Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap!
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte condemned the Russian drone incursion into Poland on Wednesday as “the largest concentration of violations of Nato airspace” (17:06) as he criticised “reckless” Russian actions, but stopped short of taking the view on whether it was a deliberate attack on Poland (17:10, 17:26).
Rutte spoke alongside Nato’s top general in Europe, Alexus Grynkewich, announcing a new force to strengthen the defence of the Eastern flank of the alliance, “Eastern Sentry”, and pledging to “defend every inch of territory” (17:09, 17:14, 17:19, 17:27).
Grynkewich praised the Nato’s response on Wednesday, but added that “the scale of that incursion [was] something that we hadn’t seen to this point” and “it’s time to take a fresh look” at what’s needed (17:23, 17:32).
US president Donald Trump said that his patience with Vladimir Putin was “running out and running out fast” (14:52), but appeared to play down the significance of the event while insisting that drones “shouldn’t be close to Poland anyway” (14:56).
But a number of Polish politicians, including the country’s prime minister and foreign minister, contradicted Trump’s earlier comments after he suggested “it could have been a mistake” (9:50, 10:04, 10:10).
Separately, the EU has agreed to extend sanctions against hundreds of Russian politicians, oligarchs and military commanders over the war in Ukraine (12:41).
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com.
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Eastern sentry 'sends a clear response to Russia,' Poland's Tusk says
Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk welcomed the new Nato mission as he said Poland wanted “our actions to send a clear response to Russia that its provocations will not be in any way tolerated.”
“We welcomed with satisfaction the assurances and declarations just made by Nato secretary general Mark Rutte and the Supreme Allied Commander Europe general Grynkewich. These are exactly the kind of declarations and decisions we had asked for; a decisive and swift action,” he told lawmakers in the Polish Sejm.
The Russian ambassador to Paris was told by the French ministry of foreign affairs today (13:44) that the drone incursion into Poland was unacceptable and constituted a threat to the security of Europe and Nato, a French diplomatic source told Reuters.
Nato's Eastern Sentry meant to provide degree of public reassurance - snap analysis
Defence and security editor
It was something of a surprise that two days on, Nato leaders are still not willing to say whether the drone incursion of 21 drones into Poland was deliberate or not.
But the decision to beef up air policing in Poland with the deployment of extra fighter jets from France, Germany and Denmark suggests that alliance members were not has happy as they say they are with how the Wednesday night’s drone incursion was handled.
The new mission, Eastern Sentry, will focus on better countering drone and missiles threats, spill over activity from Ukraine – starting in Poland and spreading across the alliance’s entire eastern flank – and will at least provide a degree of public reassurance.
Whether it will deter the Russians from doing anything similar again is unfortunately less certain.
Updated
No public call on Russia's intent with drone incursion into Poland, but Nato's intent is clear in its response - snap analysis
It was very notable that Rutte, despite being repeatedly asked, didn’t want to say whether he believed the Russian drone incursion into Poland was a deliberate act by Russia – which, as he himself acknowledged, would make the incident significantly more serious.
It was also telling that while Grynkewich defended the operation on Wednesday, he said it’s time to take a “fresh look” at the current setup, as the incident was “obviously larger than previous incursions that we’ve had,” and that if it had been like previous incidents, “we would have gotten them all.”
But the overall message was clear: Nato will immediately step up its air defences – in fact, starting tonight – to demonstrate its commitment to defending every inch of allied territory.
Rutte, Grynkewich stress importance of defending eastern flank as 'first line' of Nato
Rutte also makes a point that the eastern flank of Nato defends the entire alliance, as he stressed that “these latest Russian missiles, when they will be launched, they come down with five times the speed of sound, and they will take five or 10 minutes longer to reach Madrid or London than they take to reach Tallin or Vilnius.”
“ So in that sense, let’s agree that within this alliance for 32 countries, we all live on the eastern flank,” he says.
Grynkewich makes a very similar point as he draws on his first-hand experience “from my time in the Middle East.”
He says:
“The range that those drones can fly, and the paths that they can take, we are all vulnerable to them. So the eastern flank provides a first line of defence for this.
And if those drones get through that first line of defence, they can be paired with the ballistic missiles or other capabilities that hold the entire alliance at risk.
