L to R:: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, UK Prime MInister Keir Starmer, and French President Emmanuel Macron at 10 Downing Street, London, June 7, 2026

Sunday’s Coverage: Zelensky to Meet French, German, and UK Leaders in London

UPDATE 1242 GMT:

After the US-Israel assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader on February 28, Russia’s security services shut parts of a special surveillance system protecting President Vladimir Putin and his closest aides, according to “two people familiar with the matter”.

The system was only reactivated after engineers tried to hermetically seal it off from the Internet, said one source.

The Kremlin acted because Israeli intelligence harvested larges amounts of video footage from Iran’s traffic cameras to help pinpoint the exact location and timing of a meeting between the Supreme Leader and his closest aides.

The director of Russia’s State security service FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, cautioned regional security chiefs on May 26 that Russia’s vast surveillance apparatus has become a vulnerability.

“The recent elimination of senior Iranian officials by the US-Israel alliance is a clear warning sign,” he said. “The victims’ locations were identified, in part, through software ‘backdoors’ in Tehran’s video surveillance systems.”

UPDATE 1234 GMT:

Overnight Ukrainian drone strikes set afire a major oil depot near the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

Residents reported a series of around 50 blasts before dawn and heavy smoke over the Grushovaya storage site, which feeds Russia’s busiest port for oil exports.

Ukraine’s General Staff said damage is still being assessed.

UPDATE 1058 GMT:

Gasoline shortages in Russian-occupied Crimea are worsening amid Ukrainian strikes on refineries, terminals, and ports.

Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev announced on Saturday that the Crimean gas station TES will require customers to use a pre-purchased QR code from the Russian State-controlled Max messenger app. The number of available QR codes on a given day will correspond to the volume of gasoline available for sale.

Ravozhaev said later on Saturday that Crimean occupation authorities had sold out available QR codes for Sunday within two hours.

Gasoline sales have been restricted to 20 liters (5.3 gallons) per vehicle per week, a sharp reduction from the previously-allowed 20 liters of gas per day.

Crimean residents started complaining on Friday about interruptions in deliveries to stores, with restrictions on the sale of basic goods such as buckwheat, sugar, rice, and flour.

UPDATE 1043 GMT:

For the first time, NATO forces have shot down a drone in Latvia’s airspace.

French fighter jets in NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission intercepted a drone that was diverted by Russian electronic warfare systems.

The interception followed air raid alerts in northeastern and eastern regions of Latvia.

The drone incursion is the first in Latvia since the beginning of May. A Ukrainian drone crashed into an oil facility in eastern Latvia on May 7 after it was diverted by Russian countermeasures. The incident led to the resignation of Prime Minister Evika Silina.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has sent Vladimir Putin a firm message, through a meeting with Putin’s envoy Roman Abramovich in Kyiv.

You are fighting against us on our territory. We will not leave and we will not go out from our territory.

No, we will not give you victory.

The Russian oligarch Abramovitch offered to take a message to the Kremlin about the possibility of a resolution of Russia’s 51 1/2-month invasion.

Zelensky recounted, “He said, ‘I am messaging direct to you. And I want to take a message from you and give it to Putin’. But he said it has to be silent without any kind of public messages.”

Zelensky said the meeting was “not a secret”, as the Russians wanted to know what Kyiv was “ready to do”.

The President reiterated his request to meet Putin face-to-face, an offer that he reinforced with an open letter to the Russian leader last Wednesday. Putin responded on Friday that the approach was “rude”, saying he will continue his effort to seize all of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine.

Abramovitch played a role in the Istanbul talks in March-April 2022, weeks after the launch of the full-scale invasion.

Zelensky with UK-France-Germany Leaders in London

Zelensky met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel and Germany in London on Sunday.

A UK Government spokesperson said the leaders discussed “the urgent need to scale up the production of interceptors and co-develop anti-ballistic missile and deep strike capabilities”.

The leaders condemned Russia’s missile and drone attacks and called on Vladimir Putin to agree “an immediate and complete ceasefire” on the current frontlines.

Their five conditions also included robust and legally-binding security guarantees for Ukraine, with a multi-national force to enforce the ceasefire; compensation to Kyiv for war damage, with Russian assets frozen until Moscow provides restitution; and the safeguarding of European security interests.

The leaders will follow up at the G7 summit in Evian, France on June 15, seeking more sanctions on Russia, and at July’s NATO summit with the goal of “an increased pledge of military and defense support for Ukraine”.

Zelensky posted, “We also discussed possible ways to reinvigorate diplomacy and Europe’s role in this process. For Ukraine, it has always been a priority that Europe’s position and voice in the negotiations be strong.”