The EU’s top diplomat has warned that the UK “should start learning Russian if Kyiv does not receive more support
Echoing comments from Nato chief Mark Rutte, Kaja Kallas said Europe has to do “more for Ukraine, for our own security too”.
Speaking during a debate in the European Parliament, she continued: “To quote my friend Nato secretary general Mark Rutte: if we don’t help Ukraine further, we should all start learning Russian.”
Her comments came after a 24-hour period in which at least six people were killed in Ukraine, authorities said, as Russia launched a fresh wave of drone attacks hours after Kyiv suffered one of the deadliest strikes in months.
Civilians were killed in Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kherson and Sumy regions, local authorities said. Russia launched 58 drones at Ukraine overnight on Wednesday, 30 of which were shot down, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
The fresh strikes came as Ukraine marked a day of mourning on Wednesday after what Volodymyr Zelensky described as one of the worst attacks on Kyiv since the war began. At least 23 people were killed across Ukraine overnight on Tuesday, including 21 in Kyiv.
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Key Points
- Europeans 'should learn Russian' if Kyiv doesn't get more support
- 6 killed and dozens injured in Ukraine over past day
- Kyiv residents describe Russia's missile onslaught as 'horrific'
- Trump's early exit forces G7 to abandon joint statement on Ukraine
- North Korea's Kim met Putin's top security official Shoigu
Macron and Merz call for addded pressure on Russia
12:02
,
Alex Croft
As we’ve been reporting, the G7 summit has now wrapped up, coming after early departures from both Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz and French president Emmanuel Macron have now both taken to X with their conclusions.
"I am returning to Germany cautiously optimistic that the US will decide to impose further sanctions against Russia,” Mr Merz said on X. “We must do everything we can to end the war against Ukraine as soon as possible. The ball is in Moscow's court."
Mr Macron said: "With President Zelenskyy at the G7. We stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people after last night’s massive Russian strikes.
“We are determined to increase pressure on Russia to accept the immediate and unconditional ceasefire that Ukraine is ready for."
Europeans 'should learn Russian' if Kyiv doesn't get more support
10:56
,
Alex Croft
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has been speaking during a debate in the European parliament.
“We have to do more for Ukraine, for our own security too,” she tells MEPs, according to The Guardian.
“To quote my friend Nato secretary general Mark Rutte: if we don’t help Ukraine further, we should all start learning Russian.
“The stronger Ukraine is on the battlefield today, the stronger they will be around the negotiation table when Russia finally is ready to talk.”
Ms Kallas told the parliament that Europe is leaving in “very dangerous, tough times” and that Russia is “already a direct threat to the European Union”.
Starmer tightens screws on Putin as he announces raft of fresh sanctions against Russia
10:02
,
Alex Croft
Sir Keir Starmer has promised to keep “tightening the screws” on Vladimir Putin as he announced a raft of fresh sanctions on dozens of new Russian finance, military and energy targets.
The prime minister is piling fresh pressure on the Russian war machine and seeking to win further backing from G7 leaders at a key summit in Canada.
After repeated refusals from Putin to engage in peace talks, and fresh Russian strikes on Kyiv on Tuesday, the PM said his sanctions will “choke off his ability to continue his barbaric war” in Ukraine.
Political correspondent Archie Mitchell and political editor David Maddox report:
Russia fires 58 drones at Ukraine overnight
09:01
,
Alex Croft
Russian forces attacked Ukraine with 58 Shahed-type drones and decoy drones overnight on Wednesday, the Ukrainian Air Force has said.
Nine locations were struck by drones while 30 were destroyed by air defenses, it added according to Ukrainska Pravda.
"As of 08:30 on 18 June, air defence forces downed 30 enemy Shahed-type UAVs (and other types of drones) in the east and north of the country,” the Air Force said.
“Twelve were shot down with air defence assets, while 18 disappeared from radar or were suppressed by electronic warfare. Enemy strikes were recorded in nine locations."
