BRUSSELS (AP) — European defense ministers pledged Friday to ramp up support for Ukraine and increase pressure on Russia, a day after a Russian air assault on Kyiv killed 23 people and badly damaged a European diplomatic compound.
Outrage over the attack propelled Europe's leaders to condemn Russia even before Friday's meeting and call for tougher measures on Moscow like seizing frozen assets, further sanctions and increasing support for Ukraine’s military and membership in the European Union.
“Everybody understands that, considering how (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is mocking the peace efforts, the only thing that works is pressure,” said Kaja Kallas, foreign policy chief for the European Union.
They also discussed European troops' deployment in Ukraine to guarantee security and monitor a peace that seems distant as American efforts to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia appear stalled.
Kyiv’s European allies are looking to set up a force that could backstop any peace agreement, and a coalition of 30 countries, including European nations, Japan and Australia, has signed up to support the initiative. Kallas said that in terms of security guarantees for Ukraine, the U.S. is demanding that Europe carry “the lion’s share” of the burden.
Military chiefs are figuring out how that security force might work. The role that the U.S. might play is unclear. Trump has ruled out sending U.S. troops to help defend Ukraine against Russia.
On Thursday, two missiles landed about 50 meters from an EU diplomatic mission in Kyiv, shattering the office's windows and doors but causing no injuries there. The EU summoned Russia's envoy in Brussels, Karen Malayan, and told her that damages to the mission “are serious and constitute a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” said Anitta Hipper, an EU foreign policy spokersperson.
The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on airstrikes against Ukraine on Friday afternoon at the request of Ukraine and five European council members — Britain, France, Slovenia, Denmark and Greece. Two of Ukraine’s top envoys were set to meet Friday with the Trump administration regarding mediation.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Thursday's attack on Kyiv.
She said that Trump “was not happy about this news, but he was also not surprised.”
Leavitt noted that Ukraine has also launched effective assaults on Russia’s oil industry in recent weeks.
“Perhaps both sides of this war are not ready to end it themselves,” Leavitt said. “The president wants it to end, but the leaders of these two countries … must want it to end as well.”
In Copenhagen, Kallas said defense ministers from across the 27-nation bloc discussed increasing sanctions on Russia, ramping up defense supplies to Ukraine’s army and European contribution to postwar security guarantees, which could include EU training missions into Ukraine once a ceasefire is in place.
At a news conference following the meeting, Kallas said that the ministers had discussed ways to work around Hungary’s refusal to back Ukraine. She said the EU has 6.6 billion euros blocked by Hungary's veto that could potentially be sent to Ukraine via NATO’s new Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List approved by Trump.
On Thursday, the United States approved a $825 million arms sale to Ukraine that will include extended-range missiles and related equipment to boost its defensive capabilities.
Lithuania’s Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė said the attack on Kyiv on Thursday shows that hope now for peace is “naive” and that “all Putin is doing is really stalling, actually cheaply buying time to kill more people and to imitate sort of willingness to maybe stop his own murderous actions.”
She said Europe must deal with Russia more forcefully, like seizing frozen Russian assets.
“That is actually one power that we are not using enough yet,” she said. “Over 200 billion of Russian assets would be extremely helpful in both pumping this money in Ukrainian defense industry and buying American weapons.”
Simon Harris, Ireland’s defense minister, said more must be done to force Russia to end the war.
“It’s imperative that those of us in the European Union now consider further sanctions, what more measures can be taken to increase the pressure on Russia to end this brutal and aggressive war on Ukraine and the huge impact that that’s having on civilians,” he said.
European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen began a tour of EU nations bordering Russia or Belarus on Friday, including visits to arms factories and border installations. She met Friday with Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina and toured a drone manufacturer.
Denmark's Minister of Defense Troels Lund Poulsen, first row, centre, and Vice President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas, first row, centre right, pose with EU foreign ministers for a family photo at the informal EU defense ministers' meeting in Forum in Copenhagen, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. (Thomas Traasdahl/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, second from left, and Vice President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas speak at the working session for the informal EU defense ministers meeting in Forum, Copenhagen, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. (Thomas Traasdahl/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
Firefighters work on the site of a burning building after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.
The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.
Presidents have invoked the law more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.
“I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on X.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would challenge any such action in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says officers have arrested more than 2,500 people since Nov. 29 as part of an immigration operation in the Twin Cities called Metro Surge.
The operation grew when ICE sent 2,000 officers and agents to the area early in January. ICE is a DHS agency.
In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.
Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.
“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people who said they were questioned or detained in recent days. The lawsuit says two are Somali and one is Hispanic; all three are U.S. citizens. The lawsuit seeks an end to what the ACLU describes as a practice of racial profiling and warrantless arrests. The government did not immediately comment.
Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.
Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.
Police chief Brian O’Hara said the man who was shot did not have a life-threatening injury. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security, which later said the other two men were also in the U.S. illegally from Venezuela.
The FBI said several government vehicles were damaged and property inside was stolen when agents responded to the shooting. Photos show broken windows and insults made with paint. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information. The FBI’s Minneapolis office did not immediately reply to messages seeking more details.
St. Paul Public Schools, with more than 30,000 students, said it would begin offering an online learning option for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school. Schools will be closed next week until Thursday to prepare for those accommodations.
Minneapolis Public Schools, which has a similar enrollment, is also offering temporary remote learning. The University of Minnesota will start a new term next week with different options depending on the class.
Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Rebecca Santana in Washington; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Law enforcement officers at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A woman covers her face from tear gas as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester throws back a tear gas canister during a protest after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez, second from left, blows a whistle with other activists to warn people of federal immigration officers Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A child and family are escorted away after federal law enforcement deployed tear gas in a neighborhood during protests on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester holds an umbrella as sparks fly from a flash bang deployed by law enforcement on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Monica Travis shares an embrace while visiting a makeshift memorial for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
