Russia and Ukraine attack each other's capitals

Russia and Ukraine attacked each other's capitals early this morning. The attacks came a day after peace talks ended. According to eyewitnesses, explosions were heard in the early hours of the morning in the Ukrainian capital Kiev. It was initially unclear whether any damage was caused in the city. The mayor of Moscow said on Telegram that Russia had shot down five drones heading for the Russian capital. He did not give any further details.

A day after the US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi, more than 45 European heads of state and government will discuss the Ukraine war and Europe's security in Dublin on Thursday. On the sidelines of the European Political Community (EPG) meeting in the Irish capital, US envoys Steve Wittkoff and Jared Kushner want to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In addition to the Ukraine talks, Dublin will also focus on further financial support for Kiev. The EU estimates Ukraine's additional needs for 2027 at around 70 billion euros. More than half of this is to be covered with another EU loan. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) put pressure on the EU partners here. For the rest, the member states would like commitments from other partners such as Great Britain, Canada and Japan.