Kremlin says ‘no alternative’ to continuing its invasion of Ukraine
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said this morning there was “no alternative” for Russia than to continue its offensive on Ukraine that it launched in 2022, AFP reported.
“We are continuing our special military operation to ensure our interests and achieve the goals” set by Russian president Vladimir Putin, Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RBC radio, using Moscow’s term for its assault on Ukraine.
The Kremlin also claimed that Russian troops were advancing on all fronts in Ukraine, rejecting Trump’s suggestions that Ukraine could regain all its captured territory, Reuters said.
Responding to Trump’s suggestion that Russia was “a paper tiger,” Peskov said that Russia was a bear, not a tiger, and “there is no such thing as a paper bear“.
Key events
Jakub Krupa
The incident will unavoidably raise some eyebrows and prompt questions about what exactly happened and whether there was any hostile intent behind it, but it’s worth remembering that GPS jamming incidents in eastern Europe are increasingly common.
Earlier this month, the European Commission said that a plane carrying its president, Ursula von der Leyen, was also affected by GPS jamming when approaching an airport in Bulgaria, with the bloc blaming Russia for the incident.
Spanish military jet carrying defence minister faced GPS ‘disturbance’ over Kaliningrad
A Spanish military jet with defence minister Margarita Robles onboard suffered a GPS “disturbance” on Wednesday morning while flying over the Russian Kaliningrad enclave, en route to Lithuania, the ministry said, as reported by Reuters.
It first appeared in a report by Spanish news agency Europa Press.
Trump’s address to world leaders at the UN was for a different audience: his base
Andrew Roth
in New York
Donald Trump may have been speaking to the 192 other world leaders gathered in the United Nations, but the real target of his speech on Tuesday was Europe, which was hauled up repeatedly as the whipping boy for an antiliberal, blood-and-soil polemic that renewed an assault on the transatlantic relationship that has become a theme of his second administration.
In an hourlong address to the assembled world leaders and delegations, Trump told European leaders directly that they were destroying their own countries – and that they should be more like the US as he condemned their policies on immigration, green energy and political correctness.
These were not subtle digs. On migration, he told Europeans that “your countries are going to hell.” On Europe’s approach to climate change, he said it was “on the brink of destruction because of the green energy agenda”. On the war in Ukraine, he said Europe was “funding the war against themselves. Who the hell ever heard of that one?”
This is red meat for his supporters, and observers from across the aisle in the United States quickly identified Trump’s likely audience as his own base. The first 10 minutes were almost a classic stump speech, with Trump telling foreign leaders about how well he had handled inflation and that after just eight months in office “we are the hottest country anywhere in the world, and there is no other country even close”.
But then he turned his gaze to the failures of the United Nations and other world leaders – in which an aide forecast that he would denounce “globalists”. US conservatives would have been delighted to watch Trump tear into European liberals, who were forced to watch and politely applaud as they were accused of gross mismanagement of their countries.
“Let’s not pretend this is a foreign policy speech or dignify it by calling it one,” wrote Ned Price, a former deputy to the US representative to the United Nations during the Biden administration.
“This is basically Maga madlibs. Trump is speaking to his political base, hitting each of his campaign trail hits, while addressing a room of leaders who’d rather be just about anywhere else.”
‘Effectiveness there is close to zero,’ Kremlin says on Russia-US rapproachment
Meanwhile, the Kremlin struck a notably downbeat tone on the Russia-US rapprochement, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov telling RBC radio that “this track is sluggish, very sluggish” with “the effectiveness there … close to zero,” AFP reported.
Germany’s Merz talks about urgency of reforms facing his government
German chancellor Friedrich Merz has been speaking in the Bundestag in last half hour, taking part in a “general debate” on the situation in the country (which is why he isn’t in New York for the UNGA, a move which sparked some controversy domestically, as explained on Europe Live on Monday).
He struck a similar tone to his previous appearance there, warning lawmakers that Germany, or more broadly “the entire western community of values,” was “facing one of the most challenging moments in its modern history.”
He also repeated his point that “foreign and domestic policy can no longer be separated.”
On economy, he acknowledged that many German business and trade union leaders are “deeply concerned” about future, urging lawmakers to “act quickly” on issues such as tax and investment policies, cutting red tape, and tackling energy prices.
He also indicated that his government will present a broader proposal to reform Germany’s welfare provisions “by the end of the year.”
Merz also struck a cautious note on green policies – perhaps picking up on unusual praise from Trump last night – telling the Greens that he believed that climate policies needed to be not ideological, but pragmatic to command the support of the population and not undermine German industrial base or social cohesion in the country.
He said the auto, steel and chemical sectors must remain key industries in the country, and called for lower operational costs for the German aviation sector.
Kremlin says ‘no alternative’ to continuing its invasion of Ukraine
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said this morning there was “no alternative” for Russia than to continue its offensive on Ukraine that it launched in 2022, AFP reported.
“We are continuing our special military operation to ensure our interests and achieve the goals” set by Russian president Vladimir Putin, Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RBC radio, using Moscow’s term for its assault on Ukraine.
The Kremlin also claimed that Russian troops were advancing on all fronts in Ukraine, rejecting Trump’s suggestions that Ukraine could regain all its captured territory, Reuters said.
Responding to Trump’s suggestion that Russia was “a paper tiger,” Peskov said that Russia was a bear, not a tiger, and “there is no such thing as a paper bear“.
Morning opening: Trump sides with Ukraine (for now?)
Jakub Krupa
US president Donald Trump has said he believes Ukraine can regain all the land that it has lost since the 2022 Russian invasion in one of the strongest statements of support he has given Kyiv, just hours after also saying he thinks Nato should shot down Russian aircraft violating its airspace.
The U-turn was even more surprising as it came just hours after Trump publicly admonished Europe for its migration, climate and energy policies, telling astonished leaders that their countries were “being ruined” and “going to hell.”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy looked initially as surprised as anyone at Trump’s dramatic change of views, but very happy to finally end up on the right side of the US president, at least for now.
Let’s see how long it lasts. I will look out for European reactions and bring them to you here, and we should hear from Zelenskyy himself at the UN general assembly later today.
Separately, I will keep an eye on reports from Denmark as the police investigation into the drone incident at Copenhagen airport continues.
I will bring you all the key updates here.
It’s Tuesday, 23 September 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
