Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that Russia is planning hybrid strikes using drones or rockets against European countries that support Ukraine, naming Poland among the potential targets. The warning came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hosted the inaugural summit of the so-called Carpathian Eight in western Ukraine, a new regional format aimed at deepening cooperation on security, energy, logistics and cross-border economic ties.
The summit brought together Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary, with the European Union also participating. It convened in the ski resort of Bukovel in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. Zelenskyy described the meeting on Telegram as a «significant beginning» of a movement intended to «further strengthen ties between our countries and create another strong element of cooperation at the EU level.»
The gathering reflects growing alarm across Europe over what officials describe as Russian hybrid threats, including sabotage, cyberattacks, disinformation and drone incursions into NATO territory. Officials in Poland, Germany and Denmark have in recent weeks accused Russia of involvement in drone incursions, sabotage, arson, surveillance of defense facilities and planning to use a drone carrying explosives to attack an airport.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU needs a NATO-like mechanism to better respond to hybrid attacks blamed on Russia and to develop «a consensus on how to respond to certain incidents … that fall below armed aggression but clearly threaten our national security.»
The summit also took place as U.S.-mediated efforts to end Russia's full-scale invasion, now in its fourth and a half year, have stalled. The question of territorial concessions in eastern Ukraine remains a central sticking point, and Kyiv is seeking security guarantees from partners as part of any deal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at a meeting of a government commission on new weapons, dismissed Western claims about Russia's aggressive plans as a pretext to justify higher defense spending. He again denied any hostile intentions toward Europe but warned that Moscow would respond to aggressive actions by Western allies, such as the seizure of merchant vessels operated by Russia. «Let's live in peace, otherwise we will be forced to respond in kind – it must be quite obvious to everyone,» he said.
Last month, Putin threatened retaliation for Western seizures of Russian commercial vessels, describing them as «piracy» and warning that the response would not necessarily come in the waters where the ships were seized. France and the United Kingdom have detained tankers suspected of being part of Russia's «shadow fleet» shipping oil in violation of international sanctions, and the EU has sanctioned hundreds of such vessels. Russia has recently begun deploying warships to escort its commercial ships.
Separately, Russia's Foreign Ministry said it had summoned the British Chargé d'Affaires to protest the United Kingdom's continued increase in the supply of drones and other weapons systems to Ukraine. The ministry said the U.K.'s «fiercely confrontational stance» was aimed at «prolonging and escalating the armed conflict by every possible means,» adding that Russia reserves the right to take necessary countermeasures in self-defense and that «any British military facilities in Ukraine used to strike Russian territory represent legitimate targets.» Britain's Foreign Office said the U.K. will remain committed to providing the equipment Ukraine needs to defend itself, calling the diplomatic reprimand «yet another attempt to deflect attention from Russia's barbaric full scale invasion of Ukraine and discredit the U.K. on the world stage.»
On the financial front, Zelenskyy said after a phone call with von der Leyen that Ukraine had received a 3.3 billion-euro tranche, roughly $3.8 billion, from an EU support package meant to strengthen its defense capabilities, including the purchase of missiles and drones. The funding arrives as Kyiv faces a projected budget deficit of roughly $27 billion this year. Zelenskyy said Ukraine was preparing for a meeting with von der Leyen at the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week focused on the country's financial stability.
The diplomatic and financial developments unfolded alongside continued fighting. Overnight Russian strikes in multiple Ukrainian regions sparked fires and caused deaths and injuries. Ukraine's State Emergency Service said two people were killed and two others injured in the Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv.