Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap for today!
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Lithuania’s president and prime minister were rushed to underground bunkers this morning and residents of the capital, Vilnius, urged to take shelter during a warning issued after a drone violated the country’s airspace (10:05, 10:11, 10:41, 11:51).
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The incident comes a day after a Nato figher jet show down what was suspected to be a stray Ukrainian drone over Estonia on Tuesday.
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Several EU leaders, including commission president Ursula von der Leyen (13:05), Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte (11:37, 11:40) and Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk (13:03), warned against Russia’s increasingly assertive position towards the Baltics after yesterday’s threats from Moscow.
In other news,
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The European Parliament will finally vote on the US trade deal on 16 or 17 of June after MEPs won significant amendments to the text of the tariff deal agreed with Donald Trump at his Scottish golf course last July (11:07).
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com.
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Europe correspondent
Earlier today, Lithuania’s president and prime minister were rushed to underground bunkers and residents of the capital, Vilnius, urged to take shelter during a warning issued after a drone violated the country’s airspace.
Air and train traffic in and around the city was suspended after the mobile phone “take shelter” alert, the first issued in an EU and Nato country since the start of Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
You can read our full report on today’s air alert in Lithuania here:
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Finns suspected of Russian sanctions violation over truck exports
Three Finnish citizens are suspected of exporting trucks and trailers worth $20 million to neighbouring Russia in violation of sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine, Finnish Customs said Wednesday.
A preliminary investigation conducted by the customs agency found that a Finnish company had transported 135 trucks and 29 trailers worth 17.5 million euros ($20.3 million) to Russia during 2022-2023, saying the vehicles were being exported to Kazakhstan or Turkey.
However, the customs agency found that the vehicles were customs cleared into Russia by a company importing and reselling trucks in the country.
The customs agency has not identified the company by name, but public broadcaster Yle said it was Idan liikennevalitys IL Oy.
“For the first time in a criminal investigation involving sanctions violations, Finnish Customs has requested that the value of the goods exported to Russia be confiscated for security,” said Petteri Nevalainen, the agency’s economic crime investigations chief.
The company’s owner and two employees are suspected of aggravated regulation offences, and one of them has been held in pretrial detention since the beginning of the investigation in March.
Prosecutors are to decide whether to press charges in the coming weeks.
Italy condemns 'unacceptable' treatment of Gaza flotilla activists by Israel
Meanwhile, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni slammed as “unacceptable” the treatment of Gaza flotilla activists detained by Israel, after an Israeli minister posted a video of them bound and forced to kneel, AFP reported.
“It is intolerable that these protesters, among whom there are many Italian citizens, are subjected to this treatment, which violates human dignity,” Meloni said in a statement, referring to the video posted by far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
French lawmakers back Macron choice to run Bank of France
Over in France, French lawmakers narrowly approved President Emmanuel Macron’s former chief of staff to govern the central bank, with Emmanuel Moulin winning just enough votes to secure the job, AFP reported.
Macron critics say the centrist head of state is seeking to install allies in top positions to shield key government institutions before his five-year term ends next year.
Marine Le Pen’s far-right, anti-immigration party is gearing up for what it considers its strongest opportunity yet to take power in the 2027 presidential election.
Moulin, Macron’s choice for the position, had faced questions about his ability to act independently.
Lawmakers in the lower house voted overwhelmingly against him, but enough Senators backed his appointment for it to be approved.
An influential policymaker, Moulin, 57, has held a series of top posts in finance and the presidency, AFP noted.
He served as secretary general of the Élysée Palace for a year and was before that chief of staff to centrist Gabriel Attal during his brief stint as prime minister in 2024.
He served as director general of the French Treasury between 2020 and 2024, overseeing economic policy and public debt.
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China 'eaten much of German industry's lunch,' report warns as it urges Berlin to stop admiring Beijing
In other news, Germany must stop admiring China’s success in the EU or it will sleepwalk into the kind of deindustrialisation the US experienced 25 years ago, a leading Brussels thinktank has said.
With China’s surplus with Germany having doubled between 2024 and 2025 from $12bn (£9bn) to $25bn, creating a $94bn trade imbalance, the Centre for European Reform (CER) said Europe’s largest economy risked a repeat of what happened in the US in 2001 when a sudden surge in imports permanently hollowed out towns in the American midwest.
