Russia says Europe is "manipulating" Ukraine with "alluring" prospect of EU membership
CBSN
Moscow — Russia's foreign ministry on Friday accused Brussels of "manipulating" Ukraine after the EU Commission recommended the pro-Western country be granted candidate status for joining the 27-nation bloc.
"We see how for many years the Western community has been manipulating the idea of some kind of involvement of Ukraine in their integration structures," ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
Ukraine, however, is getting "worse and worse," she added.
Russia launched a barrage of missiles at Ukraine Thursday in its first major retaliation for Ukraine's attack earlier in the week on a military facility in the Russian region of Bryansk. That strike saw the Ukrainians use American-made and supplied long-range missiles known as ATACMS, which President Biden had given the Ukrainian forces permission to fire deeper into Russian territory only two days earlier.
Amersham, England — Family and friends of One Direction star Liam Payne, who died last month after falling from a Buenos Aires hotel room, gathered for his funeral in Britain on Wednesday. Payne's former bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson were among mourners at the private service at St Mary's Church in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, just outside London.