Morning opening: UN security council to discuss Ukraine
Jakub Krupa
The UN security council is meeting to discuss the situation in Ukraine today in response to recent brutal Russian attacks on the country and joint nuclear weapons drills starting in Russia and Belarus.
The meeting – called by Denmark, France, Greece, Latvia, Liberia, and the UK – is expected to cover the latest on the “peace and security” situation in Ukraine.
It coincides with three days of nuclear weapons drills involving tens of thousands of troops across Russia and Belarus, AFP noted, and comes just hours before Vladimir Putin is expected in China for a two-day visit.
Not very subtle.
Elsewhere, I will keep an eye on the new Hungarian prime minister Péter Magyar’s first foreign trip as he is expected in Poland today for a two-day visit, the EU negotiators who are finally finalising the implementation of the bloc’s trade deal with the US, and on the meeting of Nato military chiefs in Brussels.
I will bring you all the key lines here.
It’s Tuesday, 19 May 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Key events
Expecting update on new Danish government this morning
It also looks like we are going to get an update on the Danish government formation process this morning, with the current “investigator”, Troels Lund Poulsen, hosting a press conference in the next half hour.
I will let you know if we hear something new.
Trump envoy Landry gets cold welcome in Greenland
I am also keeping an eye on Greenland, where the US envoy, Jeff Landry, is planning on attending a conference on the future of the territory today.
For all the attention on his visit, so far the only scene that cut through involves him walking around and promising “chocolate chip cookies” to deeply unimpressed Greenlandic children, who also outright rejected his suggestion they take a picture together. The clips went viral globally since.
Ouch.
Or, as Ulrik Pram Gad, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies somewhat poetically said, “it’s a bit difficult to become good friends with someone you have kicked in the balls first.”
Greenlandic prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and foreign minister Múte B. Egede will speak at the conference later today.
Morning opening: UN security council to discuss Ukraine
Jakub Krupa
The UN security council is meeting to discuss the situation in Ukraine today in response to recent brutal Russian attacks on the country and joint nuclear weapons drills starting in Russia and Belarus.
The meeting – called by Denmark, France, Greece, Latvia, Liberia, and the UK – is expected to cover the latest on the “peace and security” situation in Ukraine.
It coincides with three days of nuclear weapons drills involving tens of thousands of troops across Russia and Belarus, AFP noted, and comes just hours before Vladimir Putin is expected in China for a two-day visit.
Not very subtle.
Elsewhere, I will keep an eye on the new Hungarian prime minister Péter Magyar’s first foreign trip as he is expected in Poland today for a two-day visit, the EU negotiators who are finally finalising the implementation of the bloc’s trade deal with the US, and on the meeting of Nato military chiefs in Brussels.
I will bring you all the key lines here.
It’s Tuesday, 19 May 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.