Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said he held an “important” final phone call after the G7 with US president Donald Trump and French president Emmanuel Macron.
“This was an important coordinating conversation which could change a great deal,” Zelensky said.
“I am grateful to President Trump for his attention to Ukraine and for his readiness to help bring peace closer. I am grateful to Emmanuel for the excellent organisation of the summit and the consistently strong joint work,” he said.
Just hours earlier, Trump said that Vladimir Putin needs the war in Ukraine to end as Moscow is losing more troops than Kyiv.
Speaking at the G7 summit, the US president described Russia as the “offensive” party in the conflict in an apparent shift in his stance towards the war.
Zelensky and his allies came to the G7 hoping to convince Trump that Ukraine’s fightback is delivering results, and that Russia is in no position to dictate terms for any peace deal.
Trump showed a “real change in approach” regarding the war, Macron said earlier in the day. Other European leaders made similar comments.
Zelensky will join Ukraine alliance meeting at Nato, Rutte says
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will join a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, an alliance that provides military aid for Kyiv, at Nato headquarters in Brussels today, secretary general Mark Rutte said.
The meeting comes after Zelensky also attended a gathering of G7 leaders in France, which ended with a joint statement of support for Kyiv and a vow to increase pressure on Russia.
Timeline of UK-Russia incidents at sea since the war in Ukraine began
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is investigating after a Russian warship fired warning shots at a British yacht that came near it in the English Channel.
The Admiral Grigorovich, a Russian frigate, fired warning shots after making attempts to contact the yacht, the MoD claimed, in order to prevent a potential collision. Russia’s defence ministry has claimed its sailors were acting “in strict accordance” with international shipping regulations.
While this is being viewed as an isolated incident, it came days after tensions between the UK and Russia spiked when Britain seized a sanctioned vessel transiting through the Channel.
Timeline of UK-Russia incidents at sea since the war in Ukraine began
The incident between the yacht and the Admiral Grigorovich is the latest friction to occur between the UK and Russia at seaArpan Rai18 June 2026 06:16
Ukrainian drone attack kills one in Russia’s Belgorod
In Russia’s Belgorod border region, local officials said a Ukrainian drone strike killed one man in his car.
On Wednesday, Moscow had accused Ukraine of attacking a bus carrying Belarusian schoolchildren, an accusation Kyiv said was “false”.
In the southern Russian region of Rostov, a Ukrainian drone attack killed one, injured two and caused a fire at two commercial facilities, local officials said.
Macron says Trump ‘took note of fact Russia does not want peace’
Emmanuel Macron has said that president Donald Trump “took notice” of the fact that Russia was not seeking peace.
Speaking at a press conference at the G7 summit, the French president said Washington acknowledged that Moscow was not looking to end its war in Ukraine.
He said the G7 had “showed a real change in the approach from the US on Ukraine”.
Trump had earlier suggested that the US could impose sanctions on Russia if it did not take steps to end the war.
Watch: Trump claims Moscow losing more troops than Kyiv as he admits Putin on ‘the offensive’
Kyiv attacked hours after Trump counts Putin’s battlefield losses
Kyiv has come under attack from Russian missiles in the early hours today, Kyiv authorities said, as they urged residents to take shelter.
A Reuters witness heard explosions in Kyiv and authorities in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy said one person was killed in a drone attack.
Air strike alerts were issued for most of Ukraine’s territory.
“The enemy is attacking the capital with ballistic missiles. Stay in safe places until the air raid alert is over!” Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said in a Telegram post early on Thursday.
The attack came just hours after Trump said Russia was losing more soldiers than Ukraine, after he suggested that both Russian president Vladimir Putin and Zelensky seemed open to doing something about the war.
Flames and thick plumes of smoke seen in Moscow district
Thick plumes of smoke with flames were seen in the early hours of Thursday in southeastern Kapotnya district in the Russian capital of Moscow, a Reuters witness said.
It was not immediately clear what the source of the fire was. The Moscow oil refinery is located in the area. Over three dozen drones heading for Moscow were downed overnight, mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram.
Zelensky says he spoke to Trump and Macron after G7 summit
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said late on Wednesday he had spoken to US president Donald Trump and French president Emmanuel Macron in a “coordinating conversation” at the close of the G7 summit in Evian.
“This was an important coordinating conversation which could change a great deal,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
“I am grateful to President Trump for his attention to Ukraine and for his readiness to help bring peace closer. I am grateful to Emmanuel for the excellent organisation of the summit and the consistently strong joint work,” he said.
Zelensky, in a subsequent post on Telegram, said he had discussed the outcome of the Evian summit with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte in Brussels.”The main thing is working on strengthening our defence and getting US licences to produce air defence systems,” Zelensky wrote.
One killed as drones spark fire at two commercial facilities in Russia’s Rostov
A drone attack killed one, injured another two people and caused a fire at two commercial facilities in the southern Russian region of Rostov, regional governor Yuri Slyusar said on Telegram.
He added that a locomotive was also damaged after drones attacked the town of Gukovo, saying that defence systems continued to repel the attack.
In full: Timeline of UK-Russia incidents at sea since the war in Ukraine began
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is investigating after a Russian warship fired warning shots at a British yacht that came near it in the English Channel.
The Admiral Grigorovich, a Russian frigate, fired warning shots after making attempts to contact the yacht, the MoD claimed, in order to prevent a potential collision. Russia’s defence ministry has claimed its sailors were acting “in strict accordance” with international shipping regulations.
While this is being viewed as an isolated incident, it came days after tensions between the UK and Russia spiked when Britain seized a sanctioned vessel transiting through the Channel.
Here’s a timeline of the UK-Russia incidents at sea since the war in Ukraine began:
Timeline of UK-Russia incidents at sea since the war in Ukraine began
The incident between the yacht and the Admiral Grigorovich is the latest friction to occur between the UK and Russia at seaJames Reynolds18 June 2026 03:00NewerOlder