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EU leaders set to meet after deadly strikes on Ukraine, including Unesco-listed religious site in Kyiv – Europe live

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EU leaders set to meet after deadly strikes on Ukraine, including Unesco-listed religious site in Kyiv – Europe live

By Jakub KrupaSource: The Guardian APIen5 min read
EU leaders set to meet after deadly strikes on Ukraine, including Unesco-listed religious site in Kyiv – Europe live

From 9m agoMorning opening: G7, EU leaders meet after deadly strikes on Kyiv, including Unesco-listed religious siteJakub KrupaG7 leaders are set to meet in Évian-les-Bains in France later today to discuss...

From

9m ago

Morning opening: G7, EU leaders meet after deadly strikes on Kyiv, including Unesco-listed religious site

Jakub Krupa

Jakub Krupa

G7 leaders are set to meet in Évian-les-Bains in France later today to discuss the most pressing issues, including Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran.

The summit, hosted by France’s Emmanuel Macron, will see the US president, Donald Trump, give the leaders the latest on the Iran peace deal struck overnight, as he also kept himself busy with a martial arts gala at the White House.

But as our diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, notes,

“the French president has no idea if Trump, a haphazard summit attender, will last the full three days – or disrupt the proceedings every hour he stays.”

On Monday, some 20,000 people clashed with police in nearby Geneva as part of broad demonstrations against the meeting of the world’s leaders.

A fire burning in a street with the Lake Geneva in the background during a rally of a “No-G7” coalition of over 60 associations, unions and left-wing groups.
A fire burning in a street with the Lake Geneva in the background during a rally of a “No-G7” coalition of over 60 associations, unions and left-wing groups. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

Separately, EU foreign ministers are also meeting in Luxembourg, with a pretty similar agenda.

The issue of Ukraine will feature prominently in both meetings, after another Russian attack overnight which saw at least nine killed, and more than 20 injured after heavy strikes on Kyiv.

The Unesco-listed Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery was also hit during the attacks, with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling it “one of Russia’s most serious crimes against Christian culture to date.”

Zelenskyy said:

This is how Russia shows the world its intention to continue the war.

It is very important that there be a response from the G7 countries, which are now gathering for their summit – and that this response be decisive and substantive: more pressure on the aggressor and more support for Ukraine’s air defence, especially anti-ballistic capabilities.”

Smoke and fire rises from the Dormition Cathedral in the Orthodox complex of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra following a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
Smoke and fire rises from the Dormition Cathedral in the Orthodox complex of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra following a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Photograph: Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images

France led the condemnations, with foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot saying the attack on the religious site was “the equivalent, for us in ⁠France, as if Notre Dame ​or ​Saint Denis had been ​bombed, which is ​totally unacceptable.”

I will bring you all the latest here.

It’s Monday, 15 June 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.

Key events

G7 summit to discuss Ukraine peace after unjustified strike on monastery, Macron says

The G7 summit host, France’s president Emmanuel Macron, also condemned the attack on the Unesco-listed Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery.

In a post on X, he said that “nothing justifies this attack on our universal heritage.”

France stands ready to cooperate with the Ukrainian authorities in charge of heritage.

This attack only strengthens our determination to do everything, with our allies and partners, to work toward a ceasefire that Russia continues to obstinately refuse, and then toward peace. We will strive for this at the G7 in Evian.”

Morning opening: G7, EU leaders meet after deadly strikes on Kyiv, including Unesco-listed religious site

Jakub Krupa

Jakub Krupa

G7 leaders are set to meet in Évian-les-Bains in France later today to discuss the most pressing issues, including Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran.

The summit, hosted by France’s Emmanuel Macron, will see the US president, Donald Trump, give the leaders the latest on the Iran peace deal struck overnight, as he also kept himself busy with a martial arts gala at the White House.

But as our diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, notes,

“the French president has no idea if Trump, a haphazard summit attender, will last the full three days – or disrupt the proceedings every hour he stays.”

On Monday, some 20,000 people clashed with police in nearby Geneva as part of broad demonstrations against the meeting of the world’s leaders.

A fire burning in a street with the Lake Geneva in the background during a rally of a “No-G7” coalition of over 60 associations, unions and left-wing groups.
A fire burning in a street with the Lake Geneva in the background during a rally of a “No-G7” coalition of over 60 associations, unions and left-wing groups. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

Separately, EU foreign ministers are also meeting in Luxembourg, with a pretty similar agenda.

The issue of Ukraine will feature prominently in both meetings, after another Russian attack overnight which saw at least nine killed, and more than 20 injured after heavy strikes on Kyiv.

The Unesco-listed Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery was also hit during the attacks, with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling it “one of Russia’s most serious crimes against Christian culture to date.”

Zelenskyy said:

This is how Russia shows the world its intention to continue the war.

It is very important that there be a response from the G7 countries, which are now gathering for their summit – and that this response be decisive and substantive: more pressure on the aggressor and more support for Ukraine’s air defence, especially anti-ballistic capabilities.”

Smoke and fire rises from the Dormition Cathedral in the Orthodox complex of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra following a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
Smoke and fire rises from the Dormition Cathedral in the Orthodox complex of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra following a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Photograph: Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images

France led the condemnations, with foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot saying the attack on the religious site was “the equivalent, for us in ⁠France, as if Notre Dame ​or ​Saint Denis had been ​bombed, which is ​totally unacceptable.”

I will bring you all the latest here.

It’s Monday, 15 June 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.

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