Ukraine Recap: Macron Says Kyiv Victories Can Bring Negotiations

French President Emmanuel Macron said he hopes Ukraine’s counteroffensive “is as victorious as possible to be able to then launch a phase of negotiations in good conditions. But our support will last as long as necessary.” Macron spoke in Paris alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish President Andrzej Duda. At the White House, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said “we’re going to refrain from providing an armchair assessment” of the Ukrainian offensive as it develops.

Kyiv’s forces seized back more eastern villages in a counteroffensive to recover Russian-occupied territory, according to Hanna Malyar, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister. She said on Telegram that Ukraine freed seven settlements and that 90 square kilometers (35 square miles) in the Donetsk and the southern Tavriya regions returned to Ukrainian control.