“China Shock 1.0” not only led to losses of up to 2.5m jobs but was also marked by a rise in suicides, divorce and drug use in US towns that lost industries to the Chinese, according to the CER report.
That fraying of the US social fabric, it said, was “an eerie warning shot for Germany’s car and machine-building cities like Wolfsburg and Stuttgart”, a reference to the homes of Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, two brands emblematic of German engineering and design success.
“Germany remains hesitant, even as China has already eaten much of German industry’s lunch and is preparing to start on dinner,” said the CER.
Entitled “China Shock 2.0: the cost of Germany’s complacency”, the thinktank report concluded: “Berlin cannot keep admiring the problem,” adding that the risk for Berlin was acute, yet the German political leaders had “struggled to see the problem clearly”.
Ukraine involved in 'very active' talks with UK over decision to relax sanctions on Russian crude
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office says it is seeking clarification from Downing Street on the UK’s decision to lift sanctions on some Russian oil, amid accusations from the Conservatives that Keir Starmer is helping the Kremlin make money.
Ukraine’s president has not yet commented on the decision to issue a new licence for imports of diesel and jet fuel made from sanctioned Russian oil. The UK has also permitted the maritime transport of Russian liquefied natural gas.
Zelenskyy has previously urged western partners to maintain a tough sanctions regime against Russian oil exports, pointing out that Moscow uses cash from hydrocarbon sales to fund its war against Ukraine.
In recent months Kyiv has intensified long-range strikes against Russia’s oil infrastructure, hitting ports on the Baltic and Black Sea, as well as targets in the Urals, more than 1500kms from the frontline. Zelenskyy has dubbed these remote attacks “long-range sanctions”.
“There is currently very active communication between our diplomats and the Office [of the President] and the British side to clarify the details,” an aide to Zelenskyy said on Wednesday.
'Europe's security is indivisible,' Lithuania's foreign minister says
Lithuania’s foreign minister Kęstutis Budrys responded to von der Leyen’s statement, thanking her for support for the region.
“Thank you, @vonderleyen, for your strong message of solidarity. Europe’s security is indivisible. EU’s strength lies in its unity & our adversaries know that. Together we are strong and resilient.”
US plans to shrink forces available to Nato during crises, Reuters says
Just as the EU’s von der Leyen (13:05) and Poland’s Tusk (13:03) issue their stark warnings about the security situation in the region, the Trump administration is planning to tell Nato allies this week that it will shrink the pool of military capabilities that the US would have available to assist the alliance’s European nations in a major crisis, Reuters reported quoting three sources familiar with the matter said.
Under a framework known as the Nato Force Model, the alliance’s member countries identify a pool of available forces that could be activated during a conflict or any other major crisis, such as a military attack on a Nato member, Reuters said.
While the precise composition of those wartime forces is a closely guarded secret, the Pentagon has decided to significantly scale down its commitment, said the sources, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the plans.
Several details were unclear, such as how quickly the Pentagon plans to shift crisis-mode responsibilities on to European allies. The sources said, however, that the Pentagon plans to announce its intention to lessen its commitment at a Friday meeting of defence policy chiefs in Brussels.
EU reiterates call for Russians not to be allowed to benefit from Middle East conflict after US, UK relax sanctions on oil
Elsewhere in Brussels, the European Commission was asked about the US and UK decisions to relax strict sanctions on Russian crude oil as fuel prices rise.
The commission was pointedly asked if their decisions do not undermine the broader approach to put as much pressure on the Russian economy as possible.
The chief spokerperson, Paula Pinho, said:
“We will not comment on what other countries are doing on sanctions regarding Russia.
We remain committed to our sanctions on imports of Russian oil and gas, and we need to reiterate the call for Russians not to be benefiting from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. It’s too ironic.”
Speaking shortly after, UK prime minister Keir Starmer said the country would cancel a planned rise in motor fuel tax, and insisted there “is not a question of lifting existing sanctions in any way” more broadly.
More on this on our UK blog with Andrew Sparrow:
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Russia's threats against the Baltics 'completely unacceptable and 'threat against our entire union', EU's von der Leyen says
And in the last few minutes, the European Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen issued a strong statement along the similar lines.
In a post on X, she said:
“Russia’s public threats against our Baltic States are completely unacceptable.
Let there be no doubt: a threat against one Member State is a threat against our entire Union.
Russia and Belarus bear direct responsibility for drones endangering the lives and security of people on our Eastern flank.
Europe will respond with unity and strength. We will continue reinforcing the security of our Eastern flank with strong collective defence and preparedness at every level.”
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Russia's aggressive stance 'may lead to situations ... in which we will need to react firmly,' Poland's Tusk warns
Meanwhile, Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk issued a stark warning against a possible escalation in the conflict with Russia, warning that Moscow’s aggressive stance “may lead, in near future, to situations in which it will be necessary to react firmly.”
Tusk warned that Russia’s continuing aggression on Russia “means this threat to other borders is indeed real,” as he cautioned that the heightened tensions “may also affect our neighbours, especially the Baltic states, through no fault of their own.”
“Russia’s aggressive policy towards Ukraine and its neighbourhood may lead, and in near future, to situations in which it will be necessary to react firmly.”
He said he was convinced that “the whole of Nato, including our American allies, will take very seriously the threats and provocations that may arise, and are already arising at the moment, especially with regard to our Baltic neighbours.”
He said the situation was “serious.”
“We would like to avoid bad events, but I am not one of those who will close their eyes to reality and pretend that nothing is happening.
I do not want to scare anyone, there is no direct threat to Poland at this time, that is not what we are talking about, but the threat of provocations of various types is becoming a fact.”
Hungary's Magyar hopes to meet Ukraine's Zelenskyy as he seeks new opening in relations
Hungary’s Péter Magyar said he hoped to hold talks with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in June as the two countries try to repair their bilateral relations after years of tensions caused by pro-Russian Hungarian administration of Viktor Orbán.
Earlier this week, the foreign ministers of both countries started formal talks about the rights of the ethnic Hungarian minority in Ukraine, which remain one of the stumbling blocks for Ukraine’s process of seeking the membership of the EU (Europe Live, Monday).
In sharp contrast with Orbán’s rhetoric, Magyar said that “Ukraine is a victim [of aggression] and has the right to defend itself by all possible means” to safeguards its territorial integrity.
He said the war should be ended as soon as possible, with a lasted peace guaranteed by the international community, pointedly saying that the guarantees needed would have to be stronger than those adopted in the Budapest memorandum of 1994.
He suggested that he could meet Zelenskyy in the city of Berehove in western Ukraine, in the Zakarpattia region, where many ethnic Hungarians live.
Tusk and Magyar discuss regional cooperation, energy and EU reforms in Warsaw
I have listened back to Donald Tusk and Péter Magyar’s press conference in Warsaw.
The pair talked a lot about the hopeful signal that the Hungarian election have sent around the world, with Tusk saying Magyar’s win pushed back on claims that liberal democracy was failing in Europe and could not defend itself from populism and authoritarian tendencies.
They also spoke about the importance of returning to closer cooperation in the Visegrad Four format with the Czech Republic and Slovakia after years of tensions and conflicts with Viktor Orbán.
Tusk and Magyar also spoke about closer energy cooperation which could help Hungary diversify from Russian energy sources, and on their planned reformist agenda in the EU, pushing the bloc to become more economically competitive.
But two main lines from the leaders came on other topics, so let me bring them next.
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Rutte also repeatedly gets asked about Trump’s criticism of Nato, now backed with first decisions to pull out some troops.
But, as usual, he repeats that this is “a healthy” approach as it pushes Europe to do more and take more responsibility for its own security.
“Hey, Europe is – with UK and Turkey, and Norway - over 500 million people. We are facing an adversary in Russia of about 120 to 140 million people, and we are now overly dependent on one ally with about 350 million people, making sure that we can defend ourselves against Russia.
That’s not sustainable long term, and that one ally cannot keep explaining this to his public.”
And that ends his press conference.
Rutte also gets asked about his proposals that Nato’s European countries spend 0.25% of their GDP on help for Ukraine.
He says his role is “sometimes to bring some bold proposals to the table, and sometimes they will not be accepted – I do not think this one will be.”
He says there is “a lot of opposition against this fixed 0.25%,” but he wanted a debate on how Ukraine will continue to be supported.
“Ukraine cannot survive without this crucial flow of US gear, industrial output into Ukraine, including anti-missile systems, and anti-missile missiles, interceptors; this is crucial stuff.”
He says he wants allies to be honest with each other and figure out how they can share this burden.
Meanwhile, we are getting a bit more from Lithuania on today’s incident, with the chief of the country’s national crisis management centre saying that the authorities are still trying to figure out if the drone crashed or left the country, and what its origin was. But he confirms it was a military drone.