So I do think while it is an eastern sentry line that we’re working to defend, it is on behalf of the entire alliance that this is going forward.”
That ends the press conference.
Time and time again, Rutte repeats the same argument as he says “the question … was it deliberate or not” is “relevant, but only to limited extend, because in the end it is reckless, unacceptable.”
“We cannot accept Russian drones entering European EU, Nato, Allied airspace. That is absolutely impossible, and that is why we need to defend ourselves against it,” he says.
Grynkewich gets asked about what’s new in Eastern Sentry.
He says there will be new assets, quoting Rafale fighters from France and Danish F-16s plus some ground based air defence capabilities, which he says will need “a new defence design.”
Nato's Rutte says incursion was 'reckless' as he refuses to be drawn on intent 'still assessed'
Rutte gets asked a question on intent.
Once again, he sidesteps the question and says “we are still assessing” this, but argues that it’s a serious incident anyway.
“It’s not that relevant, because whatever yes or no … it was anyway reckless.
It was a bunch of Russian drones, even if they were not intent to go into Poland, if that will be the outcome of this… And of course, if it was the intent, there’s even more serious. But in both cases, it is reckless. It is unacceptable. It is the Russians taking risk,” he explains.
Eastern Sentry allows for 'fresh look' to learn from incursion of larger scale than ever before, Grynkewich says
Grynkewich gets asked if Nato has to play ‘catch up’ with the danger intensifying every day from Russia.
He defends the response saying the alliance was able “to act decisively on a meaningful tactical timeline to eliminate much of the threat.”
He insists that “we were postured fairly well for that event.”
But he says that the new programme responds to the new threat, as he acknowledges that “the scale of that incursion being something that we hadn’t seen to this point.”
“We had seen a few drones here and there a smaller number … if it had just been that we would have gotten them all, but, but, clearly, with the number that came across the border, it’s time to take a fresh look at this and we’re always learning,” he says.
Eastern Sentry operations to start tonight, Grynkewich says
The leaders also get asked about the timeline for launching the new Eastern Sentry and what they make of the EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s idea of a “drone wall.”
Grynkewich says that he has issued an order for the Eastern Sentry to start tonight.
“It will take some time for us to bring everything together with the new contributions that have been coming in, and we’ll continue to work on this and refine the design of the operation, moving forward, but it begins immediately,” he says.
On drone wall, he says there is a number of lessons that can be learned from Ukraine and “what kind of sensors, what kind of weapons, kinetic and non kinetic might be effective,” and confirms work on this is “absolutely going to be something that we want to do moving forward.”
Nato's Rutte 'very happy' with American reaction to incident
Both leaders get asked about the US response and comments under US president Trump.
Rutte says that “America’s commitment to Nato’s ironclad in every sense,” and that there is “no doubt” about it and he is “very happy with the American reaction.”
He declines to say if he spoke with Trump, but notes Trump’s engagement with the Polish president, Karol Nawrocki.
Grynkewich says that “as far as US military assets, I’m right here and I’m involved.”
Grynkewich, Rutte defend response to Wednesday's incident
Grynkewich gets asked if it’s time for allies to start shooting at drones already as they are on western Ukraine.
He sidesteps the question:
“What I would say is Eastern Sentry is focused on the defence of Alliance territory, and as of right now, I see no conflict between the support that individual nations are providing to Ukraine and what they are offering to contribute to this effort.”
Both leaders get asked about Nato’s response and seemingly low rate of drones that were shot down on Wednesday.
Grynkewich says it was “a highly successful operation,” although adds that “we always learn something in the debrief as we would say in the fighter business.”
He says that the scale of the incursion was larger than previously, and more resources will “help” going forward, including with lowering costs of defending the alliance.
He says he doesn’t want his soldiers “thinking about how much their weapons cost, I want them defending our citizens.”
Rutte repeats with a broader warning:
“Whatever the intent was behind this, yes or no, and whether it was a mistake or not, we are still looking into that. It was reckless, it was unacceptable. These are Russian drones, and it is extremely serious.”
Rutte doesn't make call on whether Russian drone incursion was deliberate or not
Rutte is speaking again.
Notably, he repeatedly uses careful language on whether the Russian drone incursion into Poland was deliberate or not.
