The European Union's foreign policy chief Kaia Kallas says the bloc will tighten enforcement of sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine. EU foreign ministers were meeting in Ireland following renewed Russian strikes on cities across Ukraine.
A Russian air attack damaged a multi-storey residential building in Ukraine's Black Sea port city of Odesa in the early hours of Thursday, Serhiy Lysak, the head of the city's military administration, said on Telegram.
He did not provide further details.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he wants to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin once the two sides are ready to reach a peace deal with Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is planning to visit Canada next week, but the trip has not yet been finalised, the Globe and Mail reported on Wednesday, citing sources in both countries.
Russia has 'categorically rejected' German allegations of involvement in an attempted drone attack on an airport in Leipzig last month, calling the accusation 'completely fabricated'.
Moscow summoned the Germany's Chargé d’Affaires on Wednesday over the allegations.
In a post on Telegram, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it told the German diplomat that the German Government’s decision to "use this contrived pretext" to close two Russian institutions in Germany "is viewed as yet another step towards the complete dismantling of the bilateral relationship painstakingly built by generations of Russian and German politicians and diplomats."
It added: "the actions of the German authorities will be met with a tough response."
EU foreign policy chief Kaia Kallas says the bloc is looking to tighten enforcement of sanctions against Russia while increasing support for Ukraine.
"We are working on new proposals to tighten sanctions enforcement ... and we are moving ahead with more sanctions. Attempts to intimidate Europe will fail," Kallas said after an informal meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers in Ireland.
Kallas said a move to place an EU visa entry ban for Russian ex-combatants and to impose tougher visa restrictions for Russian tourists has received broad support among European ministers.
The EU's top diplomat said member states had also pledged more support for Ukraine to help it withstand the ongoing attacks by Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he spoke with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to discuss last month's attempted drone attack on an airfield in Leipzig, Germany.
In a post on X, he said, "This is yet another Russian escalation, and it is important that Germany responded."
German media outlets have reported that investigators identified two men suspected of involvement in the failed drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport.
One suspect, a Russian-born man holding a Latvian passport, is believed to have links to Russian intelligence and allegedly coordinated logistics and provided instruction for the attack. He reportedly flew to Berlin in late July, travelled by rental car to Leipzig and left Germany by plane two days before the attempted attack.
The second suspect is reportedly a Belarusian national who also holds a Russian passport and is believed to have entered Germany on an Italian tourist visa obtained in Minsk.
Germany’s Public Prosecutor General and Russia had not immediately commented on the reports.
Ukraine has urged the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to prevent member states from using Russian airspace, according to a letter from the Ukrainian government seen by Reuters.
The request comes after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned airlines and insurers that Ukrainian drone activity had made Russian airspace dangerous and effectively closed. Russia’s Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin said Moscow would not allow the disruptions to significantly affect civil aviation, while Flightradar24 data showed disruptions at Moscow’s main airport and some flight cancellations on Wednesday.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has vowed to increase pressure on Russia and impose new sanctions following an attempted drone attack at Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport.
Germany blamed Moscow for the incident, describing it as part of Russia’s hybrid warfare campaign, while Russia denied involvement.
Von der Leyen said Europe and NATO would continue increasing pressure on Moscow until Russia ends its war in Ukraine: "Europe and NATO will not just maintain our pressure on Russia; we will increase it, and we will not stop — not until Russia stops bombing and killing innocent children, men and women in Ukraine."
EU officials said new measures could target Russia’s military industry and its so-called “shadow fleet.”
A mechanism is needed to permanently ensure the safety of commercial maritime transport in the Black Sea before a grain crisis escalates, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said.
Earlier this week, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the country had prepared a plan for the safe passage of grain via the Black Sea, and that it was in contact with both Russia and Ukraine regarding it.
Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks on Tuesday in Bishkek on the sidelines of the SCO summit, and Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin had discussed the situation in the Black Sea with the Turkish President.
In remarks to journalists on his return flight from the trip to Kyrgyzstan, Erdoğan said a grain crisis had resurfaced particularly in Africa, and action needed to be taken before the problem escalated further, according to a transcript shared by his office on Wednesday.
