Ukraine’s first step towards the EU club is a huge moment – but Putin will do all he can to thwart it
It had all the makings of one of those nightmare EU summits.
A crucially important meeting that would drag on rancorously late beyond the end of the week.
The villain of the piece, Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban – whose critics call him Putin’s puppet – had arrived looking up for a fight.
There was nothing to discuss, he said, when it came to talks on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
Ukraine-Russia war latest updates
But by early evening a summit surprise – striding into the reporters’ hall, EU Council president Charles Michel had a breakthrough to announce.
The EU had approved the start of talks on Ukraine joining the union. Hungary‘s opposition had appeared to crumble.
This is a huge moment for Ukraine. Ukrainians have a chance now to meet the destiny they set themselves almost a decade ago when they rose up to throw off Russian domination.
And it gives them even more to fight for.
It will be a massive boost to morale as they prepare for a long hard winter, with their infrastructure set to be pummelled again and again by armadas of Russian drones.
And not a moment too soon. As EU leaders were meeting in Brussels, in Moscow, their antagonist, President Putin, was sounding as belligerent as ever.
President Zelenskyy and EU leaders in February
Ursula von der Leyen, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Charles Michel at an EU summit in February
He spelt it out again: his war is about destroying Ukraine as a country.
Ukraine’s cities, he said, were Russian – the conflict is a civil war because Ukrainians are really Russians.
If he prevails, today’s diplomatic victory for President Zelenskyy will be irrelevant; there will be no Ukraine to join the EU.
And that is not out of the question now.
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For all its Western-supplied tanks, Western training and Western strategising, Ukraine’s counteroffensive has ended in failure – casting considerable doubt over what happens next.
Russia has learned from its mistakes and is being armed faster by autocratic allies than Ukraine is by the West. And Putin has time on his side.
There is talk of fatigue setting in in Western capitals. Divisions in Washington and Brussels could jeopardise future Western support.
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There will be many more stages in Ukraine’s years-long effort to join the EU, each one with the chance of undoing its chances.
But make no mistake. This is a big deal for Ukraine – another major step westwards and away from Russia.
And make no mistake either about Vladimir Putin’s determination to do whatever it takes to thwart it.
Donald Trump has threatened Russia with more sanctions after a series of deadly strikes across Ukraine, as he said of Vladimir Putin: “What the hell happened to him?”
The US president appeared aghast at the conduct of his counterpart in the Kremlin after drone and missile attacks in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities left 12 people dead and dozens more injured.
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Speaking to reporters at an airport in New Jersey ahead of a flight back to Washington, Mr Trump said: “I’m not happy with Putin. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”
“He’s killing a lot of people,” he added. “I’m not happy about that.”
Mr Trump – who said he’s “always gotten along with” Mr Putin – told reporters he would consider more sanctions against Moscow.
“He’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all,” he said.
Ukraine said the barrage of strikes overnight into Sunday was the biggest aerial attack of the war so far, with 367 drones and missiles fired by Russian forces.
It came despite Mr Trump repeatedly talking up the chances of a peace agreement. He even spoke to Mr Putin on the phone for two hours last week.
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Hundreds of drones fired at Ukraine
‘Shameful’ attacks
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready to sign a ceasefire deal, and suggested Russia isn’t serious about signing one.
In a statement after the latest attacks on his country, he urged the US and other national leaders to increase the pressure on Mr Putin, saying silence “only encourages” him.
Mr Trump’s envoy for the country, Keith Kellogg, later demanded a ceasefire, describing the Russian attacks as “shameful”.
Three children were among those killed in the attacks, explosions shaking the cities of Kyiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv.
Ukrainian siblings Tamara, 12, Stanislav, eight, and Roman, 17, were killed in Russian airstrikes. Pic: X/@Mariana_Betsa
Before the onslaught, Russia said it had faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday. It said around 100 were intercepted and destroyed near Moscow and in central and southern regions.
The violence has escalated despite Russia and Ukraine completing the exchange of 1,000 prisoners each over the past three days.
Donald Trump says he will delay the imposition of 50% tariffs on goods entering the United States from the European Union until July, as the two sides attempt to negotiate a trade deal.
It comes after the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a post on social media site X that she had spoken to Mr Trump and expressed that they needed until 9 July to “reach a good deal”.
The US president had last Friday threatened to bring in the 50% tariffs from 1 June, as European leaders said they were ready to respond with their own measures.
But Mr Trump has now said that date has been put back to 9 July to allow more time for negotiations with the 27-member bloc, with the phone call appearing to smooth over tensions for now at least.
Speaking on Sunday before boarding Air Force One for Washington DC, Mr Trump told reporters that he had spoken to Ms Von der Leyen and she “wants to get down to serious negotiations” and she vowed to “rapidly get together and see if we can work something out”.
The US president, in comments on his Truth Social platform, had reignited fears last Friday of a trade war between the two powers when he said talks were “going nowhere” and the bloc was “very difficult to deal with”.
Mr Trump told the media in Morristown, New Jersey, on Sunday that Ms Von der Leyen “just called me… and she asked for an extension in the June 1st date. And she said she wants to get down to serious negotiation”.
“We had a very nice call and I agreed to move it. I believe July 9th would be the date. That was the date she requested. She said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out,” the US president added.
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Shortly after, he wrote on Truth Social: “I agreed to the extension – July 9, 2025 – It was my privilege to do so.”
On his so-called “liberation day” last month, Mr Trump unleashed tariffs on many of America’s trade partners. But since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.
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Much of his most incendiary rhetoric on trade has been directed at Brussels, though, even going as far as to claim the EU was created to rip the US off.
Responding to his 50% tariff threat, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said: “EU-US trade is unmatched and must be guided by mutual respect, not threats.
“We stand ready to defend our interests.”
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