Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy rejects โ€˜quick winโ€™ ceasefire sought by US

โ€˜We will not sign just anything in order to be applauded,โ€™ Ukrainian president insists; European leaders pressed on sending troops to enforce peace. What we know on day 1,091 The US is trying to โ€œpleaseโ€ Vladimir Putin as it aims for a โ€œquick winโ€ by …

Europeโ€™s leaders find no quick response to Trumpโ€™s bombshell on Ukraine

Top European leaders could not find common ground on issues including sending peacekeepers in Ukraine.

Parliamentโ€™s right-wing majority puts EU ethics body in the crosshairs

Lawmakers claim right-wing coalition is using procedural tricks to “obstruct” implementation.

France tries five suspected IS militants over kidnap of four journalists in Syria

One suspect, Mehdi Nemmouche, is serving a life sentence for a 2019 attack on a Jewish museum in BrusselsFive suspected Islamist terrorists accused of kidnapping and torturing four French journalists covering the war in Syria have gone on trial in Pari…

Stรฉphane Sรฉjournรฉ is on a nuclear mission as EU industry chief

With Germany embroiled in political and economic difficulties, nuclear advocates see an opportunity to score points in Brussels.

Angry farmers push Poland away from Ukraine

After nearly three years of war in Ukraine, protests by Polish farmers are opening up social and political fractures in a once-unshakeable alliance.

How von der Leyen blindsided Brussels with her deregulation drive

The Commission president is pushing a sweeping, rapid and centralized agenda to โ€œsimplifyโ€ EU rules โ€” and not everyone in Brussels is thrilled.

Macronโ€™s U-turn against EU green rules triggers internal revolt

The French president’s anti-regulation push has thrown his environmental legacy into doubt and angered many in his own party.

France confirms emergency European summit Monday in Paris

The “main European countries” will discuss the continent’s security, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noรซl Barrot said.

UKโ€™s Starmer to attend emergency European summit in Paris

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noรซl Barrot said the “main European countries” would meet on Monday to discuss European security.

Vanceโ€™s week of waging war on EU tech law

The U.S. vice president attacked Europe’s regulations governing American Big Tech giants and online speech.

ล efฤoviฤ to visit Washington as trade war looms

The European Commission is trying to head off a transatlantic trade conflict.

Is this the end of NATO?

โ€œWeโ€™ve now got an alliance between a Russian president who wants to destroy Europe and an American president who also wants to destroy Europe,” one diplomat said.

EU proposes clampdown on green tech subsidies

A draft document seen by Euractiv reveals Brussels wants to halve the generous subsidy limits imposed during the pandemic.

Electricity firms demand new EU energy security plan at Munich conference

With electricity set to play an ever more central role in Europeโ€™s energy system, the trade association Eurelectric has called on Brussels to urgently update a security of supply strategy that dates back to 2014.

Europe’s unity is being tested by Ukraine negotiations between Washington and Moscow

While most European countries believe that Europe should be involved in the negotiations, Hungary and Slovakia are critical of Brussels.

Ah, hereโ€™s Trumpโ€™s peace plan for Ukraine โ€“ or rather, a plan to leave it in pieces | Marina Hyde

And despite having ample time to prepare for this moment, why do Europe and Britainโ€™s leaders seem so surprised?In the wake of Donald Trumpโ€™s decision to instigate his Ukraine โ€œpeace planโ€, itโ€™s great to hear from US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, th…

American troops in Europe are not โ€˜forever,โ€™ US defense chief warns

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has a “stark” message for European allies.

Senior Republican senator โ€˜puzzled and disturbedโ€™ by Hegsethโ€™s Ukraine remarks

Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker is breaking with the line from the Trump White House.

EU warns of โ€˜immediateโ€™ retaliation against Trumpโ€™s reciprocal tariffs

Brussels has strengthened its trade defense arsenal since a skirmish in U.S. President Donald Trumpโ€™s first term.

