One thread runs through today's coverage: Europe is racing to arm and secure itself while being squeezed from both the diplomatic table and its own industrial base.

Ukraine diplomacy

  • Ukraine, Russia and the US begin their first trilateral talks in over nine months in Abu Dhabi, with European officials attending but reportedly shut out of Russia-facing sessions despite the EU's insistence that no settlement can bypass Kyiv or Europe (more).
  • US officials frame the goal as a 'final end' to the war rather than a ceasefire, and Trump says he detects a 'strong inclination' to end it, leaving open whether a deal struck with Europe partly sidelined can hold or protect its security interests (more).

Europe's rearmament under strain

  • Czech strategic-information expert Daniel Bagge says Russia is answering Europe's rearmament push with psychological pressure on arms-industry executives, not just propaganda, after Washington signaled it would no longer automatically guarantee European security — though the claim names no companies or incidents (more).
  • European governments are pooling defense purchases — a three-country anti-tank missile buy, a possible Slovenia-Germany rocket-launcher order, a faster NATO counter-drone push — and a new EU directive eases moving weapons across borders (more).
  • The catch: defense factories still expand production only after a contract is signed, so political urgency to rearm together may outpace what gets delivered on a useful timeline (more).