Russia increasingly reckless, says Nato’s Rutte as Germany blames Moscow for Leipzig drone incident – Europe live | Europe
‘Russia has grown increasingly reckless,’ Nato’s Rutte says
Rutte continues by warning that “Russia has grown increasingly reckless.”
“We have seen more drones and missiles crossing into our airspace along our eastern flank, creating increased risk. We have also seen an increase in malign activities targeting our territory directly, whether there’s fires set in factories producing defence equipment for Ukraine, or indeed the Russian hybrid attack in Leipzig.”
He offers Nato’s solidarity with Germany.
He says “the danger Russia poses is clear,” with Nato “working round the clock to keep our people safe.”
“If Russia thinks we will be divided by the threats, or if they think we will be deterred from supporting Ukraine, they are mistaken. Our unity is unshaken.”
Key events
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‘Moscow has not changed,’ EU’s Kallas says, as she pledges continued support for Ukraine
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EU’s Kallas to speak to media after foreign ministers’ meeting
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Pegasus Airlines cancelled some flights to Russia for ‘technical and operational’ reasons
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‘The war is returning to Russia,’ Ukraine’s minister says after ICAO notification
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German media: two suspects with ties to Russia identified over planned Leipzig attack
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Ukraine finalising drone deal with Germany, Zelenskyy says after talks with Merz
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Madise elected Estonia’s next president
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‘Russia has grown increasingly reckless,’ Nato’s Rutte says
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‘Every loophole Russia exploits is one we must close,’ EU’s von der Leyen says
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EU, Nato ‘will not just maintain pressure on Russia; we will increase it,’ von der Leyen says
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Leipzig attack ‘marks a new escalation on EU soil’, von der Leyen says
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EU’s von der Leyen and Nato’s Rutte brief media on alleged Russia sabotage, Ukraine
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Russian airspace becoming unsafe for commercial airlines, Zelenskyy says
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Germany steps up probe into Brandenburg substation incident
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Germany’s move to blame Russia for Leipzig drone incident ‘a grave mistake,’ Putin says
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Italy not opposed to using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, minister says
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Restarting talks on frozen Russian assets ‘a fair approach,’ Ukrainian minister says
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Russia’s attempts to divide Europe will fail, UK’s Miliband says
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Russia ‘must live with consequences’ of its actions, German minister says
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Germany investigating suspected attempt to disrupt power grid at another substation
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Two people injured after an explosion near Augsburg train station
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Morning opening: EU holds talks on response to Leipzig attack
Kallas also says there is “broad support” to move ahead with an EU visa entry ban for Russian ex-combatants and tougher visa restrictions on Russian tourists.
‘Moscow has not changed,’ EU’s Kallas says, as she pledges continued support for Ukraine
Kallas says the ministers had “a very substantive” discussion, not just between the EU 27, but with “friends from Ukraine, Canada, Iceland, Norway, the UK, and Switzerland” also attending.
She says it is important for the EU and its close partners to “tackle the security challenges together.”
She says “Moscow has not changed,” as they “make it abundantly clear” with continued bombing that they “do not want peace.”
“Our immediate focus continues to be to give Ukraine what it needs to defend itself,” she says.
The EU will continue contributing financially, but also work on tightening its sanctions targeting Russia’s military industrial complex.
“Ukraine has identified ore than 5,500 western and Asian components in Russian weapons, after four years of war. This is inexcusable,” she says.
The EU will also “continue” – that’s diplospeak for ‘we didn’t get anywhere on this’ – to discuss the use of frozen Russian money.
Kallas also flags potential risks associated with Russia’s continued strikes in the Black Sea, which pose a continued risk for global food security.
EU’s Kallas to speak to media after foreign ministers’ meeting
EU’s Kallas is here.
I will bring you all the key quotes here, but you can also watch along here:
Jakub Krupa
We are expecting to hear from the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, soon-ish, with a debrief after today’s meeting of EU foreign ministers in Ireland.
She will give us the EU’s view on the Leipzig incident and the latest with Russia and Ukraine.
I am keeping an eye on this for you and will bring you a stream and key quotes when she’s up.
We are now getting a bit more detail on that Ukraine-Germany drone deal, mentioned by Zelenskyy earlier (13:37).