He says:
“Our assessment of the incidents on Wednesday is ongoing and whether or not Russia’s actions were deliberate, Russia’s violated Nato airspace.
Therefore we must, as Nato, make clear our resolve and our ability to defend our territory.”
Grynkewich says 'Nato will continue to defend every inch of territory'
Supreme Allies Commander Europe Alexus Grynkewich says the issue of regional security was central to his recent conversation with leaders in the Baltics, as well as a discussion on “Nato’s response to the reckless and dangerous act that occured in Poland earlier this week.”
He says he is “incredibly proud of our response.”
He says “this decisiveness will continue with Eastern sentry,” as he adds that “although the immediacy of our focus is on Poland, this situation transcends the borders of one nation.”
“Poland and citizens from across the Alliance should be assured by our rapid response earlier this week and our significant announcement here today.
Nato will continue to defend every inch of its territory.”
'Largest concentration of violations of Nato airspace,' Rutte says of Russian drones incursion into Poland as launches new mission to defend eastern flank
Nato’s Mark Rutte opens the briefing saying that on 10 September “numerous Russian drones violated Polish airspace,” with air defences “activated” to defend the Nato territory.
“Whilst this was the largest concentration of violations of Nato airspace that we have seen, what happened on Wednesday was not an isolated incident,” he says, noting similar incidents in Romania, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
He says “Russia’s recklessness in the air along our eastern flank is increasing in frequency.”
Whether intentional or not, it is dangerous and unacceptable.
He says Nato will launch a new mission – dubbed “Eastern sentry” – to “bolster our posture even further along our eastern flank,” involving “a range of assets from allies including Denmark, France, UK, Germany and others.”
“Eastern sentry will add flexibility and strength to our posture and make clear that as a defensive alliance, we are always ready to defend,” he says.
Nato's Rutte, Grynkewich speaking now on Russian drone incursion
Rutte and Grynkewich are speaking now.
EU car industry lobby wants 'bold' action to speed up adoption of electric cars in commercial sector
The slow transition of commercial vehicles including vans, trucks and buses from petrol and diesel to battery power is a major barrier for the EU in its effort to switch to electric vehicles on Europe’s roads, the European Commission was told today.
ACEA, the main European car industry body, told commission president Ursula von der Leyen at a summit today that “bold” action was needed to improve the switch over among laggard business owners.
It said just 8.5% of vans on EU roads are electric, while trucks and buses represent just 3.5% of battery electric registrations.
Lack of charging points on the public networks, lack of financial incentives to buy electric and grid capacity, are holding the transition back, the commission was told.
“Truck and bus makers are committed to Europe’s green transition: the vehicles are ready, but the enabling conditions are not” stated Christian Levin, CEO of Traton Group and Scania.
Electric car registrations now represent 15% of the market, with hybrid cars continuing to grow and now standing at 35%.
The car manufacturing lobby is campaigning for delays to the 2035 deadline to end the sale of new internal combustion engine vehicles. Second hand cars could continue to be sold after this date however.
Polish defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said he spoke with US defence secretary (or war secretary, under the new terminology) Pete Hegseth about the Russian drone incursions earlier this week and was reassured of the US “friendship and full allied support.”
A reminder that we’re expecting a joint press conference by the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, and the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Alexus Gregory Grynkewich at the top of the hour (11:57).
I will bring you all the latest here.
Updated
Ukraine is increasingly finding Russian and Belarusian circuit boards and computer chips in Iskander missiles, which have been used regularly by Russia since its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Reuters reports.
“In the 2025 Iskander, compared to the 2022 Iskander, there are fewer European and US (components), and more from Russia and Belarus,” Vladyslav Vlasiuk, commissioner for sanctions policy and an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told reporters this week.
The ballistic version of the Iskander missile is particularly difficult to intercept because it travels at several times the speed of sound. The cruise version of the missile travels more slowly.
The chips appear to be of lower quality than Western ones, but they do not appear to affect the missiles’ performance, Vlasiuk said.
“They have the ability to make chips which are of poor quality - so far. After some time, they will get better,” he said.
Kyiv has often found Western electronics in Russian missiles and put pressure on manufacturers to tighten controls on their exports.
Belarus does not take an active part in the war in Ukraine but is a close ally of Russia and allowed its territory to be used as a staging ground for Moscow’s troops to launch their 2022 invasion.