"The safety of all civilian maritime transportation in the Black Sea is important to us. The fighting between parties should not escalate to a point where it undermines the safety of civilians and commercial life," Erdoğan said.
"We need to resolve this issue," he added.
Britain has fined Citibank £4.7 million ($6.35 million) after it emerged errors at the U.S. bank's London branch had led to funds being made available to individuals sanctioned by the UK government, due to their links to Russia.
Britain's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) said the bank had enabled multiple transactions in breach of the UK's sanctions regime, most of which occurred between February and November 2022.
The bank voluntarily disclosed the majority of the breaches, OFSI said. A Citi Spokesperson said the bank welcomed the conclusion of the case, adding that it took sanctions compliance very seriously.
Multiple Ukrainian cities and regions were hit by Russian strikes overnight, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service. Here's a round-up of the attacks.
A warehouse, houses and cars were damaged in fires caused by strikes in the Buchansky district, west of Kyiv, Tymur Tkachenko, Head of the Kyiv Regional Administration, said. Later several explosions were heard in the centre of Ukraine, according to Reuters witnesses, and smoke was seen rising from the National University building.
All night Russian strikes on the Black Sea port city of Odesa left multiple blocks of apartments damaged and triggered a fire at a business centre, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.
A 45-year-old man was injured as a result of shelling in the city of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region, southern Ukraine. Firefighters extinguished a blaze at a business, as well as one in a high-rise apartment building, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. In the city of Kryvyi Rih, also in the Dnipropetrovsk region, a kindergarten and shop were damaged as a result of a Russian attack, the agency said.
Firefighters extinguished a large fire that broke out at a building due to Russian strikes on an industrial zone on the outskirts of the city in northeastern Ukraine, the State Emergency Service said.
At least four people were injured in a Russian attack on the city in southeastern Ukraine, according to the agency. Two apartment buildings and seven private houses were also damaged. Rescue workers extinguished the fires, but later had to take shelter several times, the State Emergency Service said.
Three apartment buildings, an educational institution, and a store were damaged by a Russian strike on the city in eastern Ukraine, the agency said.
Russia will not allow Ukraine to seriously disrupt civil aviation operations despite a threat by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to do so, Russia's Transport Minister, Andrei Nikitin, has said.
Zelenskyy warned airlines and insurance companies on Tuesday that the presence of Ukrainian drones had made Russian airspace dangerous to use and said it was effectively closed.
“Of course, we are preparing for this and taking all these threats into account. We are constantly improving flight safety and airport security requirements, and we have solutions for all of this," Nikitin was cited as saying by Russian news agency Interfax.
At least three large explosions shook the centre of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Wednesday, witnesses said.
City authorities had issued an air raid alert earlier amid a drone threat and said air defence units were repelling the attack. A column of black smoke rose from a neighbourhood near the national university building.
Tymur Tkachenko, Head of the Kyiv Regional Administration, said three people were injured as a result of Russian attacks, while houses, cars and a warehouse were damaged in the Buchansky district, west of Kyiv.
He added that air sirens continued to sound.
Russia has warned Germany to expect a response after it blamed Moscow for an attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport last month and temporarily closed the Russian Consulate in Bonn in response.
Moscow's Foreign Ministry said Berlin had been informed by Russia's Ambassador that it considered the accusations unsubstantiated.
"Measures announced by the German side are an unprecedented escalation of Russian-German relations and will not remain without consequence," Russia's Foreign Ministry added in a statement.
A drone carrying an explosive device was discovered at Leipzig/Halle Airport close to Ukrainian cargo planes on 4 August.
German investigators believe it failed to explode due to a faulty detonator.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has said that the European Union (EU) will work on imposing further sanctions on Russian individuals in the coming weeks.
"The EU has imposed extensive sanctions on Russia, but we will certainly continue to work on imposing sanctions on individuals in the coming weeks," he said on the sidelines of an EU meeting in Ireland.
"Pressure on Russia is being stepped up and support for Ukraine also remains at a high level. That is the unity we are demonstrating at this time," he said.
Russia has rejected Germany's claims it was behind the incident, calling them unsubstantiated.
