Germany summons Russian ambassador over campaign to destabilise country, foreign ministry says
We are getting a breaking news line from Germany.
Germany’s foreign ministry spokesperson has warned that the authorities are “observing a significant increase in Russian hybrid activities,” claiming that a Russian campaign “seeks to destabilise Germany.”
The spokesperson attributed the activities to the Russian network Storm 1516, which specialises in foreign information manipulation and interference, saying it was behind activity attempting to disrupt the February federal election.
Separately, the government also attributed a cyber-attack against German air safety systems in August to a Russian hacker collective APT28.
As a result, Germany has summoned the Russian ambassador to Berlin, and the government “will decide on further diplomatic measures” at a later date.
We “made it clear that we are monitoring Russia’s actions very closely and will take action against them,” the spokesperson said, as reported by Reuters.
The UK has issued a similar warning about the network’s activities earlier this week, too.
Key events
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EU agree €3 customs duty for parcels under €150
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Ukraine could join EU by 2027 under US proposal — report
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US uses economic power to assert it will, could threaten force against allies and foes, Danish intelligence warns
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Softening of 2035 ban comes as win for Merz and Germany — snap analysis
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Germany’s Merz backs softening of 2035 ban on new petrol, diesel cars
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Ukraine’s Zelenskyy expected in Berlin on Monday, Bild reports
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EU’s 2035 petrol and diesel car ban will be watered down, says senior MEP
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Russia’s central bank readying to sue Euroclear over frozen assets plans
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Germany summons Russian ambassador over campaign to destabilise country, foreign ministry says
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‘Whole of Donbas belongs to Russia,’ Kremlin says
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Ukrainians ‘right to be very wary’ of US proposal on Donbas, former UK national security adviser says
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Kremlin has not seen new proposals, but may not like them, it says
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Slovakian government pushes ahead with controversial law on whistleblower protection
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US wants Ukraine to withdraw from Donbas and create ‘free economic zone’, says Zelenskyy
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Morning opening: The softest of pushbacks
EU agree €3 customs duty for parcels under €150
Lisa O’Carroll
EU member states have agreed to introduce a €3 customs duty per item on parcels valued under €150.
The move, which will apply from July next year, is designed to curb the impact of cheap goods coming in from China via online platforms such as Temu and Shein.
Duty free parcels have been a huge issue in the EU, the UK and the US where Donald Trump scrapped the “de minimis” duty-free exemption for parcels valued up to $800.
The European Commission said in a statement it welcomed the approval by member states. “The new duty will help protect the competitiveness of European businesses by levelling the playing field between e-commerce and traditional retail.
Ukraine could join EU by 2027 under US proposal — report
Ukraine would be slated to join the European Union by 1 January 2027 under a peace proposal being discussed as part of US-mediated negotiations to bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Financial Times has reported.
The proposal was being negotiated by US and Ukrainian officials with the support of Brussels, the FT added, citing people briefed with the document’s contents.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has been under immense pressure from Donald Trump to sign up to the US peace plan, but questions remain about the fairness of the proposals and whether Russia is actually interested in peace.
Pope Leo XIV has urged spy agencies around the world not to use confidential information as a weapon, including against the Catholic church, AFP reports.
The pontiff did not name specific countries, but it is not uncommon for states to base anti-Catholic repression, including the confiscation of property or expulsion of religious figures, on information gleaned from intelligence agencies.
“We must exercise rigorous vigilance to prevent confidential information from being used to intimidate, manipulate, blackmail, or discredit,” the first pope from the US said during an audience at the Vatican with Italian intelligence agents.
“This also applies to the church. Indeed, in several countries, the church is a victim of intelligence agencies that act with malicious intent and repress its freedom,” he said.
US uses economic power to assert it will, could threaten force against allies and foes, Danish intelligence warns
A Danish intelligence agency report has warned that the United States is using its economic power to assert its will and threaten military force against both allies and adversaries, AP reports.
The report, released Wednesday, highlights Washington’s increased assertiveness under the Trump administration. It also notes that China and Russia are trying to reduce western influence.
The Arctic is becoming a focal point, with US interest in Greenland raising concerns. Russian president Vladimir Putin has expressed worries about Nato activities in the region. The report suggests that many countries are now considering strategic agreements with China over the US.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had visited troops fending off Russian advances near the embattled city of Kupiansk that Moscow claimed to have captured, which Kyiv denies.
