Lithuania has called for Nato help to boost its air defences after Russian military drones repeatedly violated its airspace. “Last Monday, a Russian military drone violated Lithuanian airspace,” said Kęstutis Budrys, the foreign minister in Vilnius. “This marks the second such incident in less than a month. Similar airspace violations have also been reported recently by other allies.”

Budrys added that he and the defence minister, Dovilė Šakalienė, had asked the Nato secretary general for “immediate measures to enhance air defence capabilities in Lithuania and accelerate the full implementation of the rotational air defence model. Air defence is vital to allied security. Securing Nato’s eastern flank must remain a top priority for the alliance.”

Amid the nuclear row between Donald Trump and Dmitry Medvedev, the Kremlin has moved to play down the latter’s role in Russian decision-making, the Institute for the Study of War has said. The thinktank said Medvedev was subsequently being portrayed as having a “different assessment” from Putin on nuclear issues. An ISW assessment said: “The Kremlin regularly uses Medvedev to introduce nuclear threats into the Russian and international information spaces.” Medvedev, a high-ranked official who was once prime minister of Russia, as well as a proxy for Putin in the presidency, accused Trump of taking “a step towards war” by tightening an ultimatum for Russia to seek peace. Trump in response said he had moved two nuclear submarines into position “just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that”.

The ISW further assessed that “Kremlin officials utilised three main framings to respond to Trump’s decision to redeploy the submarines: posing Trump’s decision to redeploy the submarines as “emotional,” discounting the threat that this decision poses to Russia, and posturing Russia as a more responsible international actor than the United States … These official Russian responses ignore the Kremlin’s history of frequently using nuclear saber-rattling to push the west to make decisions that benefit Russia.

On the battlefield, the ISW said that Ukrainian forces had recently advanced near Pokrovsk, which Russian forces have been trying to capture since at least July 2024. Russian forces recently advanced near Kupyansk, Siversk, Toretsk, and Velykomykhailivka, the institute said. Russian claimed on Tuesday to have captured the village of Sichneve in east-central Dnipropetrovsk region. The Reuters news agency, which carried the claim, said it could not independently confirm it.

Donald Trump has said he will make a decision on whether to sanction countries that purchase Russian oil after a meeting with Russian officials scheduled for Wednesday. Steve Witkoff – real estate promoter, friend of Trump and officially his Russia envoy – arrived in Moscow on Wednesday morning to meet with Russian leadership. A Bloomberg report suggested that Putin might agree to a ceasefire in terms of airstrikes but not on the ground. Also on Tuesday, the Financial Times reported that Trump’s administration is considering additional sanctions on Russia’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers that illicitly move Russian oil.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, said on Tuesday he’d had a “productive” conversation with Trump about ending the war, sanctions on Russia and the finalisation of a US-Ukraine drone deal. Ukraine, he said, had long supported US proposals for an immediate ceasefire and had proposed a number of formats to implement a halt to the fighting. “We have spoken with and proposed to Russia quiet in the skies, no missile and drone attacks and specifically no attacks on civilian infrastructure or on the energy sector. All of this has been violated by the Russians and in a very cynical fashion.”

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday after his Washington meeting with Donald Trump and European leaders that security guarantees for Ukraine will likely be worked out within 10 days. He added that it would include the purchase for Ukraine of a package of US weapons. “There indeed is a package with our proposals worth $90bn,” Zelenskyy said. “And we have agreements with the US president that when our export opens, they will buy Ukrainian drones. This is important for us.”

Reports earlier suggested that Ukraine would promise to buy $100bn of US weapons financed by Europe – lucrative for US suppliers – as part of a deal to get guarantees from the US for its security if there is a peace settlement with Russia, according to reports. The Financial Times added that Ukraine and the US would also strike a $50bn deal to produce drones with Ukrainian companies. The drone news may partly repeat recent similar announcements.

Donald Trump said after talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders on Monday that the US would oversee European security guarantees for Ukraine. “During the meeting we discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, which guarantees would be provided by the various European countries, with a coordination with the United States of America,” the US president posted.

Trump said he had begun to arrange an initial bilateral meeting between Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, and the Russian ruler, Vladimir Putin; to be followed by a trilateral meeting involving Trump as well.

