Latest Ukraine-Russia war: Explosions in Kiev after rocket attack as British troops 'may have to move to Ukraine'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met NATO chief Mark Rutte in Brussels as the outgoing Biden administration seeks to shore up support for Ukraine ahead of Donald Trump's return.

Mr. Blinken is expected to discuss in Brussels how U.S. allies can take a greater leadership role in supporting Ukraine when Washington's future role is uncertain.

After meeting Mr. Rutte at the alliance headquarters, Mr. Blinken is later expected to meet Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.

He will also meet senior EU officials and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Brussels on Wednesday.

Ukraine's air force said it shot down two cruise missiles, two ballistic missiles and 37 Russian drones as regions across Ukraine came under attack overnight.

Another 47 Russian drones were lost in various regions of Ukraine, while two left Ukraine's airspace towards Belarus and Russia, Kiev said.

Kiev, Poltava, Sumy, Zaporizhia and Chernihiv were among the target regions, the Ukrainian Air Force said.

Explosions erupted over Kiev on Wednesday morning after officials said Russia launched its first missile attack on the Ukrainian capital since August, prompting residents to take cover.

The extent of the strike and the extent of the damage were not immediately clear. The attack involved missiles fired from strategic bombers and ballistic missiles, the military said. No casualties or damage have been reported so far.

“Putin is launching a missile attack on Kiev,” Andriy Yermak, the head of the President’s Office, wrote on Telegram.

According to authorities, the rocket attack came after a drone strike. Kyiv has been confronted with Russian drone attacks almost every night for weeks. Vitali Klitschko, the city's mayor, said a drone was still flying over central Kiev in the morning.

“Explosions in the city. The air defense forces are working. Stay in emergency shelters!” wrote the Kiev city administration in Messenger Telegram.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has called on Western allies to provide further support to Ukraine “to change the course of the conflict with Russia.”

Before meeting French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, Rutte said: “We have to do more than just keep Ukraine in the fight.”

He added: “We must increase the cost to Putin and his supporting authoritarian friends by giving Ukraine the support it needs to change the course of the conflict.”

Rutte, who did not provide details on the military equipment and weapons needed for this purpose, said it was “very worrying” that Russia was “moving closer to its allies China, Iran and North Korea.”

According to anonymous sources quoted in The Washington PostOne of Donald Trump's first actions after his re-election was to call Vladimir Putin. This call was immediately denied by the Kremlin. If Trump returns to power, we should get used to confusion and mixed messages – between him and Vladimir Putin, it will always be hard to tell who, if anyone, is actually telling the truth on any given occasion.

In fact, Russia's response to Trump's return was a similarly confusing mix of shameless flattery and blatant trolling. Putin's comments about “courageous” Trump were accompanied by Russia's prime-time television propaganda show, which welcomed Trump to the White House and aired nude photos of his wife from a quarter-century ago as the anchors grinned.

That has led to speculation about how the relationship may have evolved since Trump's first term. In the long term, however, Russia analysts believe this type of power play is “normal for Putin” – especially if the target of the information campaign has proven to be as easily manipulated as Trump.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his gratitude to rescue workers in Ukraine who are responding to daily Russian attacks.

In a post on Everyday, there is a necessary and immediate response, regardless of the challenges.

“I thank everyone who is saving lives, clearing rubble, providing first aid, extinguishing fires and cleaning up the aftermath after Russian attacks to save lives.”

The European Union must support Ukraine in the fight against Russia for as long as necessary and convince the United States that its strategic interests in China depend on the outcome of the war, said the woman nominated to be the bloc's top diplomat for the next five years became Tuesday.

Questions have been raised about whether the 27 EU states' commitment to Ukraine would remain consistent, given Russia's apparent collapse in the war that began on February 24, 2022, and after the re-election of Donald Trump, who has promised to end it The conflict as US President has an advantage.

“Ukraine’s victory is a priority for all of us. “The situation on the battlefield is very difficult,” former Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas told EU lawmakers during a hearing she must pass to be named foreign policy chief.

Read the full story here:

Kaja Kallas, the candidate to become the European Union's next foreign policy chief, has warned against making assumptions about what US President-elect Donald Trump would do in Ukraine, saying isolationism has never worked for the United States.

The former Estonian prime minister said at her confirmation hearing in the European Parliament on Tuesday that she believed no one knew what Mr Trump would do and that the EU needed to hear directly from his team.

“If we look at history, isolationism has never worked well for America… If America is worried about China, they should be worried about Russia first, and we will have these dialogues with the United States,” said Ms. Kallas.

Loud bangs were heard in Kiev in the early hours of the morning as rockets reportedly headed toward the Ukrainian capital.

“A missile in the Chernihiv region is heading towards the Kiev region!” the Ukrainian Air Force said in Telegram. “Missile to Kyiv, take cover immediately,” it said.

“Russia’s winter campaign against Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure appears to be beginning. “Some cruise missiles are on their way to Kiev,” said Oliver Carroll, a Kiev-based journalist.

“According to reports, ballistic missiles are currently on their way to Kyiv. “The noise of air defense can be clearly heard in the center of the capital,” he said in another tweet.

President-elect Donald Trump reportedly advised Russian President Vladimir Putin not to escalate the war in Ukraine in a phone call the day after the presidential election, a report says.

As one of his first unofficial orders as president-elect, Trump spoke to Putin on Thursday in a telephone conversation conducted from his home in Florida, sources familiar with the matter said The Washington Post.

He is said to have asked the Russian president not to escalate his war and reminded him of the US military presence in Europe.

my colleague Ariana Baio Reports: