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The head of New York’s city council on Monday called for the resignation of Mayor Eric Adams, days after the US Justice Department moved to dismiss a corruption case against him. Adams, who pleaded not guilty in September to charges of fraud and bribery, has denied allegations he asked for the case to be dropped in exchange for enforcing President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda.The Democratic mayor of the country’s most populous city has been under pressure on a number of fronts, with some members of his own party criticizing him for cooperating with Trump. On Monday, four deputy mayors for the city of New York indicated they would be resigning, plunging local politics into further chaos. “With the resignation of deputy mayors, it has become clear that Mayor Adams has now lost the confidence and trust of his own staff, his colleagues in government, and New Yorkers,” City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (no relation to the mayor) said in a statement. “He now must prioritize New York City and New Yorkers, step aside and resign.”The four resigning deputy mayors cited the “extraordinary events” of recent weeks as a reason for their departure, The New York Times reported, citing a letter issued by the officials.”Due to the extraordinary events of the last few weeks and to stay faithful to the oaths we swore to New Yorkers and our families, we have come to the difficult decision to step down from our roles,” they said.In a statement, Adams said he was “disappointed to see them go, but given the current challenges, I understand their decision.” Earlier, several prosecutors in the Southern District of New York who brought the charges against Adams resigned over the Justice Department order to drop the case.The most recent was assistant US attorney Hagan Scotten, who said Friday only a “fool” or a “coward” would comply.Scotten’s boss, acting US attorney Danielle Sassoon, submitted her resignation to the country’s Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday. Several members of the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section in Washington, which handles corruption cases, also quit this week after refusing to dismiss the Adams indictment.The Justice Department motion seeks dismissal without prejudice — meaning the case could still be prosecuted in the future and would hang over Adams’s head as he runs for reelection in November.

European leaders at an emergency meeting in Paris Monday were divided on how to respond to US President Donald Trump’s dramatic policy shift on Ukraine, with France and Britain pushing for security guarantees and Germany bristling at suggestions troops could be deployed.With European policymakers still reeling from US Vice President JD Vance’s withering attack on the European Union at an annual security conference in Munich, key leaders attended the meeting at the Elysee Palace called at the last minute by President Emmanuel Macron.European leaders worry that Trump will freeze them out of peace talks with Moscow that will also exclude Kyiv, fears that were heightened by a rare meeting expected Tuesday in Saudi Arabia between the top diplomats from Russia and the United States.European leaders in Paris weighed measures including ramping up defence spending to be less dependent on the US, providing security guarantees to Kyiv, and sending troops to Ukraine as peacekeepers in the event of a ceasefire.Macron held telephone talks with both Trump and Zelensky, he said early Tuesday, calling for “strong and credible security guarantees” for Ukraine so that a peace deal does not end up like the 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements that failed to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Zelensky said he and Macron shared a “common vision” for how to achieve peace, including that “security guarantees must be robust and reliable,” he said on social media after the call. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “prepared to consider committing British forces on the ground alongside others if there is a lasting peace agreement.”But he insisted Washington had to be involved, saying “there must be a US backstop, because a US security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again.” But after the talks, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that any debate on sending peacekeepers to Ukraine was “completely premature” and “highly inappropriate” while the war is ongoing.- ‘Ready and willing’ – There was no joint statement or major announcements after the Paris meeting, which participants said needed to be left for forums like the EU or NATO. “Everyone at this meeting is aware that transatlantic relations, the NATO alliance and our friendship with the United States have entered a new phase. We all see that,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said “Ukraine deserves peace through strength” and this should be “respectful of its independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, with strong security guarantees”.”Ready and willing,” was how NATO chief Mark Rutte described Europe’s position after the meeting. “The details will need to be decided but the commitment is clear.”Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said her government was “open-minded” on the issue of troops but warned a key question was if the United States was “going to back up on Europe” if troops were sent.Russia is “threatening all Europe now”, she added, warning the US against attempts to agree a “fast” ceasefire that would give Russia the chance to “to mobilise again, attack Ukraine or another country in Europe”.- ‘No division of security’ -Macron has described Trump’s return for a second term in the White House as an “electroshock” but also warned against any peace deal that could amount to “capitulation”.French newspaper Le Monde said the rupture between Europe and the United States was “historic”, but added that Europe had to show its capacity to ensure its own defence.”European blindness came to an abrupt end in Munich. From now on, the security of the continent depends essentially on the Europeans themselves, and on their ability to maintain their unity,” it added.The Paris talks come as Washington said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday would meet a Russian delegation including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Riyadh, ahead of a future meeting between Trump and Putin in the Saudi capital.”There must be no division of security and responsibility between Europe and the United States,” Scholz said in Paris.”NATO is based on us always acting together and sharing the risk, thereby guaranteeing our security. This must not be called into question.”

A Delta Air Lines jet with 80 people onboard crash landed Monday at the Toronto airport, officials said, flipping upside down and leaving at least 17 people injured but causing no fatalities.The Endeavor Air flight 4819 with 76 passengers and four crew was landing in the afternoon in Canada’s biggest metropolis, having flown from Minneapolis in the US state of Minnesota, the airline said.Paramedic services told AFP 17 people were injured including three critically — a child, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 40s. Delta said 18 people suffered injuries.All wounded, including those with minor injuries, were taken to area hospitals either by ambulance or helicopter, said the paramedic services’ Lawrence Saindon.No explanation of the cause of the accident, or how the plane ended up on its back with its wings clipped, has been provided.Dramatic images on local broadcasts and shared on social media showed people stumbling away from the upside down CRJ-900 plane, shielding their faces from strong gusts of wind and blowing snow.Fire crews appeared to douse the aircraft with water as smoke wafted from the fuselage and as passengers were still exiting the plane.Toronto airport authority chief executive Deborah Flint told a news conference the incident did not involve any other planes.Emergency crews were “heroic” in their response, she said, “reaching the site within minutes and quickly evacuating the passengers.”Some of them “have already been reunited with their friends and their families,” she added.The airport suspended all flights after the incident, before resuming them at around 5:00 pm local time, more than two hours later. It said passengers should expect long delays.- ‘It’s upside down’ -Facebook user John Nelson, who said he was a passenger on the flight, posted a video from the tarmac showing the overturned aircraft and narrated: “Our plane crashed. It’s upside down.””Most people appear to be okay. We’re all getting off,” he added.Delta said the connection flight operated by its subsidiary Endeavor had been “involved in an incident.””Initial reports were that there are no fatalities,” the airline said through a spokesperson’s statement.”The hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected by today’s incident at Toronto-Pearson International Airport,” Delta chief executive Ed Bastian said.A massive snow storm hit eastern Canada on Sunday. Strong winds and bone-chilling temperatures could still be felt in Toronto on Monday when airlines added flights to make up for weekend cancellations due to the storm.”The snow has stopped coming down, but frigid temperatures and high winds are moving in,” the airport warned earlier, adding that it was “expecting a busy day in our terminals with over 130,000 travellers on board around 1,000 flights.”Federal Transport Minister Anita Anand confirmed there were 80 people on the flight. “I’m closely following the serious incident at the Pearson Airport involving Delta Airlines flight 4819 from Minneapolis,” she posted on X.Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he was “relieved there are no casualties after the incident.”Canada’s Transportation Safety Board, meanwhile, deployed a team of investigators to the site of the crash.They will be assisted by the US Federal Aviation Administration, which also sent a team to the scene, according to US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy.The crash comes after other recent air incidents in North America including a mid-air collision between a US Army helicopter and a passenger jet in Washington that killed 67 people, and a medical transport plane crash in Philadelphia that left seven dead.

