Key events
‘You are always a welcome guest in Ukraine,’ Zelenskyy tells Starmer
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy also responded to Starmer setting out his plans to resign as Britain’s PM, telling him he would always be “a welcome guest” in Ukraine for his support to the wartorn country.
In a statement on his social media, he said:
“Keir, thank you for all our cooperation, your support, and the joint decisions that have helped make our Europe and our protection of life stronger.
The United Kingdom has been, is, and will remain among the world’s leaders. Here in Ukraine, we deeply value Britain, and every meeting and every conversation we have had has always been filled with real substance.
Thank you for always being in touch, always engaged, and always striving to do what is needed and what will truly help.
I wish the United Kingdom and all British people every success as well as realisation of your national goals. We have confidence in Britain.
Keir, you are always a welcome guest in Ukraine.”
EU and UK ‘reassessing’ the planned summit on bilateral partnership set for July
Jennifer Rankin
Brussels correspondent
Meanwhile, the EU and the UK are “reassessing” a summit planned for 22 July, a European Commission spokesperson has said.
The annual EU-UK summit was confirmed only last week, after weeks of postponements and uncertainty.
The European Commission’s chief spokesperson, Paula Pinho, said “against the announcement this morning” EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa and the UK were “reassessing … the opportunity of holding the summit”.
Von der Leyen also separately paid tribute this morning to Keir Starmer in a social media post soon after his resignation.
She said:
“It can take many leaders years to grow into the statesman you became in just two years.
European and Ukrainian security is stronger because of you.
Thank you, dear Keir.”
Ukraine intensifies attacks on Crimea to raise cost of Russian occupation
Pjotr Sauer
Ukraine has stepped up its strikes on Crimea as part of a strategy to isolate the occupied peninsula from mainland Russia and raise the cost of the occupation.
On Sunday, Russian-installed authorities suspended civilian fuel sales until at least Wednesday, a move that underscored Ukraine’s growing ability to disrupt supply lines linking Crimea to Russia.
“Fuel will be sold only to government agencies that ensure the functioning and security of the Republic of Crimea,” the Russian-appointed governor, Sergei Aksyonov, said. “I ask everyone to remain calm and only trust official sources of information.”
Local authorities also announced that parts of the peninsula would be left without street lighting and that all public events had been cancelled.
A wave of Ukrainian medium-range strikes has targeted occupied Crimea and the transport routes connecting it to Russia in recent weeks. Kyiv hopes to turn the peninsula “into an island” by disrupting Russian supply chains and isolating Crimea from mainland Russia.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Sunday that a Crimean oil depot and an oil transport facility in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region were among the targets. He described the attacks as part of Ukraine’s campaign of “long-range sanctions” against Russia.
Ukrainian Telegram channels also reported that Kyiv had struck at least three Russian ferries transporting vehicles operating on the Kerch crossing between Crimea and mainland Russia.
Ukraine has focused its strikes on the main transport routes supplying Crimea, particularly the Novorossiya highway, a key logistics corridor linking the peninsula to Russia’s Rostov region through the occupied cities of Melitopol and Mariupol.
Zelenskyy criticises Russia for overnight strikes and ‘unjustifiable killings’ in Ukraine
Back to Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has condemned the overnight Russian strikes on Ukraine, drawing on the importance of the Russian Day of Memory and Sorrow, the anniversary of the 1941 Nazi Germany invasion of the Soviet Union.
“Yet today, Russia began this day not by honoring those who fell in World War II, and not with signals that could help bring the current war – Russia’s war against Ukraine – closer to an end. Instead, it began with more completely unjustifiable killings,” he said.
“This Russian war has no justifiable cause. Putin was driven by exactly the same motives as the aggressors who came before him. He shows the same contempt for human life. He is just as delusional about this absurd ‘empire’ of his that nobody needs. This war must be brought to an end.”
Trump doubles down on his criticism of Italy’s Meloni
Following Trump’s extraordinary criticism of Meloni in a brief interview with Italy’s La7 on Fridayand her absolute denial that she was “begging” him for a photo, as we reported before the weekend, the US president doubled down again on Sunday.
In a post on Truth Social, he said:
“After spending Trillions of Dollars on Nato, Italy, and its Prime Minister, wouldn’t even think of becoming involved with the Islamic Republic of Iran and their very serious Nuclear Threat. For decades, we defend them but, when tested, they are not there to defend us, and the rest of the World. Not good!”
