European countries and EU summon Russian envoys over threats on Kyiv

EU spokesperson Anitta Hipper says Russia’s threat to diplomats and foreign citizens is an ‘unacceptable escalation’.Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and the European Union have summoned Russian envoys a day after Moscow warned foreigners and diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital ahead of renewed air strikes.On Tuesday, EU spokesperson Anitta Hipper called Russia’s threat to diplomats and foreign citizens an “unacceptable escalation”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Missiles to munitions: Does the US risk running out of key weapons?list 2 of 3Zelenskyy says ‘time is right’ for Ukraine to start process of joining EUlist 3 of 3Russian attacks on Ukraine’s Kyiv kill at least four peopleend of listHipper added in a post on X that the charge d’affairs had been summoned, calling on Moscow to “stop hitting civilians & Russia to engage in genuine peace talks starting with a full and unconditional ceasefire”.At the beginning of May, Russia and Ukraine agreed to a three-day ceasefire for Moscow’s celebrations to mark its victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 at the end of World War II, but fighting quickly resumed with both sides accusing the other of violating the agreement.On Monday, Moscow said that it planned to launch more strikes on Kyiv after it launched a barrage of drones and missiles on Ukraine over the weekend that killed four people.Among the weapons Russia used in its attacks were its Oreshknik hypersonic missile, which can travel 10 times the speed of sound.The warning came after Russia accused Ukraine of targeting a vocational school last week in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region that killed 21 people.Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military on Friday to prepare options for retaliation in response to the attack.“Under the current circumstances, the Russian Armed Forces are starting to launch systematic strikes against Ukrainian military-industrial facilities in Kyiv,” Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Monday.