A Delta Air Lines jet with 80 people onboard crash landed Monday at the Toronto airport, officials said, flipping upside down and leaving at least 15 people injured but causing no fatalities.The Endeavor Air flight 4819 with 76 passengers and four crew was landing at around 3:30 pm in Canada’s biggest metropolis, having flown from Minneapolis in the US state of Minnesota, the airline said.Paramedic services told AFP 15 people were injured including three critically — a child, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 40s.All wounded, including those with minor injuries, were taken to area hospitals either by ambulance or helicopter, the paramedic service said.Dramatic images on local broadcasts and shared on social media showed people stumbling away from the upside down CRJ-900 plane, shielding their faces from wind gusts.Fire crews appeared to be dousing the aircraft with water as smoke wafted from the jetliner.”Toronto Pearson is aware of an incident upon landing involving a Delta Air Lines plane arriving from Minneapolis. Emergency teams are responding. All passengers and crew are accounted for,” the airport authority posted on X. The airport suspended all flights after the incident.Facebook user John Nelson, who said he was a passenger on the flight, posted a video showing the crashed aircraft and wrote: “Our plane crashed. It’s upside down.””Most people appear to be okay. We’re all getting off,” he added.Delta said its connection flight operated by Endeavor had been “involved in an incident,” and promised to share further details as it confirmed them.”Initial reports were that there are no fatalities,” the airline said through a spokesperson’s statement.A massive snow storm hit eastern Canada on Sunday. Strong winds and bone-chilling temperatures could still be felt in Toronto on Monday when airlines added flights to make up for weekend cancellations due to the storm.”The snow has stopped coming down, but frigid temperatures and high winds are moving in,” the airport warned earlier, adding that it was “expecting a busy day in our terminals with over 130,000 travellers on board around 1,000 flights.”Federal Transport Minister Anita Anand confirmed there were 80 people on the flight. “I’m closely following the serious incident at the Pearson Airport involving Delta Airlines flight 4819 from Minneapolis,” she posted on X.Ontario Premier Doug Ford, meanwhile, said he was “relieved there are no casualties after the incident at Toronto Pearson,” adding that airport and local authorities were providing help.Canada’s Transportation Safety Board said it was deploying a team of investigators to the site of the crash.This comes after other recent air incidents in North America including a mid-air collision between a US Army helicopter and a passenger jet in Washington that killed 67 people, and a medical transport plane crash in Philadelphia that left seven dead.

Mexico will take Google to court if it insists on changing the Gulf of Mexico’s name to “Gulf of America” for Maps users in the United States, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday.She said her government had written again to the US company arguing that President Donald Trump’s executive order on the subject only applies to the part of the continental shelf belonging to the United States.”Google has no right to rename Mexico’s continental shelf, nor does it have any right to rename Cuba’s continental shelf, because the Gulf of Mexico is divided among the three countries,” Sheinbaum said at her daily news conference.The letter informs Google that “under no circumstances does Mexico accept the renaming of any geographic area that includes part of its national territory and that is under its jurisdiction,” she said.”We will wait for Google’s response and, if not, we will proceed in court,” Sheinbaum added.Sheinbaum had announced on Friday that her government was considering legal action against Google, saying: “If necessary, we will file a civil suit.”Trump signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico soon after his January 20 inauguration.In response, Sheinbaum cheekily suggested calling the United States “Mexican America,” pointing to a map dating back to before 1848, when one-third of her country was seized by the United States.Google, which is part of tech giant Alphabet, said that users of its Maps app in Mexico would continue to see the name “Gulf of Mexico” while those in third countries would see both names.Sheinbaum presented a letter she said Google had sent to her Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente explaining its position and offering to pursue a “constructive dialogue” about the issue, including through a potential face-to-face meeting.It said the name change was “consistent with our normal operating procedure to reflect on our platforms geographic names prescribed by different authoritative, government sources, including reflecting where authoritative sources may differ.”Apple has also renamed the body of water the “Gulf of America” for US users of its mapping application to comply with Trump’s order.

European leaders Monday sought to overcome differences at emergency Paris talks on responding to a shock policy shift on the war in Ukraine by the new US administration of Donald Trump, as Germany bristled at suggestions troops could be deployed.With European policymakers still reeling from US Vice President JD Vance’s withering attack on the European Union at the annual Munich Security Forum, key leaders attended the meeting at the Elysee Palace called at the last minute by President Emmanuel Macron.In the most concrete sign yet of the US policy shift, Washington and Moscow’s top diplomats on Tuesday were due to have the first such face-to-face meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, a clear sign that Trump wants to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin in from the cold.Facing one of their biggest challenges in years, European leaders fear that Trump wants to make peace with Russia in talks that will not even involve Kyiv, let alone the European Union.They now need to weigh measures including ramping up defence spending to be less dependent on the US, to sending troops to Ukraine as peacekeepers when a ceasefire is agreed.Macron held telephone talks with Trump just before the summit, the French presidency said.”Europe’s security is at a turning point,” EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X.”Yes, it is about Ukraine — but it is also about us,” she said, calling for a “surge” on defence spending.- ‘A little irritated’ -UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, aware of the importance of London showing commitment to European security after Brexit, on Sunday said that he was willing to put “our own troops on the ground if necessary” in response to what he called “a once-in-a-generation moment for the collective security of our continent”.But after the talks German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that any debate now on sending peacekeepers to Ukraine was “completely premature” and “highly inappropriate” while the war is ongoing.Scholz said he was “a little irritated” about the debate “at the wrong time and on the wrong topic”.Spain’s foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, said that, while it was necessary for Europeans to meet and prepare decisions, “nobody is currently planning to send troops to Ukraine, especially because peace is still far off”. – ‘Take practical steps’ -Macron has described Trump’s return for a second term in the White House as an “electroshock” but also warned against any peace deal that could amount to “capitulation”.Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, another key participant, on Monday said that he would urge European leaders at the emergency summit to “immediately” boost Europe’s defences, warning that they do not match Russia’s.”We will not be able to effectively help Ukraine if we do not immediately take practical steps regarding our own defence capabilities,” Tusk told reporters before the talks. French newspaper Le Monde said the rupture between Europe and the United States was “historic”, but added that Europe had to show its capacity to ensure its own defence.”European blindness came to an abrupt end in Munich. From now on, the security of the continent depends essentially on the Europeans themselves, and on their ability to maintain their unity,” it added.- ‘Process to peace’ -The Paris talks come as Washington said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday would meet a Russian delegation including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Riyadh, ahead of a future meeting between Trump and Putin in the Saudi capital.Rubio had earlier sought to play down expectations of any breakthrough at upcoming talks with Russian officials.”A process towards peace is not a one-meeting thing,” he told the CBS network.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was to visit Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, one day after the meeting between top US and Russian officials.Zelensky last week had announced the trip along with stops in the United Arab Emirates and Turkey without giving dates, adding that he had no plans to meet Russian or US officials.”There must be no division of security and responsibility between Europe and the United States,” Scholz said in Paris.”NATO is based on us always acting together and sharing the risk, thereby guaranteeing our security. This must not be called into question.”

A team from Elon Musk’s SpaceX was set to visit the command center of the US federal aviation regulator on Monday with a brief for suggesting safety improvements in the wake of a deadly crash in Washington last month.The visit, announced on Sunday by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, has raised some eyebrows given the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has investigated and fined SpaceX on numerous occasions -– sometimes over safety issues.US President Donald Trump, who has tapped top ally and donor Musk to slash the size of the federal government, has taken particular aim at the FAA over its hiring policies. “America deserves safe, state-of-the-art air travel, and President Trump has ordered that I deliver a new, world-class air traffic control system that will be the envy of the world,” Duffy said.He added that SpaceX staff will take a “firsthand look” around when they visit the Air Traffic Control System Command Center, which works to balance demand for flights in the United States with the capacity to handle them.It is also home to a team that tracks data about commercial space launches and re-entries and the status of various space missions, according to its website. “The safety of air travel is a non-partisan matter,” said Musk, whose federal cost-cutting drive has raised concerns about conflicts of interest with his companies, several of which — such as SpaceX — hold major government contracts. “SpaceX engineers will help make air travel safer,” he wrote on social platform X, which he also owns.An aviation safety specialists union said that the Trump administration had begun firing “hundreds” of FAA employees over the long holiday weekend.- ‘Draconian’ -Trump has tapped billionaire Musk to wage a scorched earth campaign on the federal government, slashing workers and cutting programs — such as aid to the world’s poorest countries — that he says do not align with his America First policies.The president has accused the FAA of prioritizing “diversity, equity and inclusion” hiring policies — meant to combat racism and other forms of discrimination — over safety and efficiency. “Several hundred” FAA employees began receiving notices that they had been fired late Friday, according to David Spero, president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union.”This draconian action will increase the workload and place new responsibilities on a workforce that is already stretched thin,” Spero warned in a statement.”Staffing decisions should be based on an individual agency’s mission-critical needs. To do otherwise is dangerous when it comes to public safety.”He said the “hastily made” decision was “especially unconscionable” in the aftermath of the deadly crash last month. The accident at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport saw 67 people killed as an army helicopter collided with a passenger jet coming in for landing.It was the deadliest air disaster in the United States in two decades. Trump has also, repeatedly and without evidence, blamed the Washington crash on DEI programs.Flight safety experts investigating the crash have said that faulty instruments and communication problems may have been behind the disaster.

