German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has declared that Europe is “no longer at peace” with Russia, describing Moscow’s war in Ukraine as an assault on democracy and freedom. Speaking at a media event in Duesseldorf, Merz said: “We are not at war, but we are no longer at peace either.” He accused Russia of seeking to undermine unity within the European bloc and endorsed an EU plan to unlock frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine’s war effort for three to five years.
Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius reaffirmed Berlin’s commitment to protecting the Baltic region, stating that Germany would respond to Russian threats in a united and responsible manner. At the opening of a logistics base in Rukla, Lithuania, Pistorius said Germany would deploy roughly 2,000 troops to Lithuania by mid-2026 to strengthen deterrence.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sparked controversy by claiming that Ukraine “is not a sovereign country” and is “financed by us, the West gives it funds, weapons.” Orbán made the remarks while dismissing accusations that Hungarian reconnaissance drones violated Ukrainian airspace, telling a right-wing podcast that Ukraine should focus on drones on its eastern border instead.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed building a joint air defence shield with allies to protect against Russian aerial threats. Speaking via video link to the Warsaw Security Forum, he said: “Ukraine proposes to Poland and all our partners to build a joint, fully reliable shield against Russian aerial threats.” He argued that acting together would provide sufficient weapons and production capacity to counter Russian drones and missiles.
In a separate development, a Russian overnight drone strike killed a family of four in the north-eastern Sumy region. Oleg Grygorov, head of the regional military administration, said a residential building in the village of Chernechchyna was hit, killing a couple and their two young children. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Russian forces are prevailing in a “righteous battle” in Ukraine and signed a law to withdraw from a European anti-torture convention.
