Europe says ready to guarantee Ukraine\u2019s security, but fails to agree on sending troops to the country. U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia conclude after over four hours. Ukraine strikes an oil refinery and two pumping stations in Russia\u2019s Krasnodar region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Europe is ready to take a lead in providing security guarantees for Ukraine, NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte said after an emergency meeting of European leaders in Paris on Monday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cReady and willing. That\u2019s my take from today\u2019s meeting in Paris. Europe is ready and willing to step up. To lead in providing security guarantees for Ukraine. Ready and willing to invest a lot more in our security,\u201d Rutte said in a statement on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe details will need to be decided but the commitment is clear,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rutte\u2019s statement shows that Europe is intent to bolster its role in supporting Ukraine and securing stability across the region, Ukrainian news site The New Voice of Ukraine said. The crisis summit in Paris played a role in coordinating European efforts to strengthen Ukraine and counter Russia\u2019s aggression, it added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A French-led effort by European leaders to present a united front on Ukraine in the face of rising fear over U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s intentions fizzled Monday as they failed to agree on sending troops to police a possible peace deal, according to Politico. The paragraphs below are quoted from the article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a 3.5-hour huddle at the Elys\u00e9e presidential palace, the response of leaders to the biggest security calculus shift in decades was underwhelming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leaders came up with no new joint ideas, squabbled over sending troops to Ukraine, and once again mouthed platitudes on aiding Ukraine and boosting defense spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. President Donald Trump has ruled out both sending U.S. forces and allowing Ukraine to join NATO, meaning that any effort to prevent Russia from attacking Ukraine again would have to be borne by Europeans. The U.S. sent a questionnaire to European NATO countries asking them to spell out what they would be prepared to offer to enforce a peace agreement, as well as what they would expect from the U.S. But there was no consensus on the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
France, whose president first suggested the idea, and the U.K.\u2019s Keir Starmer both support the idea, although Starmer said that could only happen if the United States also participated in any peacekeeping force. He insisted on the need for a \u201cU.S. backstop\u201d after peace is secured in Ukraine, in order to \u201cdeter Russia from attacking Ukraine again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Poland, a frontline state and close ally of Ukraine, with one of the largest militaries in Europe, demurred. \u201cWe do not anticipate sending Polish soldiers to Ukraine,\u201d Tusk said in Warsaw before flying to Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPoland simply doesn\u2019t have the additional capacity to send troops to Ukraine,\u201d said a senior Polish official who spoke on condition of anonymity, noting the country has long borders with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Russia-allied Belarus, which need to be reinforced with Polish forces. \u201cThe French are far away so they can send soldiers to Ukraine; we\u2019re close so we cannot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said after the meeting that any debate on sending peacekeepers to Ukraine was \u201ccompletely premature\u201d and \u201chighly inappropriate\u201d while the war continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Denmark\u2019s Mette Frederiksen said \u201cmany, many\u201d things needed to be clarified before troops can be sent to Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Negotiations Tuesday between Russia and the United States led by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio have concluded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bilateral talks lasted about 4.5 hours and, according to Russian leader Vladimir Putin\u2019s top aide Yuri Ushakov, the negotiations were \u201cnot bad.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere was a very serious conversation on all the issues we wanted to raise,\u201d Ushakov told journalists after the meeting, according to Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Ushakov, the two sides agreed to advance bilateral relations. It was hard to say that the U.S. and Russia were getting closer, but this is something that the delegations discussed during the meeting, he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is still difficult to talk about a specific date for the meeting between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, Ushakov said, adding that it is unlikely to take place next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said separate teams of Russian and U.S. negotiators will begin contacts on Ukraine \u201cin due time\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe main thing is to begin a real normalization of relations between us and Washington,\u201d Ushakov said Tuesday as he arrived in Riyadh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cU.S. oil majors have had very successful business in Russia,\u201d Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia\u2019s sovereign wealth fund and member of the Russian delegation said in a brief interview on Tuesday before the talks began, offering an example of how the countries could rebuild business ties, according to The New York Times. \u201cWe believe at some point they will be coming back, because why would they forgo these opportunities that Russia gave them to have access to Russian natural resources?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leading Western oil companies, including Exxon Mobil, joined many other businesses in pulling out of Russia three years ago amid outrage over Mr. Putin\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump spoke with Putin last week on energy and economic ties, according to media reports. Russia hopes the talks with Trump\u2019s team and a Ukraine peace deal would chart a path to sanctions relief. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine said its forces struck on Monday the Ilsky oil refinery and two pumping stations \u2014 the Kropotkinskaya and Andreapol in Russia\u2019s Krasnodar region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s defense forces have launched a high-precision strike on Russia\u2019s military and energy sites of strategic importance, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement Tuesday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A massive fire erupted at the Ilsky oil refinery after the attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The strike also hit oil pumping stations Kropotkinskaya and Andreapol that supply fuel for the Russian army. They were out of operation, further complicating the delivery of fuel for the Russians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe defense forces of Ukraine reserve the right to strike strategic facilities that support Russia\u2019s armed aggression. Operations aimed at dismantling energy infrastructure that fuel Russia\u2019s illegal war will continue,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ilsky oil refinery has six oil processing systems, and the facilities can process up to 6.6 million tons of oil annually, The New Voice of Ukraine said, citing a source in the security service. Kropotkinskaya is the biggest oil pumping station in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium in Russia. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"