European leaders clashed in Paris over whether to send troops to Ukraine following any peace deal. Olaf Scholz, Germany’s chancellor, called such discussions “highly inappropriate”. France reportedly proposed a “reassurance force” to be stationed behind a ceasefire line. Keir Starmer, Britain’s prime minister, said he was “prepared to consider” deploying troops—though only with an American “backstop”. The countries also discussed boosting defence spending.
After the summit Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, spoke with both Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky. Earlier Ukraine’s leader warned that his country would not recognise any agreement reached without its involvement. Meanwhile Marco Rubio, America’s secretary of state, said “the next few days” would show whether Russia was serious about peace. Mr Rubio will meet his Russian counterpart in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
A plane carrying 80 people crash-landed at an airport in Toronto, injuring at least 18. Amid strong winds and snow, the aircraft flipped upside down on the tarmac before passengers were evacuated. Delta Air Lines, the plane’s operator, said that two people are in a critical, but not life-threatening, condition. The crash adds to a series of recent aviation accidents.
Xi Jinping, China’s president, met top tech executives, including Alibaba’s Jack Ma and Huawei’s Ren Zhengfei, urging them to “show their talent” and boost China’s slowing economy. The meeting suggested that Mr Ma is back in the government’s good graces; he was on the outs after criticising regulators in 2020. On Tuesday tech stocks in Hong Kong rallied as much as 2%.
Israel will keep soldiers stationed at five sites in southern Lebanon after the deadline for them to withdraw from the country. Israel had been expected to leave by Tuesday as part of a ceasefire deal brokered by America in November. An army spokesperson said that troops needed to remain to “defend Israeli citizens” from Hizbullah, a Shia militia.
Protesters marched on the Cook Islands’ parliament, over fears the government was turning away from New Zealand in favour of China. Last week the prime minister, Mark Brown, signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership” with China. Mr Brown has not released the details, though says he will soon. The self-governing Pacific island state has a constitutional “free association” with New Zealand.
Argentina’s main stock index fell by 4% after Javier Milei, the country’s libertarian president, became embroiled in a scandal over $LIBRA. The memecoin’s value plummeted after Mr Milei deleted a boosterish post on social media on Friday. He denied any connection to $LIBRA’s developers. A judge has been assigned to evaluate several cases that investors have brought against him.
Figure of the day: 9%, the fall in Europe’s benchmark gas price after Donald Trump raised the prospect of a peace deal in Ukraine. Read the full story.
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