Key European defence ministers meet in Paris to discuss Ukraine support
Defence ministers from France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the UK are meeting in Paris to discuss increasing military assistance to Ukraine amid continuing attacks between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
The meeting in Paris follows a weekend of intensified violence, with a Russian strike on Ukraine's southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia injuring four people, according to regional Governor Mykhailo Semikin. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia's Voronezh killed two people and wounded 17, regional Governor Alexander Gusev reported.
In Ukraine, two more people were injured in Russian strikes on the Chernihiv region, according to Ukraine's emergency service. The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed its forces hit a power station in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, as well as a nearby warehouse and a power station in the Khmelnytskyi region.
Escalating attacks
The Russian ministry also said its forces targeted port infrastructure in Chornomorsk in southwestern Ukraine and a cargo vessel en route to Odesa, which it claimed was being used for military purposes. Many of those wounded in the Ukrainian drone attack on Voronezh were passengers on a commuter train hit by falling debris, officials said.
A significant number of the injured, including two seriously wounded, were on a train that was moving in the left-bank suburb of Voronezh when debris from a UAV fell on it.
Diplomatic efforts
Four and a half years into the war, attacks have been escalating between Ukrainian and Russian forces, with Ukraine targeting Russian oil refineries and Russian forces bombarding Ukraine with relentless air strikes. Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States are expected to meet in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in the first half of November.
At their previous meeting in Berlin in June, the five major European powers pledged continued support for Ukraine, seeking to send a clear signal to Moscow that Europe remains firmly behind Kyiv. In an interview aired on Sunday, Zelenskyy said for Kyiv to halt the strikes on Russian oil refineries, which US President Donald Trump has demanded, Moscow must stop hitting Ukraine's power infrastructure.
Zelenskyy added that if the Russians continue to hit Ukraine's power infrastructure, the US should be willing to allow the use of Starshield over Russia to detect missile launch sites, or supply Ukraine with Patriot missiles. Ukraine announced on Saturday that the Starlink satellite system and its military version, Starshield, were now fully functional after more than a week of restrictions that disrupted military operations.
Related