A Belarusian dissident who refused to leave his home country after being released from prison there earlier this week has gone missing, his wife told AFP on Friday.
Mikola Statkevich, who had been in jail for five years, was due to cross into Lithuania on Thursday alongside 51 other political prisoners but got out of the bus just beforehand, Belarusian media reported.
Security camera footage published by Belarus’s border service showed a man resembling Statkevich sitting in a border zone between the two countries for several hours, before disappearing from view.
The 69-year-old, who ran against Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in 2010, is a prominent member of the country’s opposition.
“He went towards Belarus, and after that all information about him was cut off,” Statkevich’s wife Marina Adamovich confirmed to AFP by phone.
She said his return to Belarus “was the only possible action for him in this situation”.
“Freedom is subjective, and in this case people were deprived of subjectivity. And I knew that Mikola would not allow this to happen,” she said.
Earlier on Friday, Belarus’s exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said she was “worried about the fate” of Statkevich and that his whereabouts were now “unknown”.
The European Union’s next package of sanctions against Russia must be “as tough as possible”, Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said during a visit to Kyiv on Friday.
Denmark, which holds the EU’s rotating six-month presidency will push for the adoption of a 19th round of sanctions during its term, which ends in December, Lokke said.
“It must be a full-fledged sanctions package, addressing circumvention, the shadow fleet, the financial sector... we also need stronger transatlantic cooperation,” he told a joint press conference with Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha in Kyiv.
Rasmussen said that Denmark would also welcome any initiative from the United States on sanctions, Reuters reports.
He added that the Nordic country would encourage more Ukrainian defence companies to establish themselves in Denmark in order to start production there.
“We are actually in dialogue with quite a few Ukrainian companies,” he said.
The Danish government earlier this month said that Ukrainian Fire Point, maker of Flamingo missiles, will start producing fuel for long-range missiles in Denmark, marking the first expansion abroad by a Ukrainian defence company.
The Netherlands has added itself to several countries pressuring organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest to drop Israel from the contest because of its war in the Gaza Strip.
Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS, one of dozens of public broadcasters that collectively fund and broadcast the contest, said it would not take part in next year’s competition in Vienna if Israel participates “given the ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza.”
“The broadcaster also expresses deep concern about the serious erosion of press freedom: the deliberate exclusion of independent international reporting and the many casualties among journalists,” it said in a statement, the Associated Press reports.
Irish broadcaster RTE released a similar statement on Thursday, following a path already taken by Slovenia. Iceland said it may withdraw from the contest and Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez has called for Israel to be booted from the competition.
The boycott threat is part of a pressure campaign by arts organisations and figures to ostracise Israel and press for peace.
Updated
France risks a downgrade on its ability to pay back debts, economists said, a move that would further complicate new prime minister Sebastien Lecornu’s task of drawing up a budget for next year.
US ratings agency Fitch, one of the top global institutions gauging the financial solidity of sovereign borrowers, is to deliver its latest assessment of France’s creditworthiness later on Friday after Wall Street closes.
It comes only days after Lecornu’s predecessor Francois Bayrou lost a confidence vote in parliament over an attempt to get an austerity budget adopted, which he had hoped would cut the French deficit and tackle a growing debt mountain.
Fitch currently rates France’s ability to repay its sovereign debt at “AA-”, indicating “a very strong capacity for payment of financial commitments”, AFP reports.
A downgrade to A would imply that France’s debt repayment capacity may be “more vulnerable to adverse business or economic conditions”.
An agency rating downgrade typically raises the risk premium that investors demand of a government to buy sovereign bonds - although some financial experts suggested that the debt market already reflects the expected downgrade for France.
Spanish foreign minister José Manuel Albares has summoned the Israeli charge d’affaires in Madrid on Friday over recent comments about Spain made by the office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Albares summoned Dana Erlich - currently Israel’s top diplomat in Madrid - to “categorically reject the false and slanderous statements from the Israeli prime minister’s office”, Spain’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
In an X post on Thursday, Netanyahu’s office had accused Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez of making “genocidal threats”, in reference to Sanchez’s announcement on Monday of new measures against Israel-bound arms and fuel deliveries, Reuters reports.
