BRUSSELS: Volodymyr Zelensky thanked EU leaders on Thursday for standing by Ukraine’s side, as the bloc held crisis talks on confronting US President Donald Trump’s pivot away from Kyiv and its transatlantic partners.

Thursday’s European summit comes a week after a White House blow-up between Trump and Zelensky led Washington to cut the military aid and intelligence sharing that has helped Kyiv fight off Russia’s invasion.

“We are very thankful that we are not alone. And these are not just words,” the Ukrainian president said during the meeting. Germany’s likely next leader pledged a historical U-turn on defence. Von der Leyen, who has laid out a plan aimed at mobilising 800 billion euros to “re-arm Europe” faced with the threat from Russia, called it “a watershed moment” for the continent.

The EU’s 27 nations are expected to give a green light on Thursday to the commission’s defence plans, based largely on freeing states to spend much more — something the bloc’s two economic powerhouses look set to do. While EU nations were pledging to greenlight their defence plans to aid Ukraine, a Russian missile struck a hotel in Zelensky’s hometown that overnight killed three people and injured 31 with about half of them in serious condition, authorities confirmed on Thursday.

Ukraine opposition tells Trump allies no elections till peace

Moscow has kept up its bombardment of Ukraine even as rhetoric builds in Washington and Moscow on potential talks to halt the more than three-year war.

“Three people died in Kryvy Rig due to the night missile attack... Sincere condolences to the relatives,” said Sergiy Lysak, governor of Dnipropetrovsk region.

Ban on Kyiv elections

Ukrainian opposition leaders Petro Poroshenko and Yulia Tymoshenko on Thursday backed a ban on elections until peacetime after Washington officials reportedly held talks with their teams on holding a swift vote. Ukraine has banned elections under martial law, but Russia and US President Donald Trump’s team have argued President Volodymyr Zelensky is not a legitimate leader and called for elections.

US news outlet Politico reported that senior Trump allies had held secret discussions with Tymoshenko and senior members of Poroshenko’s party on whether the country could hold quick presidential elections.

Scandinavian boycott of US products

Scandinavian consumers outraged by US President Donald Trump’s Ukraine policy turnaround have begun boycotting goods and services “Made in USA” but are discovering just how difficult that can be at times. Several groups have emerged in recent days on social networks in Denmark and Sweden aimed at helping fellow consumers make alternate choices.

The Danish group “Boykot varer fra USA” and the Swedish group “Bojkotta varor fran USA” each had some 63,000 members on Thursday.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2025