Europe is on the brink of another financial crisis, German frontrunner Merz warns

It’s “definitely coming,” he tells POLITICO ahead of the Feb. 23 election.

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.

The death of NATO? Europe in crisis over Trump-Putin talks

European leaders are meeting in Paris for an emergency summit on Ukraine, following last weekโ€™s call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. With NATOโ€™s most powerful member sidelining its allies in talks with Russia, is the U.S. still a reliable par…

Germanyโ€™s Scholz: Itโ€™s โ€˜inappropriateโ€™ to discuss sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine

Ukraine doesn’t have to accept whatever peace plan Russia and the United States present, Scholz added.

British MPs already want a vote on sending troops to Ukraine

Labour MPs โ€” and opposition lawmakers too โ€” are asking for a parliamentary say on any British escalation.

Poland to Europe: Donโ€™t play games with Trump, spend more on defense

The Polish PM is adamant that Europe must not break ties with the U.S.

Macron and Trump have โ€˜frank conversationโ€™ minutes before European meeting on Ukraine

The call came before the French president welcomed a group of European leaders in Paris.

UKโ€™s Starmer to meet Trump next week

Prime minister heads to Washington to meet with US president as European capitals fret over Ukraine’s future.

Zelenskyy: I want to show Trumpโ€™s Ukraine-Russia envoy the front line

Keith Kellogg will be in Ukraine for two days this week.

Ukraine will not participate in Russia-US talks, Zelenskyy says from UAE

The Ukrainian leader said he will be in Turkey while Russia and the US speak in Riyadh.

EU top brass plans Kyiv visit amid US-Russia talks

The trip will take place in a show of solidarity as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine hits the three-year mark, one EU official said.

โ€˜Freezingโ€™ Ukraine war would allow Russia to threaten NATO, Latvian intelligence warns

Pausing hostilities, which U.S. President Trump has vowed to do, would free up Kremlin resources to threaten countries across the alliance, the report says.

Germanyโ€™s Merz again rules out coalition with far right, but opens door to center-left parties

Signaling a pivot, Germany’s likely next chancellor suggested he’d consider governing with the center left โ€” but not the AfD or the liberals.

Marco Rubio arrives in Riyadh, Zelenskyy jets into UAE, as Ukraine talks expected to begin

U.S. secretary of state lands in Saudi Arabia as EU leaders prepare for crisis summit in Paris.

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.

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.

Victims of international crimes need justice โ€” and the ICC

We call on the EUโ€™s member countries and institutions to be the voice of human dignity globally, and to mobilize, defend and support the court.

The fight for Europe is on

At a time of intensifying great power competition, the EU has to choose between becoming a satrap of the U.S. or breaking free to steer its own course โ€” and it must decide quickly.

UK โ€˜readyโ€™ to send peace-keepers to Ukraine, PM Starmer says

Ahead of a crunch meeting in Paris on Monday, the U.K. leader commits to putting British troops in harm’s way to secure lasting peace.

Rubio says talks in Saudi Arabia meant to be opening step toward peace

โ€œOne phone call does not make peace,โ€ the secretary of State said.

US and Israel have common strategy on Gaza, Netanyahu says

Israeli leader declares “full cooperation and coordination” with Washington as Marco Rubio starts Mideast tour.

As US recedes, NATO scrambles to find a new leader

The Brits, French, and Germans all have their own ideas about how to defend the continent with Americaโ€™s plans in flux.ย 

The US said Ukraine would meet with Russia to discuss peace. That was news to Kyiv.

โ€œI do not know what it is,โ€ said Ukraineโ€™s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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.

Trump team to start Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Saudi Arabia

Negotiators from Kyiv will be joining the talks that launch in the coming days.

Macron calls emergency European summit on Trump, Polish minister says

It was not immediately clear which European leaders would be invited to the emergency meeting.

US Defence Secretary praises Poland as ‘model NATO ally’ during visit

US Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth has lauded Poland as a “model NATO allyโ€ in his first visit to Warsaw on Friday, where he met with President Andrzej Duda and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Wล‚adysล‚aw Kosiniak-Kamysz.

