European Leaders Meet in London to Bolster Ukraine Defenses Against Russia’s Oreshnik Missiles

European leaders met in London on Sunday at 10 Downing Street to discuss an “urgent need” to bolster Ukraine’s defenses against ballistic missiles, including Russia’s “repeated use of the Oreshnik missiles.”

“More than four years have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine”

El Mundo

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and their statement condemned Russia’s “large-scale missile and drone attacks — including the repeated use of the Oreshnik missiles — on Ukrainian cities with a tragic toll on civilians.”

El Mundo

The leaders also condemned Russia’s “irresponsible and dangerous Russian drone incursions” into NATO territory, including last month’s in Romania, as the meeting came after a Russian drone strike killed three people waiting at a bus stop in southeastern Ukraine.

The same AP report said a separate drone strike damaged a storage center for spent nuclear fuel in the Kyiv region, just 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and that the fire was extinguished within an hour with radiation remaining within safe levels.

The International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said the incident was “deeply concerning” and that the agency would visit the site of the attack soon.

In London, the E3 group—British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and French President Emmanuel Macron—asked Ukraine to help the Alliance “learn from Ukraine's battlefield experience” and seek “an increase in long-term industrial cooperation [between NATO and Ukraine] that strengthens European defense.”

El Mundo said the final communique reflected decided support for Kiev’s idea of a truce that would serve as a basis for later negotiation, with borders between the two countries and Moscow’s indemnities described as “prior and inexcusable steps toward lifting sanctions on Russia.”

WHEC

El Mundo also framed the meeting as a rejection of the peace plan launched by the United States in November, which it said meant Ukraine should cede more territory than it has lost to Russia.

The same article said Zelenski indirectly confirmed the focus on “the war, greater cooperation to reinforce air defense across Europe, and our common perspective of diplomatic prospects” when he arrived in London on Sunday afternoon.

El Mundo added that, for the first time since the Russian invasion began in February 2022, Ukraine was reducing dependence on allies’ weapons, including drones and missiles, and was “systematically destroying the Russian rear.”

Zone Militaire described how a Ukrainian detachment used cruise missiles and explosive-laden surface naval drones (USVs), including the Magura V5, to limit the freedom of movement of the Russian Black Sea fleet during a NATO exercise.

“European leaders voice ‘urgent need’ to bolster Ukraine’s defenses against ballistic missiles LONDON (AP) — The leaders of the U”

WHEC

It said that in September 2024, Admiral Nicolas Vaujour of the French Navy explained Ukraine had “developed surface drones after noting that the self‑defense of Russian ships was failing,” and that the “power‑containment strategy had hit the adversary's weak point.”

Zone Militaire reported that during the NATO exercise Dynamic Messenger, organized in Portugal alongside REPMUS 25, more than 150 drones [air, underwater and surface] were tested by the thirty‑two nations involved, including France.

It added that a NATO spokesperson confirmed the Ukrainian Navy had directed and coordinated the red forces for the first time during an Alliance exercise, calling it “a historic milestone.”

The same account said the REPMUS/Dynamic Messenger 2025 exercises in Portugal featured a Ukrainian-led red team that “systematically prevailed,” with the FAZ reporting that “the Reds managed to strike a frigate [identity not disclosed] several times, to the point that it would have sunk in a real battle.”