EU braces for turbulent diplomacy as US demands โ€˜rebalancingโ€™ of relations

Relations between the US and Europe entered uncharted territory after a week of diplomatic shocks that saw the Trump administration cutting Kyiv and Brussels out of bilateral US-Russia talks to end the Ukraine war and setting a hard line on NATO defen…

Security is the new safety

SNEAK PEEK โ€”ย ย The U.K. AISI drops โ€œsafetyโ€ for โ€œsecurityโ€ as it rebrands for the Trump era. โ€”ย DSIT and Anthropic ink a new partnership. โ€”ย Whatโ€™s happened to the porn review? Good morning and happy Friday, This is Tom, unable to find where Iโ€™ve hidden my wifeโ€™s Valentineโ€™s card. You can get in touch with your news, [โ€ฆ]

Criminals use AI chatbots too

SNEAK PEEK โ€” Criminals use AI chatbots to commit fraud, Europolโ€™s chief AI officer warns. โ€” The U.K. switches from โ€˜AI safety to โ€˜AI security.โ€™ โ€” The Munich Security Conference is working hard to make killer AI cool. Good morning and welcome to Morning Tech. This is Pieter. #TGIF (unless youโ€™re in Munich, then the [โ€ฆ]

Trump has sold Ukraine down the river โ€“ and shown the UK what ‘America first’ means in practice | Gaby Hinsliff

A superpower that once built alliances across the west is dramatically reorienting itself โ€“ and so too must its former alliesWrapped in a flag and clutching a beer, Marc Fogel looked understandably overwhelmed. The 63-year-old teacher from Pennsylvania…

Trump triggers Western anger over โ€˜appeasementโ€™ talks with Putinย 

EU and British politicians warn America against caving to the Kremlin’s demands on Ukraine. ย 

The EUโ€™s strategy to counter Trumpโ€™s tariffs: An iron fist in a velvet glove

Brussels has strengthened its trade toolkit since Donald Trumpโ€™s first term. But it would need the broad support of EU countries to strike back hard.

Brussels power couples โ€”ย 2025 edition

Love is in the air in the halls of power.

Europe lacks a master plan for Donald Trumpโ€™s new world disorder

There is a “mix of fear and denial,” according to one European official who spoke to POLITICO.

US reins in demands on Ukraine amid alliesโ€™ outcries

โ€œEverything is on the table,โ€ the Defense secretary said with no mention of concessions he demanded the day before.

EU failed to Trump-proof Europe and now faces humiliation over Ukraine

As Putinโ€™s actions again disrupt the start of a Munich security conference, Brussels largely has itself to blameEurope live โ€“ latest updatesThe start of the Munich security conference has a habit of being disrupted by a display of power by Vladimir Put…

Trump kept Germanyโ€™s Scholz in the dark about his Ukraine peace plan

Based on talks with Trump, Scholz had expected Washington to continue its support for Kyiv, he told POLITICO

Von der Leyen aide held secret talks with Trump team amid trade war

Bjoern Seibert visited Washington ahead of high-level contacts between the Commission president and J.D. Vance.

Germany says US concessions to Russia before Ukraine peace talks are regrettable โ€“ย video

Germany’s defence minister, Boris Pistorius, said he regretted that the US administration had made ‘concessions’ to Russia before peace talks with Ukraine had even started, as he attended a Nato meeting in Brussels on Thursday.Donald Trump said on Wedn…

NATO ministers plead for Ukraine to be involved in Trump-Putin peace talks

But alliance chief Mark Rutte was keen to downplay fears that Europe and Kyiv are being sidelined.

Ukraine, Europe must be involved in any peace talks, say NATOโ€™s European members

Any peace negotiations to end the war in Ukraine must involve Kyiv, saidย NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Thursday, as European defence ministers meeting in Brussels responded to US President Donald Trump’s announcement that he and Russian Preside…

Reynolds hits โ€˜resetโ€™ on competition

SNEAK PEEK โ€”ย  The government is giving the CMA a โ€˜resetโ€™. The CMA will try to show itโ€™s got the message. โ€”ย Peter Kyle explains the U.K.โ€™s AI summit statement snub. โ€”ย MPs pick up where peers left off on copyright. Good morning and happy Thursday, This is Tom, back home. You can get in touch with [โ€ฆ]

Starlink looks pale in comparison with what Europeans can get

SNEAK PEEK โ€” Has Elon Muskโ€™s Starlink got a shot in Europe? Not really. โ€” The withdrawal of the EUโ€™s AI liability rules has fans and critics. โ€”ย Thereโ€™s a new report about the price tag of the Eurostack. Good morning and welcome to Morning Tech. Hi, this is Pieter, back in Brussels after frantic days [โ€ฆ]

Trumpโ€™s uphill battle to make NATO allies hit his mega defense spending target

There is broad agreement to boost defense spending โ€” but the U.S. president’s call for 5 percent of GDP is too much for most European countries.

