The risk of Russia’s war with Ukraine intensifying has escalated after a drone entered Latvia, forcing its leadership to issue an air-threat alert telling people to stay indoors.
The incident came hours after a high-level meeting brought together Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, all of whom were hosted by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London.
A military drone entered the Baltic country’s airspace on Monday, one week after a drone strike on an apartment block in Romania, raising concerns that Moscow is probing Europe’s defences.
Mr Zelenskyy and his backers met on Sunday to call on Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to “an immediate and complete ceasefire”, No 10 Downing Street said.
The leaders also discussed an “urgent need” for greater air defences and scaling up Kyiv’s deep-strike capabilities, such as its ballistic missile arsenal.
Deep strike
The discussions came against the backdrop of intensified fighting and a series of long-range Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russian territory that have highlighted Kyiv’s expanding military capability.
Ukrainian officials said continued western support is essential to maintain pressure on Moscow as parts of Russia are now suffering from severe fuel shortages following Kyiv’s persistent strikes on oil refineries.
Russia has struck back by hitting Ukraine’s cities with major missile and drone barrages in which at least 335 civilians have been killed since the start of April. Those deaths have been largely caused by the shortfall in interceptors since the outbreak of the US war with Iran, during which at least 1,200 Patriot missiles have been fired.
After the talks on Sunday night, a UK government spokesman said the leaders had discussed “the urgent need to scale up the production of interceptors and co-develop anti-ballistic missile and deep strike capabilities”, as Russia once again fired Oreshnik hypersonic weapons at Ukraine.
Strong Europe
The so-called E3 – Britain, France and Germany – will use the Nato summit in Ankara next month to launch “an increased pledge of military and defence support for Ukraine”, No 10 Downing Street added, after Mr Starmer continued discussions with Mr Zelenskyy for 30 minutes after the other leaders left.
In a post on social media, Mr Zelenskyy said the focus of Sunday’s meeting was that “Europe must be part of the negotiations and must be strong”.
In a Sky News interview, he vowed Ukraine would not “silently die” and said, “we will respond, we will be stronger and stronger each day”.
The Ukraine leader, who is due to meet King Charles III on Monday, thanked his allies for “helping us strengthen the protection of life and increase pressure on Russia for its aggression”.
The meeting followed a series of devastating Ukrainian strikes on targets inside Russia, including Vladimir Putin’s home city of St Petersburg. Hours before the start of the city’s international economic forum on Friday, a series of long-range Ukrainian drones struck an oil terminal and port causing black smoke to billow over the city.
Peace letter
Mr Zelenskyy has written directly to Mr Putin for the first time since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, offering face-to-face talks.
But the Russian leader said his war goals remained unchanged and there was “no point” in holding peace negotiations.
“The world has not grown tired of Ukraine, as you long hoped it would,” he wrote to Mr Putin. “But there is growing fatigue with Russia”.
Mr Zelenzkyy's confidence has been boosted by progress on the battlefield. Russia’s summer offensive has stalled against Ukraine’s increasingly able ground robots and aerial drones. Russia is also struggling to recruit enough troops to replace the 30,000 casualties it is suffering each month.
The meeting of the four European leaders came on the day a Russian drone strike damaged a storage centre for spent nuclear fuel about 15 kilometres from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The attack sparked a fire that was put out within an hour. Officials said radiation remains within safe levels at the site.