“Many Russians talked about Kupiansk – we can see. I was here, I congratulated the guys. Thanks to every unit, to everyone fighting here, to everyone destroying the occupier,” Zelenskyy, wearing a bulletproof vest, said in a video posted on Telegram.
Earlier today, the Ukrainian military said it had liberated several villages near the north-eastern town of Kupiansk, Reuters reported. Khartia Corps claimed on Telegram messenger that several hundred Russian troops had been surrounded in the area.
Softening of 2035 ban comes as win for Merz and Germany — snap analysis
Lisa O’Carroll
The widely expected softening of the 2035 outright ban on the sale of new petrol or diesel cars by the EU, represents a victory for the car industry but also shows that Germany, through chancellor Friederich Merz, is back in the driving seat in Brussels.
The 2035 cut off date was the cornerstone of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen’s flagship Green Deal and only came into force in 2023.
A decision to change it after two years, and 10 full years before the actual deadline, will be seen as a significant rowing back on environmental legislation but also the renewed power of Germany, where the car industry is struggling to transition to electrification.
Last year, Merz’s predecessor Olof Scholz voted against EU tariffs on Chinese EVs in a bid to protect Germany’s interests in China, putting him on a collision course with France and Emmanuel Macron.
But his opposition proved futile with the EU introducing a range of tariffs in a bid to stem the fast growing presence of Chinese cars in the EU.
France and Spain want the EU to uphold the 2035 ban, but all the signs are that it is Germany that will hold sway when von der Leyen pronounces next Tuesday on the future of the car industry.
Germany’s Merz backs softening of 2035 ban on new petrol, diesel cars
Lisa O’Carroll
Meanwhile, German chancellor Friederich Merz said on Friday he “supported” such the softening of the 2035 ban on new petrol or diesel cars, having advocated strongly for changes to the rules on the end of the combustion engine for months.
“The reality is that there will still be millions of combustion engine based cars around the world in 2035, 2040 and 2050,” he said.
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy expected in Berlin on Monday, Bild reports
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to visit Berlin on Monday for latest round of talks with European leaders, German tabloid Bild has just reported.
The paper quotes “unusually” enhanced security measures adopted by the German authorities affecting the vicinity of the German parliament and airspace above Berlin as the evidence of the visit going ahead.
Zelenskyy is expected to meet with Germany’s Merz, France’s Emmanuel Macron, and Britain’s Keir Starmer, the paper said. It added that it remained unclear whether there would also be a US representative joining them for the talks.
Bild said the German government spokesperson declined to comment.
EU’s 2035 petrol and diesel car ban will be watered down, says senior MEP
Lisa O’Carroll
The EU’s outright ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035 is poised to be watered down, a senior European parliament politician has said.
The decision, expected to be unveiled by the European Commission on Tuesday in Strasbourg, would be a divisive move, angering environmental campaigners who argue it would amount to the “gutting” of the EU’s flagship green deal.
Under the deal, approved two years ago, all cars coming on the market from 2035 had to be zero CO2 emissions, meaning the end of the road for hybrid vehicles as well as those running solely on fossil fuels.
However, Manfred Weber, an MEP and the president of the European People’s party group of conservative and centrist parties in the European parliament, told Germany’s Bild newspaper that the 2035 cutoff date would be softened next week.
“The technology ban on combustion engines is off the table,” he said. “All engines currently manufactured in Germany can therefore continue to be produced and sold.”
The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and most of the car industry have lobbied for the ban to be changed to allow the continued sale of hybrid vehicles. They are likely to hail the EU’s shift as a victory for common sense, giving European carmakers more time to transition to electric vehicles (EVs).
However, the change is not only opposed by green politicians, but also some car manufacturers such as Volvo and Polestar, which argue that shifting the 2035 cutoff for traditional combustion engines would hand a further advantage to Chinese rivals.
Weber said the rule change would be an important signal “to the entire automotive industry and secures tens of thousands of industrial jobs”, reflecting concerns over the future of one of Europe’s most important industries.
He suggested the EU would pave the way for the continued sale of plug-in hybrid cars, including a future generation of powerful hybrids with long ranges, but with backup combustion engines for long journeys, for example more than 373 miles (600km).
“For new registrations from 2035 onwards, a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions will now be mandatory for car manufacturers’ fleet targets, instead of 100%,” Weber told Bild.
