The leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany have held a call with US President Donald Trump to discuss the latest peace efforts to end the war in Ukraine in what they say is “a critical moment” in the process.
Ukraine is under pressure from the White House to secure a quick peace but is pushing back on a US-backed plan proposed last month that many see as favourable to Russia.
French President Emmanuel Macron, arriving late for a public debate in western France, said he had just held a 40-minute discussion with Mr Trump and his European colleagues to see how to move forward on “a subject that concerns all of us”.
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Separate statements from the so-called E3 powers said the leaders had commended the mediation efforts of Trump’s administration to achieve a robust and lasting peace in Ukraine, nearly four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
“(The leaders) agreed that this is a critical moment for Ukraine, for its people and for the common security of the Euro-Atlantic region,” the UK readout said.
The three countries, along with other European partners and Ukraine, have been working frantically in the last few weeks to refine the original US proposals that reportedly envisaged Ukraine giving up territory to Russia, abandoning its ambition to join NATO and accepting limits on the size of its armed forces.
Among the key elements the E3 powers are trying to hammer out are potential security guarantees for Ukraine once there is a peace accord.
“Intensive work on the peace plan is continuing and will continue in the coming days,” the E3 statements said.
Mr Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in London on Monday and pledged their continued support for Ukraine.
Leaders from the so-called “coalition of the willing” group of countries backing Ukraine will hold a follow-up meeting via videocall on Thursday, the French presidency said.
Mr Zelensky said he would also attend that call.
Separately, Mr Macron and Sir Keir will join Mr Merz for further talks next Monday in Berlin, two European Union diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Three people were killed and two wounded by Ukrainian shelling of a hospital in the Russia-controlled part of Kherson region on Wednesday, a Russian-installed governor said on Telegram.
All those killed and injured were employees of the medical facility.
“The injured are receiving medical attention, and a seriously injured man is in intensive care,” Vladimir Saldo said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces said they were fending off an unusually large Russian mechanised attack inside the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk.
Russian troops have pushed forward in small infantry groups for months looking to capture the former logistics hub as part of a campaign to seize the entire industrial Donbas region.
Russia has claimed full control of Pokrovsk.
Ukraine maintains that it holds the northern part of the city, where fierce urban battles have raged.
“The Russians used armoured vehicles, cars, and motorcycles. The convoys attempted to break through from the south to the northern part of the city,” Ukraine’s 7th Rapid Response Corps said in a statement on Wednesday morning’s assault.
A source in the 7th Rapid Response Corps told Reuters that Russia had deployed about 30 vehicles, making it the largest such attack yet inside the city.
