On the 1,128th day of a war that has reshaped the architecture of European security, leaders gathered in Paris to imagine what peace might require — only to find that one side had not yet finished with war. Macron offered Ukraine's unconditional ceasefire gesture as evidence of courage, and Russia's layered counter-demands as evidence of appetite. The coalition assembling around Ukraine speaks the language of diplomacy while stocking the arsenals of contingency, understanding that in this moment, the two are not contradictions but companions.
Macron: Russia shows 'desire for war' as European leaders meet on Ukraine security
Four killed and six injured across Ukraine overnight; nine injured in Kharkiv drone attack; 4,000 North Korean troops killed or wounded in 2024; 23 Ukrainian prisoners convicted on terrorism charges facing 13-23 year sentences.
Russia still wanted to fight while Ukraine reached for peace
Mark
Why does Macron keep saying Russia wants war when both sides are supposedly talking?
Mimi
Because the talking and the fighting are happening at the same time. Ukraine offered a ceasefire with no conditions. Russia said no, but only if the West lifts sanctions and gives it access to the global banking system. That's not negotiating toward peace—that's negotiating toward concessions.
Mark
So nothing has actually stopped?
Mimi
Nothing. Russia claims it paused strikes on energy infrastructure. But the drones keep hitting power plants. Kharkiv got hit with twelve strikes in one night. Four people dead across the country. The ceasefire exists only in announcements.
Mark
What about the peacekeeping troops they're discussing in Paris?
Mimi
They're planning for a peace that doesn't exist yet. If a real ceasefire happens, these countries would station troops to monitor it. But first you need the ceasefire. Right now you have countries preparing for something that might never come.
Mark
Why would Russia keep fighting if it's in these talks?
Mimi
Because it's winning on the ground. It can demand sanctions relief and banking access because it has leverage. Ukraine is the one taking risks by offering peace. Russia is taking none.
Mark
What about those Ukrainian prisoners convicted as terrorists?
Mimi
Twenty-three of them. Soldiers and support staff. Russia sentenced them to thirteen to twenty-three years. Ukraine says they're prisoners of war, not criminals. It's a way of delegitimizing the people fighting against you—calling them terrorists instead of soldiers.
Mark
And North Korea is involved now?
Mimi
Three thousand more troops sent this year. Four thousand of the ones sent last year are already dead or wounded. It's a proxy war expanding in real time, drawing in countries from across the world.
El Pulso
- Ukraine offered thirty days of unconditional ceasefire and Russia responded not with silence but with new demands — sanctions relief, Swift access, and continued missile strikes on civilian infrastructure.
- A 'coalition of the willing' is quietly preparing to station peacekeeping troops on Ukrainian soil, while France simultaneously announced €2 billion in fresh military aid — peace talks and war preparations running on parallel tracks.
- The gap between negotiating positions is vast: the US may consider easing sanctions, but the EU will only lift them upon full Russian withdrawal, and Russia's price for a Black Sea shipping pause is the dismantling of the West's financial pressure campaign.
- Overnight, 117 drones were launched at Ukraine — nine wounded in Kharkiv, four killed across the country — as Russia claimed to honor an energy infrastructure truce that Ukrainian power plants, still burning, could not confirm.
- Twenty-three Ukrainians, including nine women who served as cooks and support staff, were convicted of terrorism in Russian courts and sentenced to up to twenty-three years, a legal verdict Ukraine's ombudsman called a crime dressed as justice.
- A US-Ukraine critical minerals deal — reversed, then un-reversed by the White House — awaits signatures that may come next week, its uncertain choreography a mirror of how fragile every agreement in this conflict remains.
On the 1,128th day of a war that has reshaped the architecture of European security, leaders gathered in Paris to imagine what peace might require — only to find that one side had not yet finished with war. Macron offered Ukraine's unconditional ceasefire gesture as evidence of courage, and Russia's layered counter-demands as evidence of appetite. The coalition assembling around Ukraine speaks the language of diplomacy while stocking the arsenals of contingency, understanding that in this moment, the two are not contradictions but companions.
On the 1,128th day of war, European leaders gathered in Paris to sketch the outline of a peace that has not yet arrived. Emmanuel Macron opened with a blunt diagnosis: Russia still wanted to fight. Ukraine had offered a thirty-day ceasefire with no conditions attached, and Moscow had refused it, piling on new demands instead. Macron called Ukraine's gesture courageous. He left Russia's response unnamed, but the meaning was clear.
The meeting convened a loose 'coalition of the willing' — countries led by Britain and France prepared to deploy peacekeeping troops to Ukraine if a genuine truce could be reached and held. The day before, Macron had announced a €2 billion military aid package for Kyiv, with weapons ready to move from existing French stockpiles. The dual signal was deliberate: Europe was talking peace while preparing for war to continue.
Russia's terms for even a partial ceasefire — halting attacks on Black Sea shipping — included lifting Western sanctions and restoring its access to Swift. The EU refused unless Russia withdrew all forces unconditionally. The US left the door slightly ajar on sanctions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged the distance between positions with careful understatement: a deal 'won't be simple.'
