Russia advances in Ukraine but suffers losses, rows with Western powers

Moscow was rushing reinforcements to Donetsk and Kharkiv after unexpectedly high losses for limited advances.

A war of words over Ukraine took centre-stage in the past week, as the European Union sought to bolster its defence readiness, NATO celebrated its 75th birthday and Russia issued threats and promises.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament she would pursue a defence union if re-elected for another five years, which she ultimately was.

“We will propose a number of Defence Projects of Common European Interest starting with a European Air Shield and cyber-defence,” she said on Thursday, triggering warning shots from Russia a day later.

Von der Leyen’s single market commissioner, Thierry Breton, earlier this year promised a 100-billion-euro ($109bn) investment fund for European defence industries. It has yet to materialise, but von der Leyen promised to create a dedicated defence portfolio and to pursue innovation and investment.

“It is astonishing. The European Union, which was created to ensure the wellbeing and stability of all its members, has now evolved into a NATO appendage,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the UN a day earlier. “And [now the EU] is no less aggressively and, perhaps, sometimes even more aggressively demanding to inflict a defeat on Russia. What kind of strategic or any other dialogue could there be?” he asked.