Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Monday for “real, lasting peace” this year as European leaders gathered for a summit in Kyiv on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion.Russia said it would halt the invasion only if a deal could be reached that “suits” its interests, and accused Europe of wanting to prolong the fighting.Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to launch the invasion in February 2022 set off the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II. Tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides and Ukrainian civilians have been killed. Cities across the country’s south and east have been flattened and millions forced to flee their homes.”This year should be the year of the beginning of a real, lasting peace,” Zelensky told Ukraine’s backers in Kyiv.”We have to win peace through strength and wisdom and unity,” he said, vowing at a press conference later on Monday that Russia “will not win”.EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen also warned that despite opening talks with the United States on how to end the conflict, Putin was not about to back down.”Putin is trying harder than ever to win this war on the ground. His goal remains Ukraine’s capitulation,” she said.She also called the war in Ukraine “the most central and consequential crisis for Europe’s future”.- Deal that ‘suits’ Russia -But as leaders of Ukraine’s backers lined up to proclaim support and hail Kyiv’s resistance, there was one notable absence: the United States.Donald Trump’s return to the White House has threatened broad Western support for Ukraine as well as vital military and financial aid at a critical juncture.His opening of talks with Putin, a false claim that Ukraine “started” the war and verbal attacks on Zelensky have triggered alarm across Europe.Kyiv said Monday that it was in the “final stages” of a deal with Washington to give the United States preferential access to rare minerals — one of the sources of disagreement that has exploded over the last week.”There are almost no unreasonable demands anymore. Many details will be discussed later in another agreement,” a source in the Ukrainian presidency told AFP separately.Washington also urged Ukraine and Russia on Monday to back its plan to end the war, as the UN General Assembly prepared to vote on a US resolution marking the anniversary.Russian officials have been buoyed by Trump’s outreach, sensing an opportunity to push their core demands: the roll-back of NATO’s military presence in Europe, territorial concessions from Ukraine and the end of Western military support to Kyiv.Officials from Moscow and Washington are set to meet in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, a diplomatic source told AFP, a follow-up to talks between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last week.”We will stop hostilities only when these negotiations produce a firm and sustainable result that suits the Russian Federation,” Lavrov said during a visit to Turkey.On the streets of Moscow, there was support for a hardline approach.”I would like peace. But of course, I am hoping for victory for Russia,” Yevgenia, a 27-year-old civil servant, told AFP.- ‘You cannot be weak’ -Zelensky on Monday repeated his call for security guarantees from Kyiv’s backers to ensure Russia did not use any ceasefire to rearm and attack again at a later date.With Trump sceptical of continuing to support Ukraine, Europe has been left debating whether it can fill the void.On Monday, Brussels announced a 16th round of sanctions aimed at curbing the Russian war effort in a move echoed by Britain, which levelled penalties against 100 entities.French President Emmanuel Macron was in Washington for a meeting with Trump where he said he would tell him: “You cannot be weak in the face of President Putin.”Russia has been making steady gains across the front line in recent months, beating back outgunned Ukrainian forces at key sectors in eastern Ukraine.The Russian defence ministry on Monday claimed to have captured the village of Topoli in the eastern Kharkiv region bordering Russia.Further south, Tetiana Zhuravlova had finally made the decision to leave her home in the frontline village of Chernigivka in the Donetsk region, which the Kremlin already claims as part of Russia.”There’s been shelling everywhere here,” the 47-year-old told AFP.”I just want peace and quiet, for it all to finally stop, all this loss of life. People are leaving their homes, where they’ve lived their lives, they’re leaving everything.” 