Russia carried out a "massive" missile and drone attack on energy infrastructure in Ukraine's southern region of Odesa overnight, transmission system operator Ukrenergo said on Wednesday.
Ukrenergo said on Telegram that a substantial number of consumers in the Odesa region were left without electricity, adding that there were new power cuts in four other regions.
France is summoning an official from the Russian embassy in Paris over an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport last month, French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Wednesday.
"I have summoned the Russian charge d'affaires in Paris to protest," said Barrot at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Ireland, adding sanctions must also be taken at a European level notably against Russia's shadow fleet
The German government said on Tuesday that it had concluded that Russia was responsible for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport last month and ordered a series of measures in response, including the closure of a consulate and a Russian cultural centre in Berlin.
Many people in eastern Germany retain a more conciliatory attitude toward Russia, shaped by decades of living alongside Soviet troops during the GDR era. This divide has become a key issue ahead of elections in Saxony-Anhalt, where polls suggest the far-right AfD could win power at state level for the first time.
The AfD wants Germany to end support for Ukraine, restore economic and energy ties with Moscow, and maintain closer cultural relations with Russia. Support for this approach is also linked to lingering economic and social grievances in eastern Germany, where wealth remains far below western levels despite falling unemployment.
Many residents feel ignored or unfairly labelled by national political elites and are worried about protecting the prosperity they have built since reunification. For some voters, renewed trade and cheap Russian energy are therefore seen as a way to restore economic stability, benefiting parties that promise better relations with Moscow.
The attempted attack in Leipzig had all the hallmarks of state sponsored terrorism, the European Union's Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas has said, adding that Europe needs to coordinate on what more can be done given the escalation of Russia's attacks on Ukraine.
The German government said on Tuesday that it had concluded that Russia was responsible for the attempted drone attack last month.
Speaking ahead of an informal gathering of European foreign ministers in Ireland, Kallas also said that work is ongoing on 1,600 sanctions listings related to Russia's military complex and "maybe there are more to be added".
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned airlines and insurance companies on Tuesday that the presence of Ukrainian drones had made Russian skies dangerous to use and that they were effectively closed.
"Today, we want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every insurer, everyone who still uses key Russian airports: the Russian sky is becoming completely dangerous," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.
Ukraine poses no threat to civil aviation, he said, "but there will be drones in Russia's skies and due notice must be taken".
"Although Russian authorities are not properly announcing it, Russian airspace will effectively be closing. The war started by Russia is closing its own skies," Zelenskyy added.
Russia attacked three warehouses in the Buchansky district of the Kyiv region overnight, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said, causing fires to break out.
Firefighters have now extinguished the blazes, the agency said on Telegram, noting that rescuers came under attack from additional strikes during efforts to put out the fires.
An explosion was also heard in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Wednesday morning, a witness told Reuters.
Russia sees no grounds for the Black Sea grain deal to resume, Moscow's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told reporters on Wednesday, as Russia and Ukraine continue to attack each other's grain export facilities.
"There was a deal ... But a substantial part of it was not implemented. Do you see any change in the West's position? I don't," Grushko told reporters on the sidelines of a forum in the Russian Far East port city of Vladivostok.
Türkiye and the United Nations helped mediate the Black Sea Grain Initiative which was agreed in July 2022 to allow the safe export of nearly 33 million metric tons of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, despite the war.
Russia withdrew from the agreement in 2023, complaining that its own food and fertiliser exports faced serious obstacles.
Türkiye has prepared a new plan for the safe passage of grain via the Black Sea and has reached out to both countries.
Both Russia and Ukraine are major grain exporters and their mutual attacks, in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, have contributed to the increase in global wheat prices.
Emergency service workers have extinguished a blaze that broke out in the town of Vyshneve in the Kyiv region following a drone strike overnight.
Ukraine's State Emergency Service said that two townhouses were destroyed in the attack.
No fatalities have been reported, according to the agency.
Three people have died, including a child, after a strike on the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa, Serhiy Lysak, head of the city's military administration, said on Telegram. Lysak added that residential buildings and infrastructure were also damaged in the attack.
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