European leaders met on Monday for emergency talks in Paris called by French President Emmanuel Macron to agree a coordinated response to a shock policy shift on the war in Ukraine by the new US administration of Donald Trump.With European policymakers leaving the annual Munich Security Forum dazed by Vice President JD Vance’s withering attack on the European Union, key EU leaders, as well as UK Premier Sir Keir Starmer, were in Paris for the summit.In the most concrete sign yet of the US policy shift, the top diplomats of the United States and Russia were Tuesday due to have the first such face-to-face meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, a clear sign Trump wants to bring President Vladimir Putin in from the cold.Facing one of their biggest challenges in years, European leaders fear that Trump wants to make peace with Russia in talks that will not even involve Kyiv, let alone the European Union. Trump sidelined Kyiv and its European backers last week when he called Putin to talk about starting negotiations to end the conflict and said he could meet the Kremlin chief “very soon”.Other key participants in the summit include NATO chief Mark Rutte, Danish Premier Mette Frederiksen — who has in the last weeks battled to rebuff Trump’s territorial claim to Greenland — and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.Macron held telephone talks with Trump just before the summit, the French presidency said.- ‘Take practical steps’ -Macron has described Trump’s return for a second term in the White House as an “electroshock” and there are initial signs some of his counterparts are being stung into action.Britain’s Starmer, aware of the importance of London showing commitment to European security after Brexit, said Sunday that he was willing to put “our own troops on the ground if necessary” in response to what he called “a once-in-a-generation moment for the collective security of our continent”.Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, another key participant, said on Monday he would urge European leaders at the emergency summit to “immediately” boost Europe’s defences, warning they do not match Russia’s.”We will not be able to effectively help Ukraine if we do not immediately take practical steps regarding our own defence capabilities,” Tusk told reporters. Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has said Europe would not be directly involved in talks on Ukraine, though it would still have “input”.French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Sunday it would fall to Europe to guarantee any peace deal in Ukraine, adding he expected the United States to “revise their level of commitment to NATO, including in terms of geography”.The American policy shift “requires that we truly wake up, and even take a leap forward, to take our place for the security of the European continent”, Barrot said. – ‘Peace is still far off’ -But the notion of sending European troops to Ukraine — even after a ceasefire — was already causing friction within the European Union.Spain’s foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, however said that, while it was necessary for Europeans to meet and prepare decisions, “nobody is currently planning to send troops to Ukraine, especially because peace is still far off”. Germany on Monday agreed, with deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann telling reporters it was “premature” to talk about sending troops to Ukraine.  Chancellor Olaf Scholz had said late Sunday that negotiations on Ukraine’s future could not be successful without European guarantees “that we will have created and accepted”.Meanwhile Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban is close to both Trump and Putin, said that Monday’s conference was an effort to “prevent” peace.”Today, in Paris, pro-war, anti-Trump, frustrated European leaders are gathering to prevent a peace agreement in Ukraine,” said Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.- ‘Process to peace’ -The Paris talks come as Washington said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff would on Tuesday meet with a Russian delegation including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Riyadh ahead of a future meeting between Trump and Putin in the Saudi capital.Rubio had earlier sought to play down expectations of any breakthrough at upcoming talks with Russian officials.”A process towards peace is not a one-meeting thing,” he told the CBS network.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was to visit Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, one day after the meeting between top US and Russian officials.Zelensky had announced the trip along with stops the United Arab Emirates and Turkey last week without giving dates, adding he had no plans to meet Russian or US officials.

