Ukraine updates: EU proposes €1.5 billion defense fund boost

French President Emmanuel Macron called on European countries to unite in supporting Ukraine to fight off the Russian invasion. 

Macron made the statement to French expats living in Prague during a visit to the Czech Republic, which is pushing a plan to up the military support for Ukraine.

"We are surely approaching a moment for Europe in which it will be necessary not to be cowards," Macron said.  

"Is this or is it not our war? Can we look away in the belief that we can let things run their course?"

Still, Macron said: "We want no escalation, we've never been belligerent."

Last week, the French president faced a backlash from many Western allies after saying that the prospect of sending troops to Ukraine should not be off the table.  

The International Criminal Court (ICC) said it issued arrest warrants for two senior Russian officers over acts committed during the war in Ukraine.

The court is accusing them of "crime against humanity of inhumane acts" and says they "are each allegedly responsible for the war crime of directing attacks at civilian."

According to the court, a Russian army lieutenant a navy admiral were responsible for missile strikes against Ukrainian electric infrastructure from October 2022 until March 2023. Russia denies allegations of intentionally targeting civilian infrastructure.

Kyiv called the arrest warrants "extremely symbolic." Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser toPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that it was "obvious that this time Russia will absolutely not be able to avoid responsibility for premeditated and large-scale war crimes."

Last year in March, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over war crimes charges that are related to the abduction of Ukrainian children. The Kremlin denies the allegations. 

German defense minister Boris Pistorius has said that Russia's recording and leaking of a sensitive discussion about Taurus missiles by high-ranking German officers is part of a "perfidious" plan by Russian President Vladimir Putin to "drive a wedge" through German politics and society.

"We must not fall for it," he said.

 

The European Commission has unveiled ambitious plans for a €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) defense industry program aimed at boosting weapons production and procurement and reducing reliance on US armaments.

The new program calls on the 27 EU member states to procure at least 40% of their defense equipment collectively by 2030, aiming to make intra-EU defense trade worth 35% of the total EU defense market.

The program is to be financed from the European Union budget for the period between 2025 and 2027.

"To increase European defense industrial readiness, member states need to invest more, better, together, and European," the EU Commission said in a statement.

"We need to get that transatlantic balance right, irrespective of electoral dynamics in the United States," said European Commission Vice President Magrethe Vestager. "We must take more responsibility for our own security, while, of course, remaining fully committed to our NATO alliance. An improved ability to act will make us a stronger ally."

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has prompted many European countries to increase defense spending, but EU officials would like to see a more efficient collective effort rather than multiple national policies.

The Commission also proposed using a share of the profits made on frozen Russian assets to fund arms purchases for Ukraine.

Some 20,000 NATO troops plus battle tanks, armored personnel carriers and other military equipment practiced crossing the Vistula river in northern Poland on Monday.

Operation "Dragon 24," part of the wider NATO operation "Steadfast Defender" which is spread across several months, was led by 15,000 Polish troops supplemented by 5,000 from eight other alliance members.

"We are showing what capabilities we have and we are combining this with the determination to use them," said NATO General Gunnar Brügner.

DW's Alexandra von Nahmen reports from Gniew, Poland.

The Russian foreign ministry has accused Western ambassadors of interfering in Russian domestic politics and questioned the purpose of such envoys after several European Union ambassadors attended the funeral of former Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Friday.

On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said that EU ambassadors refused to meet him to discuss Russia's upcoming presidential election, which is considered a foregone conclusion.

Asked by Russian state television anchor Vladimir Solovyov if the EU ambassadors understood their function, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said this raised questions about their role.

"The question indeed arises among everyone: what are they doing, and why, how do they interpret their conduct on the territory of our country if they do not perform their most important function?" Zakharova said.

She said such behavior showed Western ambassadors in Moscow were "meddling" in Russia's affairs and putting on "performances" rather than doing their diplomatic work.

Numerous European countries have kicked out Russian diplomatic personnel over the last two years. Russia has often responded by kicking out diplomatic personnel from those same countries.

Ukrainian drones and artillery struck a number of targets across southwestern Russian border regions on Tuesday morning, according to both Ukrainian and Russian sources.

In the western region of Belgorod, which borders Ukraine's north-eastern Kharkiv region, local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said emergency services were dealing with a fire at an "infrastructure facility."

He said on Telegram: "There were no casualties. Operational and emergency services are working on the site. All circumstances of the incident are being established."

A Ukrainian military source told the AFP news agency said the facility in question was a fuel tank at a depot in the town of Dolgoye, about four kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Also on Tuesday, Ukrainian artillery strikes sparked a fire at a train station and cut power to a village in the neighboring Russian region of Kursk.

"The Glushkovo railway station was shelled from the Ukrainian side," local governor Roman Starovoit said. "Electricity lines were also damaged. Glushkovo station and the village of Kulbaki were left without power. As soon as it is safe, emergency crews will start restoring it."

Starovoit confirmed a total of "nine incoming attacks" but reported "no casualties."

Glushkovo is a town of around 5,000 people around 10 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Kulbaki is a smaller village nearby.

The Ukrainian air force says it intercepted 18 out of 22 Russian drones launched against the Black Sea port of Odesa on Tuesday morning.

The drones were reportedly Iranian-made Shahed models.

On Saturday, 12 people including five children were killed in a drone strike on the southern Ukrainian city.

The German Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, said on Tuesday morning that allies' confidence in Germany remains intact despite high-level military talks being leaked last week.

"Trust in Germany is unbroken," Pistorius insisted after holding telephone calls with NATO allies throughout Monday. "Everyone knows about the danger of such wiretapping attacks and knows that no one can offer 100% protection."

Last Friday, Russian state-run media outlet RT published a recording of a virtual meeting between four high-ranking German officers, including Air Force chief Ingo Gerhartz. The leaked audio, which was confirmed as authentic by the German military, includes a sensitive discussion about the capabilities of long-range German Taurus missiles, long coveted by Kyiv.

Pistorius said that the leak had come about due to an "individual usage error" on the part of one participant who had dialed into the call from Singapore, where the Singapore Airshow aerospace and defense exhibition had been taking place and where widespread Russian surveillance attempts had been recorded.

"A serious mistake happened here that should not have happened," he told a press conference on Tuesday.

He said the recording of the German officers was therefore likely "a lucky hit" as part of a more speculative wider approach and that personal consequences for those involved were "not on the agenda."

The Ukrainian armed forces claimed on Tuesday to have destroyed a Russian warship close to the Crimean peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

Military spokesman Andriy Yusov said the "Sergey Kotov," a "Project 22160" class Russian patrol boat, had been damaged by a previous Ukrainian attack, likely in September 2023, but was destroyed overnight by "Magura V5" naval drones.

Ukrainian military intelligence said the vessel had suffered "damage to the stern, starboard and port sides" in the Kerch Strait, the narrow waterway that separates Crimea from the Russian mainland peninsula of Taman, and links the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov.

"As for the crew, the details are being clarified," Yusov told Ukrainian media. "There are dead and wounded. But it is likely that some of the crew managed to evacuate."

There was no immediate response from Russia and the reports could not be independently verified.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said that Russia's Black Sea fleet is "a symbol of the occupation," adding that, "it cannot be in Ukraine's Crimea."

Despite having no sizeable navy, Ukraine has nevertheless achieved some significant successes in the Black Sea using drones and missiles. Several Russian warships have been sunk or damaged, including the "Moskva," the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet which was sunk just two months after the launch of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

In September, Ukraine used Franco-British-supplied Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles to launch a strike on the Black Sea Fleet's headquarters in Sevastopol, Crimea, forcing Russian vessels to relocate further east.