Scholz calls for reform of German debt brake right after election

The chancellor, who is trailing in the polls ahead of the Feb. 23 snap election, expressed confidence that Germany will have a parliamentary majority to loosen the debt brake.

Rutte: NATO spending target will be โ€˜considerably more than 3 percentโ€™

“The U.S. is rightly asking for a rebalancing of that,” said Rutte. “It’s totally logical.”

Graham: Ukraine should automatically join NATO if Russia invades again

Republican senator says US should continue to send weapons to Ukraine.

Republicans struggle with unified response to Trumpโ€™s plan for Ukraine peace talks

Lawmakersโ€™ reactions underscore the challenge Republicans face as they try to make sense of the administrationโ€™s efforts to end the Ukraine war.

Trump asks Zelenskyy for half of Ukraineโ€™s rare earths: NBC News

U.S. officials told NBC that handing over half of its valuable minerals would be a way for Kyiv to reimburse the U.S. for the billions of dollars in weapons and support.

Zelenskyy: โ€˜The time has comeโ€™ for a European army

Despite talk of a peace agreement, Russia is continuing to wage war against Ukraine.

Ukraine probably canโ€™t survive without US help, Zelenskyy says

The grim prognosis comes as the conflict appears to be entering a new phase.

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.

Meloni: Russia โ€˜offended the entire Italian nationโ€™ by rejecting Third Reich comparison

The Italian prime minister stood by her presidentโ€™s comparison of Russia to Nazi Germany.

Vance brings a wrecking ball to diplomatic gathering in Munich

The U.S. vice president roasted the continent’s way of governing itself.

US Democrats slam Vance Munich speech as โ€˜hypocrisyโ€™

The U.S. vice president’s admonition of Europeโ€™s policies splits American lawmakers.

Zelenskyy: Trump told me Putin wants to end the war. I told him Putin is a liar.

“I donโ€™t want to go [down] in history as [the] president who helped Putin to occupy my country,โ€ says Ukrainian leader.

Boris Johnson: Europe acting like โ€˜headless chickensโ€™ on Ukraine

Former prime minister โ€” who has lobbied Donald Trump to back Ukraine โ€” says European nations should ‘man up and step up’ by increasing defense spending.

JD Vance attacks Europe over migration, free speech

JD Vance stunned the audience with his broadside on the way Europe is run.

Von der Leyen demands trigger of emergency clause to massively boost defense spending

European Commission president announces plan at Munich Security Conference.

German defense minister blasts Trumpโ€™s โ€˜clumsyโ€™ Ukraine negotiating play

Boris Pistorius said it would have been better to talk about Kyivโ€™s NATO membership and territory โ€œat the negotiating table.โ€

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.

Putin is capable of attacking NATO country โ€˜next year,โ€™ Zelenskyy warns

Ukrainian leader implores the West to “stop this crazy guy.”

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.

Trumpโ€™s return is an โ€˜electroshockโ€™ for Europe, says Macron

Europe needs a change of mindset on the economy and defense, Macron tells the Financial Times.

Killer Russian drone strikes Chernobyl nuclear reactor cover, Ukraine says

“Radiation levels inside and outside remain normal and stable,” says International Atomic Energy Agency.

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 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.

Russia should rejoin G7, Trump says

Moscow never would have invaded Ukraine if it still had a seat at the table, the president insisted.

Trump sets out process for imposing global reciprocal tariffs

The president tasked top Cabinet officials to study the matter further before deciding on specifics.

Kremlin: Ukraine can be part of peace talks โ€” but main players will be US and Russia

โ€œOur main counterpart in this process is Washington,โ€ Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

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.

Trumpโ€™s Ukraine bombshell puts British support to the test

Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised to be a โ€œsteadfastโ€ backer of Ukraine. But Britain is cash-strapped and struggling to build links.