The war did not pause for the diplomacy. Russia had declared a moratorium on striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure, but Ukrainian power plants kept burning. A mass drone attack on Kharkiv sent twelve drones into the city overnight, wounding nine and starting four fires. Across Ukraine, four people were killed and six wounded. The air force intercepted fifty-six of 117 incoming drones; nearly half the rest were decoys. Zelenskyy's response to questions about Russian intentions was simple: look at the strikes.
Elsewhere in the war's widening orbit, South Korea reported that North Korea had sent three thousand additional troops to Russia in 2025 alone. Of the eleven thousand deployed the previous year, four thousand had been killed or wounded. In a Russian courtroom, twenty-three captured Ukrainians — including fourteen Azov fighters and nine women who had served as cooks — were convicted of terrorism and sentenced to between thirteen and twenty-three years. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman called the verdicts illegal. They were soldiers, he said, not criminals.
In Washington, a critical minerals agreement between the US and Ukraine — granting American access to rare earth elements essential for technology and defense — was under final review. The Treasury secretary suggested signatures could come the following week. The deal had already been declared dead once before Trump reversed course. The reversals and pivots surrounding every element of these negotiations pointed to the same fragile truth: the ground beneath any agreement remained deeply, dangerously unsettled.
On the 1,128th day of war, European leaders gathered in Paris on Thursday to discuss what security might look like if the fighting ever stopped. Emmanuel Macron opened the meeting with a stark assessment: Russia, he said, still wanted to fight. The French president had watched Ukraine offer a ceasefire with no strings attached—thirty days of nothing, no conditions—and watched Russia refuse it, instead layering on new demands. Kyiv, Macron said, had shown courage by reaching for peace. Moscow had shown something else.
The gathering brought together what diplomats were calling a "coalition of the willing"—a loose alliance of countries, led by Britain and France, willing to station peacekeeping troops on Ukrainian soil if a truce could actually be negotiated and held. The timing mattered. On Wednesday, Macron had announced a fresh €2 billion military aid package for Ukraine, with France prepared to move weapons from its existing stockpiles quickly. The message was layered: we are talking peace, but we are also preparing for war to continue.
Yet there was no ceasefire. Not even the outline of one. Russia had made its position clear: it would agree to stop attacks on Black Sea shipping—a critical economic lifeline for Ukraine—but only if the West lifted sanctions and restored its access to Swift, the international banking system that connects the world's financial institutions. The United States said it might consider the sanctions question. The European Union said it would only lift sanctions if Russia withdrew all its forces unconditionally from Ukrainian territory. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, acknowledged the gap between these positions with diplomatic understatement: reaching a deal "won't be simple," he said, but at least the conversation was happening.
Meanwhile, the war continued as if no one were talking at all. Russia claimed to be observing a month-long pause on strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure—a declaration Vladimir Putin had made—but Ukrainian power plants kept burning. Russian drones and missiles kept coming. On Wednesday night into Thursday, a mass attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, sent at least twelve drones into the urban center. Nine people were wounded. Four fires broke out. The mayor counted the strikes. In Dnipro, further south, another drone attack ignited more fires. Across the country overnight, four people were killed and six wounded. The Ukrainian air force shot down fifty-six of 117 incoming drones; another forty-eight were decoys that caused no damage anyway.
Russia accused Ukraine of breaking a ceasefire that did not exist. It claimed Kyiv had targeted gas storage in Crimea—which is actually Ukrainian territory—and Ukraine denied it. Zelenskyy's response was simpler: Russia's continued bombardment was the answer to whether it wanted peace. The strikes spoke louder than any negotiator.
North Korea had sent three thousand more troops to Russia so far in 2025, according to South Korea's military. Of the eleven thousand North Korean soldiers deployed in 2024, four thousand had been killed or wounded. The war was drawing in actors from across the globe, each with their own stakes and calculations.
In another courtroom, in Russia, twenty-three captured Ukrainians were convicted of terrorism. Fourteen were fighters from the Azov brigade. Nine were women and one man who had worked as cooks and support staff. They received sentences ranging from thirteen to twenty-three years in prison. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman called the verdicts illegal. These were soldiers, he said, not criminals. They had been doing their duty. Russia called them terrorists.
Back in Washington, relations between Kyiv and the White House were described as "back on track" after a tense encounter the previous month. A critical minerals deal between the United States and Ukraine—one that would give America access to rare earth elements vital for technology and defense—was being reviewed by Ukrainian officials. The US treasury secretary said signatures might come the following week. A week earlier, the White House had said it was moving past that deal to focus on peace. Then Trump reversed course and said it would be signed "very shortly." The choreography of these negotiations, the reversals and the pivots, suggested how fragile the ground remained.
Citas Notables
Russia still shows a desire for war despite efforts toward a ceasefire— Emmanuel Macron
Ukrainian prisoners of war are combatants, not criminals. They were fulfilling their duty to the state— Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman
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