European leaders alarmed over new Russian offensive, Zelenskyy announces air defense initiative - Thursday brief
RBC-Ukraine collage
European leaders are likely concerned that Russia is preparing a new offensive. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced a new format for defending Ukrainian airspace.
Read more about what happened on Thursday, September 4.
Russia preparing new offensive against Ukraine — Bloomberg
European leaders are expressing growing concern that Russia is preparing a new offensive against Ukraine. They discussed this during a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who reportedly addressed security guarantees, according to Bloomberg.
At a security council meeting in Toulon last week, German and French officials discussed the build-up of Russian troops near Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region. According to sources, Russia has deployed large forces in the area.
Zelenskyy unveils plans for new air defense format
Ukraine has begun discussing a new format for air defense against Russian attacks with its partners. However, US participation is required, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a press conference following the Coalition of the Willing meeting.
"Regarding air defense, we are considering a new format. Yesterday, we spoke for the first time with Emmanuel (French President Emmanuel Macron - ed.) about this format, and today we shared it with our partners and President Trump," Zelenskyy said.
Coalition of the Willing to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles, UK government says
Some unnamed countries of the Coalition of the Willing have agreed to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles amid Russia’s massive attacks on civilian targets and the civilian population, according to the UK government.
At the same time, the UK government did not disclose which countries had agreed to provide the long-range missiles. It also remains unknown what specific types of missiles these will be.
Security guarantees for Ukraine finalized – Macron
The preparation of security guarantees for Ukraine has been completed. The contributions of the allies have been documented and confirmed at the level of defense ministers, Le Monde reports.
French President says Europe is ready for this, for the first time with this level of commitment and intensity.
According to him, the contributions of Ukraine's partner countries, which were prepared, documented, and confirmed this afternoon at the level of defense ministers in strict confidentiality.
Number of countries ready to send up to 30,000 soldiers to Ukraine under security guarantees - Media
The meeting of leaders of the Coalition of the Willing in Paris on September 4 ended with some concrete outcomes. In particular, the possible size of the European contingent in Ukraine and the role of countries in supporting the military mission were clarified, according to sources familiar with the negotiations, Radio Svoboda reports.
In particular, only 21 of the 30 countries present have proposed concrete security guarantees. And only 10 of these 21 countries are ready and willing to send troops to Ukraine and continue working on security guarantees after the end of hostilities.
Putin and Zelenskyy are not yet ready to meet, but 'something is going to happen' — Trump
US President Donald Trump said he remains committed to a peaceful agreement between Russia and Ukraine, despite growing uncertainty on the issue. However, the leaders of the countries are not yet ready for the summit, CBS News reports.
"I've been watching it, I've been seeing it, and I've been talking about it with President Putin and President Zelenskyy. Something is going to happen, but they are not ready yet. But something is going to happen. We are going to get it done," the American leader said.