A European Commission spokesperson, Paula Pinho, said on Friday that the 2035 deadline was “still being discussed”. She added that the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, had already said several times that that there was a clear demand for “more flexibility on the CO2 targets”.
Russia’s central bank readying to sue Euroclear over frozen assets plans
Russia’s central bank said it was suing the Belgium-based Euroclear financial group, which holds Moscow’s frozen international reserves, as the EU moves closer to using the funds to support Ukraine, AFP reported.
The bank said it was filing “a lawsuit against Euroclear in the Moscow Arbitration Court” due to what it called “the illegal actions” of the institution.
“The actions of Euroclear depository caused damage to the Bank of Russia due to the inability to manage funds and securities belonging to the Bank of Russia,” the bank said in a statement.
AFP noted that it was unclear what the implications of any Russian-based legal claim would be.
Responding to the move, the European Commission’s chief spokesperson Paula Pinho said that the EU’s proposal to use frozen Russian assets to guarantee a reparations loan for remained under discussions, but the commission was “confident [about] its legality.”
Germany summons Russian ambassador over campaign to destabilise country, foreign ministry says
We are getting a breaking news line from Germany.
Germany’s foreign ministry spokesperson has warned that the authorities are “observing a significant increase in Russian hybrid activities,” claiming that a Russian campaign “seeks to destabilise Germany.”
The spokesperson attributed the activities to the Russian network Storm 1516, which specialises in foreign information manipulation and interference, saying it was behind activity attempting to disrupt the February federal election.
Separately, the government also attributed a cyber-attack against German air safety systems in August to a Russian hacker collective APT28.
As a result, Germany has summoned the Russian ambassador to Berlin, and the government “will decide on further diplomatic measures” at a later date.
We “made it clear that we are monitoring Russia’s actions very closely and will take action against them,” the spokesperson said, as reported by Reuters.
The UK has issued a similar warning about the network’s activities earlier this week, too.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military said on Friday it had liberated several villages near the north-eastern town of Kupiansk, Reuters reported.
Khartia Corps claimed on Telegram messenger that several hundred Russian troops had been surrounded in the area.
‘Whole of Donbas belongs to Russia,’ Kremlin says
And in a further sign why these concerns may be valid, the Kremlin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov has just asserted (falsely) that “the whole of Donbas belongs to Russia,” when asked about Zelenskyy’s idea of a referendum on any territorial changes.
Reuters noted that the status of Donbas, comprising Donetsk and Luhansk regions, has emerged as a key sticking point in talks on peaceful settlement in Ukraine.
Ukrainians ‘right to be very wary’ of US proposal on Donbas, former UK national security adviser says
Peter Ricketts, a former chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee and UK national security adviser, shared some of Zelenskyy’s concern about the US proposal to form a “free economic zone” in Donbas (10:20).
In a series of posts on X, he said:
“The Ukrainians are right to be very wary of a plan that would mean them pulling back to create a ‘free zone’ in the part of the Donbas Russia has failed to occupy. The US might pledge to ensure that this w’d be demilitarised. But what would any ‘guarantee’ be worth in reality?
Very little in my view. Once the issue was out of the headlines, US attention would move elsewhere. Putin would infiltrate his forces (remember Crimea?), create incidents as pretexts to move in to ‘protect Russian speakers’. Before long they would have occupied the whole area and the US would not lift a finger.
This would leave the rest of Ukraine vulnerable to the next Russian advance. So this is not just a technical point but a fundamental issue – for Ukraine and for European security. I’m sure the UK, French and German teams know this very well.”
Kremlin has not seen new proposals, but may not like them, it says
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said on Friday that Moscow has not seen revised US proposals made after talks with Ukraine, but that it may not like parts of them, Reuters reported via Russian news agency Interfax.
State news agency RIA also cited Ushakov as saying that Russia will, sooner or later, discuss with the US the outcome of the talks with Ukraine.
Slovakian government pushes ahead with controversial law on whistleblower protection
Meanwhile over in Slovakia, the ruling leftist-nationalist coalition has overturned the president’s veto to a law abolishing the existing Whistleblower Protection Office and replacing it with a new body, which critics say will be weaker.
