Separately, there is also an important meeting in Strasbourg, with ministers from 46 countries discussing the interpretation of the European Convention of Human Rights when it comes to migration.
As Pippa Crerar and Rajeev Syal say in our story:
Ahead of the meeting, UK prime minister Keir Starmer and Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen have called on European leaders to urgently curb joint human rights laws so that states can take tougher action to protect their borders and see off the rise of the populist right across the continent.
Before a crucial European summit on Wednesday, the prime ministers urged fellow members to “go further” in modernising the interpretation of the European convention on human rights (ECHR) to prevent asylum seekers using it to avoid deportation.
But writing for the Guardian, they said that updating the interpretation of the convention was urgently required to confront the challenges posed by mass migration – and far-right forces that sought to divide mainstream opinion across Europe.
“The best way of fighting against the forces of hate and division, is to show that mainstream, progressive politics can fix this problem,” Starmer wrote in a joint article with the Danish leader, Mette Frederiksen.
“Listening to legitimate concerns and acting on them is what our politics is about. That’s not empty populism, it’s democracy. We are determined to show that our societies can act with compassion while upholding law and order, and fairness.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is ready to hold a wartime election within the next three months, if Ukraine’s parliament and foreign allies will allow it, after Donald Trump accused him of clinging on to power.
As Shaun Walker writes from Kyiv, Zelenskyy, clearly irritated by Trump’s intervention, said that “this is a question for the people of Ukraine, not people from other states, with all due respect to our partners”.
However, he promised to explore avenues for holding a vote in the coming months. “Since this question is raised today by the president of the United States of America, our partners, I will answer very briefly: look, I am ready for elections,” Zelenskyy said on Tuesday evening.
Zelenskyy’s five-year term expired in May last year, but the Ukrainian constitution prohibits elections in wartime, and even his political opponents have said repeatedly that the security and political considerations do not allow for holding an election during wartime.
Zelenskyy’s move also seeks to put more pressure on allies to offer extensive security guarantees as the US-led peace talks progress slowly, with guarantees among the issues yet to be decided.
His comments come in the aftermath of an explosive interview by Trump with Politico, in which he repeatedly criticised EU leaders as “weak” and Europe as “decaying” as a result of their policies. Expect more leaders to respond to his claims in the coming days.
Finally, EU’s European ministers are meeting in Lviv for an informal meeting, which will cover talks about Ukraine’s ambitions to join the bloc.
I will bring you all the key updates throughout the day.
It’s Wednesday, 10 December 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.