Drones were launched from the cities of Kursk, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, and Cape Chauda in Russian-occupied Crimea.
The Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions were the main targets of the attacks.
Fresh Russian attacks kill 6 and injured dozens in Ukraine over past day
08:35
,
Alex Croft
At least six civilians have been killed and 49 injured over the past day as a wave of Russian attacks continued hours after one of the most deadly strikes in months, Ukrainian authorities said.
Regional governors said civilians were killed in the Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kherson and Sumy regions following Russian strikes.
The most lethal strike was in the Kherson region, where two people were killed and 34 injured, governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
The Kharkiv and Zapoizhzhia regions also came under attack by dozens of Russian drones, 12 of which were shot down by Ukrainian defenses.
Overnight on Wednesday, Ukraine suffered one of its most fatal attacks of the war when a residential apartment was destroyed in Kyiv.
By Wednesday morning, as rescuers continued to recover bodies from the rubble, at least 23 people had been confirmed killed.
08:01
,
Alex Croft
Three people were injured after Russian drones attacked an ambulance in the city of Kherson, city authorities said.
"Russians attacked an ambulance with a drone in the Korabelnyi district of Kherson at around midnight,” the military administration said.
“A 34-year-old paramedic and a 42-year-old emergency medical technician have been injured. They suffered concussion, blast injuries and closed head injuries."
Later on the morning another civilian was injured in another district of the city, suffering a “blast injury and shrapnel wounds”.
Kyiv residents describe Russia's missile onslaught as 'horrific'
07:10
,
Arpan Rai
Russia flattened a section of an apartment block in Kyiv yesterday, marking its deadliest attack on the Ukrainian capital this year, as a huge barrage of hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles killed at least 18 people and wounded 151.
"I have never seen anything like this before. It is simply horrific. When they started pulling people out, and everyone was cut up, elderly people and children... I do not know how long they can continue to torment us ordinary people," said Viktoriia Vovchenko, 57, who lives nearby.
Ukraine's State Emergency Services said operations proceeded throughout the day, with three bodies pulled from rubble late in the evening, bringing the casualty toll in Kyiv to 16 dead and 134 injured.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said the dead included a 62-year-old US citizen, who died from shrapnel wounds.
At least two people were killed and 17 injured in the Black Sea port of Odesa.
Trump administration 'disbands group focused on pressuring Russia'
06:48
,
Arpan Rai
Trump administration officials have shelved an inter-agency working group created to formulate strategies for pressuring Russia into speeding up peace talks with Ukraine, it has been claimed.
The group was established earlier in the spring but lost steam in May as it became increasingly clear that Donald Trump was not interested in adopting a more confrontational stance toward Moscow, three US officials told Reuters.
"It lost steam toward the end because the president wasn’t there. Instead of doing more, maybe he wanted to do less,” one official was quoted as saying.
The final blow came roughly three weeks ago, when most members of the White House National Security Council, who were coordinating the group – including the entire team dealing directly with the Ukraine war – were dismissed as part of a broad purge, they alleged.
North Korea's Kim met Putin's top security official Shoigu
06:09
,
Arpan Rai
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met Russia's top presidential security adviser Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang yesterday as the two discussed a "special military operation" in the Kursk region bordering Ukraine, state media KCNA reported today.
Mr Kim and Mr Shoigu, secretary of Russia's Security Council, discussed cooperation plans for Moscow's rebuilding of the Kursk region, the report said, confirming earlier reports of the meeting by Russian media.
North Korea will send 5,000 military construction workers and 1,000 sappers to the region to help rebuild it after the Ukrainian incursion that North Korean troops helped Moscow repel this year, Mr Shoigu was cited as saying by the Russian state news agency TASS today.
His visit to Pyongyang and meeting with Mr Kim came nearly two weeks after his last meeting with the leader of the reclusive state on 4 June.
