French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday held talks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris, as the US pushes a plan aimed at ending the war between Kyiv and Moscow.
Mr Macron, a close ally of Mr Zelenskyy, sought to reinforce European support for Kyiv at a "moment that could be decisive regarding peace in Ukraine and security in Europe", he said.
Speaking a day before US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff is due in Moscow after talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Florida, Mr Macron said there can be no finalised peace plan without Ukraine and Europe.
"There is currently no finalised plan regarding territorial issues. It can only be finalised by President Zelenskyy," he said alongside the Ukrainian leader, who was also in Paris two weeks ago to sign a significant weapons deal, including Rafale jets.
"On the issues of frozen assets, security guarantees, accession to the European Union and European sanctions, [this plan] can only be finalised with the Europeans at the table. Therefore, we are still in a preliminary phase."
Mr Macron later debriefed Mr Trump by phone, his office said. He "emphasised the crucial importance of the security guarantees necessary for Ukraine and his and our commitment to working with the United States on this".
Europe is Ukraine's largest donor, at $187 billion since 2022. It views Russia as an existential threat, but the continent has been largely sidelined in US-mediated negotiations.
On November 23, European negotiators went uninvited to US-Ukraine talks in Geneva. That move allowed them to substantially modify an initial 28-point plan for Ukraine put forward by the Trump administration. However they were not invited to further talks that started on Sunday in Florida.
Peace plan
"Although it sometimes seems that everyone is working on their own side, in America and Europe, all are working in the same way," Mr Zelenskyy said. "It's our common interest to live without war."
From Paris, the two leaders also made calls to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer before being joined by leaders from Denmark, Poland, Italy, Norway, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands. They also spoke to Mr Witkoff and Ukraine's Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who led the Ukrainian delegation in Miami.
Mr Zelenskyy said the "plan is improving" and that talks were continuing. "This is an ongoing process, and frankly, I'll tell you the territorial issue is the most difficult," he said.
Mr Trump's 28-point peace plan demanded that Ukraine cede control to Russia of parts of eastern Ukraine that Russia does not currently control.
Speaking in Brussels at a meeting of EU defence ministers, the EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas echoed Mr Macron's assessment that this week could be "pivotal for diplomacy". She also appeared critical of Europe's absence in the latest round of talks in the US.
"Ukrainians [were] there alone," she said. "If they would be together with the Europeans, they would definitely be much stronger but I trust that Ukrainians stand up for themselves."
The Netherlands announced it would contribute €250 million ($290 million) to a Nato initiative to buy weapons and ammunition for Ukraine from the US. "On a daily basis, we see heavy air attacks in Ukraine," Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans said.
"We see also the devastating impact on energy, but also on the daily life of Ukrainians. The only way to help them at short notice is by delivering out of American stock – so air defence, missiles, F16 ammunition."
US fallback
Privately, European diplomats say they struggle to read the US position, which appears to swing between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian positions depending on which country US officials spoke to last.
Last week, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's for the first time attended the so-called coalition of the willing – 35 states that have pledged to support Ukraine – in what was viewed in Europe as a signal from the US that it would provide postwar Ukraine with security guarantees, despite Mr Trump previously appearing reluctant to do so.
European leaders want US guarantees as a fallback for Ukraine in case other options under consideration, including boosting the Ukrainian army and sending an international peacekeeping force to the region, fail to deter Russia from invading its neighbour again.
But Europeans have also been alarmed by Mr Rubio's plans to skip a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels on Wednesday. His absence from such a major transatlantic gathering would be highly unusual.
Another issue of concern for Europe has been the resignation of Mr Zelenskyy's senior negotiator, Andriy Yermak, amid a corruption scandal. European officials have said this must not be allowed to affect peace talks after Mr Trump described the corruption case as "not helpful". Mr Macron said it was not his role to "give lessons to Ukraine".
The diplomatic focus on Ukraine has also increased pressure on European leaders to find a solution to Belgium's opposition to using frozen Russian assets to issue a $161 billion reparation loan to Ukraine at the next EU leaders meeting on December 18.
Belgium fears possible Russian reprisals in international courts. A "technical solution" is possible, Mr Macron said, without giving further details.
The years Ramadan fell in May
The biog
Born: Kuwait in 1986
Family: She is the youngest of seven siblings
Time in the UAE: 10 years
Hobbies: audiobooks and fitness: she works out every day, enjoying kickboxing and basketball
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
CHELSEA SQUAD
Arrizabalaga, Bettinelli, Rudiger, Christensen, Silva, Chalobah, Sarr, Azpilicueta, James, Kenedy, Alonso, Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic, Saul, Barkley, Ziyech, Pulisic, Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Werner, Havertz, Lukaku.