Friedrich Merz – the German chancellor and part of Zelenskyy’s European “bodyguard” detail in Washington – said Trump in a call with Putin had “agreed that there will be a meeting between the Russian president and the Ukrainian president within the next two weeks” with the venue still to be agreed upon.

Russia’s initial response to the idea of direct Putin-Zelenskyy talks was elliptical. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told the Tass news agency that Putin told Trump he was open to the “idea” of it. “The idea was discussed that it would be necessary to study the possibility of raising the level of representatives of the Ukrainian and Russian sides.”

Zelenskyy told Ukrainian media outside the White House: “I confirmed – and all European leaders supported me – that we are ready for a bilateral meeting with Putin.” Putin has at all stages appeared deeply reluctant to face Zelenskyy personally; whereas Zelenskyy has been saying since Trump took office that he is ready for such a meeting.

Merz said Trump “noticed that we Europeans are speaking with one voice”. The Europeans and Americans would need to discuss who participates in the security guarantees and to what extent. “It’s completely clear that the whole of Europe should participate,” Merz said. “This is not just about the territory of Ukraine. It’s about the political order of Europe.”

Merz said Ukraine must not be forced to surrender its Donbas region to Russia, which “corresponds, to put it bluntly, to a proposal for the United States to have to give up Florida”.

France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, said: “President Trump believes we can get an agreement and believes that President Putin also wants a peace accord. But if at the end this process is met by refusal, we are also ready to say that we need to increase sanctions [on Russia].”

Russian attacks on major Ukrainian cities killed at least 10 people as Zelenskyy and the European leaders prepared to meet Trump. An entire family including a toddler and her 16-year-old brother were among the seven killed when drones hit a residential neighbourhood of Kharkiv. Another 23 people were wounded, authorities said. Three people were killed in a ballistic missile strike on the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia, with more wounded.

In the Odesa region of Ukraine’s south, a drone strike damaged an oil depot belonging to Azerbaijan’s state-owned Socar for the second time in two weeks, Ukraine’s foreign minister said. In that vein, Ukraine also struck back, hitting an oil pumping station in Russia’s Tambov region that is part of Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine. It led to the suspension of supplies via the Druzhba pipeline, which feeds oil into Slovakia and Hungary, both of whose prime ministers are friendly to Vladimir Putin.

From 15 Jul 2025 15.59 BST Slovakia delays adoption of new sanctions package against Russia, EU foreign policy chief Kallas confirms EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is now briefing the media after today’s foreign affairs council in Brussels. She begins by talking about Ukraine and Russia: “Russia’s bombing campaign has reached record levels, and we see increasing use of banned chemical weapons by Russia in Ukraine. All this shows that Russia does not want peace.” She then confirms that Slovakia blocked the adoption of the 18th package of sanctions today as she says: “I’m really sad that we didn’t reach this agreement today. I must say that we were really close to reassuring Slovakia. The commission has delivered what they asked for. Now, the ball is in Slovakia’s court, and we must get this deal done. It has been already two months. Sanctions are necessary to starve Russia of the means to wage this war, and the European Union will keep rising the cost, so stopping its aggression becomes the only path forward to Moscow.” She adds that she welcomes Trump’s announcements last night, but says the EU “would like to see the US to share the burden”. “America and Europe are working together, and if we are working together, this can put the pressure on Putin to negotiate seriously. The only way to get Putin to end this war is to force his hand,” she said. Share

15 Jul 2025 17.55 BST Closing summary The European Union did not approve the 18th Russia sanctions package on Tuesday, the EU’s foreign chief Kaja Kallas said after a meeting with EU foreign ministers in Brussels. She said she was “really sad” the sanctions did not get approved, but hopeful a deal will be reached on Wednesday, adding that the ball is in Slovakia’s court. Slovakia has been blocking the EU’s latest sanctions package until its concerns are addressed over a separate EU proposal to phase out imports of Russian gas by 1 January, 2028.

EU foreign ministers will discuss Russian frozen assets during an informal meeting at the end of August, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday after a meeting with the ministers in Brussels. “It’s important that everybody hears everybody’s arguments, and then we can also come up with compromises to address these sensitivities”, Kallas said.