Plans to commemorate the "heroic feats" of North Korean soldiers in the operations in the Kursk region, a part of Russia which Ukrainian forces infiltrated last year, were also discussed during the meeting, KCNA said.
Zelensky informs G7 leaders of Russia's attack across Ukraine: 'A difficult night'
05:48
,
Arpan Rai
Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the overnight Russian attacks from Tuesday that killed 15 people and injured 150-plus in his country as he met with allies at G7 summit.
"Our families had a very difficult night, one of the biggest attacks from the very beginning of this war,” he said.
"We need support from allies and I'm here," Mr Zelensky said. He added, "We are ready for the peace negotiations, unconditional ceasefire. I think it's very important. But for this, we need pressure."
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney said the attack "underscores the importance of standing in total solidarity with Ukraine."
While the summit was meant to showcase unity on top global issues, no joint statement on the conflict in Ukraine was released.
Zelensky thanks Canada for military aid and Russia sanctions
05:30
,
Arpan Rai
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky departed from the G7 summit yesterday with new aid from host Canada for its war against Russia.
But before exiting, he warned that diplomacy is in "crisis" after the leaders missed the chance to press US president Donald Trump for more action.
“Today, we have concrete decisions on increased military support, new tranches of aid funded by frozen Russian assets, and additional sanctions targeting what fuels Russia’s war. It is important that partners are ready not only to support our defence now, but also to rebuild Ukraine together after the war ends,” Mr Zelensky said.
Today, we have concrete decisions on increased military support, new tranches of aid funded by frozen Russian assets, and additional sanctions targeting what fuels Russia’s war. It is important that partners are ready not only to support our defense now, but also to rebuild… pic.twitter.com/ia5TGa6NPn
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 18, 2025
Video report: Russian drone attack hits residential building in Kyiv with 14 killed
05:19
,
Arpan Rai
Starmer tightens screws on Putin as he announces raft of fresh sanctions against Russia
05:18
,
Arpan Rai
Sir Keir Starmer has promised to keep “tightening the screws” on Vladimir Putin as he announced a raft of fresh sanctions on dozens of new Russian finance, military and energy targets.
The prime minister is piling fresh pressure on the Russian war machine and seeking to win further backing from G7 leaders at a key summit in Canada.
After repeated refusals from Putin to engage in peace talks, and fresh Russian strikes on Kyiv on Tuesday, the PM said his sanctions will “choke off his ability to continue his barbaric war” in Ukraine.
Trump unaware of major Russian attack on Kyiv when asked by reporter
04:50
,
Arpan Rai
Donald Trump appeared to be unaware of a major Russian attack that killed at least 15 people and injured 116 in Kyiv and Odesa on Tuesday, hours after the assault took place.
Asked about the attack by a reporter aboard Air Force One as he travelled back from the G7 summit in Canada – where reports suggested he had been due to meet Volodymyr Zelensky before cutting his trip short – Mr Trump said: “When was that? When?”
Told that the attack was very recent, the US president replied: “Just now? You mean as I’m walking back to see you, that’s when it took place? Sounds like it. I’ll have to look at it.”
The Kyiv Independent reported that seven hours later, the White House was still yet to comment on the Russian attack.
Trump's early exit forces G7 to abandon joint statement on Ukraine
04:29
,
Arpan Rai
Canada dropped plans for the G7 to issue a strong statement on the war in Ukraine after resistance from the United States, a Canadian official told reporters.
The G7 wealthy nations struggled to find unity over the conflict in Ukraine after Trump expressed support for Russian president Vladimir Putin and left a day early to address the Israel-Iran conflict from Washington.
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney said Ottawa would provide C$2bn ($1.47bn) in new military assistance for Kyiv as well as impose new financial sanctions.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he had told the G7 leaders that "diplomacy is now in a state of crisis" and said they need to continue calling on Donald Trump "to use his real influence" to force an end to the war, in a post on his Telegram account.