Rutte also gets asked for more details on the Estonian incident from yesterday and get pressed on why Nato did not shot down other drones during similar incursions over Romania.
He says he cannot reveal more as it remains “confidential,” but he pays tribute to the Romanian-led response to the incident yesterday.
'Russian claim' on Latvia, Baltics is 'totally ridiculous, and Russia knows it,' Nato's Rutte says
Rutte also gets asked about Russia’s escalating rhetoric and threats against Latvia and the Baltics, as reported in yesterday’s blog.
Russia keeps saying that Latvia and potentially other Baltic countries are about to give Ukraine a permission to attack Russia from its territories with drones. Latvia and Ukraine repeatedly dismissed the claims as “lies.”
Rutte has no time for it:
The Russian claim is totally ridiculous, and Russia knows it.
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Rutte gets asked about today’s incident in Lithuania.
He says Nato has offered “a calm, decisive, and proportionate response to these drone incursions” in the region.
“If drones come from Ukraine, they are not there because Ukraine wanted to send a drone to Latvia, Lithuania, or Estonia. They are there because of the reckless, illegal, full-scale attack of Russia, starting in 2022 after, of course, what they did in Crimea in 2014 against Ukraine.”
He hails Nato’s response with a Romanian F-16 fighter jet stationed in Lithuania taking out the drone over Estonia.
He then declines to comment on whether the use of fighter jets is the best way to fight drones.
Rutte also gets asked about the reigning confusion over the US plans regarding its force posture in Europe, including its decision to pull some troops out of Germany and Poland.
As often, he doesn’t really answer the question directly, talking instead about how “the Europeans and the Canadians are massively stepping up in terms of defence spending.”
He says he “totally agreed” with US vice-president JD Vance’s comments from last night that “Europe has to take a bigger role” in Nato, and “take more of the responsibility for the conventional defence” of the continent.
“Against that background, we know that adjustments will take place. The US has to pivot more towards, for example, Asia. This will take place over time in a structured way,” he says.
He points to Nato’s supreme allied commander Alexus Grynkewich’s comments yesterday saying that the changes will not have an impact on Nato’s defence plans (Europe Live, Tuesday).
Rutte gets asked about growing speculations about who could be the EU’s negotiator with Russia if there are ever direct talks about ending the war in Ukraine – and specifically, about Italy’s Mario Draghi as a potential candidate (as covered on Europe Live blog this week).
He says Draghi is a “close personal friend,” but declines to comment.
“I think first the EU has to decide on what role it will play, it wants to play, and then, if the answer is yet, there has to be a debate on who can play that role, but I leave that with the EU. I think it’s really for them to decide, not for me to comment.”
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Rutte also turns to the Middle East, criticising Iran for “a direct assault on freedom of navigation and global commerce” through its activities on the strait of Hormuz.
He says several Nato countries are “coming together around plans to ensure freedom of navigation.”
He then turns to Q&A.
Rutte also addresses yesterday’s drone incident in Estonia.
He says that as part of Nato’s Baltic air policing mission, a Romanian F-16 downed a drone over Estonia.
“This was a Ukrainian drone, but it wouldn’t have been there but for Russia’s aggression,” he says.
Rutte stresses that “Nato’s air defences were effective yet again.”
Russia 'remains most direct threat to Euro-Atlantic security,' Nato's Rutte says
In Brussels, Rutte begins by stressing the importance of Nato ministers meeting in Sweden, the alliance’s “newest ally” who joined in 2024.
“This says a great deal about how fundamentally our security environment has changed, especially when it comes to Europe. It is more dangerous, it is more contested and it makes it all the more important that Nato allies work together to safeguard our freedom and security,” he says.
He stresses that “Russia remains the most direct threat to Euro-Atlantic security,” not just for its actions in Ukraine, but over “persistent and growing attempts to underming our security and stability” in the alliance.
He says the question for member states is not on “whether we need to do more; the question is, how quickly allies can turn commitments into capabilities.”
He puts a positive spin on the recent US decisions to reduce its presence in Europe, saying it is a “transformation to a stronger Europe in a stronger Nato,” “moving away from unhealthy overalliance on one ally.”
Updated
Tusk, Magyar brief media after talks in Warsaw
Separately, if you want to follow a press conference between Poland’s Donald Tusk and Hungary’s Péter Magyar from Warsaw, you can do it here.
