Merz warns Putin is ‘testing the limits’ – DW – 09/17/2025

A young Ukrainian man is set to be deported by Poland back to Ukraine after he caused a security scare by flying a drone over government buildings in Warsaw, according to police.

On Monday, an unidentified drone was spotted flying over a government complex that houses one of Warsaw’s presidential residences, as well as offices used by the prime minister and defense minister.

Police “neutralized” the drone and arrested two individuals, a 21-year-old Ukrainian man and a 17-year-old Belarusian woman.

Warsaw police spokesman Jacek Wisniewski told AFP news agency that the young man violated Polish aviation law and would be fined, expelled to Ukraine, and banned from the Schengen travel area in Europe for five years.

“Today, he will be handed over to the Ukrainian border guards,” said Dagmara Bielec, a spokeswoman for the Polish border police.

The Belarusian citizen was questioned by police and released without charge, Wisniewski said.

Poland’s air defenses are on high alert after around 20 military drones incursions into Polish airspace last week, which Warsaw alleged was a deliberate Russian provocation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the first set of US weapons being sent under the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) mechanism, paid for by non-US allies, included missiles for Western air defense systems.

“We received more than $2 billion (€1.7 billion) from our partners specifically for PURL. We will receive additional funds for October, I think we will have another $3.5-$3.6 billion,” he said at a joint press conference with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who is visiting Kyiv.

“The first two packages of $500 million… will definitely include missiles for Patriot and HIMARS,” Zelenskyy added, referring to air defense and multiple rocket launcher weapons systems. 

Earlier, Reuters reported that, according to a senior NATO representative in Ukraine, the first batches of US military equipment purchased for Ukraine under the PURL mechanism are “already flowing.”

Many Ukrainian families refuse to leave frontline towns. Watch how they try to give their children a life as close to normalcy as possible, with playground visits, basement classes, and sports they can practice with other kids their age.

Russia‘s State Duma, the country’s lower house of parliament, backed a bill to withdraw from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture.

According to Russia, the Council of Europe has blocked its participation in the Committee for the Prevention of Torture, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, leaving Moscow unable to fully participate in the committee’s monitoring activities.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine over three years ago, Ukrainian investigators have repeatedly accused Russia of torturing and killing prisoners of war in custody.

Denmark announced that it would acquire “long-range precision weapons” for the first time, citing the need for deterrence capabilities in light of the threat from Russia.

At a press conference, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the move was “a paradigm shift in Danish defense policy.” 

She added that Russia would continue to threaten Denmark and Europe “for years to come,” so a decision was made to establish “credible deterrence.”

The acquisition could include missiles and drones capable of hitting targets in enemy territory, said Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen. However, he did not specify how much the government would spend or which weapons it would purchase.

Last week, Denmark announced that it would spend 58 billion Danish Krone (€7.8 billion or $9.2 billion) on European-made air defense systems, the largest arms purchase in the country’s history.

Ukraine and the US International Development Finance Corporation announced they would each commit $75 million to a joint investment fund that is part of Kyiv’s minerals deal with Washington.

“The US Development Finance Corporation has made a pilot commitment of $75 million, which Ukraine will match,” Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko wrote on X.

She added that this joint step launches the fund’s practical activity, with an initial focus on projects in energy, infrastructure, and critical minerals. “Until the end on 2026, we plan to implement three large-scale projects,” Svyrydenko said.

Meanwhile, the International Development Finance Corporation announced in a statement that the investment would support Ukraine’s reconstruction and long-term economic recovery, as well as strengthen US natural resource supply chains.

What you need to know about the US-Ukraine minerals deal

The first batches of US military equipment purchased for Ukraine under a new financial agreement with allies are already flowing, according to the NATO senior representative in Ukraine.

“Four packages under the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) have already been funded and equipment is already flowing,” Patrick Turner told Reuters.

Kyiv’s foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi confirmed that the US has approved the first military aid packages for Ukraine under a new mechanism.

Last week, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius noted that the US began supplying Ukraine with weapons through the PURL initiative, which is coordinated by NATO.

Under this program, other NATO countries pay the United States for defense systems and munitions stored in US warehouses. These items are then shipped to Ukraine, which has been battling a Russian full-scale invasion since February 2022.

Polish Energy Minister Miliusz Motyka said he had sent a letter to the energy ministers of other EU states calling on those that are still buying Russian energy to end imports by the end of 2026 and offering to help them do so.

This would be “a clear signal that Europe is capable of acting in solidarity and decisively against Russian aggression,” he wrote on X.

