Macron to address the nation on Middle East as first wave of stranded Europeans start to return home – Europe live

French president will make his speech this evening; first wave of European travellers arrive home, but hundreds of thousands remain stuck in region

Ahead of von der Leyen's call with Zelenskyy later today, the European Commission was also asked about Ukraine's 2027 target for joining the bloc.

A spokesperson for the commission said that it was Ukraine's ambition, but the EU cannot have it as our reference" as it needs to go through the formal process and get the political agreement of all other member states.