French President Emmanuel Macron is planning to host a group of European leaders on Thursday, March 27, to discuss Ukraine and security in Europe, three officials told us.

Here's the story: https://ow.ly/gsB850VlOaQ

Russia wants to return to the Olympic fold — and thinks the new leader of world sport could make it happen.

Here's the story: https://ow.ly/uaIQ50VlVgc

Europe's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, had high hopes of being able to mobilize as much as €40 billion of military aid to shore up Ukraine's position on the battlefield and strengthen its hand in upcoming talks with Russia.

But as EU leaders wound up their gathering in Brussels, the plan lay in tatters — not quite dead, but dramatically downgraded from its original ambition.

Read the story: https://ow.ly/214O50VlXyZ

The gathering of the European Council showed how badly EU leaders are stuck.

Locked out of the real action between Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, they find themselves trapped in a self-made loop of sometimes bizarre distractions and struggling to make progress on helping Ukraine or re-arming their own militaries.

Read our analysis: https://ow.ly/g0BA50VlXLY

Elon Musk has openly threatened Pentagon employees who may have leaked information that the tech billionaire was due to get a briefing on a potential American war with China.

Full story.

British and European officials and diplomats reacted with a mix of hurt and anger to the leak of private messages between top figures in Donald Trump’s US government about plans for air strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Here's the story: https://ow.ly/2x5y50VokHt

Every citizen should stockpile enough food to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours in case of a crisis, the European Commission is going to warn, according to a draft of its Preparedness Union Strategy seen by us.

Here's the story.

EU diplomats and officials have pointed to what they view as a series of missteps during EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas’ first few months on the job, from floating heavy proposals without buy-in to taking liberties with foreign policy statements.

Here's the story: https://ow.ly/iEra50VoGZL

Ukraine says that almost 20,000 Ukrainian children from the ages of 7 to 18 have been illegally taken from their homes in occupied territory to institutions set up by the Kremlin for indoctrination.

But there is a fundamental flaw in Putin’s project: There is perhaps no group of people on the planet that despises being told what to do more than teenagers.

Here's the story: https://ow.ly/1sIb50VoH8I

COMMENTARY: In recent years, Russia has repeatedly used Svalbard to experiment with different provocations.

And now, the Kremlin has accused Norway of militarizing the archipelago, creating a potential pretext for military action.

Read the commentary: https://ow.ly/YBFw50VoHcF

British Defence Secretary John Healey said his US counterpart has "absolutely got a case" in branding European nations "pathetic" and accusing them of "freeloading" over defense spending in a leaked Signal conversation.

Here's the story: https://ow.ly/WyVp50VoJQt

The Kremlin is not planning to hand over control of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe to Ukraine or any other nation.

Here's the story: https://ow.ly/zGAg50VoLvR

Poland is NATO’s biggest defense spender, has the EU's largest army, and is spending billions of euros on jets, rockets, tanks, artillery and more.

Now the frontline state is getting its population ready for war. 👉 https://ow.ly/AmEg50VpvTs

European leaders are meeting in Paris today against the backdrop of knowing they must find a way to retain their best bargaining chips over Russia ― even as the US may be negotiating them away. 👉 https://ow.ly/VMfx50Vpwm7

Roderich Kiesewetter, a close ally of Germany’s incoming chancellor, has warned that US policy on Ukraine is drifting dangerously. 👉 https://ow.ly/Vng350VpxHF

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and his Estonian counterpart, Hanno Pevkur, signaled willingness to help secure peace in Ukraine with boots on the ground — at least in theory.

Here's the story: https://ow.ly/c2Xp50VpO6U

Europe’s leaders cautioned Donald Trump against trusting Vladimir Putin as they again distanced themselves from any plan to relax sanctions on Russia as part of a ceasefire deal.

Here's the story: https://ow.ly/hXRJ50VqfMj

Vladimir Putin is getting “far too much” from US-led negotiations to end the war between Ukraine and Russia, Donald Trump’s British ally Nigel Farage warned today.

Here's the story: https://ow.ly/4jVI50Vqium

Officials in Kyiv have lambasted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to establish an interim government in Ukraine under the United Nations.

Here's the story: https://ow.ly/1l5o50VqjTV

The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office requested today that the Supreme Court ends a ban on the Taliban’s activities in the country.

Moscow’s foreign and justice ministries submitted an appeal last week to President Vladimir Putin urging the Taliban’s removal from Russia’s list of terrorist organizations.

Here's the story: https://ow.ly/hJXk50Vrybl