Russian authorities say a bus careened off a road and onto steps leading into an underground passageway in Moscow, killing at least four people and leaving 13 others injured.
Rescuers work at the scene of a bus crash in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Dec. 25, 2017. Several people were killed and more than a dozen injured when a bus drove into an underground passageway in Moscow. (Sergey Kiselev/Moscow News Agency photo via AP)
Moscow police said passengers and pedestrians were among those killed in Monday's crash. Police immediately ruled out a possibility of it being an attack, saying that they suspect a mechanical fault or that the driver lost control of the vehicle. Police were questioning the driver.
Rescuers work at the scene of a bus crash in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Dec. 25, 2017. Several people were killed and more than a dozen injured when a bus drove into an underground passageway in Moscow.(Sergey Kiselev/Moscow News Agency photo via AP)
Photos taken at the scene show the bus on the steps leading into the underground passageway.
Russian news agencies reporting from the scene quoted Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin as saying that he has ordered all city buses to be checked in the aftermath of the crash.
CAPRI, Italy (AP) — The European Union’s top diplomat urged Group of Seven foreign ministers on Thursday to take quick, concrete steps to provide more air defense systems to Ukraine, warning that continued delays could tilt the war in Moscow’s favor.
Without more Patriot air defense missile systems to guard against incoming Russian strikes, “the electricity system of Ukraine will be destroyed. And no country can fight without having electricity at home, in the factories, in the front line,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on the Italian resort island of Capri, where Russia’s war in Ukraine and surging tensions in the Middle East over Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel were topping the agenda.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed Borrell's call, saying he hoped U.S. funding for Ukraine would soon come through Congress but that other allies needed to step up.
“In this moment, it is urgent that all of the friends and supporters of Ukraine maximize their efforts to provide Ukraine with what it needs to continue to effectively defend itself against this Russian aggression,” Blinken said after meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani opened the first working session by calling for new sanctions against Iran for its weekend attack and concrete help for Ukraine to defend itself from Moscow’s invasion.
“If Ukraine loses, Putin will never sit at the peace table,” Tajani warned.
Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war were taking center stage at the Capri meeting of the foreign ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, which dovetailed with other regional diplomatic efforts sending the same messages. On Wednesday, EU leaders meeting in Brussels vowed to ramp up sanctions on Iran to target its drone and missile deliveries to proxies in Gaza, Yemen and Lebanon.
Borrell said the existing EU sanctions regime would be strengthened and expanded to punish Tehran and help prevent future attacks on Israel. At the same time, he said, Israel needed to exercise restraint.
“I don’t want to exaggerate but we are on the edge of a war, a regional war in the Middle East, which will be sending shockwaves to the rest of the world, and in particular to Europe,” he warned. “So stop it.”
Kuleba and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg were attending the Capri meeting as guests. Kuleba underlined his country’s need for essential military support, including artillery, ammunition, and air defense systems as Russia pushes along the front line.
He thanked Germany for providing Ukraine with a new Patriot battery, which was announced over the weekend, but urged the U.S. Congress to approve a funding package that has been held up.
“So we will work here at the ministerial level to make other allies deliver air defense systems to Ukraine. Because it’s of fundamental importance," Kuleba said.
U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday he supported a proposal from the House speaker, Mike Johnson, to provide about $61 billion in aid for Ukraine, signaling bipartisan support for the precarious funding bill.
Blinken said he hoped the bill would come before the House this weekend and insisted that the U.S. has “profound stakes” in Ukraine’s success.
“If Putin is allowed to proceed with impunity, we know he won’t stop at Ukraine and we can safely predict that his aggression will continue,” Blinken said after meeting with Kuleba. “Other would-be aggressors around the world will take note and unleash their own aggressions. And we will have a world of conflict, not a world of peace and security.”
Borrell concurred and said Europe can't rely solely on Washington to help Ukraine defend itself.
“Concrete decisions have to be taken in order to send to Ukraine more air defense,” he said. “We do have Patriots, we have anti-missile systems. We have to take them from the our barracks where they are just in case, and to send to Ukraine where the war is raging. And I’m sure we will be doing that, but it has to be done quickly.”
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani attends a meeting on the second day of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, Italy, Thursday April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool via AP)
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attend a meeting on the second day of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, Italy, Thursday April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool via AP)
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa shake hands at a meeting on the second day of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, Italy, Thursday April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool via AP)
Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly attends a meeting on the second day of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, Italy, Thursday April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool via AP)
From left, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock attend a meeting on the second day of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, Italy, Thursday April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool via AP)
From left, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron attend a meeting on the second day of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, Italy, Thursday April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool via AP)
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, attend a meeting on the second day of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, Italy, Thursday April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool via AP)
Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly, left, and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani react during a meeting on the second day of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, Italy, Thursday April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool via AP)
From left, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani attend a meeting on the second day of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, Italy, Thursday April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool via AP)
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne attends a meeting on the second day of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, Italy, Thursday April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool via AP)
Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly attends a meeting on the second day of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, Italy, Thursday April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool via AP)
Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly attends a meeting on the second day of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, Italy, Thursday April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool via AP)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a meeting on the second day of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, Italy, Thursday April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool via AP)
From left, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speak during a meeting on the second day of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, Italy, Thursday April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool via AP)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani reacts during a meeting on the second day of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, Italy, Thursday April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool via AP)
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock talks to reporters during the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting on Capri Island, Italy, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock talks to reporters during the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting on Capri Island, Italy, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, down left, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, top left, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, bottom, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, right, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly, top right, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne, top, and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani meet on the second day of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, Italy, Thursday April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool via AP)
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock talks to reporters during the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting on Capri Island, Italy, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a meeting on the second day of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, Italy, Thursday April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool via AP)
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, left, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, top left, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, top, second from left, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, bottom left, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, bottom right, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly, top right, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, right, meet on the second day of a G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, Italy, Thursday April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool via AP)
