STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — A far-right Belgian party was likely not entitled to use IKEA’s trademarks to promote an anti-immigration campaign and may have caused “significant detriment” to the furniture giant’s reputation, the European Union's highest court ruled on Tuesday.
In 2022, the Belgian far-right and Flemish separatist party Vlaams Belang unveiled what it called the “IKEA Plan – Immigration Really Can Be Different” at a press conference, using IKEA-style logos, signs and imagery to present proposals aimed at tightening immigration rules in Belgium.
IKEA brought an infringement action before a Belgian court, arguing its trademarks were used illegally. In response, the Vrijheidsfonds association, which was in charge of the campaign on the party’s behalf, argued that its use of the company’s trademarks without permission was protected by freedom of expression.
The Belgian court referred the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which found that “the use of those IKEA trade marks may cause significant detriment to the repute of those trade marks and to the interests of their proprietor."
The court said invoking freedom of expression in such cases requires the trademarks to be used in good faith or in the public interest, conditions that did not appear to be met. It added that it did not appear that using IKEA’s reputation to disseminate a political message took precedence over IKEA’s rights and interests.
While the Belgian court will make the final decision, it is expected to take the ECJ’s guidance into account when issuing its ruling.
“Inter IKEA fully believes in – and deeply respects – freedom of expression,” the company said in a statement welcoming the ruling. “At the same time, it cannot accept the use of the IKEA trademarks in ways that damage their reputation or distinctive character, particularly when such use serves no other purpose than to free-ride on the reputation of the IKEA brand.”
FILE- People stand in a line for last minute shopping outside an Ikea store in Brussels, Friday, March 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Mark Carlson, File)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin assured U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call Tuesday that Moscow doesn't harbor aggressive intentions toward Europe, a senior Kremlin official said, after European officials expressed concern about Russian sabotage campaigns on their soil.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said meanwhile that U.S. envoys who visited Kyiv presented some “very good, worthwhile ideas” for ending Russia's 4 1/2-year-old war, adding that he hopes to meet with Trump within two weeks.
But Russia remains determined to accomplish its military goals and it believes it is close to winning, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Ukrainian and Western observers believe that Moscow has been unable to make any significant progress on the front line.
The war could yet drag on for years as Russia reconstitutes its forces and its defense industry, said U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby.
“We must be prepared for a protracted conflict and for Ukraine’s requirements to persist in the months and years ahead,” Colby told an online meeting of countries helping Ukraine.
U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff visited Moscow and Kyiv for separate talks with Putin and Zelenskyy over the weekend. The meetings appeared to produce no substantial breakthrough on ending the fighting, and both countries resumed their deadly air war after a weekend truce in their capitals for the American visitors.
The attacks killed at least five civilians and wounded 25 others in Kyiv, officials said, while officials from Russia reported three people killed and 13 wounded in areas it controls.
Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, said the hourlong conversation between Putin and Trump was “constructive and quite frank.”
There was no immediate White House comment on the call.
Ushakov told reporters that “in view of the speculation about Russia’s alleged hostile intentions toward European countries, it was underlined that we don’t have any aggressive plans regarding Europe.”
Ushakov also said Putin told Trump about the combat situation in Ukraine and Russia’s plans to make battlefield gains and achieve its military goals.
He said that Moscow has a positive view of the results of the weekend visit to Moscow by Witkoff and Kushner.
“An objective and thorough analysis of the ongoing special military operation and generally our view of prospective battlefield advances and the achievement of the special military operation’s goals and tasks was given,” Ushakov said.
Zelenskyy said he is counting on meeting with Trump around Sept. 20 — about the same time that the U.N. General Assembly is being held in New York. Putin isn't expected to attend.
He indicated he will press Trump to provide more Patriot air defense systems that Kyiv needs to counter Russia's ballistic missiles.
Ukraine needs 300 Patriot missiles from its partners’ stocks, 500 air-to-air interceptors and $2 billion for more drones, U.K. Defense Secretary Wes Streeting told the meeting of countries providing help.
Also on Tuesday, the European Commission approved a loan of 3.2 billion euros ($3.7 billion) for Kyiv to purchase components for Patriot air defense systems, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on its Telegram channel.
Zelenskyy thanked U.S. officials for their efforts to unblock negotiations with Russia, which have been stuck since early this year with little progress.
“As for the peace package that Kushner spoke about and the new ideas, I’ll tell you frankly, there were indeed a couple of very good, worthwhile ideas,” Zelenskyy said in audio messages answering reporters' questions.
The proposals will remain under wraps for now, he said, but he expressed hope that talks involving delegations from Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. can take place in the fall.
Ukraine is “ready to find a compromise” on the issues of grain exports and energy, he said. Moscow and Kyiv have targeted each other’s grain ships in the Black Sea, raising concerns that two of the world's major suppliers won't be able to get their produce to market.
Ukraine has also battered Russian oil facilities while Russia has pounded Ukraine's power grid ahead of winter.
Peskov said he believed “victory is very close” on the battlefield.
"We’re very confident in our military potential,” he told reporters, while insisting Russia wants to find a peaceful solution and welcomes Trump's diplomatic efforts.
Putin has sought to portray Russia as negotiating from a position of strength. But European officials and Western analysts say its bigger army is unable to make significant progress on the 1,250-kilometer (800-mile) front line, where it is pushing to capture the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, part of its industrial heartland.
“Russian forces will not seize Donetsk ... until 2032 at their current rate of advance — if they can seize it at all,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said Sunday. “The Russian rate of advance has slowed significantly across the theater since 2025, when Russia’s rate of advance had already begun to slow.”
With troops bogged down on the battlefield, both countries have intensified their aerial campaign of drones and missiles.
Russia’s main targets in its overnight attack were Kyiv and the Odesa region of southern Ukraine. At least 25 people were wounded in Kyiv, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi said. There was no immediate tally of casualties in Odesa.
Explosions were heard in Kyiv for nearly five hours, according to Vyhivskyi. More than 50 sites were damaged during the overnight attack, including residential buildings, dormitories, schools, shops, gas stations and a flour production plant, he said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called it “a horrific attack” and accused Putin of undermining U.S. peace efforts.
“His ballistic missiles speak louder than his words on diplomacy,” Sybiha said on X, referring to Putin. “Strike after strike on residential buildings brings him no closer to winning this war — it is nothing but senseless terror.”
The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces overnight launched a massive strike on Ukrainian military industry facilities.
It provided a detailed list of its targets. They included places storing Ukrainian drones and cruise missiles, as well as transport, logistics and distribution centers for military cargo in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, the ministry said.
Associated Press journalists Vasilisa Stepanenko in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
A rescue worker puts out a fire of a building destroyed after a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)
Smoke rises following a Russian missiles attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A man walks along an underpass as smoke rises following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