Reuters says the deal will build on existing German-Ukrainian defence cooperation, including a multi-million-euro programme to supply to Kyiv some 15,000 Strila interceptor drones designed to counter Shahed-type attack drones.
In April, German defence technology company Quantum Systems and Ukrainian manufacturer WIY Drones announced the creation of Quantum WIY Industries, a joint venture focused on increasing production of interceptor drones and related air-defence technologies.
Germany is also funding an order for 50,000 Shrike attack drones produced by Ukrainian manufacturer SkyFall, one of the largest known drone purchases for Kyiv by a western government.
Pegasus Airlines cancelled some flights to Russia for ‘technical and operational’ reasons
Amid Ukrainian warnings, Turkish carrier Pegasus Airlines said it had cancelled some flights to Russia last night for “technical and operational” reasons, without giving further details, Reuters reported.
Vnukovo airport said Pegasus Airlines had cancelled six arriving and six departing flights at the hub on Tuesday. The carrier said overnight flights into Wednesday were affected, but other ongoing flights were “operating as scheduled“.
Other carriers that fly regularly to and over Russia, including Turkish Airlines, Qatar, Etihad and Emirates, did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
‘The war is returning to Russia,’ Ukraine’s minister says after ICAO notification
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha offered a bit more colour on the ICAO notification.
In a post on X, he urged all carriers to avoid the Russian airspace, saying:
“Russia has been deliberately ignoring the existing threats as a result of its aggression against Ukraine, which has already led to several incidents in the past years. Against the backdrop of Russia’s drastic escalation of terror against Ukraine, Russian airspace is becoming increasingly unsafe.
This is our responsible decision to notify ICAO and all airlines, and governments to take caution – even if Russia refuses to fulfil its responsibility to inform them.
We want to prevent unintended incidents. The war is returning home to Russia. Ukraine exercises its inherent right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter.”
Ukraine has officially notified the International Civil Aviation Organization that Russia’s airspace is not safe for civilian aviation, Reuters reports.
Earlier Volodymyr Zelenskyy, while insisting there was no intention to directly threaten civilian flights, said: “We want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every insurer, and everyone who still uses Russia’s key airports: Russian airspace is becoming completely unsafe.”
AP reports, citing local officials, that Russian strikes on the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine have killed a man and a woman. The assault hit food warehouses belonging to a retail chain, wounding at least six people, said Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration.
German media: two suspects with ties to Russia identified over planned Leipzig attack
Süddeutsche Zeitung in Germany is reporting that two suspects have been identified in the attempted attack on cargo planes at Leipzig Airport.
It states that “According to information from the Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR, and WDR, investigators are certain they have identified two suspects in connection with the planned attack” and that the two men are “a Russian-born man with a Latvian passport and a man from Belarus with a Russian passport, both known to authorities.”
Reuters has a quick snap that in Moscow, Russia has summoned the German ambassador.
Ukraine finalising drone deal with Germany, Zelenskyy says after talks with Merz
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is finalising its drone deal with Germany after his talks with chancellor Friedrich Merz earlier today.
After speaking with Merz via a video conference, Zelenskyy said the pair discussed Russia’s drone attack in Leipzig, which he warned is “yet another Russian escalation.”
“Friedrich briefed me on the measures taken.
For my part, I assured him that Ukraine is ready to help – with expertise, experience, or in other areas where Germany may need it.
Our teams are already finalising the text of the Drone Deal, and this will, among other things, definitely provide both Germany and Ukraine with additional defence capabilities. We discussed the substance of the agreement and when we will be able to sign it.”
Madise elected Estonia’s next president
Meanwhile, Estonia’s leading constitutional lawyer Ülle Madise has been elected the country’s next president, set to take over from Alar Karis on 12 October.
Madise, 51, has been Estonia’s human rights and constitutionality ombudsman since 2015.
She will be Estonia’s second female president, after Kersti Kaljulaid who served in the post between 2016 and 2021.
The two leaders take no questions and wrap their press conference up after statements.
That’s a shame as there are no doubts many questions that could be asked here, including on the US’s apparent reluctance to name Russia as the country behind the Leipzig attack (12:00).
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