French President Emmanuel Macron held “very friendly” talks with Donald Trump at the White House Monday, as European leaders look to shore up a transatlantic alliance upended by the US president’s outreach to Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.On the third anniversary of the Russian invasion, Trump welcomed Macron to the Oval Office to jointly take part in a call with the heads of the G7 leading economies and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.”Very good, very friendly,” Macron told reporters as he strolled down the driveway of the White House when asked how his welcome from Trump had been.Macron added that the G7 call was “perfect.””We had the first discussion, and I’ll come back very soon,” he said ahead of a formal meeting with Trump later Monday.A video posted by Zelensky on X showed Trump behind his desk during the G7 call with the French president on his right hand side and US Vice President JD Vance to his left.At their meeting later, the French leader will present his “proposals for action” to counter the “Russian threat,” an advisor to the president said. They will also hold a joint press conference.Both Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are at the White House this week as they hope to persuade Trump to stick by Kyiv and to include European leaders in talks between Moscow and Washington.- ‘Cannot be weak’ -Trump sent shock waves around the world when he declared his readiness to resume diplomacy with Russian President Vladimir Putin and to hold talks without the involvement of European nations or Kyiv.He has repeated Russian talking points about Ukraine’s supposed responsibility in starting the war, raising concern in Europe that he will side with Moscow to end the conflict.But Trump’s tone has also raised wider fears that 80-year-old transatlantic ties formed in the wake of World War II are under threat.Macron has tried to coordinate a European response to Washington’s sudden policy shift, hoping to use a bond he fostered with Trump during the US president’s first term.The French president last week said he would tell the Republican: “You cannot be weak in the face of President Putin.”Trump however hit back, saying that both Macron and Starmer — the leaders of Europe’s two nuclear powers — had done “nothing” to try to end the Ukraine war over the past three years.As he headed to Washington on Sunday, Macron said that Russia was an “existential threat to Europeans.”Macron is representing the European Union as a whole during his visit, after meeting leaders across the continent including Moscow-friendly Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the advisor to the president said.Macron aims to persuade Trump to continue some US support for Ukraine, respecting its sovereignty and ensuring that European interests are fully considered, the advisor added.He also seeks to convince Trump that Putin “will not respect” a ceasefire.- ‘Security guarantees’ -Macron and Starmer, who will visit Trump on Thursday, coordinated on messaging prior to the French president’s departure for the United States this weekend.Britain and France are also discussing the deployment of European forces in Ukraine after a peace agreement is reached to deter Russia from future attacks. “The idea is to deploy soldiers to a second line, not on the front line. This could be combined with a multinational operation, with non-European contingents,” said a French source close to the discussions.Macron and Starmer are expected to ask Trump to provide “solid security guarantees” for the deployed forces.European leaders would also commit to increasing their defense spending as Trump seeks to reduce US commitment, no longer wanting to bear the burden of the region’s security.Although the Trump administration has ruled out committing US soldiers, Europe hopes it could provide other support, such as logistics or intelligence.US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz told reporters on Monday that “we expect to talk quite a bit about the security guarantees that Macron has put on the table.”Trump and Macron would also discuss the thorny issue of trade with the European Union, with the US president threatening sweeping tariffs against the bloc, said Waltz.

Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a 24-year-old man with a history of mental illness who allegedly opened fire from a rooftop on a US Independence Day parade, killing seven people and wounding 48.Robert Crimo III, 24, faces murder, attempted murder and dozens of other charges for the July 4, 2022 attack on the parade in the affluent Chicago suburb of Highland Park.According to prosecutors, Crimo climbed on to a rooftop overlooking the parade route armed with a semi-automatic rifle and emptied three 30-round magazines into the crowd before fleeing.Among those killed were the parents of a two-year-old boy.Crimo was allegedly disguised in women’s clothing and had used makeup to conceal several distinctive facial tattoos, including the word “Awake” above his left eyebrow and the number “47” on his temple.He was captured about eight hours after the attack following a car chase.Crimo’s father, Robert Crimo Jr, pleaded guilty in November 2023 to reckless conduct for helping his son obtain the assault rifle used in the shooting, a rare case in which a parent was held criminally responsible for the actions of their child.Crimo Jr, who owned a delicatessen in Highland Park and once ran for mayor, pleaded guilty to seven misdemeanor counts for helping his son obtain a state firearms permit even though he knew he had a history of mental illness.He was sentenced to 60 days in jail, two years of probation and 100 hours of community service.The younger Crimo was 19 at the time the gun was bought and he needed his father’s sponsorship to get an Illinois Firearms Owner Identification Card.Amid a huge number of deadly firearms incidents involving young people, pressure has been mounting in the United States to punish parents who make it possible for their children to get weapons.The parents of a 15-year-old boy who killed four people at a high school in Michigan in November 2021 were convicted of involuntary manslaughter last year for buying their son a gun even though they were aware of troubling signs that he might be a threat.- Erratic behavior -According to police, Robert Crimo III had a history of erratic behavior.Police were called to the Crimo home twice in 2019: once in April to investigate a suicide attempt by the younger Crimo and again in September because a relative said he had threatened to “kill everyone” in the family.Police removed a collection of knives from the home but did not make any arrests. The knives were returned after Crimo’s father said they were his.Located 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Chicago and its notorious crime problems, Highland Park is known as a quiet town. The municipality of 30,000 even enacted a ban on assault rifles in 2013.The city is also known for being home to some of Chicago’s elite: basketball superstar Michael Jordan lived in Highland Park during his years with the NBA’s Bulls, in a house worth nearly $15 million.American architect Frank Lloyd Wright also designed several houses there.And in the 1980s, Highland Park houses served as the backdrop for iconic films including “Risky Business” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”Crimo’s trial, which is expected to last six weeks, is being held at the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan, Illinois.He faces a sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted.