Zelenskyy also repeated his earlier warning that Starshield restrictions are back on “in the temporary occupied parts of Ukraine,” and “directly affect our ability to intercept Russian jet powered drones” launched from these areas (10:08).
“We are trying to get the details from the American side, but so far we know very little. But some things are already clear. If someone in America is making decisions that basically treat Ukrainian territory as if it is not Ukrainian, then this tells us where things are going.
We need to be clear and never recognise Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territory in any way.”
On other battlefield issues, Zelenskyy says Ukraine needs more support on air defence, including interceptors and fighter jets.
Vladimir Putin has told US envoys that Russia was proposing a joint Russian-Ukrainian humanitarian mission to the city of Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine, the Interfax news agency reported.
Putin was cited as saying that the mission could be modelled on a similar initiative that allowed residents to leave the Russian-controlled town of Oleshky in southeastern Ukraine at the end of last month and for aid to be brought in for those who chose to remain.
Russia needs five days to clear the area near Kostiantynivka of mines, Putin was cited as saying.
Transport correspondent
Airlines have been reluctant to speak out about bomb threats for a host of reasons, but some leading figures in aviation have expressed unease at Europe’s response in last week’s flight disruption.
József Váradi, chief executive of Wizz Air, the Hungarian budget airline, said he met officials from the European Commission recently to “urge these people to act together and find ways of getting coordinated… But this is a very hot potato because of the sovereign nation state concept, and no country wants to concede on this matter.”
Among numerous airlines targeted last week, Wizz received hoax bomb alerts for 14 flights, diverting two aircraft after emailed threats.
He told Reuters that, assuming the hoaxes could be due to hybrid warfare, Europe “needs to think about this, how to level up responsibilities against a threat like this,” adding that geographically “we are probably closest to any of these hybrid warfare exposures than any of the western airlines.”
Speaking to an airline industry conference in London on Wednesday, the UK’s aviation regulator suggested that Britain’s industry had, more or less, kept calm and carried on while others had diverted flights.
Chief executive of the UK Civil Aviation Authority Rob Bishton said the UK had given a “proportionate” response to the threats, while parts of Europe showed a “different approach and a potentially different risk appetite .. and more caution taken for whatever reasons they thought were appropriate”.
He said the industry had “well-honed protocols” and the threat analysis by government was “a well-tried and tested model.”
He said:
“What you got from the UK side was a by the book, proportionate response.”
Bishton added: “Were we expecting things like this to happen – yes, it is not a surprise. It was a successfully executed assessment and the decisions made were correct.”
In other news, it’s another day of widespread bomb alarms across Italy, with some 1,800 schools in at least 10 regions of the country targeted with fresh threats, alongside the PM’s office.
Some of the emails accounts used to sent messages were tracked back to data leaks in Taiwan and the Philippines, Italian media reported.
But in sharp contrast to previous days, the government said it had instructed local authorities and school principals to keep classes running unless there were credible grounds for alarm. Several schools chose to evacuate pupils as a precaution, Ansa news agency reported.
A separate email, reported by Corriere della Sera, also demanded the resignation of Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni, along some unsubstantiated threats against her office.
Earlier today, Meloni chaired a meeting with opposition parties to discuss the government’s approach to the latest wave of threats, which is why she missed out on the first part of the Dublin summit. On Wednesday night, she said the campaign of intimidation against Italy was intended to “instil fear,” but insisted it would fail.
Deputy prime minister Antonio Tajani told Italian parliament on Thursday that he saw the hoax alarms as “a dangerous hybrid warfare campaign,” targeting Italy for its continued support of Ukraine. “But I want to reiterate clearly: we will not be intimidated,” he said.
The Rome Prosecutor’s Office’s anti-terrorism team is leading the investigation.
In recent days, authorities in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland said many schools had received similar threatening emails from abroad, but classified them as hoaxes and allowed classes to continue, Reuters noted.
We are also getting a line from the European Commission on Ukraine’s renewed problems with Elon Musk’s Starshield system, as reported by president Zelenskyy (11:08, 13:07).
EU tech spokesperson Thomas Regnier said:
“So it is not the first time that Ukraine is facing Starshield disruptions. These reports are deeply concerning and if confirmed, unacceptable.