Kallas also spoke briefly about Georgia – worrying that “the assault on democracy by the Georgian Dream is growing more severe” and saying that “Georgia’s democratic backsliding will come at cost” – and Moldova, stressing that the country is “a prime target of Moscow’s hybrid war” and warning that anyone attempting to destabilise the country will face EU sanctions. She later returns to Georgia, saying that suspending EU visa-free regime for Georgia could be on the table as the Georgian government needs to “ensure and uphold the protection of fundamental rights of all Georgian citizens.”

On the Middle East, Kallas says there are “positive signs” in the aftermath of last week’s humanitarian deal between the EU and Israel when it comes to Gaza, but “Israel needs to take more concrete steps to improve the humanitarian situation on the ground.” She added: “I also presented ministers an inventory of different measures that could be taken in relation to the review done in June. So we had a discussion on this, and these are choices that the member states have to make.”

Ukraine is waiting for further details of the “billions of dollars” worth of US military equipment promised by Donald Trump on Monday, amid confusion as to how many Patriot air defence systems will be sent to Kyiv. At a meeting at the White House with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, on Monday, Trump said an unnamed country was ready to immediately provide “17 Patriots” as he said a “very big deal” had been agreed for European allies to buy weapons from the United States and then ship them to Ukraine.

Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte has said secondary sanctions could hit countries like China, Brazil and India if Russia is not serious about peace talks to end its war on Ukraine. Speaking on the final day of his visit to Washington DC, Rutte also said Europe would “find the money” for Ukraine to continue defending itself from Russian aggression ahead of any peace talks.

Swedish defence minister Pal Jonson confirmed to Reuters that the country will contribute to efforts to boost arms supplies to Ukraine following US president Donald Trump’s decision to supply billions of dollars of weapons. “We welcome the American decision to make possible increased sanctions against Russia and to pave the way for the delivery of Patriots and other weapon systems to Ukraine,” Jonson said in an emailed comment to Reuters.

Marjorie Taylor Greene has criticized Donald Trump over his new pledge to send “billions of dollars” worth of weapons to Ukraine, accusing him of breaking a campaign promise by continuing the very aid that Republicans spent years blocking under Joe Biden. “MAGA did not vote for more weapons to Ukraine,” the Georgia congresswoman, one of Trump’s most staunch allies in Washington, wrote on X on Tuesday, referring to the “Make America great again” moniker adopted by Trump’s base of supporters. “MAGA voted for no more US involvement in foreign wars.”

Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal has just confirmed he filed his resignation from the post, a day after president Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked his deputy, Yulia Svyrydenko, to lead the government after a reshuffle. In a Telegram message posted alongside a picture of his hand-written resignation note, he said: “Thank you to our defenders who are holding the front and protecting Ukraine! Thank you to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the trust! Thank you to the entire team for their tireless work for our country! Glory to Ukraine!”

US president Donald Trump has allegedly encouraged Ukraine to consider strikes deeper into Russia, and asked Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy if he could target Moscow if given long-range weapons by the US . Quoting “people briefed on the discussions” and the leaders’ call on 4 July, the paper reported that Trump wanted Russians to “feel the pain” and asked Zelenskyy “can you hit Moscow? … can you hit St Petersburg too?”

Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow was ready to negotiate with the US after Trump’s comments last night, but added it didn’t want to bow to any ultimatums, Reuters reported. Separately, the Kremlin said that Trump’s statements were “serious and required analysis.”

The Port of Antwerp-Bruges has been turned into a giant car park with thousands of cars, vans, trucks and tractors bound for the US sitting idle as manufacturers try to avert the worst of Donald Trump’s tariffs. Figures released by the port show a 15.9% drop in the transport of new passenger cars and vans to the US in the first six months of 2025 compared with the same period last year, with a sharp decline emerging in May – one month after the US president announced his “liberation day” tariffs.

