Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kherson hit by glide bombs twice in same day as Putin ramps up attacks

German chancellor Friedrich Merz has met with President Donald Trump in the White House, marking the first meeting between the two leaders.

Ukraine is likely to be high on the agenda.

Mr Merz has been vocal in his support of Kyiv and outspoken in his criticism of Russia.

Mr Trump meanwhile promised to accelerate a peace deal on the campaign trial but has so far not delivered.

The White House has also demanded that European NATO allies raise defence spending to 5 per cent of their GDP.

President Donald Trump has announced his administration’s pick for the next top US general in Europe.

US Air Force Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich will be nominated for the role of Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Mr Trump said in a statement.

The move is expected to relieve European NATO allies concerned that Washington was stepping back from its leading role in European security.

Lt Gen Grynkewich is currently serving as Director for Operations of the Joint Staff.

Sir Keir Starmer will meet NATO chief Mark Rutte in London next week amid a push for members to commit to spending more on defence.

Mr Rutte is believed to be pushing for members of hte bloc to spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on the military, as well as a further 1.5% on defence-related measures.

European leaders have acknowledged that they must spend more on defence following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The prime minister’s spokesperson said: “You can expect the prime minister to raise how we can ensure all allies meet their stated pledges in support of our collective defence, to keep people safe.

“It is worth recognising the UK’s track record on spending and indeed our contribution to NATO, both in terms of our spending and our capabilities.”

Kyiv has criticised a decision to take billions of euros of Russian wealth frozen in Europe and hand it to Western investors.

Belgium’s Euroclear last month took 3 billion euros of Russian investor cash held at the clearing firm to pay Westerners who lost out when Moscow seized their money held in Russia.

Iryna Mudra, a senior official in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office, said of the move: “If private investors are compensated before the victims of war, it won’t be justice.

“It creates a perception of inconsistency, of Europe wavering in its resolve,” Mudra, a deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, added.

Germany’s new leader is meeting President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday as he works to keep the U.S. on board with Western support for Ukraine, help defuse trade tensions that pose a risk to Europe’s biggest economy and further bolster his country’s long-criticized military spending.

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Ukraine’s state emergency services have posted photos showing the aftermath of a Russian drone attack on the city of Kupyansk.

Russian forces are within five miles of the city’s outskirts.

“As a result of discharges from Russian First-Person-View drones in the city of Kupyansk, fires broke out in the private sector, a 74-year-old woman was injured,” the emergency services wrote.

“A house, a car and outbuildings were on fire. 13 rescuers from the State Emergency Service fought the fire, risking their lives due to the threat of repeated shelling.”

Brazil, India and China should put pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine, French president Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday during a joint press conference with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is on a state visit in France.

Russia plans to produce two million first-person-view drones in 2025, Ukraine’s foreign intelligence service has claimed.

Intelligence official Oleh Aleksandrov told Politico that Moscow has rapidly upped its production of the lethal but cheap drones, which have become one of the most common weapons on the frontlines in Ukraine.

“They aim to produce about 30,000 long-range drones of those types plus 30,000 false target drones they use to exhaust Ukrainian air defenses in 2025,” Aleksandrov said.

“As for the FPV drones, Russians are aiming to produce a whopping 2 million of them in 2025.”

Ukrainian forces working on tight budgets pioneered FPV drones, which are essentially affordable quadcopters retrofitted with small-munitions and cameras connected to a headset, allowing the drone pilot to steer it using a live, first-person-view feed.

They are short-range weapons operating on a timer.

Ukraine upscaled FPV production in 2024, creating around a million sets. They are aiming to produce 2.5 million this year.

Below you can see pictures from the site of a Russian drone strike in the central city of Pryluky .

At least five people were killed in the strikes, including a one-year-old boy. The baby’s mother and grandmother, who was the wife of the local fire chief, were also killed when a Russian drone hit their house.