Midair scare for EU chief blamed on ‘blatant’ Russian GPS jamming

European Commission spokesperson Arianna Podestà confirmed the jamming.

“We have received information from the Bulgarian authority that they suspect that this was due to blatant interference by Russia,” she said.

“This incident actually underlines the urgency of the mission that the president is carrying out in the front-line member states.

“And, of course, the EU will continue to invest into defence spending and in Europe’s readiness even more after this incident.”

European leaders have warned each day about the need for stronger military action to protect against Russia, while they wait for US President Donald Trump to decide whether he will apply more pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin after an impasse over a peace deal in Ukraine.

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In a significant signal about the next European commitments, von der Leyen said there would be a “multinational troop” deployment in Ukraine if there was a peace deal with Russia, saying this would be supported by a “backstop” from America agreed with Trump.

“President Trump assured us that there will be [an] American presence as part of the backstop,” she told The Financial Times in an interview.

Trump, who has been largely silent on Ukraine for several days, has ruled out sending US troops to support a peace deal, but has talked of sending US Air Force support.

While von der Leyen said there were “precise plans” to send troops to keep the peace, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius expressed frustration at the disclosure of the idea before leaders met later this week.

“Those are things that you don’t discuss before you sit down at the negotiating table with many parties that have a say in the matter,” Pistorius told reporters during a visit to an ammunition factory in Cologne.

French President Emmanuel Macron is planning a meeting of leaders from the “coalition of the willing” on Thursday to set out the safeguards for Ukraine if it reaches a peace deal with Russia.

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“Together with our partners, and in coordination with NATO, we will work to define robust security guarantees for Ukraine,” he said.

“These are a necessary prerequisite to move credibly towards peace. We will also review Russia’s stance, as it persists in its war of aggression and continues to reject peace.”

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said they suspected Russian involvement in the murder of former parliamentary speaker Andriy Parubiy, after a suspect was detained.

National police head Ivan Vyhivskyi said the gunman had disguised himself as a courier and fired eight times in Saturday’s attack in the western city of Lviv.

“He spent a long time preparing, watching, planning and finally pulling the trigger … There is Russian involvement,” he said on Facebook, without providing evidence.

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There has been no claim of responsibility for the killing of 54-year-old Parubiy, a leading figure in protests that helped to oust a pro-Russian president in 2014.

The suspect – a 52-year-old resident of Lviv – was detained overnight in the Khmelnytskyi region, Ukraine Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

“The crime was carefully planned: the victim’s movements were studied, a route was mapped, and an escape plan was thought through,” he said on Telegram.

Vadym Onyshchenko, regional chief of Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service, said the murder looked like a contract killing.

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“We have information indicating the possible involvement of the Russian Federation’s security services in organising the murder,” he said in a statement.

Both countries have accused each other of attempted or successful assassinations during their war, including those of a senior Russian general in Moscow and a Ukrainian intelligence colonel in Kyiv.

With AP, Reuters