Poland says Russia’s drone incursion ‘wasn’t a mistake’ after Trump’s speculation – Europe live | Europe

Key events

Asked about the Polish incident specifically, Trump said:

“I’m not going to defend anybody but the Poland, they were actually knocked down and they fell into an area, but you shouldn’t be close to Poland anyway.”

Is he suggesting the drones were shot down near the Polish border and only accidentally landed in Poland?

Well, that would appear to be highly questionable when you look at the map…

Map of Russian drone incursions into PolandShare

Updated at 08.58 EDT

Patience with Putin ‘running out and running out fast,’ Trump says

US president Donald Trump said his patience with Russian president Vladimir Putin was “running out and running out fast” during an interview with Fox News in the last few minutes.

“But it does take two to tango. It’s amazing when Putin wants to do it, Zelensky didn’t. When Zelenskyy wanted to do it, Putin didn’t. Now Zelenskyy wants to, and Putin is a question mark… But we’re going to have to come down very, very strong,” he said.

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Updated at 08.54 EDT

Emergency UN security council meeting convened after Russian drone incursion into Poland

An emergency session of the UN security council will convene on Friday at Poland’s request as Warsaw seeks to rally support after an incursion into the country by Russian drones on Wednesday.

Map of Russian drone violations of Polish airspace

Numerous European allies pledged support for Poland, including a promise by Germany to strengthen its military presence on Nato’s eastern flank, but some disputed whether the incursion was a deliberate attack on Poland by Russia and Donald Trump offered little in the way of public support.

The meeting is expected to start shortly before 8pm BST (9pm CEST).

ShareGermany, France summon Russian ambassadors to protest over Polish airspace drone incursion

Germany and France have summoned the Russian ambassadors to “express its dismay over the incursion of drones into Polish airspace,” German dpa and French AFP news agencies reported.

They follow similar actions by a number of other European governments, including the Netherlands and Spain.

ShareEU working on new proposals for electrifying fleets, but not open to revising 2035 target

The EU’s consultation with the car industry over the 2035 target for phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles is about ensuring the sector is not “wiped out” by China and other countries, the European Commission has said.

Asked if an intervention could only happen if a “market failure” was proven in the sector, spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said Europe had a “long tradition of producing small cars but they are not electric”.

“What is important is that we have electric vehicles that are accessible and affordable to customers, we are not saying what kind of cars people need to buy and use, but this is about the competitiveness of the European industry,” said Itkonen who said the Commission was trying to create “enabling conditions” to ensure EU brands survived the transition to electric.

“It is basically just ensuring that one area of one industry is not wiped out from Europe due to competition from third countries,” she said.

The European Commission met the car industry at a strategic dialogue this morning and will publish details later this afternoon.

It is also expected to launch an impact assessment on the current legislation on the 2035 target to phase out petrol and diesel cars after a consultation closes on 10 October.

The Commission said the impact assessment would be of “the legislation on current standards”.

“It is not a revision of the 2035 targets,” said spokesperson Paula Pinho.

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Updated at 07.07 EDT

EU car industry launches campaign to delay 2035 target for phasing out petrol cars

Also in Brussels, the car industry formally launches it campaign to delay the EU’s 2035 target for phasing out petrol cars in a three hour summit with Ursula von der Leyen and key personnel at the European Commission this morning.

An electric car plugged into a EV charging point. Photograph: John Walton/PA

The main car lobby, representing German, French and Italian manufacturers is pushing for “pragmatism” and “flexibility” around the existing 2035 target to end sales of new internal combustion engine (ICE) cars.

“Government and regulators have not invested in, nor demanded, sufficient levels of infrastructure and grid upgrades are still missing. The consequence: 2030-2035 targets are no longer achievable.”

ACEA, the body which represents most of the EU’s car industry, including VW, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Renault, BMW, Ford, Stellantis, Volvo, and Toyota, hopes a new regulation will be proposed by the Commission by the end of the year.

Opponents, including the Swedish Polestar, said the push for a delay is a smokescreen for their own failure to adapt to change in the face of Chinese imports and any delay would penalise Nordic brands who are ahead of the curve.

New data, released by S&P Mobility, for ACEA, the European automotive trade body, showed that the take-up of EVs in the Nordics is the highest in Europe, representing the best performing of three clusters of EU countries it surveys.

In the middling cluster are France, Germany and Ireland with the two large economies with the slowest cluster including Spain and Italy.

Reinhardt Schorsch, head of auto forecasting at S&P Global, said Norway was “a wealthy country” that has seen drivers respond to EV incentives put in place by the government but not in place in countries like Germany.

He also said the new small cars from Renault including the retro electric Renault 4 posed challenges because of lower driving ranges. Norway’s EV was dominated by more expensive and bigger cars, he said.

ShareEU extends sanctions on Russian officials over war in Ukraine

Brussels correspondent

Meanwhile, the EU has agreed to extend sanctions against hundreds of Russian politicians, oligarchs and military commanders over the war in Ukraine.

The EU’s top diplomats, meeting in Brussels, this morning agreed to a six-month extension of the sanctions against Russian individuals, according to diplomatic sources.

Sanctions currently apply to more than 2,500 individuals and companies, including Russian president Vladimir Putin, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and oligarch Roman Abramovich.
The sanctions, which were due to expire on 15 September, have been extended on a six-monthly basis for several years. A proposal for a 12-month extension was not approved.

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Updated at 06.42 EDT

Russia-Ukraine talks ‘on pause,’ Kremlin says, as it accuses European countries of ‘holding back’ talks

We are getting some lines from Russia, with the Kremlin saying there is ‘a pause’ in Russia-Ukraine negotiations about ending the war, and accusing European countries of holding back efforts to find peace in Ukraine.

Speaking literally just hours after launching major military exercises in Belarus, right next to Nato’s eastern flank, Russia also said that the drills were a response to what it saw as hostility towards Russia.

Erm.

ShareGerman air policing over Poland already operational, spokesperson says

Expanded German air policing over Poland in response to the incursion of Russian drones is already in effect, a defence ministry spokesperson said.

“Aviation already established operational readiness yesterday evening,” the spokesperson said at a regular government news conference, as reported by Reuters.

“This means that we now have two alarm rotas in the area which fulfil the mission 24/7. Both alarm rotas are qualified for the mission,” he said.

ShareNato calls press conference with secretary general Rutte, top commander Grynkewich

Nato has called a press conference with secretary general Mark Rutte and Supreme Allied Commander Europe Alexus Grynkewich this afternoon.

It will take place 4pm BST, 5pm CEST, and we will bring you all the details here.

Given Tusk’s comments earlier (11:32), we can expect this to be related to the Russian drone incursion incident earlier this week – particularly coming just hours before a UN security council meeting on this topic at 8pm BST, 9pm CEST.

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Updated at 06.03 EDT