Sanchez had justified the measures by saying Spain lacked nuclear bombs, aircraft carriers or large oil reserves to exert pressure on Israel to stop what he qualified as “genocide”.
Israel has strongly denied that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide, and it is fighting a case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague that accuses it of genocide.
The US State Department also expressed concern over Madrid’s limitations on ships and aircraft delivering weapons or military-grade jet fuel to Israel, as well as entry bans on the Israeli national security and finance ministers.
Asked about the Polish incident specifically, Trump said:
“I’m not going to defend anybody but the Poland, they were actually knocked down and they fell into an area, but you shouldn’t be close to Poland anyway.”
Is he suggesting the drones were shot down near the Polish border and only accidentally landed in Poland?
Well, that would appear to be highly questionable when you look at the map…
Updated
Patience with Putin 'running out and running out fast,' Trump says
US president Donald Trump said his patience with Russian president Vladimir Putin was “running out and running out fast” during an interview with Fox News in the last few minutes.
“But it does take two to tango. It’s amazing when Putin wants to do it, Zelensky didn’t. When Zelenskyy wanted to do it, Putin didn’t. Now Zelenskyy wants to, and Putin is a question mark… But we’re going to have to come down very, very strong,” he said.
Updated
Emergency UN security council meeting convened after Russian drone incursion into Poland
An emergency session of the UN security council will convene on Friday at Poland’s request as Warsaw seeks to rally support after an incursion into the country by Russian drones on Wednesday.
Numerous European allies pledged support for Poland, including a promise by Germany to strengthen its military presence on Nato’s eastern flank, but some disputed whether the incursion was a deliberate attack on Poland by Russia and Donald Trump offered little in the way of public support.
The meeting is expected to start shortly before 8pm BST (9pm CEST).
Germany, France summon Russian ambassadors to protest over Polish airspace drone incursion
Germany and France have summoned the Russian ambassadors to “express its dismay over the incursion of drones into Polish airspace,” German dpa and French AFP news agencies reported.
They follow similar actions by a number of other European governments, including the Netherlands and Spain.
EU working on new proposals for electrifying fleets, but not open to revising 2035 target
The EU’s consultation with the car industry over the 2035 target for phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles is about ensuring the sector is not “wiped out” by China and other countries, the European Commission has said.
Asked if an intervention could only happen if a “market failure” was proven in the sector, spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said Europe had a “long tradition of producing small cars but they are not electric”.
“What is important is that we have electric vehicles that are accessible and affordable to customers, we are not saying what kind of cars people need to buy and use, but this is about the competitiveness of the European industry,” said Itkonen who said the Commission was trying to create “enabling conditions” to ensure EU brands survived the transition to electric.
“It is basically just ensuring that one area of one industry is not wiped out from Europe due to competition from third countries,” she said.
The European Commission met the car industry at a strategic dialogue this morning and will publish details later this afternoon.
It is also expected to launch an impact assessment on the current legislation on the 2035 target to phase out petrol and diesel cars after a consultation closes on 10 October.
The Commission said the impact assessment would be of “the legislation on current standards”.
“It is not a revision of the 2035 targets,” said spokesperson Paula Pinho.
Updated
EU car industry launches campaign to delay 2035 target for phasing out petrol cars
Also in Brussels, the car industry formally launches it campaign to delay the EU’s 2035 target for phasing out petrol cars in a three hour summit with Ursula von der Leyen and key personnel at the European Commission this morning.
The main car lobby, representing German, French and Italian manufacturers is pushing for “pragmatism” and “flexibility” around the existing 2035 target to end sales of new internal combustion engine (ICE) cars.
“Government and regulators have not invested in, nor demanded, sufficient levels of infrastructure and grid upgrades are still missing. The consequence: 2030-2035 targets are no longer achievable.”
ACEA, the body which represents most of the EU’s car industry, including VW, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Renault, BMW, Ford, Stellantis, Volvo, and Toyota, hopes a new regulation will be proposed by the Commission by the end of the year.
Opponents, including the Chinese-owned Swedish brand Polestar, said the push for a delay is a smokescreen for their own failure to adapt to change in the face of Chinese imports and any delay would penalise Nordic brands who are ahead of the curve.