The EU’s Ombudsman on Tuesday demanded the European Commission explain why it fast-tracked proposals to curb sustainability laws, in response to a complaint by campaigners accusing Brussels of weakening the rules without consulting the public. In February, the Commission proposed legal changes that would exempt thousands of smaller European businesses from European Union sustainability reporting rules – a move designed to simplify regulation for industries struggling to compete with rivals in China and the US, where president Donald Trump is rolling back regulation, Reuters reported. Share

15 Jul 2025 17.42 BST Luke Harding Ukraine is waiting for further details of the “billions of dollars” worth of US military equipment promised by Donald Trump on Monday, amid confusion as to how many Patriot air defence systems will be sent to Kyiv. At a meeting at the White House with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, on Monday, Trump said an unnamed country was ready to immediately provide “17 Patriots” as he said a “very big deal” had been agreed for European allies to buy weapons from the United States and then ship them to Ukraine. Ukraine is currently believed to have only six functioning Patriot air defence batteries, which can intercept fast-moving Russian cruise and ballistic missiles. Maj Gen Vadym Skibitskyi, the deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, the HUR, said it was unclear what the US president meant. “We don’t know exactly,” he said, adding that Ukraine was grateful for the assistance and had reacted “positively” to the White House’s announcement. The general also confirmed that Trump and the Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelenskyy, had discussed the possibility of the US providing long-range Tomahawk missiles in a call earlier in July but no agreement had been reached. Skibitskyi said Trump in his comments on Patriots could have been referring to interceptor missiles, launching stations or entire batteries comprising multiple launchers and radar and control systems, which cost more than a billion dollars each. “Seventeen is a huge number if we are talking about batteries. If it’s launchers, that’s possible,” he added. Ukraine awaiting details on ‘billions of dollars’ worth of weapons promised by Trump Read more Share

15 Jul 2025 17.28 BST Rutte: Secondary sanctions could hit China, Brazil and India ‘very hard’ Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte has said secondary sanctions could hit countries like China, Brazil and India if Russia is not serious about peace talks to end its war on Ukraine. Speaking on the final day of his visit to Washington DC, Rutte also said Europe would “find the money” for Ukraine to continue defending itself from Russian aggression ahead of any peace talks. He said: What happened yesterday was important. First of all that the US will now supply, massively, Ukraine with weapons out of [the] US; not just air defence, also missiles, also ammunition, paid for by the Europeans. And, secondly, that president Trump said basically if Russia is not serious about peace talks, [then] in 50 days, he will slam secondary sanctions on countries like India, China and Brazil. My encouragement to these three countries is … you might want to take a look into this because this might hit you very hard. Please make a phone call to [Russian president] Vladimir Putin and tell him he needs to get serious about peace talks. He added: We will find the money in Europe to make sure Ukraine is in the best possible position as soon as these peace talks start. Share

15 Jul 2025 17.05 BST The EU’s Ombudsman on Tuesday demanded the European Commission explain why it fast-tracked proposals to curb sustainability laws, in response to a complaint by campaigners accusing Brussels of weakening the rules without consulting the public. In February, the Commission proposed legal changes that would exempt thousands of smaller European businesses from European Union sustainability reporting rules – a move designed to simplify regulation for industries struggling to compete with rivals in China and the US, where President Donald Trump is rolling back regulation, Reuters reported. The EU’s Ombudsman has demanded the Commission explain why it did not conduct a full analysis of the impact of these proposals, consult the public on the changes, or assess whether the proposals were in line with Europe’s climate change commitments. When proposing new EU laws, the Commission usually conducts an impact assessment to examine their effect. It can skip this when a law is an urgent response to a crisis and did not carry out an assessment in the proposals to simplify the green reporting rules. “Based on the material made available to date, the Commission does not seem to have adequately justified derogating from its rules in this case,” Ombudsman Teresa Anjinho said in a letter to the Commission, published on Tuesday. “The Commission did not indicate any sudden or unexpected event that would justify the urgency,” she said. Share

15 Jul 2025 16.45 BST EU foreign ministers will discuss Russian frozen assets during an informal meeting at the end of August, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday after a meeting with the ministers in Brussels. “It’s important that everybody hears everybody’s arguments, and then we can also come up with compromises to address these sensitivities”, Kallas said. Share

