Starmer Hosts Zelenskyy, Macron and Merz as Russian Strikes Kill 3 in Ukraine

Ahead of the meeting hosted by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Zelenskyy said the talks would focus on further efforts to help Ukraine’s war effort, including air defence.

“Europe must be part of the negotiations and must be strong,” he said in X.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also attended the meeting at 10 Downing Street. Macron and Merz left after several hours of discussion, leaving Starmer to continue talks with Zelenskyy.

Britain, France and Germany, called the E3 group of European countries, became Ukraine’s leading supporters after Russia’s large-scale invasion in February 2022. Britain and France are leading a “coalition of the willing” initiative to provide security guarantees to Ukraine as part of the peace process.

The meeting took place in the wake of a Russian drone strike that killed three people waiting at a bus stop in southeastern Ukraine. The head of the regional military administration, Ivan Fedorov, wrote on his Telegram channel that another person was injured in the drone attack in Balabyne in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhya region.

Ukraine’s General Staff said a separate drone strike damaged a spent nuclear fuel storage center in the Kiev region, just 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The attack sparked a fire that was extinguished within an hour. Officials said radiation remained at safe levels.

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the incident was “deeply concerning” due to the large amount of nuclear material held at the facility. In the statement, it was stated that the agency would visit the location of the attack soon.

Elsewhere, a man was killed and a woman injured in a Ukrainian attack in Russia’s Kursk region, local Governor Alexander Khinshtein said.

The Russian strikes follow a large-scale Ukrainian drone strike targeting Russia’s second-largest city, Saint Petersburg, on Saturday, underscoring Kiev’s increased ability to strike deep into Russia.

While the front line barely moves as swarms of UAVs impede progress, both sides attempt to gain the upper hand by launching long-range attacks. More than four years have passed since the war broke out after Russia invaded its neighbor, and there is no end in sight.

Held less than 24 hours after the end of the city’s most important economic forum, St. The St. Petersburg attack was an embarrassing blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to portray the conflict as a distant event that does not affect Russian daily life.

On Friday, Putin rejected Zelenskyy’s offer to meet, saying it “doesn’t make any sense.”