The head of the World Health Organization insisted on Monday it was “now or never” to strike a landmark global accord on tackling future pandemics, after the United States withdrew from negotiations.WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said no country could protect itself from the next pandemic on its own — three days after US President Donald Trump’s administration told the UN health agency it was leaving the pandemic agreement talks.”We are at a crucial point as you move to finalise the pandemic agreement in time for the World Health Assembly” in May, Tedros told WHO members at the opening of the week-long 13th round of negotiations in Geneva.”It really is a case of now or never. But I am confident that you will choose ‘now’ because you know what is at stake.”You remember the hard-won lessons of Covid-19, which left an estimated 20 million of our brothers and sisters dead, and which continues to kill.”A further one-week session is planned before the WHO’s annual assembly.The process began in December 2021, when, fearing a repeat of Covid-19 — which killed millions of people, crippled health systems and crashed economies — countries decided to draft an accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.- Next pandemic ‘when, not if’ -After returning to office on January 20, Trump signed an executive order to start the one-year process of withdrawing from the WHO, an organisation he has repeatedly criticised over its handling of Covid-19.The order added that Washington would “cease negotiations” on the pandemic agreement.Tedros said Washington had formally notified the WHO on Friday of its withdrawal from the talks.”The next pandemic is a matter of when, not if. There are reminders all around us — Ebola, Marburg, measles, mpox, influenza and the threat of the next disease X,” he said.”No country can protect itself by itself. Bilateral agreements will only get you so far,” Tedros added.”Like the decision to withdraw from WHO, we regret this decision and we hope the US will reconsider,” he said.- System ‘under siege’ -Non-governmental organisations following the pandemic agreement process urged remaining member states to get the accord finished.Pandemic Action Network said: “Despite geopolitical and policy challenges, do not walk away from this vital mission.”Spark Street Advisors, a health sector consultancy, said the world had changed since the last negotiations in December, with the global multilateral system “under siege”.”This is why member states cannot afford to fail this week. In this new reality meant to reverse decades of progress, the pandemic agreement is a concrete action against this great dismantling,” it said.While much of the draft text has been agreed, disputes remain over sharing access to pathogens with pandemic potential and the sharing of benefits derived from them — vaccines, tests and treatments.Talks co-chair Precious Matsoso expressed hoped that proposed new wording would ensure a breakthrough. “Let’s make sure that the three years that we’ve spent does not end up being regretted — that we wasted three years of our time,” she said.

European leaders were due to meet in Paris on Monday to address Washington’s shock policy shift on the war in Ukraine, as top US and Russian diplomats geared up for their first talks aimed at ending the three-year conflict.US President Donald Trump sidelined Kyiv and its European backers last week when he called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to talk about starting negotiations to end the conflict.The hastily convened Paris informal summit of European leaders set to start at 4:00 pm (1500 GMT) comes after Trump said he could meet Putin “very soon”.The Paris talks come as Washington said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff would on Tuesday meet with a Russian delegation including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Riyadh ahead of a future meeting between Trump and Putin in the Saudi capital.Rubio had earlier sought to play down expectations of any breakthrough at upcoming talks with Russian officials.”A process towards peace is not a one-meeting thing,” he told the CBS network.Hosted by President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee palace, the European meeting will gather the leaders of France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, as well as the heads of the European Council, the European Commission and NATO.The war in Ukraine is days short of its third anniversary on February 24.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Sunday that he was willing to put “our own troops on the ground if necessary” in response to what he called “a once-in-a-generation moment for the collective security of our continent”.Starmer also said he would meet with Trump in the coming days.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was to visit Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, one day after the meeting between top US and Russian officials.Zelensky had announced the trip along with stops the United Arab Emirates and Turkey last week without giving dates, adding he had no plans to meet Russian or US officials.- ‘Take a leap forward’ -The Paris meeting will address “the situation in Ukraine” and “security in Europe”, the French presidency said.”Because of the acceleration of the Ukrainian issue, and as a result of what US leaders are saying, there is a need for Europeans to do more, better and in a coherent way, for our collective security,” an adviser in Macron’s office said.Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has said Europe would not be directly involved in talks on Ukraine, though it would still have “input”.French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Sunday it would fall to Europe to guarantee any peace deal in Ukraine, adding he expected the United States to “revise their level of commitment to NATO, including in terms of geography”.The American policy shift “requires that we truly wake up, and even take a leap forward, to take our place for the security of the European continent”, Barrot said. He told the LCI news channel that talks were already underway, involving notably France, Britain and Poland, to guarantee a future ceasefire and “lasting peace” in Ukraine.- ‘Peace is still far off’ -Spain’s foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, however said that, while it was necessary for Europeans to meet and prepare decisions, “nobody is currently planning to send troops to Ukraine, especially because peace is still far off”. Germany on Monday agreed, with deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann telling reporters it was “premature” to talk about sending troops to Ukraine.  Chancellor Olaf Scholz had said late Sunday that negotiations on Ukraine’s future could not be successful without European guarantees “that we will have created and accepted”.Meanwhile Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban is close to both Trump and Putin, said that Monday’s conference was an effort to “prevent” peace.”Today, in Paris, pro-war, anti-Trump, frustrated European leaders are gathering to prevent a peace agreement in Ukraine,” said Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.Lavrov said Europeans want to “continue war in Ukraine”.burs-jh/ah/jm