Photograph: Wojtek Jargiło/EPA
Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap!
Lithuania warned about “an alarming spillover of Russia’s aggression” into Nato territory after confirming that a Russian drone which violated the country’s airspace last week was carrying explosives – even if it still believed it only got across the border by accident (17:33)
The incident prompted the authorities in Vilnius to request additional air defence support from Nato (17:18.)
On Ukraine,
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had a “productive conversation” with US president Donald Trump this afternoon, talking about the importance of keeping the pressure on Russia to “stop the killings as soon as possible” (16:35).
The pair discussed the US plans to impose sanctions and secondary tariffs aiming to disrupt Russia’s financing of its war operations in Ukraine (14:34), endorsed by the EU (12:31), but criticised by India (13:13).
Earlier, the Netherlands (10:15) and three Nordic countries – Denmark, Norway and Sweden (13:57) – announced their plans to finance further military aid for Ukraine under a new US-Nato mechanism agreed with Trump last month.
Earlier today, 38 countries backed a call to Russia to return “unlawfully deported and forcibly transferred Ukrainian children” back to their families in Ukraine. (18:01).
On trade,
The EU defended its recently agreed deal with the US, saying the choice was not “between a good and a great outcome,” but a “bad but less bad outcome” (11:57) rejecting fresh criticism from German finance minister, Lars Klingbeil (12:46).
But US president Trump warned he could impose punishing tariffs of 35% on the EU should the bloc failed to meet its investment promises (14:56), signalling a significant difference of opinion between Washington and Brussels over what was agreed on that point (15:26, 15:56, 17:39).
Trump also repeated his warnings on pharmaceuticals, repeating it was his intention to have them “made in our country.”
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at [email protected].
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Updated
38 countries urge Russia to return abducted Ukrainian children
38 countries, including Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the UK, urged Russia to return “unlawfully deported and forcibly transferred Ukrainian children” back to their families in Ukraine.
The statement, published by the office of the Ukrainian president and also signed by Council of Europe and the European Union, said that Ukraine gave Russia a list of 339 Ukrainian children, and expected it to “act promptly and meaningfully on the initial list”, and to then cooperate on returning all children back to Ukraine “in accordance with international law and relevant UN resolutions.”
“The return of Ukrainian children is one vital step in this broader imperative, to ensure that children are never used as pawns of war. All actions must be guided by the best interests of the child in accordance with international law,” the signatories said.
