European shares extend gains ahead of US-Russia talks

European shares rose on Monday, extending the strong momentum from last week on optimism over a potential Ukraine peace deal, while investors turned their attention to upcoming U.S. inflation data and tariff negotiations later in the week.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.3% by 0708 GMT, hovering near its strongest level since July 31.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy won diplomatic backing from Europe and the NATO alliance ahead of a Russia-U.S. summit this week, where Kyiv fears Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump may try to dictate terms for ending the 3-1/2-year war.


Trump, who is set to meet Putin in Alaska on Friday, said a potential deal would involve "some swapping of territories to the betterment of both (sides)."

Hopes of a peace deal weighed on German defence companies. Shares of Rheinmetall dropped 3.7%, while those in Renk and Hensoldt were down 3% and 2.1%, respectively.

Orsted plunged 22% after the Danish wind farm developer said it plans a 60-billion-crown ($9.4 billion) rights issue, citing adverse development in the U.S. offshore wind market.

Northern Data dropped nearly 3% after U.S. video platform and cloud services provider Rumble said it was considering an offer of about $1.17 billion for the German AI cloud group.