Nato's Rutte briefing press ahead of Nato ministerial in Sweden on Friday
Let’s cross over to Brussels, where Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte is briefing the media ahead of this week’s ministerial meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden on Friday.
EU agrees to implement US trade deal struck last summer after night talks
Senior correspondent
Meanwhile, the European Parliament will finally vote on the US trade deal on 16 or 17 of June after MEPs won significant amendments to the text of the tariff deal agreed with Donald Trump at his Scottish golf course last July.
Talks between MEPs and the European Commission to finalise the text lasted five hours with the trickiest part centring on the parliament’s insistence that tariffs on steel derivatives be reduced by Trump by the end of the year.
These tariffs were imposed by the US separately to the agreement and see tariffs of 25% and 50% imposed on hundreds of products containing an element of steel from washing machines to €6mn wind turbines.
In a significant victory for MEPs, Lange explained that they forced the insertion of a clause warning that the EU could reinstall tariffs on American products such as motorbikes if the US did not reduce the steel derivative tariffs to the 15% rate agreed in Scotland.
He told reporters on Wednesday that the European Commission was “a little bit nervous about this issue”, referring to a fear of retaliation by Trump.
Lange said the sunset clause in May 2029 was a year later than they had hoped for, but would coincide with the installation of the new US presidential administration following elections in November 2024.
MEPs also won a suspension clause, which would be triggered if Trump breached his side of the deal or if industries were unfairly discriminating against.
This was an important point as there had been no impact assessment before the deal and no one yet knew how it would impact SMEs in particular, said Lange.
AFP notes that it was the first alarm in an EU and Nato member country since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022 to trigger a hunker-down alert for the population – including the president, prime minister and MPs.
Political leaders were ushered into bunkers following a drone alert last year, but not the general population.
Lithuanian authorities have not received any notifications about drones crashing in their territory, LRT reported.
Updated
People in shelters in Lithuania during earlier drone alert - in pictures
Lithuania lifts drone alert
The drone alert in Lithuania has just been lifted.
The country’s defence minister was quoted by Reuters as saying that the drone flew by Lentvaris near the capital, Vilnius, before diverting in a different direction.
We will no doubt get more details on this soon.
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Putin praises 'unprecedented' relations with China with focus on foreign policy, trade, energy
During his talks in China, Putin said that Russia and China were committed to “independent and sovereign” foreign policy, as they signed declarations of closer cooperation.
“Most important is that Russia and China are committed to an independent and sovereign foreign policy, are working together in close strategic cooperation and playing an important stabilising role on the global stage,” Putin said.
Erm.
Putin also said that Russia was ready to continue supplying China with energy, Reuters reported, after his talks with Xi that made him say the Russian-Chinese relations are at an “unprecedented” level.
Xi also stressed the “political mutual trust and strategic cooperation” between the countries, according to Chinese state media. The two leaders have praised each other profusely in the past, with Xi at one point describing Putin as his “best and most intimate friend, AP said.
Morning opening: Drone alerts in the Baltics, again
Lithuania has issued an air alert this morning warning its population near the capital, Vilnius, to shelter in place, the latest Baltic country to see drone incidents impact its life after Estonia and Latvia.
“Lithuania has issued an air alert in parts of the country after a suspected drone approaching from Belarus was detected near the border. Nato Baltic Air Policing has been activated,” Lithuania’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
Vilnius airport has suspended flights temporarily, and an alarm sounded in the Lithuanian parliament. Train traffic has also been suspended, with passengers evacuated to shelters, LRT reported.
The incident comes just a day after Nato had to shoot down a suspected stray Ukrainian drone over Estonia, with Russia threatening the Baltics by alleging they were working with Ukraine to launch attacks on its territory.
Elsewhere, there is a lot of focus on Vladimir Putin’s trip to China for talks with Xi Jinping, with the two discussing their foreign policy aims and closer military cooperation, just a week after Donald Trump’s visit there.
The tightening relations between Moscow and Bejing will spook Europe and the US, particularly with Putin talking about “Russia and China playing stabilising role on international stage.” Erm.
I will also bring you an update on the EU-US trade talks, and keep an eye on Hungarian PM Péter Magyar’s visit to Poland where he is due to meet prime minister Donald Tusk and president Karol Nawrocki.
It’s Wednesday, 20 May 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
