped."

"We want the war to end as quickly as possible," the official said. Trump has had up-and-down relations with Zelensky. No bilateral meeting was planned with Zelensky but the two leaders could meet on the sidelines of the summit, the officials added.

They said Trump would meet separately with the leaders of Egypt, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, France and India. Trump planned to raise issues of shared importance ‌with leaders at the summit, including economic growth and development, ​supply chain resilience, illegal migration and AI, one of the ‌officials said. He also planned ⁠to work on boosting resilience in the supply chain for ⁠critical minerals needed for advanced technologies.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain14 June 2026 03:00

Ukrainian drone strike kills 1 in southern Russia and triggers fire at sea terminal

A Ukrainian drone attack killed one person and injured three in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, local officials said Saturday, as part of Kyiv's campaign of strikes on military and energy targets deep inside Russia.

Drone debris sparked a fire at a sea terminal, local Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev said.

He did not give details, but Russian news outlets reported that a Black Sea export terminal transporting terminal crude oil, petroleum products and liquefied gas in the village of Volna was damaged.

Ukraine’s General Staff did not comment on the Krasnodar strike Saturday, but said that its forces had hit an oil preparation and pumping station overnight in Russia’s Volgograd region, as well as Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine's Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

The attack comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country’s forces had struck several military and energy infrastructure sites deep inside Russia, including a military factory that he said supplied components for Russian drones and missiles.

He said Wednesday that Ukrainian FP-5 Flamingo long-range missiles had hit the facility in Cheboksary, in the Chuvashiya region, more than 900 kilometers (560 miles) from the front line.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain14 June 2026 02:00

Maryam Zakir-Hussain14 June 2026 01:00

Conflict will determine future of Europe, Zelensky warns

Volodymyr Zelensky has said the Russia-Ukraine conflict will “determine the future of Europe” in comments ahead of anticipated G7 summit next week.

In a post online, the Ukrainian president said his country is making “the greatest sacrifices for Europe” as it fights for its independence.

He wrote: “We are not simply carrying out internal reforms, nor are we simply going through a transformation. We are fighting for our state, for our independence, and for our right to choose our own path and to be Europe.

“That is why the fate of Europe is being decided here – it is being decided in Ukraine, in this war, and in how this war ends – and whether Russia will still have the strength and the desire after this war to threaten the existence of Ukraine and its other neighbors, and the entirety of Europe.”

Maryam Zakir-Hussain13 June 2026 23:41

What would Ukraine's EU membership mean?

At a meeting in Brussels, ambassadors from the 27 EU nations decided to officially open negotiations with Ukraine as well as with Moldova, which Russia has also tried to drag back into its orbit.

Ukraine sees EU membership as an important “security guarantee” for a stable future once war with Russia ends.

Its best guarantee would be NATO membership, but the Trump administration insists that cannot happen.

Last month, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged his EU partners to consider offering “associate membership” to Ukraine and breathe new life into talks aimed at ending more than four years of war with Russia.

Under Merz’s proposals, Ukraine would take part in EU meetings, but without voting rights, and would also have non-voting “associate members” of the bloc’s powerful executive branch, the European Commission, and the European Parliament.

Rebecca Thomas13 June 2026 22:00

Trump to meet with Middle East leaders, attend Ukraine session at G7, US officials say

U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Middle Eastern leaders and attend ⁠a working session with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during the G7 summit in France next week, senior U.S. administration officials ⁠said on ​Saturday.

Officials said Trump would meet separately with the leaders of Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, France and India. No bilateral meeting was planned with Zelenskiy, but the two leaders could meet on the sidelines of the summit, they added.

Trump planned to raise issues of shared importance with leaders at ⁠the summit, including economic growth and development, supply chain resilience, illegal migration and AI, one of the officials said. He also planned to work on boosting resilience in the ‌supply chain for critical minerals ​needed for advanced technologies.

Rebecca Thomas13 June 2026 21:00