SpaceX must have a consistent approach in sharing its services with Ukraine, Starshield services must be restored urgently for Ukraine to keep its soldiers connected, to protect its citizens, and to defend its territory.”
Meanwhile, president Vladimir Putin told US envoys that Russia was proposing a joint Russian-Ukrainian humanitarian mission to the city of Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine, the Interfax news agency reported.
Putin also reportedly claimed that Russia never opposed dialogue with Europe, and said he “would like Americans to work with Europe so that they can decide what they want, peace or war,” Reuters reported via Interfax.
And US envoy Witkoff said, quoted by RIA and Interfax, that he hoped to be able to announce a new round of trilateral talks “in which Europeans would take part” later today.
All we are getting at the moment is short reports via Russian media, so we may have to wait for a proper, longer readout from the meeting.
Over in Moscow, the meeting between Russia’s Putin and the two US peace envoys is now finally getting under way.
In their opening remarks, noted by Russian media, Jared Kushner told Putin that Europe wanted a role in future negotiations, while Steve Witkoff praised a major prisoner exchange agreed earlier this week during talks in Abu Dhabi, saying it was a sign of progress, Reuters reported.
We will no doubt get more lines coming out from that meeting shortly.
European Council president António Costa is up next.
He says that “the security of all European nations, the security of our continent, is inseparable from Ukraine’s security and that our collective security is inseparable from the achievement of a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”
“Today, as discussions about peace in Ukraine intensify, this is more important than ever,” he said.
He lists some of the principles, saying that Ukraine “like any sovereign nation around this table must be free to choose its partners, its allies, its future.”
“The time of zones of influence in Europe is long gone.”
He joins others in calling for “a European voice at the table” in any peace talks, which he says should be “a team effort between European nations, the EU and Nato.”
On broader security environment, he says:
“There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Europe had a functioning European security architecture until it was first gradually undermined and ultimately destroyed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Any future discussion on this issue must take that fact into account.”
He said the principles of sovereign equality between European nations, territorial integrity and peaceful settlement of disputes “remain as relevant today, as indispensable … as they were 50 years ago.”
Setting out his stall as a potential EU representative (11:58), he said:
“Europe’s priorities is in this process are very clear. We must first reach a ceasefire, obtain concrete, tangible progress in the Black Sea, and work on creating the conditions for a peace agreement.
The main outstanding condition for all of this to be possible is whether Russia is truly interested in peace, and unfortunately, so far, what we have seen is that Russia is focused on escalation and attacks on Ukrainian civilians.
That must change for peace to be possible, and next weeks will be a decisive test for Russian willingness to stop this war.”
His remarks conclude the public session of the meeting, with the discussions continuing behind the closed doors.
Meanwhile, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte said there had been positive developments during the Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Abu Dhabi but warned that it remained unclear whether Russia was genuinely willing to engage in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
“It all depends on the Russians, whether they are willing to play ball,” Rutte said, adding that Ukraine must be kept as strong as possible as negotiations with Russia continue, Reuters reported.
Zelenskyy also repeated his earlier warning that Starshield restrictions are back on “in the temporary occupied parts of Ukraine,” and “directly affect our ability to intercept Russian jet powered drones” launched from these areas (10:08).
“We are trying to get the details from the American side, but so far we know very little. But some things are already clear. If someone in America is making decisions that basically treat Ukrainian territory as if it is not Ukrainian, then this tells us where things are going.
We need to be clear and never recognise Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territory in any way.”
On other battlefield issues, Zelenskyy says Ukraine needs more support on air defence, including interceptors and fighter jets.
Zelenskyy is speaking now.
He says it is “very good that Europeans are now part of these talks” with Russia, even if “not directly yet.” “We need to make sure that Europe becomes a regular part of these negotiations,” he says.
He says the Abu Dhabi talks were “serious, not empty,” with an “important” agreement on a PoW swap.
But he said Europe “really needs to pay attention” to proposed talks on security guarantees, which he says are not just about Ukraine, but “some kind of new security framework between Europe and Russia.”
“We find this approach a bit strange. And, because for 30 years after the Soviet Union collapsed, Europe treated Russia well and Europe tried to have as much trade as possible, as much cooperation as possible, and as good relations as possible with Russia. Putin’s wars are really about only his attitude toward others, not some kind of permanent confrontation with Europe that was impossible to avoid.”
