Warning after strikes on Russia’s Baltic oil ports – but Russia has repeatedly sent its own drones through Nato and European airspace. What we know on day 1,506
Russia – which has repeatedly violated European countries’ airspace with its war drones – has threatened Baltic countries if they let Ukraine do the same. Maria Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry’s spokesperson, spoke after Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia’s Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga, which have disrupted its oil exports. “If third countries have provided or are providing their territory for enemy drones to fly over, they must fully understand – and we are confident they do, because it has been explained to them – the risks they are exposing themselves to.”
The US has ignored compelling evidence that Russia has been helping Iran to target US bases in the Middle East because it “trusts” Vladimir Putin, according to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Luke Harding writes that in an interview with Alastair Campbell on The Rest is Politics podcast, Zelenskyy said he had tried to draw the White House’s attention to it but “the problem is they trust Putin. And it’s a pity.” Zelenskyy said Donald Trump’s negotiators had failed to “really understand the details of what Russia wants”. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had “spent too much time” with Putin and his senior officials. The pair travelled to Moscow five times last year, but have yet to visit Kyiv.
