Chancellor Merz has said Germany is ready to buy Patriot air defense systems for Ukraine. Kyiv's allies are meeting in Rome as Russian strikes on Kyiv killed at least 2 people. DW has the latest.

Poland's scrambling of aircraft comes amid heightened tensions across the alliance's eastern flank over Russia's aggression. It follows another NATO member, Romania, announcing it would implement an Iron Dome defense system similar to that used by Israel.

As Russia intensifies its assault on Ukraine, NATO and European countries need to increase production of long-range weapons, U.S. Maj. Gen. John Rafferty told Reuters. “The Russian army is bigger today than it was when they started the war in Ukraine,

Kyiv was the main target of an hourslong assault that killed at least two people, officials said. The barrage came hours before the top American and Russian diplomats met.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday urged Slovakia to drop its veto on the European Union's new sanctions package against Russia. At the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome, Merz emphasized that all countries should increase pressure on Moscow to compel Russian leadership to return to the negotiating table and end the war in Ukraine.