Europe scrambles to join Ukraine talks as EU nations attempt to bolster militaries – Europe live | Europe

In the last few minutes, Russia’s foreign ministry said it had summoned Poland’s top diplomat to Moscow to inform him that it would close the Polish consulate general in Irkutsk from December 30.

The decision comes as follows A “retaliatory measure” after Poland closed the Russian consulate in Gdańsk After the railway sabotage attack earlier this month that Warsaw blamed on Russian intelligence services and called it an act of “state terrorism”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted that Ukraine could still defend itself successfully, pushing back on rhetoric “peddled by Russia” as he insisted it was Moscow, not Kiev, that should face pressure to accept peace.

His comments sound like this European governments continue to plan how they can influence US-led peace talks to end Russia’s war on Ukraine This comes ahead of critical new talks expected early next week, with the legally thorny issue of somehow using frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine still tops the list.

But there is also Europe’s interest in its own defense is growing.

Later today, French president Emmanuel Macron will unveil proposals for a new voluntary military service to strengthen the country’s defense without having to return to regular conscription. According to plans, France will see the number of its reserve forces rise to 100,000 by 2030.

new volunteers will not serve on overseas missions, such as a possible peacekeeping deployment to Ukraine, Macron is expected to emphasize this idea in order to eliminate domestic criticism.

The issue of increasing national and European military and potential participation in the future Ukrainian mission is also expected to come up in talks between Germany and Ukraine. Friedrich Merz and Estonia Kristen Michel in Berlin.

I will bring you all the important updates throughout the day.

His Thursday, November 27, 2025, his Yakup Krupa here and this Europe Live.

Good morning.