15 Jul 2025 16.25 BST Joseph Gedeon Marjorie Taylor Greene has criticized Donald Trump over his new pledge to send “billions of dollars” worth of weapons to Ukraine, accusing him of breaking a campaign promise by continuing the very aid that Republicans spent years blocking under Joe Biden. “MAGA did not vote for more weapons to Ukraine,” the Georgia congresswoman, one of Trump’s most staunch allies in Washington, wrote on X on Tuesday, referring to the “Make America great again” moniker adopted by Trump’s base of supporters. “MAGA voted for no more US involvement in foreign wars.” Trump’s Oval Office announcement on Monday with the Nato chief, Mark Rutte, represented a pivot from his longstanding position of wanting to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict quickly, and a U-turn on the administration’s rhetoric towards European defence more broadly. The president said the sales would include a “full complement” of weapons, including Patriot missiles. “We will have some within days,” Trump said. Under the plan, he said European allies would swap existing Patriots for American-made systems and foot the bill by raising defense spending to 5% of GDP. Maga stalwart Marjorie Taylor Greene criticizes Trump over Ukraine arms shipments Read more Share Updated at 16.40 BST

15 Jul 2025 16.12 BST Jakub Krupa I’m handing the blog over to Tom Ambrose who will guide you through the rest of the afternoon. Share

15 Jul 2025 16.12 BST Asked what she meant by saying that the US could share more of the burden on helping Ukraine with the new military deliveries, Kallas says: “Well, if we pay for these weapons, it’s our support. it’s European support, and we are doing as much as we can to help Ukraine. And therefore the call is that that everybody would do the same. If you promise to give the weapons, but say that somebody else who is going to pay for it is not really given by you, is it?” Share

15 Jul 2025 16.07 BST Separately, Kallas also spoke briefly about Georgia – worrying that “the assault on democracy by the Georgian Dream is growing more severe” and saying that “Georgia’s democratic backsliding will come at cost” – and Moldova, stressing that the country is “a prime target of Moscow’s hybrid war” and warning that anyone attempting to destabilise the country will face EU sanctions. She later returns to Georgia, saying that suspending EU visa-free regime for Georgia could be on the table as the Georgian government needs to “ensure and uphold the protection of fundamental rights of all Georgian citizens.” She says: “They have been given a deadline until the end of August to comply with this. Then the question is, how do we then react if these recommendations have not been fulfilled? And as we hear that, for example, seven opposition leaders out of eight have been put in jail, this is not really in accordance with the you know, the first point that I pointed out.” She adds that the EU does not want to hurt Georgian people and take the visa-free movement away from them, but adds “it is also an issue of credibility for the EU.” Share Updated at 16.10 BST

15 Jul 2025 16.05 BST Kallas was also asked about Fico’s comments (15:56), addressing them in very general terms saying that “if you go into negotiations or worries you have, [and] your sensitivities are addressed, then it’s … important that you don’t present any anything on top of it.” She says that further talks on technical level will continue on Wednesday, and suggests it’s important to adopt the package to “put the pressure on Russia,” but acknowledges that it’s difficult to navigate the process with 27 member states. She declines to say if she sees Fico’s as reasonable. Share

15 Jul 2025 16.02 BST On the Middle East, Kallas says there are “positive signs” in the aftermath of last week’s humanitarian deal between the EU and Israel when it comes to Gaza, but “Israel needs to take more concrete steps to improve the humanitarian situation on the ground.” She added: “I also presented ministers an inventory of different measures that could be taken in relation to the review done in June. So we had a discussion on this, and these are choices that the member states have to make. We will keep these options on the table and stand ready to act if Israel does not live up to its pledges. The aim is not to punish Israel. The aim is to really improve the situation in Gaza.” Share