The Druzhba oil pipeline delivers Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia, both of which continue to purchase energy supplies from Russia, despite other EU nations having cut ties following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Earlier, following a conversation with US President Donald Trump, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced an initiative to achieve a faster halt to all European oil and gas imports from Russia (see entry below).

Trump recently tied further US sanctions on Russia to European partners imposing high tariffs on Chinese imports and halting purchases of Russian oil.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced that the EP would establish a permanent representation in Kyiv to facilitate daily cooperation with Ukraine.

Addressing the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, Metsola said that she had come to Kyiv to “further strengthen our cooperation.”

“We are opening a permanent representation of the European Parliament here in Kyiv so that we can be present in Ukraine and work alongside you every day,” Metsola said.

She also promised that Ukraine would “never walk alone,” and that the EU would continue to stand with the country as it recovers and rebuilds when peace comes.

Latvia‘s State Security Service (VDD) announced that it had arrested a man suspected of spying for Russia.

According to the authorities, the suspect, who is a Latvian citizen, is accused of revealing the locations and security measures of Latvian and allied NATO troops on Latvian territory to his handlers in Moscow.

He is also accused of providing information on the construction of new military facilities and military exercises.

“According to information at VDD’s disposal, the male has also shared other information with the Russian intelligence and security service which could be used against the national security interests of Latvia and other Baltic region states,” the VDD said.

Although the suspect has not been publicly identified, a criminal investigation has been opened and four properties have been searched. He has been detained since late August.

Latvia and its fellow Baltic states have been NATO members since 2004. They are staunch allies of Ukraine in its fight against full-scale Russia’s invasion.

Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, has said that laboratory tests on biological samples obtained from her husband showed that he had been poisoned.

In a video posted on X, she said that biological material from Navalny had been smuggled abroad in 2024 and examined by two laboratories.

“These labs in two different countries reached the same conclusion: Alexei was killed. More specifically, he was poisoned,” said Navalnaya.

Navalny died suddenly on 16 February 2024 in a Russian prison beyond the Arctic Circle, leaving the opposition without its most charismatic and popular leader.

Yulia Navalnaya has repeatedly accused the Russian government of killing him, a claim that the Kremlin denies.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Russia’s violation of Polish and Romanian airspace last week was part of a long-running trend of boundary-testing and sabotage by President Vladimir Putin.

“Putin has been testing the limits for a long time,” Merz told the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, as he was addressing lawmakers as part of the budget week debate. “He sabotages, he spies, he murders, he tries to unsettle people.”

Merz also warned that Putin was looking to destabilize German society. 

“We will not allow that to happen,” the chancellor stressed, adding that Germany is strengthening its resilience and defense capabilities for that very reason.

“We must deter our opponents from further aggression and at the same time bring allies and partners closer together,” Merz said.

The chancellor added that a peace deal in the war in Ukraine cannot come at the expense of Kyiv’s political sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“A dictated peace, a peace without freedom, would encourage Putin to seek his next target,” Merz said.

Germany has been one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters since the Russian invasion in 2022. According to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, the country surpassed the United States last week and is now the biggest supplier of military aid.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has arrived in the Ukrainian capital.

On the media platform X, she posted a photo of herself at the train station with the caption, “Next stop: Kyiv.”

The program of Metsola’s visit to Ukraine is not yet known.

Russia continued attacks on Ukraine’s railway facilities, hitting installations overnight into Wednesday. The attacks resulted in disruptions to the network, according to officials.

“Because of a large-scale enemy attack on electrical substations, we are experiencing delays on trains heading toward Odessa and Dnipro,” Ukrainian Railways said on Telegram.

Railway chief Oleksandr Pertsovskyi described it as “another night with yet another complex attack on the railway.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced a series of moves to quicken the stop of all oil and gas imports from Russia.

“Russia’s war economy, sustained by revenues from fossil fuels, is financing the bloodshed in Ukraine,” von der Leyen posted on X, adding the Commission will “propose speeding up” the phase-out of Russian fossil imports.

While not giving further details, the EU’s current plan says it will fully stop Russian gas imports by 2028, with oil imports to be phased out by 2027.

The Commission head said she had a “good call” with US President Donald Trump, who recently tied further US sanctions on Russia to Europe imposing high tariffs on Chinese imports and stopping the purchase of Russian oil.

“The Commission will soon present its 19th package of sanctions, targeting crypto, banks, and energy,” von der Leyen said on social media.