Trump and Putin stun Europe with peace plan for Ukraineย 

U.S. president announces that talks with Russia’s leader on ending the war will start โ€œimmediately,โ€ after his defense chief warns that Ukraineโ€™s peace goals wonโ€™t be met.

Hungary’s Orban says far-right AfD is the ‘future of Germany’

Emboldened by his ‘dear friend’ US President Donald Trump’s return to power, Hungary’s nationalist leader has vowed to ‘occupy Brussels’ by bringing together far-right parties in the European Parliament.

US no longer โ€˜primarily focusedโ€™ on Europeโ€™s security, says Pete Hegseth โ€“ video

The US defence secretary said the country would not send troops to Ukraine and that ‘the United States will no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship which encourages dependency’ when addressing Nato in Brussels on Wednesday. He added that Europe h…

US no longer โ€˜primarily focusedโ€™ on Europeโ€™s security, says Pete Hegseth

US defence secretary argues Europe should take lead in defending Ukraine and says restoring countryโ€™s pre-2014 borders is unrealisticEurope live โ€“ latest updatesDonald Trumpโ€™s newly appointed defence secretary told allies on his first international tri…

JD Vance and Germanyโ€™s likely next chancellor to discuss Ukraine, trade

Friedrich Merz has pledged to take a leading role in uniting the continent in its response to U.S. President Donald Trump.

The EU must not be a โ€˜dwarfโ€™ in Washington, says Germanyโ€™s likely next chancellor

The bloc has to get tougher in the age of Donald Trump, argues Friedrich Merz.

UK dances to Vanceโ€™s tune

SNEAK PEEK โ€” Where does the Paris summit leave the U.K.โ€™s AI policy? โ€”ย MPs tackle the data bill, amendments and all. โ€”ย Patrick Vallance sets out his plan to remake science. Good morning and welcome to Wednesday, This is Tom, heading back to London from a gloomy City of Light. Come and say hi if youโ€™re [โ€ฆ]

France pitches plan to halt decline of EU chemical industry

The law should list certain chemicals as critical to Europe’s strategic autonomy, copying similar policies for minerals and medicines.

Europe : le cordon sanitaire avec lโ€™extrรชme droite bientรดt remis en cause pour sโ€™en prendre au Pacte vert ?

Intentionnellement ou non, les entreprises concernรฉes, l’extrรชme droite montante et les conservateurs traditionnels s’unissent pour rรฉรฉcrire les rรจgles รฉcologiques.

EU can’t plug USAID funding gap including in Ukraine, Commission says

โ€œThe EU cannot fill this gap left by others,โ€ย the European Commission told Euronews as disability NGOs seek emergency aid from Brussels after US President Donald Trump blocked international development projects.

Von der Leyen labels Trumpโ€™s VP an ally after first meeting

First high-level meeting with Trump official strikes surprisingly positive note after he slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum.

German frontrunner Merz will take EU โ€˜to its grave,โ€™ says Scholz

Country’s role in Europe gets a surprise central focus in election campaign.

Russia lashes out at EU plans to seize its โ€˜shadow fleetโ€™ in the Baltic Sea

Moscow said any move to grab its oil exporting vessels would be seen as an attack against the country, after POLITICO revealed the new EU plans.

Patti Smith to perform Horses in full on 50th anniversary tour

Singer will visit US, UK and Europe later this year alongside members of the original band who recorded the classic punk textPatti Smith is to perform her classic album Horses in full on a tour to mark the albumโ€™s 50th anniversary.Playing gigs across t…

Von der Leyen vows โ€˜firm and proportionateโ€™ response to Trumpโ€™s tariffs

โ€œUnjustifiedโ€ 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum โ€œwill not go unanswered,โ€ says European Commission chief.

Time to sign?

SNEAK PEEK โ€” JD Vance lands in Paris as the U.K. tries to get on message.ย  โ€”ย Peter Kyle says an AI bill will avoid upsetting voluntary agreement with AI labs. โ€”ย The U.K.โ€™s own mini-summit kicks off in London. Good morning and happy Tuesday, This is Tom, coming to you from a cold press room in [โ€ฆ]

Virkkunen stands firm on American pushback against EU tech laws

SNEAK PEEK โ€” The EU plans to raise the American pushback against tech law with the U.S., said tech boss Henna Virkkunen. She also promised a more โ€œinnovation-friendlyโ€ AI regulatory framework. โ€” Rolling out AI should mean talking to workers and helping them gain new skills, said EESC president Oliver Rรถpke. Failing to get it [โ€ฆ]

Inside the divided coalition coming for the Green Deal

Intentionally or not, concerned businesses, the ascendant far right and traditional conservatives are coming together to rewrite green rules.

The EUโ€™s ticking debt bomb โ€” and why it matters for its next budget

Repayment of the EU’s โ‚ฌ300 billion joint borrowing hangs like a cloud over the European Commission’s budget brainstorm.

European carmakers in crossfire of US-EU trade war

German automakers would face increased costs while already under pressure from heightened competition.

Spain pushes to double EU budget to over โ‚ฌ2 trillion

Madrid wants governments to be jointly liable for borrowing huge amounts of money to boost the bloc’s coffers.

The 9 AI power players at the Paris AI Action Summit

Academics can be as influential as tech bros in swaying policymakers to both invest in and set guardrails for the powerful technology.

Brussels U-turns on plans for more consumer financial data access

Opposition from the financial services sector on the FiDA bill found sympathy within the French government, which called for its demise.

I asked to see Ursula von der Leyenโ€™s texts to Pfizerโ€™s boss and she went to court to stop me. Why the secrecy? | Alexander Fanta

Billions in EU Covid funding have gone unaccounted for. By hiding its business behind personal messaging, Brussels is dodging public scrutinyFor weeks during the height of the Covid pandemic in early 2021, the European Commission president, Ursula von …

Britain ditches AI declaration, pitches for cash

SNEAK PEEK โ€” As the AI Action Summit kicks off, the U.K. is tempted against signing its main declaration. โ€” Peter Kyle takes his investment pitch to Paris. โ€” Back at home, thereโ€™s a backlash against the Home Office over encryption. Good Monday morning, This is Tom in Paris. You can get in touch with [โ€ฆ]

Von der Leyen to host CEOs after unveiling EUโ€™s economic plan

Leaders from the bloc’s biggest companies will convene in Antwerp for the Feb. 26 event.

EU rules for advanced AI are step in wrong direction, Google says

Google and Meta are leading the charge against a โ€œcode of practiceโ€ governing tools like Gemini, ChatGPT and Llama.

The EUโ€™s new AI mantra: Weโ€™re open for business

The European Union has pivoted to cheering AI innovation, laying less emphasis on rules that curb potential threats.

EU considers giving countries wiggle room to boost defense spending

The move would allow governments with overstretched budgets more flexibility under the bloc’s debt and deficit rules.

Inside the new plan to seize Russiaโ€™s shadow fleet

European countries are pushing for new powers to squeeze Moscowโ€™s shadow fleet after a spate of incidents in the Baltic Sea.

Kosovo PM Albin Kurti wins election amid tensions with Brussels and Washington

His ruling party fell short of a majority and will need to find a coalition partner if it hopes to continue in power.

EU moves to replace Russian energy influence in Moldova

EU cash has ensured that gas and power flow in Moldova and its breakaway region of Transnistria, after Russia closed the taps โ€“ now Brussels wants a longer-term deal.

Looking at Trump, Europeโ€™s far right vows to โ€˜reconquerโ€™ the continent

โ€œOur friend Trump, the Trump tornado, has changed the world in just a couple of weeks,โ€ Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbรกn tells far-right rally in Madrid.

Baltic countries sever final power ties with Russia

Disconnecting from the Soviet-era grid faced an intimidation campaign โ€” but it’s Moscow that could be left in a precarious position.

Belgian authorities struggle to rein in spate of drug-related shootings in Brussels

PRESS REVIEWย โ€“ Friday, February 7: The Belgian capital Brussels has been rocked by a spate of violent drug-related shootings that authorities are at a loss to control. Also in the news: the Greek island of Santorini is in a state of emergency due to t…