Ukraine's Zelenskyy calls for Europe's help in buying artillery shells
Funding ask not immediately endorsed by European leaders in Brussels
European Union leaders said on Thursday that they will continue to support Ukraine, but they did not immediately endorse a call by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to approve a package of at least five billion euros ($7.8 billion Cdn) for artillery purchases.
"We need funds for artillery shells and would really appreciate Europe's support ... as soon as possible," Zelenskyy told the EU leaders meeting in Brussels via video link.
Arriving at the summit in Brussels, the bloc's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas had also called on leaders to match words of support for Kyiv with deeds, as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes ahead with his efforts to end the war, including through a rapprochement with Russia.
"The stronger they are on the battlefield, the stronger they are behind the negotiation table," Kallas said of the Ukrainians.
In the statement approved by all leaders at the meeting — apart from Hungary's Viktor Orban — they pledged to "continue to provide Ukraine with regular and predictable financial support." They also said member states should "urgently step up efforts to address Ukraine's pressing military and defence needs."
But there was no concrete answer on Kallas's proposal to focus on what Zelenskyy says he needs most urgently, such as two million artillery shells at a cost of five billion euros (around $7.8 billion Cdn).
Kallas has already scaled back a proposal to pledge up to 40 billion euros ($62.2 billion Cdn) in military aid to Ukraine this year, with each country contributing according to its economic size. This came after resistance from some countries, particularly in southern Europe.
Zelenskyy sheds more light on Trump call
Zelenskyy said Thursday that Ukrainian experts would be present at upcoming talks involving the United States and Russia, but would not be in the same room as Russia.
Russian and U.S. experts are due to discuss ways to ensure the safety of shipping in the Black Sea during Monday talks in Saudi Arabia about a possible peace settlement, the Kremlin has said.
The Ukrainian leader also said Thursday he had not discussed with Trump the potential U.S. ownership of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has been occupied by Russia since shortly after it invaded in February 2022.
According to a White House statement from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz concerning a Trump-Zelenskyy call on Wednesday, the pair of leaders "discussed Ukraine's electrical supply and nuclear power plants."
Zelenskyy also told reporters in Norway that Trump has not raised questions about the status of Russian-occupied Crimea during talks with him. He was being asked about reports that the U.S. president is considering recognizing the peninsula as part of Russia.
As the Brussels summit proceeded, senior military officers from countries across Europe and beyond were meeting Thursday outside London to flesh out plans for an international peacekeeping force for Ukraine.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the "coalition of the willing" plan, led by Britain and France, is moving into an "operational phase." But it's unclear how many countries are willing to send troops, in addition to whether there will be any ceasefire to begin with.
Initial Kursk reports questioned
Meanwhile, Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk have lost ground in recent days but are not encircled by Russian forces, three U.S. and European officials familiar with their governments' intelligence assessments told Reuters. This is contrary to recent comments by Trump and Putin.
U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA, have shared that assessment with the White House over the past week, a U.S. official and another person familiar with the matter said. However, Trump has continued to claim that Ukrainian troops are surrounded in western Russia's Kursk region.
In a social media post on March 14, Trump said he had asked the Russian president to spare the lives of thousands of Ukrainians who he said were "completely surrounded" and vulnerable. Putin said that he would do so if they surrendered. Trump repeated the claim in a Fox News interview on Tuesday.
The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based conflict monitor, said on March 14 that it had "observed no geolocated evidence to indicate that Russian forces have encircled a significant number of Ukrainian forces in Kursk Oblast or elsewhere along the frontline in Ukraine."
The U.S. National Security Council did not respond directly to questions about the intelligence assessments but referred Reuters to the joint statement from Rubio and Waltz.
The White House, the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence all declined to comment.
Zelenskyy's office and the Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Zelenskyy has denied that Ukrainian forces are surrounded and said Putin was lying about the reality on the ground. The Ukrainian leader acknowledged his military is in a difficult position in Kursk and that he expects continued attacks from Russia as it attempts to push Ukrainian forces out of the region.
Russian base struck
In fighting Thursday, Ukraine struck a major Russian strategic bomber airfield with drones, triggering a huge blast and fire about 700 kilometres from the front lines of the war, Russian and Ukrainian officials said.
Videos verified by Reuters showed a huge blast spreading out from the airfield, wrecking nearby cottages. Russia's defence ministry said air defences had shot down 132 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions.
Other verified videos showed a giant plume of smoke rising into the dawn sky and an intense fire.
The base in Engels, which dates back to Soviet times, hosts Russia's Tupolev Tu-160 nuclear-capable heavy strategic bombers, known unofficially as White Swans.
Ukraine's defence ministry said its forces had struck the airfield and triggered secondary detonations of ammunition. Kyiv said Russia had used the Engels base to carry out strikes on Ukraine.
Ten people were injured in the attack, local officials said.