European leaders gather in France for emergency talks on Ukraine

Good morning and welcome back to FirstFT Asia. Today we’re covering:

• A pivotal week for European security

• China’s tightening grip on tech

• IndiGo sheds its budget airline image

Today, a potentially decisive week begins for European security, as Europe’s most powerful leaders gather in Paris for an emergency meeting on Ukraine and the future of the continent’s defence.

The crisis talks were sparked by Donald Trump’s decision to open peace negotiations with Russia. Those discussions will formally begin in Saudi Arabia this week when Trump’s top diplomat Marco Rubio sits down with Russia’s Sergei Lavrov.

The Rubio-Lavrov meeting aims to lay the groundwork for Trump to meet Vladimir Putin, less than a week after the US leader shocked European capitals by agreeing with his Russian counterpart to start peace talks.

It will underscore the Europeans’ lack of input into negotiations that could ultimately reshape the continent’s security architecture.

“This is the beginning of the beginning. Things are definitely moving,” Alexander Stubb, Finland’s president, told the FT. Referring to the date of Russia’s full-scale invasion, he added: “I think the world order started to shift on the 24th of February 2022, and we are now seeing the direction in which it might be going.” Here’s more on a pivotal week for European security.

• Ukraine: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected a US bid to take ownership of around 50 per cent of the rights to his country’s rare earth minerals and is trying to negotiate a better deal.

• UK-US relations: Sir Keir Starmer is seeking to act as “a bridge” between Washington and Europe against a backdrop of deepening transatlantic tensions.

• Germany in disarray: The US vice-president’s sharp words at the Munich Security Conference sent shockwaves through the transatlantic alliance.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Economic data: Japan and Thailand report fourth-quarter GDP figures.

• Middle East: US secretary of state Marco Rubio continues a tour of the region with visits to Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the coming days. In Israel yesterday, Rubio backed the country’s goal of “eradicating” Hamas in Gaza.

Five more top stories

1. Japan is betting $1.5bn on a breakthrough in ultra-thin, light and bendy solar panels, subsidising the commercialisation of a technology that analysts say could disrupt China’s dominance of renewable energy. The next-generation cells are 20 times thinner than regular panels and could enable mass adoption of solar in a mountainous country that lacks the open space needed for more conventional solar farms.

2. Gold has become the best performing “Trump trade” in recent weeks, outperforming other major asset classes since the US President’s inauguration, as fears of a trade war and a potential hit to global growth fuel demand for the haven metal. “When trade contracts, gold takes off,” said one analyst. Read the full story.

3. The Lebanese army has fired tear gas at supporters of Hizbollah protesting against an Iranian flight being barred from landing in Beirut, as tensions increased between the government and the Shia militant group. Lebanon’s government said it decided to prevent the plane from landing over fears Israel might strike the airport.

4. The EU wants to block imports of certain foodstuffs made to different standards to protect its farmers in an echo of US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” trade policy. Early targets could include US crops such as soyabeans which are grown using pesticides EU farmers are not allowed to use.

5. Credit Suisse employees in the UK who transferred to UBS when the two banks combined are still eligible for paid sabbaticals unlike their colleagues. The preservation of the Credit Suisse-era sabbaticals highlights disparities in staff benefits almost two years after the UBS rescue merger.

News in-depth

Beijing is tightening its grip on cutting-edge Chinese technology, aiming to keep critical knowhow within its borders as trade tensions with the US and Europe escalate. Among the companies to be hit is Apple’s main manufacturing partner Foxconn, which has been leading the Silicon Valley group’s supply chain diversification into India. But Chinese restrictions have complicated these plans.

We’re also reading . . . 

• FT Magazine: Anna Huix’s photographs capture a girls football tournament in the mountains of northern Pakistan that has triumphed against the odds.

• Understanding Elon Musk: His attack on government is not ideologically coherent, writes Richard Waters, but it can be traced to an engineering mindset that values radical ideas.

• Christianity and politics: Jemima Kelly explored the rights and wrongs of politicians “doing God” after JD Vance’s musings on Catholicism drew a rebuke from the pope himself.

Chart of the day

India’s IndiGo is shedding its image as a budget airline as it expands overseas and adds business-class seating, building on its dominant position at home in the world’s fastest-growing commercial aviation market.

Take a break from the news . . . 

The FT’s 2025 Global MBA Ranking is here. See which business schools topped the annual list.