The controversial law, approved by parliament on Tuesday, was vetoed yesterday by president Peter Pellegrini. But this morning, the main government parties pushed ahead with the reform, rejecting the veto with 77 votes in favour of the new law.
Reuters noted that it was “a rare clash with the government he is normally aligned with,” with Pellegrini saying “there were no reasons to rush the legislation through and that concerns voiced by the European Commission were not addressed.” He warned that the law could threaten Slovakia’s rule of law and ability to benefit from EU subsidies.
The leader of the main opposition party, Michal Šime?ka, has called for a protest against the government on Tuesday.
US wants Ukraine to withdraw from Donbas and create ‘free economic zone’, says Zelenskyy
Shaun Walker
in Kyiv
The US wants Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the Donbas region, and Washington would then create a “free economic zone” in the parts Kyiv currently controls, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
Previously, the US had suggested Kyiv should hand over the parts of Donbas it still controlled to Russia, but the Ukrainian president said on Thursday that Washington had now suggested a compromise version in which Ukrainian troops would withdraw, but Russian troops would not advance into the territory.
“Who will govern this territory, which they are calling a ‘free economic zone’ or a ‘demilitarised zone’ – they don’t know,” said the Ukrainian president, speaking with journalists in Kyiv on Thursday.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine did not believe the plan was fair without guarantees that Russian troops would not simply take over the zone after a Ukrainian withdrawal.
Zelenskyy said: “If one side’s troops have to retreat and the other side stays where they are, then what will hold back these other troops, the Russians? Or what will stop them disguising themselves as civilians and taking over this free economic zone? This is all very serious. It’s not a fact that Ukraine would agree to it, but if you are talking about a compromise then it has to be a fair compromise.”
He said if Ukraine did agree to such a scheme, there would need to be elections or a referendum to ratify it, saying that only “the Ukrainian people” could make decisions on territorial concessions.
Under the US plans, said Zelenskyy, Ukraine would withdraw from Donbas, where Russia is advancing, while the frontlines would be frozen in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Russia would give up a few small pockets of land it controls in other regions.
Zelenskyy has been under immense pressure from Donald Trump to sign up to the US peace plan. In recent days Trump has attacked Zelenskyy, claiming he “has not even read” the draft peace plan and suggesting he lacks legitimacy and Ukraine should hold an election.
Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian negotiating team had sent their revised plan back to Washington on Wednesday, and that questions over territory and control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant were two of the remaining sticking points. “It’s not the final plan; it’s a reaction to what we received … the plan is constantly being worked on and edited, and this is a continuous process that is still going on,” he said.
If Washington and Kyiv do agree, the much bigger question remains of whether Vladimir Putin is really ready to sign a deal or is merely buying time with fake negotiations and hoping to continue his military advance over the winter.
Jakub Krupa
Let’s quickly remind ourselves on what is in the latest US proposal, as disclosed by Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday.
Morning opening: The softest of pushbacks
Jakub Krupa
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has delivered the softest of pushbacks to US president Donald Trump last night, telling him off in abstract terms for the suggestion that the US could try to influence elections in various EU countries.
“It is not on us, when it comes to elections, to decide who the leader of the country will be, but on the people of this country … That’s the sovereignty of the voters, and this must be protected,” she told Politico.
I’m sure Trump is quaking in his boots.
As the talks on a potential peace deal on Ukraine continue today and into the weekend, the focus is on what involvement we will see from the US. Trump – and later his spokesperson Karoline Leavitt – insisted that the US would only join the Europeans for talks if they did not deem it a waste of time.
Let’s see what can be achieved before the Berlin summit, expected on Monday.
In the meantime, Europe continues discussing the contentious issue of frozen Russian assets, facing some opposition on both the idea of a permanent freeze (opposed by Hungary) and on using them for a reparations loan for Ukraine (opposed by Belgium).
The permanent freeze – meaning no more drama over rollovers every few months – is set to come into force today at 5pm, but Viktor Orbán is not happy. More on that shortly.
Meanwhile, after speaking with Germany’s Merz and von der Leyen last week, Belgium’s Bart de Wever is in London today for talks on security, migration, and – yes – frozen assets.
As co-chair of the Coalition of the Willing, Keir Starmer will no doubt try to convince him of the value of leveraging the frozen assets, likely with a promise that the UK could follow suit.
Lots for us to cover.
I will bring you all the key updates throughout the day.
It’s Friday, 12 December 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
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