Ukraine-Russia struggle newest: Trump ‘so disappointed’ in Putin and urges him to satisfy Zelensky for peace talks | EUROtoday

European Union leaders will discuss proposals for a “drone wall” to protect the continent at a summit in Copenhagen today.

The security talks for enforcing a drone barrier against Russian incursions comes just days after airspace intrusions by unidentified unmanned aircraft forced a temporary closure of Danish airports.

The summit will also be the first opportunity for leaders of the EU’s 27 countries to debate a proposal to use Russian assets frozen in Europe to fund a loan of €140bn(£122.25bn) to Ukraine.

France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Britain, Finland and Ukraine have committed troops and anti-drone systems to help Denmark protect the leaders, many of whom have accused Russia of brazen violations of European airspace with recent incursions by drones over Poland and fighter jets over Estonia.

Denmark has stopped short of saying who it believes is responsible for the incidents in its airspace last week, which disrupted air traffic at six airports, but prime minister Mette Frederiksen has suggested it could be Moscow.

A Russian guided aerial bomb attack on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv overnight injured six people and sparked several fires, regional officials said this morning.

Five of those injured, all adults, have been hospitalised, regional governor of Kharkiv Oleh Synehubov said.

Ihor Terekhov, mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that is also the capital of the Kharkiv region, said the attack also sparked a fire at one of the city’s markets and at some residential buildings.

Photos and videos showed firefighters battling through the night as flames engulfed what appeared to be market stalls and other structures.

The Kharkiv region, which lies near the border with Russia, has been the target of regular Russian aerial attacks since the start of the war.

Princess Anne, the late Queen Elizabeth’s only daughter, visited Ukraine to express her solidarity with children and families enduring the impact of the war, Buckingham Palace said today.

Anne, who celebrated her 75th birthday in August, met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky during her visit to Kyiv yesterday, where they discussed Britain’s ongoing support for Ukraine, among other issues.

The royal paid her respects at a memorial honouring the children who have died since the start of the conflict in February 2022. She was accompanied by Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska and laid a toy as a tribute.

Anne also spoke with Ukrainian children who have been displaced or deported by Russia and she visited a rehabilitation centre, where she met veterans returning from the frontline.

Anne’s visit to Ukraine follows that of Prince Harry, the younger son of King Charles, who travelled to Kyiv earlier this month with a team from his Invictus Games Foundation to highlight the charity’s plans to support the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers.

The International Atomic Energy Agency is engaging with both sides of the military conflict to restore offsite power to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as soon as possible, the UN atomic watchdog’s chief Rafael Grossi said on Tuesday in a statement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had earlier said the situation at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station had become critical, with Russian shelling preventing restoration of power needed to cool the reactors and prevent a meltdown.

The Princess Royal has made a surprise trip to Ukraine in a show of solidarity with children and families facing the horrors of the Russian invasion.

The King’s sister travelled to the war-torn country on Tuesday, where she left a toy bear at a children’s memorial in a poignant tribute to youngsters killed in the conflict.

Anne, travelling at the request of the Foreign Office, made the official visit to Kyiv to highlight the traumatic experiences of children living on the front line, Buckingham Palace said.

She also met with President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the UK’s support for Ukraine and the country’s ongoing resistance.

Anne’s secret overseas mission, which was not publicised beforehand for security reasons, came just two days after a Russian aerial bombardment killed at least four people in Kyiv including a 12-year-old girl and injured at least 70 others.

Zelensky has condemned Russia’s decision to attack a nuclear power plant as a “threat to everyone”.

The Ukrainian president said “no terrorist in the world has ever dared to do to a nuclear plant what Russia is doing” in a post on X.

“It is now the seventh day – something that has never happened before – of an emergency situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

“Because of Russian shelling, the plant has been cut off from power, disconnected from the electrical grid, and is being supplied with electricity by diesel generators,” he wrote.

“This is extraordinary. The generators and the plant were not designed for this, have never operated in this mode for long, and we already have information that one generator has failed.

“It is Russian shelling that prevents repair of the power lines to the plant and the restoration of basic safety.

“This is a threat to everyone – no terrorist in the world has ever dared to do to a nuclear plant what Russia is doing. And it is right that the world does not stay silent.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has revealed that a reparations loan to Ukraine, proposed by the EU Commission, will fund defence procurement within Europe.

It will be backed by frozen Russian assets, but Von der Leyen said the proposal did not involve seizing the assets. Ukraine would repay the loan if Russia paid reparations.

Donald Trump touted what he described as his peacemaking abilities during a speech to military personnel on Tuesday, but said that conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine were still raging despite his administration’s mediation.

In a speech before military commanders in Quantico, Virginia, Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President President Volodymyr Zelensky need to get together to settle Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

It comes after the US president failed to persuade Putin to make progress on the conflict after the two met in Alaska for a high-stakes summit last month.

Maksym Butkevych, a Ukrainian journalist and human rights activist who was released last year after being captured by Russian forces, was handed the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize by the Council of Europe on Monday.

Butkevych, who confounded the independent Hromadske radio station and Zmina human rights centre in Kyiv, was detained by Russia in June 2022 and convicted for war crimes in March 2023.

Sentenced to a 13-year prison term on charges of wounding two civilians while serving as a soldier in the Ukrainian army, he was released last year in October during prison exchange.