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Russian attack on town grinds on with the Ukrainian president due in France and Germany
Ursula von der Leyen is pushing the boundaries of the EU urging member states to consider a collective defence role, something never imagined when the first European community was established more than 50 years ago
Anthony Blinken, US vice president Kamala Harris and homeland security Alejandro Mayorkas along with EU leaders von der Leyen, Olaf Scholz descend on Munich today for the three day security conference to which Volodomyr Zelenskiy is also expected to attend.
We have to spend more, we have to spend better, we have to spend European.
US congressional delaying of fresh military aid for Ukraine is already having an impact on the battlefield, Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has warned at a defence ministers’ meeting. Jens Stoltenberg said he still believed Congress would eventually approve the stalled $60bn (£50bn) package.
Ukraine has said its economy should be rebuilt using frozen Russian assets after a report showed the cost of reconstruction increasing to almost $500bn. An estimated $300bn of Russian assets have been frozen since the war started. The EU, US and western allies are debating how they can be used to benefit Ukraine.
On Thursday, Ukraine said four people were killed in Kherson and Kharkiv following Russian air and missile attacks; while officials in the Russian border city of Belgorod said a Ukrainian rocket strike killed at least seven people.
France and Ukraine are due on Friday to sign a bilateral agreement on security. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is set to visit France and Germany.
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