Key events
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy warns against Russian drones attack during day
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of possible waves of Russian drone attacks throughout the day, saying that more than a hundred drones were in Ukraine’s airspace, as Moscow has shifted tactics to strike increasingly during daylight hour, Reuters reported.
“Russia continues its strikes and is doing so brazenly – deliberately targeting our railway infrastructure and civilian sites in our cities,” he said in a post on X.
He added:
“Unfortunately, people were wounded and killed in these strikes; my condolences to all their families and loved ones. Yesterday, 14 regions came under attack throughout the day. Overnight, strikes targeted residential and railway infrastructure in the Dnipro and Kharkiv regions, port infrastructure in the Odesa region, and energy facilities in the Poltava region. At all levels, our warriors are countering these attacks, and 111 drones were shot down or jammed overnight alone.”
Morning opening: What to do about Russia
Jakub Krupa
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said that despite some early positive signs about the US-Russia relations under Donald Trump, “nothing is happening” in reality as the peace process to end the war in Ukraine appears to be stuck.
Speaking to Russian media, Lavrov said that “good words” on potential cooperations with the US had brought no results so far as “nothing is happening in real life.”
“Aside from this regular dialogue – which is normal in relations between people and countries – everything else follows the pattern initiated by president Biden,” Lavrov said, pointing to sanctions against Russia in particular.
None of this will particularly worry the leaders of the Bucharest Nine, who meet in, well, Bucharest for their summit today.
The format, established in 2015, brings together the leaders of central eastern Europe and the Baltics with the leaders of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. This year, they will also be joined by some representatives of the Nordics.
Romania’s Nicușor Dan and Poland’s Karol Nawrocki are the hosts, and they will be joined by Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte.
I will bring you all the key lines from their meeting, but it’s safe to assume that the questions of Russia, Ukraine and the broader regional security amid US moves to pull out troops from Europe will be high on the agenda.
It’s Wednesday, 13 May 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