He also says that the Russian delegation attending the Abu Dhabi talks had “no permission to discuss steps that could reduce the horrors of this war,” despite specific requests from the Ukrainian side to “de-escalate in the Black Sea and stop attacks on energy infrastructure.”
Opening the meeting, Ireland’s Micheál Martin stressed the need of reaching “a just and lasting peace” in Ukraine, saying it is “long past time for Russia to stop this immoral war.”
He also said the EPC should look at addressing some common challenges, on “trade, energy, infrastructure or in people to people links.”
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy is up next.
France’s Emmanuel Macron has urged European leaders to agree on “what it wants, both for Ukraine and for itself” when it comes to broader European security.
He said Europe should remain focused on supporting Ukraine and agree on its own “principles” and define “what it wants, both for Ukraine and for itself” when it comes to security.
Macron said he hoped for a text on this issue to be adopted today to show coordination on these issues with a broader group of countries.
“At a time when some might wish to see Europe sidelined from discussions concerning its own security and stability, this declaration is vital; it builds upon everything we have achieved over the last decade while signalling the need for a renewed, collective impetus across this broader Europe.”
Asked why should Europe trust Russia’s Putin, Macron smiled:
“I am not saying you should.”
He continued:
“I’m saying it’s important today what we do with Ukraine and to clearly keep supporting them. I think it’s very important as well to endorse very clear principles and commitments as Europeans in this wider Europe, which is this European political community, in order to make sure that we design ourselves our own security principles and our own architecture of security. This is my main objective.”
Worth highlighting that the perennial debate on who should speak for Europe internationally – best known as the Kissinger question – was given fresh urgency after critical comments from US peace envoy Jared Kushner following the latest round of talks in Abu Dhabi.
Debriefing the press after his meetings with Russia and Ukraine, Kushner said yesterday:
“If Europe could identify one person to speak on their behalf, that would be a bigger achievement than getting the Russians to include them in the negotiations.”
Ouch.
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy has now also arrived at the EPC venue in Dublin.
We are likely to hear from him at some point later.
Germany’s Friedrich Merz has said that further support for Ukraine should be seen as “a collective European responsibility,” with the immediate need to “close the funding gap for 2027.”
Ukraine “faces a very, very difficult winter, and it is essential that we Europeans stand together,” he added.
Merz also said he was hearing “some positive signals” about the talks in Abu Dhabi, but cautioned “there is a long way to go.”
He urged Russia’s Putin “to finally agree to joint discussions,” and stressed that “the Europeans must be at the table” during any potential talks.
But he added that the focus should not be on who the EU appoints to represent it at the talks, but on getting Putin to take part in the discussions.
“I note with some satisfaction that there is evidently a growing willingness on the Russian side to recognise that one cannot talk about Europe without involving Europe. And that, for a start, is good news. Whether it will stay that way remains to be seen,” he said.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen had only a few words to say on her arrival for the EPC talks in Dublin.
She said she “very much welcomed” the peace talks in Abu Dhabi, and that she was happy “the Europeans were represented to safeguard our interests,” and also acknowledging that Ukraine’s Zelenskyy “asked for it” to happen.
She added:
“We are preparing the 22nd sanctions package, and we are, as the commission, preparing a proposal how to cover the financial needs of Ukraine in 2027. We will come with the sanctions package and the proposal for the financial needs before the next European Council.”
She did not take any questions.
EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has warned that “we do not see any goodwill from the Russian side” in Ukraine talks, calling for any attacks to stop first before formal peace talks can be held.
“There should be [the] right sequenc[e] first to have a ceasefire, so that the bombing of the civilians really [needs to] stop and then sit down and talk over the peace agreement. Then, only then, we can talk about peace, or security architecture of Europe.”
Kallas said there was also the issue of trust given Russia “is not keeping” to previous agreements, including the Budapest memorandum.
“The focus should be on how we make sure that Russia actually keeps to their obligations,” she said.
Kallas also repeatedly hinted she should be a part of the EU’s delegation on Ukraine, pointing to the fact that the EU leaders “had those discussions” in 2024 when appointing the current holders to the three top jobs in the bloc.
“The leaders, of course, may choose differently and go into these discussions again, which is always difficult, or we [could] just stick to the agreements that we made in 2024.”
