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Zelensky to take part in special European Council meeting on March 6

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Zelensky to take part in special European Council meeting on March 6
President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at a press conference during the European Council Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on Dec. 19, 2024. (Pier Marco Tacca / Getty Images)

President Volodymyr Zelensky will take part in a special meeting of the European Council on March 6, a senior EU official confirmed to the Kyiv Independent.

"We are living in a defining moment for Ukraine and European security," European Council President Antonio Costa said ahead of the summit.

Discussions will focus on strengthening support for Ukraine as Russia's full-scale invasion enters its fourth year. Participants will also discuss "European contributions to the necessary security guarantees required to ensure a lasting peace in Ukraine," the European Council said in a statement on its website.

EU leaders are also expected to adopt a communique reaffirming that European security cannot be negotiated without European participation, Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne reported.

The meeting follows growing concerns in Kyiv and European capitals over U.S. President Donald Trump's diplomatic outreach to Russia, including direct talks between American and Russian officials in Istanbul on Feb. 27 and Riyadh on Feb. 18.

Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and other senior Western officials gathered in London on March 2 for a summit hosted by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to coordinate Ukraine policy.

Zelensky arrived in London on March 1 following a turbulent visit to Washington, where a planned natural resources agreement with the U.S. collapsed after a tense Oval Office exchange with Trump.

The fallout has fueled speculation about the future of U.S.- Ukraine relations. Washington has frozen all military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv, a move widely seen as an attempt to pressure Zelensky into talks with Russia.

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U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks come after the Financial Times (FT) reported, citing undisclosed sources, that he asked President Volodymyr Zelensky whether Kyiv could strike Moscow or St Petersburg if provided with long-range U.S. weapons.

"The stolen data includes confidential questionnaires of the company's employees, and most importantly, full technical documentation on the production of drones, which was handed over to the relevant specialists of the Ukrainian Defense Forces," a source in Ukraine's military intelligence told the Kyiv Independent.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called upon the EU to take action against Ukraine's conscription practices in an interview with Origo published on July 15, amid an ongoing dispute with Kyiv over the death of a Ukrainian conscript of Hungarian ethnicity.

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