E5 leaders to meet in Berlin for talks on Ukraine this week, Italy says
Starmer has pledged to continue in the job until his successor is chosen, and it looks like this will take him to Germany this week.
The leaders of Europe’s top military powers will meet on Wednesday in Berlin, Italy said.
The Italian government said prime minister Giorgia Meloni – fresh from another clash with the US president, Donald Trump – would attend the meeting along with her British, French, German and Polish counterparts.
Jakub Krupa
Starmer’s proposed timetable – with the nomination process starting on 9 July – could be intended to coincide with the Nato summit in Ankara, ending the day before.
UK prime minister Starmer announces plans to resign from post
Oof.
Over in the UK, Keir Starmer has announced his intention to resign from the post of the leader of the Labour Party and the British prime minister.
He wants the party to set out a timetable with nominations for his successor opening on 9 July, and to be completed by the summer recess. If there is a contest on who should succeed him, he hopes it will be completed before the parliament returns in September.
Starmer will stay on in post until the process is complete.
He is the sixth British PM out of the job in the 10 years since the Brexit referendum in 2016, the anniversary of which is tomorrow.
And a group of protesters outside 10 Downing Street are playing the EU’s anthem, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, on a loudspeaker as he speaks.
More details on our UK live blog:
Ukraine and Poland’s bitter dispute over past casts shadow on contemporary relations
Separately, Ukraine and Poland are embroiled in a bitter dispute over Kyiv’s decision to rename a contemporary Ukrainian army unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).
Poland holds it responsible for ethnic killings of up to 100,000 Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia during the second world war – and in 2016 adopted a parliamentary resolution calling it a genocide – but it is celebrated in Ukraine for their fight for Ukrainian independence and resistance against the Soviet forces.
On Friday, Polish president Karol Nawrocki stripped Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the country’s top honour in retaliation for the move, prompting three former Ukrainian presidents and other senior officials to also return their state awards to Poland.
Announcing his decision on Friday night, Nawrocki said:
“Poland has repeatedly signalled the particular importance of this issue to the Ukrainian side. We conveyed our position and expectation that the consequences of this decision for relations between our states be reconsidered. Ultimately, the position of the Ukrainian side did not change. History should not be an obstacle to the future, but a good future can only be built on truth.”
In an interview posted on X last night, Zelenskyy said Ukraine and Poland cannot be “anything but partners and friends,” but warned that a political struggle could end in a “very dangerous escalation.”
But he blamed the Polish president for the conflict, claiming he is on political manoeuvres ahead of Poland’s 2027 parliamentary elections.
“Our service members choose a heroic name for their unit themselves, and as president and supreme commander-in-chief, I must support them,” he said. “Without Ukraine, no one will be able to defend Poland. It is simply impossible.”
Poland’s pro-European prime minister Donald Tusk – who previously distanced himself from Nawrocki’s decision – said that rekindling the old disagreements was “a strategic mistake that will harm both sides: business-wise, geopolitically, and reputationally.”
Zelenskyy was widely expected to attend the Ukraine Recovery Conference in the Polish city of Gdańsk later this week, but this is no longer certain, putting the hosts in a potentially embarrasing position of having to talk about Ukraine without its leader.
One to watch this week.
Morning opening: Ukrainian drones briefly disrupt Moscow’s airports as Zelenskyy pledges to ‘bring war back to Russia’
Jakub Krupa
Nearly 60 Ukrainian drones were intercepted heading for Moscow last night, forcing the capital’s airports to briefly suspend its operations during the attack.
In total, Russia reportedly downed just over 300 drones across the country.
Meanwhile, a Russian drone attack killed three members of one family, including a 13-year-old boy, in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, regional prosecutors said, as quoted by Reuters.
Last night, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview that “our defence industry, our defence forces … have begun the process of bringing the war back to Russia.”
“The Russians are attacking us every day – and we will strike back every day. Our response will grow stronger with each passing day.”
It is the latest sign of the momentum shifting in the Russian aggression of Ukraine, as discussed by the G7 and EU leaders last week.
Elsewhere, I will be obviously keeping an eye on the UK where prime minister Keir Starmer could announce plans for his exit from the post today, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum in 2016.
Our main UK coverage, led by Andrew Sparrow, is here:
But I will be also looking at yet another day of extreme temperatures across Europe, two high-profile diplomatic spats between Trump and Italy’s Meloni and Zelenskyy and Poland’s Nawrocki, and other news lines from across the continent.
It’s Monday, 22 June 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
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