15 Jul 2025 15.59 BST Slovakia delays adoption of new sanctions package against Russia, EU foreign policy chief Kallas confirms EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is now briefing the media after today’s foreign affairs council in Brussels. She begins by talking about Ukraine and Russia: “Russia’s bombing campaign has reached record levels, and we see increasing use of banned chemical weapons by Russia in Ukraine. All this shows that Russia does not want peace.” She then confirms that Slovakia blocked the adoption of the 18th package of sanctions today as she says: “I’m really sad that we didn’t reach this agreement today. I must say that we were really close to reassuring Slovakia. The commission has delivered what they asked for. Now, the ball is in Slovakia’s court, and we must get this deal done. It has been already two months. Sanctions are necessary to starve Russia of the means to wage this war, and the European Union will keep rising the cost, so stopping its aggression becomes the only path forward to Moscow.” She adds that she welcomes Trump’s announcements last night, but says the EU “would like to see the US to share the burden”. “America and Europe are working together, and if we are working together, this can put the pressure on Putin to negotiate seriously. The only way to get Putin to end this war is to force his hand,” she said. Share

15 Jul 2025 14.56 BST Slovakia wants to postpone vote on 18th EU sanctions against Russia, PM Fico says Slovak prime minister Robert Fico has just publicly responded to the earlier Reuters report on the European Commission’s reassurances for the country as officials seek to break the deadlock on the 18th package of sanctions against Russia. View image in fullscreen Slovak prime minister Robert Fico attends the European Council meeting in Brussels, Belgium last month. Photograph: Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images Making the letter public on Facebook, Fico said the proposal was shared with leaders of other parties and rejected as insufficient, so the country will continue to delay the adoption of the latest round of sanctions on Russia. In the letter, first reported by Reuters (14:08), European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said officials worked on “an ambitious and comprehensive work plan with Slovakia in recognition of the particular challenges stemming from national circumstances” and commited to “addressing the specific challenges for Slovakia.” But Fico reiterated his opposition to “imbecile” proposal to ban Russian gas imports from 2028, but said he was ready to negotiate on further guarantees that would make the proposal work for Slovakia, saying “the best solution” would be to grant an exception to continue the existing gas delivery contract until its scheduled end in 2034. Europe will never return to Russian gas, European Commission insists Read more While the gas proposal is unrelated to the sanctions package, Fico said he was linking the two to leverage Slovakia’s position in the talks, as sanctions required unanimity among the member states. In the meantime, the Slovak representative at today’s foreign affairs council was told to request that the vote on the sanction package be delayed, he said. Share Updated at 15.04 BST

15 Jul 2025 13.49 BST Sweden to contribute to new Ukraine arms deal with US, defence minister says Meanwhile, Swedish defence minister Pal Jonson confirmed to Reuters that the country will contribute to efforts to boost arms supplies to Ukraine following US president Donald Trump’s decision to supply billions of dollars of weapons. “We welcome the American decision to make possible increased sanctions against Russia and to pave the way for the delivery of Patriots and other weapon systems to Ukraine,” Jonson said in an emailed comment to Reuters. “Sweden will contribute,” he added, without offering further details. Share

15 Jul 2025 13.39 BST Ukrainian PM Shmyhal resigns as part of Zelenskyy’s government reshuffle Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal has just confirmed he filed his resignation from the post, a day after president Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked his deputy, Yulia Svyrydenko, to lead the government after a reshuffle. In a Telegram message posted alongside a picture of his hand-written resignation note, he said: “Thank you to our defenders who are holding the front and protecting Ukraine! Thank you to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the trust! Thank you to the entire team for their tireless work for our country! Glory to Ukraine!” Share Updated at 13.43 BST

The death toll from Russia’s worst airstrike of the year on Ukraine’s capital rose to 31 on Friday after rescuers recovered more than a dozen more bodies from the rubble of a collapsed apartment block in Kyiv overnight. A two-year-old was among the five children found dead after Thursday’s Russian drone and missile attack, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Friday, announcing the end of the rescue operation. A total of 159 people were wounded in the strikes, which saw Russia launch more than 300 drones and eight missiles early on Thursday.

The EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, described Thursday’s attacks as “depraved” and posted a picture of the bloc’s flag at half mast. “More weapons for Ukraine and tougher sanctions on Russia are the fastest way to end the war. Getting more air defences to Ukraine fast is our priority,” she added in a post. Zelenskyy has been appealing to allies for more air defence systems and on Friday, Germany said it would soon start delivering two more US-made Patriot launchers to Ukraine. Germany has already delivered three Patriot systems to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Russia’s military advance in Ukraine accelerated for a fourth straight month in July, according to AFP’s analysis of data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War. From August 2024 to July 2025, the Russian army captured nearly 5,900 sq km, compared with 1,360 sq km in the previous 12 months. In July, the Russian army took 713 sq km of Ukrainian territory, while Ukraine reclaimed 79 sq km. Nearly three-quarters of Russian advances in July were in the eastern Donetsk region. Moscow fully or partially controlled 78% of the region at the end of July, compared with 62% a year ago. About 31% of this region was already under the control of pro-Russian separatists before the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Donald Trump has said that he deployed nuclear-capable submarines to the “appropriate regions” in response to a threatening tweet by Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev. In a post on Truth Social on Friday, Trump wrote that he had decided to reposition the nuclear submarines because of “highly provocative statements” by Medvedev, who had earlier said Trump’s threats to sanction Russia and a recent ultimatum were “a threat and a step towards war”.

Vladimir Putin has said he wants a “lasting and stable peace” in Ukraine but gave no indication that he is willing to make any concessions to achieve it. The Russian president told journalists on Friday that a peace would need to be built on “solid foundations that would satisfy both Russia and Ukraine, and would ensure the security of both countries”. Seemingly referencing Trump’s comments that he was “disappointed” with Putin, the Russian leader added: “All disappointments arise from inflated expectations.”

The UK and European Union called in Russian envoys after missile strikes on Kyiv killed at least 21 people and damaged the city’s British Council and EU offices. Four children were among the dead.

It is now “obvious” that a hoped-for meeting between Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will not happen , the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has said. Speaking beside the French president, Emmanuel Macron, Merz said their cabinets would talk about the Ukraine war in light of this fact.

The approval does not mean the sale has been concluded. Longer-range “standoff” missiles like the ERAM can be fired by Ukrainian warplanes from a distance , allowing them to hit Russian targets with less risk of a fighter jet being shot down. Allies of Ukraine have prioritised developing a series of lower cost, more versatile missiles for Kyiv to use on the battlefield.

Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands will potentially buy 3,350 ERAM air-launched cruise missiles for Ukraine in an $825m sale approved by the US state department, the Pentagon said on Thursday. The extended range attack munition has a range of “several hundred” miles according to one of the manufacturers. The package includes the missiles’ GPS guidance kits, electronic warfare defences and more, and apart from the European contribution has additional US government funding.

“Our patriotism is more powerful than our fear,” Kyiv resident Yulia Maystruk told the Guardian’s Dan Sabbagh as she stood holding her three-and-a-half-month-old daughter at the scene of the Darnytskyi apartment block bombing. She explained that that she knew “a woman who had taken shelter in the basement with her 14-year-old-son” nearer the impact point. The mother had survived but was injured, needing medical care. As for the son “he died in hospital”, Maystruk said, her eyes welling with tears.

The strikes on Kyiv show Russia is not interested in negotiating an end to the war, said the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. “The intense attacks on Kyiv last night demonstrate who stands on the side of peace and who has no intention of believing in the negotiating path,” Meloni said. “Our thoughts go to the Ukrainian people, to civilians, to the families of defenseless victims, including children, of the senseless Russian attacks.”

Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine is unlikely to end this year, Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Thursday, adding “if Russia continues like this, it is clear there will have to be new sanctions”. The EU commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said EU countries would soon come up with a 19th package of sanctions against Russia and were advancing work on how to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine.

Hungary and Ukraine traded insults on Thursday, with Budapest banning a Ukrainian military commander for carrying out “extremely severe attacks” on the Druzhba oil pipeline in Russia that feeds Hungary. The Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said the ban was against the Ukrainian “commander of the military unit that carried out the recent extremely severe attacks against the Druzhba oil pipeline”.

The Ukrainian foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, responded: “How shameless to post this after a brutal attack [on Kyiv] by terrorist state Russia. Peter, if the Russian pipeline is more important to you than the Ukrainian children killed by Russia this morning, this is moral decay.” Robert Brovdi, the ethnic Hungarian Ukrainian commander who is facing the ban, dismissed Budapest’s “sanctions and restrictions”, posting that “your hands are covered in Ukrainian blood. And we will remember that”.