New data, released by S&P Mobility, for ACEA, the European automotive trade body, showed that the take-up of EVs in the Nordics is the highest in Europe, representing the best performing of three clusters of EU countries it surveys.
In the middling cluster are France, Germany and Ireland with the two large economies with the slowest cluster including Spain and Italy.
Reinhardt Schorsch, head of auto forecasting at S&P Global, said Norway was “a wealthy country” that has seen drivers respond to EV incentives put in place by the government but not in place in countries like Germany.
He also said the new small cars from Renault including the retro electric Renault 4 posed challenges because of lower driving ranges. Norway’s EV was dominated by more expensive and bigger cars, he said.
Updated
EU extends sanctions on Russian officials over war in Ukraine
Brussels correspondent
Meanwhile, the EU has agreed to extend sanctions against hundreds of Russian politicians, oligarchs and military commanders over the war in Ukraine.
The EU’s top diplomats, meeting in Brussels, this morning agreed to a six-month extension of the sanctions against Russian individuals, according to diplomatic sources.
Sanctions currently apply to more than 2,500 individuals and companies, including Russian president Vladimir Putin, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and oligarch Roman Abramovich.
The sanctions, which were due to expire on 15 September, have been extended on a six-monthly basis for several years. A proposal for a 12-month extension was not approved.
Updated
Russia-Ukraine talks 'on pause,' Kremlin says, as it accuses European countries of 'holding back' talks
We are getting some lines from Russia, with the Kremlin saying there is ‘a pause’ in Russia-Ukraine negotiations about ending the war, and accusing European countries of holding back efforts to find peace in Ukraine.
Speaking literally just hours after launching major military exercises in Belarus, right next to Nato’s eastern flank, Russia also said that the drills were a response to what it saw as hostility towards Russia.
Erm.
German air policing over Poland already operational, spokesperson says
Expanded German air policing over Poland in response to the incursion of Russian drones is already in effect, a defence ministry spokesperson said.
“Aviation already established operational readiness yesterday evening,” the spokesperson said at a regular government news conference, as reported by Reuters.
“This means that we now have two alarm rotas in the area which fulfil the mission 24/7. Both alarm rotas are qualified for the mission,” he said.
Nato calls press conference with secretary general Rutte, top commander Grynkewich
Nato has called a press conference with secretary general Mark Rutte and Supreme Allied Commander Europe Alexus Grynkewich this afternoon.
It will take place 4pm BST, 5pm CEST, and we will bring you all the details here.
Given Tusk’s comments earlier (11:32), we can expect this to be related to the Russian drone incursion incident earlier this week – particularly coming just hours before a UN security council meeting on this topic at 8pm BST, 9pm CEST.
Updated
Poland's Tusk hints at more UK involvement in Poland, offers no details
Tusk also says the announcement with BAE Systems is “only a part of our cooperation with the UK.”
He says he “received another message from prime minister Starmer about greater UK involvement in military assistance, here in Poland, on an urgent basis,” without offering further details.
Let’s see what that means. We’re looking into this.
Poland's Tusk talks about plans for ramping up domestic ammunition production
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk is speaking now at an ammunition factory in Poland.
He says he has been in touch with Nato’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, and expects to hear more about the alliance’s “action” on the eastern flank in response to the Russian drone incursion later today.
He also talks about a new investment by British company BAE Systems that will help Poland produce caliber 155mm ammunition.
Updated
EU could phase out Russian oil, gas faster to help end Ukraine war, US energy secretary Wright says
The European Union could phase out Russian oil and gas faster and it would be helpful in ending the war in Ukraine, US energy secretary Chris Wright said.
Speaking at an event in Brussels organised by the Centre for European Policy Studies thinktank, Wright also said if the EU did not fix its methane laws, it would prevent LNG imports from the United States, Reuters reported.
His comments come a day after fourteen green groups have written to Ursula von der Leyen this morning to defend the EU’s methane rules against US lobbying (Europe Live, Thursday).
Poland's Sikorski meets with UK's Cooper in Kyiv for talks on Ukraine, Nato's eastern flank
Poland’s Sikorski has met with UK foreign secretary Yvette Cooper in Kyiv earlier this morning, the Polish ministry of foreign affairs confirmed.
The pair talks about the situation in Ukraine and the eastern flank of Nato following the Russian drone incursion into Poland, the ministry said.
