‘I want there to be no rumours and speculation,’ Zelenskyy says as Andriy Yermak resigns

The Commission also totally rejected dismissed Russia’s criticism of Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “illegitimate” leader of Ukraine, after Vladimir Putin suggested yesterday that was a technical reason he couldn’t agree a peace deal with Zelenskyy.

“President Zelensky is the democratically elected president, by the Ukrainian people, of Ukraine,” a commission spokesperson said in response, somewhat mockingly adding that Putin seems to have “some difficulties in recognising the democratically elected president of his neighbour country, Ukraine.”

“Let me stress the fight against corruption is a key element for a country to join the EU, it requires continuous efforts and a strong capacity to fight corruption. This is a key element that we also address in our enlargement report that was published a couple of weeks ago, so we will continue to follow the situation very closely.”

EU’s foreign policy chief says ‘there’s one aggressor and one victim’ in conflict amid US push to end the war

In case you missed it, US president Donald Trump defended his peace envoy Steve Witkoff overnight after Bloomberg reported that he allegedly advised Putin’s aide Ushakov on how to speak with Trump and conduct the talks.

Trump did not appear too bothered by it, though.