โ€˜We will soon be nextโ€™: German leaders sound alarm on Trumpโ€™s Ukraine plan

Berlin wants more robust military spending following a bombshell move by the Trump administration to negotiate a peace deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

JD Vance snubs Germanyโ€™s Scholz at Munich Security Conference

โ€œWe donโ€™t need to see him, he wonโ€™t be chancellor long,โ€ a former U.S. official said of Vance’s thinking.

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.

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.

Trumpโ€™s plan for Ukraine a great deal โ€” โ€˜for the Kremlin,โ€™ Kyivโ€™s backers say

“Letโ€™s not mince words about what this represents: a surrender of Ukraineโ€™s interests and our own, even before negotiations begin,โ€ says U.S. Senator Adam Schiff.

Trump announces first meeting with Putin in Saudi Arabia

The meeting will happen in the “not too distant future,โ€ Trump said.

Vance enters the world stage. Can he speak for Trump?

The vice president faces a perennially difficult task as he attempts to take the MAGA mantle.

Jordan and Egypt unite against Trumpโ€™s vision for Gaza

The countriesโ€™ leaders clarified their โ€œshared positionโ€ that Palestinians should not be displaced from Gaza just a day after the king of Jordan met with Trump.

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.

Trump-Putin Ukraine peace talks mustnโ€™t exclude Kyiv, EU allies warn

U.S. and Russian leaders spoke on the phone Wednesday about ending the war โ€” and agreed to start negotiations โ€œimmediately.โ€

Trump says he and Putin will negotiate to end the war in Ukraine

The president says he and the Russian leader spoke and are eager to work together.

Trumpโ€™s defense secretary calls Ukraineโ€™s return to old borders โ€˜unrealisticโ€™

The Defense secretaryโ€™s comments at NATO headquarters signal the Trump administration will support stopping Russian efforts in Ukraine โ€” with caveats.

EU examines future of its outdated budget

The European Commission wants a more flexible financial framework to meet the challenges, including green technologies, border security and defense, facing the 27 member states.

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]

Zelenskyy proposes to trade land with Putin, offers to return Kursk

If U.S. president can convince Moscow to negotiate an end to hostilities with Kyiv, Ukraine leader is ready to talk business on occupied territories.

Russia could start a major war in Europe within 5 years, Danish intelligence warns

An updated threat assessment warns of the consequences of a divided NATO and an absent U.S.

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.

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]

Trump demands $500B in rare earths from Ukraine for continued support

“We have to get something. We canโ€™t continue to pay this money,โ€ U.S. president says.

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.

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.

Trump team to visit Ukraine this week, Zelenskyy says

A “serious” American delegation will visit Ukraine, the Ukrainian president said.

Greece presses France over missile sale to Turkey

Turkey wants to buy Eurofighters equipped with air-to-air Meteor missiles.

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.

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.

The โ€˜Gaza-ificationโ€™ of the West Bank

With a cease-fire holding in Gaza, Israel shifts its war to the West Bank.

Trump is rattling Europe. Heโ€™s sending Vance as his emissary.

The vice president will mingle with world leaders in Munich and Paris at a time when the White House has made clear itโ€™s not afraid to shred old alliances.

Israel withdraws troops from key Gaza corridor under fragile cease-fire

Concerns are growing about talks on the second phase of the cease-fire deal.

Germany reportedly suspects Russia after drone sightings over key airbase

Mysterious drones have repeatedly infiltrated a German base where Ukrainian troops train on Patriot systems, sparking an espionage probe and exposing gaps in Berlinโ€™s air defense.

Trumpโ€™s plan for โ€˜ethnic cleansingโ€™ in Gaza is illegal, says UN investigator

Navi Pillay, head of UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, also said she would support a charge of apartheid against Israel at the ICC.

Trump says heโ€™s spoken with Putin about ending Ukraine war: NY Post

Russian leader “wants to see people stop dying,” Trump tells the newspaper in an interview.

Zelenskyy signals diplomatic push to win over Trump

Kyiv wants to secure the U.S. administration on its side before any peace talks with Russia.