UK national security adviser Jonathan Powell also joined the meeting, it added.
21 reported drone incursions into Poland, president's senior aide says
Meanwhile, Marcin Przydacz, the most senior foreign policy aide to Poland’s president Karol Nawrocki, said in an interview with Radio Zet this morning that the number of reported Russian drones that crossed into Poland’s territory went up to 21.
Not all of them have been found yet, he said. As of last night, Poland’s interior ministry confirmed retrieving 17 drones.
Przydacz also cautioned against what he said was a campaign of Russian disinformation, which sought to make people believe that the drones were Ukrainian, stressing that Polish authorities were “clear” they were Russian and launched from the Russian territory.
Despite the strong reaction from Poland, it is worth noting that Trump’s comments appear to be broadly in line with those by US air force general and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Alexus Gregory Grynkewich.
Appearing alongside the Lithuanian defence minister, Grynkewich told a press conference in Vilnius on Thursday that “we do not yet know if this was an intentional act or an unintentional act” from Russia (Europe Live, Thursday).
Prince Harry makes surprise visit to Ukraine pledging support for thousands injured in war
Prince Harry has also made a surprise visit to Kyiv after an invitation from the Ukrainian government, saying he wanted to do “everything possible” to help the recovery of the thousands of military personnel who have been seriously injured in the three-year war against Russia.
During the trip to the Ukrainian capital, he and a team from his Invictus Games Foundation are set to detail new initiatives to support the rehabilitation of the wounded, with the eventual aim of providing help to all areas of the country.
Earlier this year it was estimated that the Ukraine war had already left 130,000 people with permanent disabilities – and the government has now put rehabilitation through sport at the heart of its policy for helping veterans.
Speaking to the Guardian on an overnight train to the capital, the Duke of Sussex said: “We cannot stop the war but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process.”
He added: “We can continue to humanise the people involved in this war and what they are going through. We have to keep it in the forefront of people’s minds. I hope this trip will help to bring it home to people because it’s easy to become desensitised to what has been going on.”
'We were supposed to have sanctions; instead, we got Alaska,' Poland's foreign minister on Trump's decisions on Russia
Overnight, Sikorski also appeared on Fox News, saying “it’s hard to believe” that the incursions could have been a mistake.
He also said:
“We need to change Vladimir Putin’s calculations. We need to convince him that he cannot conquer Ukraine at an acceptable cost. And to do that, we need to impose tougher sanctions on Russia.
We need to starve Russia of the resources to continue prosecuting this criminal war.”
In a bruising comment on Trump’s recent decisions on Russia, he added:
We were supposed to have sanctions, and instead, we got Alaska. And since then, as you say, attacks have intensified.
Poland’s foreign minister Radosław Sikorski is in Kyiv today on a previously unannounced visit.
In a short video clip in front of the Polish embassy in Kyiv, seemingly intended to respond to Trump’s comments overnight, he appeared with Poland’s chargé d’affaires in Kyiv, Piotr Łukasiewicz.
“Minister, I report that after the recent drone and missile attack on Kyiv, the damage to our embassy and consulates has been repaired, and we are operating normally under these conditions,” Łukasiewicz said.
Sikorski replied:
“On the night when 19 Russian drones flew over Poland, over 400 drones and 40 missiles flew over Ukraine. These were not mistakes.”
Morning opening: We wish it it was, but it wasn't a mistake
Poland’s political leadership appears increasingly concerned by the muted US response to Thursday’s Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace.
As more and more European partners condemn the incident and declare their support for Poland with concrete offers of help, the US president, Donald Trump, appeared to be more dismissive last night as he said it “could have been a mistake”.
“Regardless, I’m not happy about anything having to do with that whole situation,” Trump told reporters, before adding in general terms: “But hopefully it’s going to come to an end.”
Overnight, Poland’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, said simply: “No, it wasn’t a mistake.”
This was further followed by the country’s prime minister, Donald Tusk.
“We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake. But it wasn’t. And we know it,” Tusk said in a pointed social media rebuttal in English this morning.
The diplomatic offensive comes hours before the UN security council gathers in New York to discuss the incident on Poland’s request and we will no doubt hear more from Poland and its European allies in the build up to the meeting.
It’s Friday, 12 September 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Updated
