European leaders gather for emergency summit on defense, Ukraine
Voice of America
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk before an informal summit of European leaders to discuss the situation in Ukraine and European security at The Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on Feb. 17, 2025.
European leaders called for beefing up their defense spending Monday after a Paris summit on Ukraine and the region's security — amid concerns about an aggressive Russia and declining support from Washington. The emergency meeting comes ahead of U.S.-Russian talks on ending the war in Ukraine — which it appears could leave out the Europeans.
President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One, Feb. 19, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, after returning from Florida.
After Russia's drones attacked Odesa, Ukraine, this week, thousands in the city were left in the dark, Feb. 19, 2025.
A meeting at the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Feb. 19, 2025. The WTO on Wednesday described its discussions on trade tensions as "constructive," after China accused the U.S. of imposing "tariff shocks" that could upend the global trading system.
These handout pictures released by the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities on Feb. 19, 2025, show the entrance to the tomb of King Thutmose II in Luxor in southern Egypt.
Governor Omid Khoshnaw told VOA that many Sunni Arab leaders live in Irbil, benefiting from the security and quality of life in the Kurdish capital.
The Koolboks website's home page on Feb. 19, 2025, offers the company's solar-powered freezer. Koolboks also produces refrigerators and other cooling devices.
FILE - Afghanistan's minister for refugees Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani, center, looks on as he arrives to inspect a refugee camp near the Afghanistan-Pakistan Torkham border in Nangarhar province on Nov. 2, 2023.
Candles with the pictures of Pope Francis are seen outside Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Feb. 19, 2025, where the pontiff has been hospitalized since Feb. 14. FILE - Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrives at The Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on Feb. 17, 2025. A group of children from a primary school pray for Pope Francis in front of the statue Pope John Paul II outside Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Feb. 19, 2025. Faithful pray for Pope Francis' health during a Mass in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Feb. 18, 2025.
A Chinese coast guard ship moves through seas within the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone on Jan. 13, 2025. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP) FILE - A Philippine navy helicopter takes off after a military exercise on Nov. 6, 2024, off Loaita island, locally called Kota island, in the disputed South China Sea, Philippines.
Head of the Presidential Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak meets with U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg, in Kyiv, Feb. 19, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters) Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gives a press conference in Kyiv on Feb. 19, 2025.
FILE - A mining machine is seen at the Bayan Obo mine containing rare earth minerals, in Inner Mongolia, China, July 16, 2011.
A room is seen at Tavaksay colony, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Dec. 22, 2019. (Navbahor Imamova/VOA)
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, center, White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, right and U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are seen after meeting with Russian officials, at Diriyah Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 18, 2025.