Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held talks on October 10 with British, French, and Italian leaders as part of a push to secure additional military and financial aid.
The visit comes as Kyiv confronts relentless daily air strikes and a grinding Russian offensive in the east that is making incremental progress.
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Zelenskiy met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris after talks in London with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who was in Kyiv last week after taking over at the helm of the military alliance.
Zelenskiy said on X that he "outlined the details" of his proposed "victory plan" to defeat Russian forces in his meeting with Starmer, Macron, Rutte, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome. He added that he and the other leaders agreed to work on the plan together but gave no details on what it says.
Zelenskiy said they discussed transatlantic cooperation and further reinforcing Ukraine militarily, adding, “These are the steps that will create the best conditions for restoring a just peace.”
After meeting with Zelenskiy, Meloni announced that Rome would host the next "recovery conference" to help Ukraine's reconstruction.
"Ukraine is not alone, and we will stand with it for as long as needed," Meloni told reporters, setting the meeting date for July 10-11, 2025.
Zelenskiy has said the war with Russia is at a critical point as the U.S presidential election approaches and winter set to arrive in Ukraine.
"The next peace summit has to be in November. The plan will be on the table.... Early November the plan will [have] all the details," Zelenskiy told reporters in Paris when asked about a potential peace conference. He dismissed any talk of a cease-fire.
Zelenskiy's trip comes after a summit of the Ramstein group of Ukraine's main backers was canceled at short notice when U.S. officials, including President Joe Biden, abandoned their travel plans as southern U.S. states braced for Hurricane Milton.
The Ukrainian leader is also scheduled to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican on October 11 and then travel to Germany for consultations with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
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The White House said in a statement that Biden spoke to Scholz on October 10 and noted "his intention to continue our strong collaboration on geopolitical priorities, including supporting Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression."
The United States has been Ukraine's main backer and by far the main contributor in terms of financial and military aid, but a victory by Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump in the election could cast doubt about Washington's continued support for Kyiv.
On October 9, Zelenskiy attended a summit with Balkan leaders in Croatia, where he stressed the importance of European unity for a durable peace.
"No one in Europe needs to be reminded how precious peace is, especially here in the Balkans. What happens here in the Balkans and what happens in Ukraine in a way determines the stability of the whole of Europe," Zelenskiy said.
Summit participants passed a declaration condemning Russia's aggression against Ukraine and supporting Zelenskiy's peace efforts, Ukraine's membership in NATO, and its reconstruction after the war.
On the battlefield, outmanned and outgunned Ukrainian forces were fighting Russian troops inside the strategic city of Toretsk in the eastern region of Donetsk after abandoning Vuhledar, another strategic hub in the region, last week.
Russian forces, meanwhile, shelled Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhya regions, wounding several people and causing further destruction, regional authorities reported.
Separately, Ukraine's air force reported that it had downed 41 Russian drones out of 62 launched early on October 10 at targets in the Odesa, Poltava, and Donetsk regions.
Authorities raised the number killed in a strike on Odesa from six to eight. Authorities said Russian forces launched a missile attack on the port on October 9.
The two victims were a 26-year-old man and a 46-year-old dock worker. Both died in the hospital from injuries they sustained in the attack, regional Governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram.