New US president Donald Trump has threatened to impose heavy financial penalties on goods from Russia unless it agrees quickly to make a deal to end its war with Ukraine, as Kyiv said at least 200,000 European peacekeepers would be needed to safeguard any such agreement.

Kyiv region. A Russian ballistic missile strike in Ukraine's capital on the morning of January 18 killed three people and wounded three others. Dnipropetrovsk region. On the morning of January 17, a Russian missile attack on the region's second-biggest city, home to more than 500,000 residents, killed four people and wounded 14 others.

The EU's top diplomat and Poland's prime minister said Wednesday that the bloc must heed US President Donald Trump's demand to spend much more on defence -- faced with the "existential threat" posed by Russia.

Europe should welcome rather than rebuff U.S. President Donald Trump's call for other NATO members to ramp up their military spending, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday, stressing the importance of security to the continent.

Germany met NATO's target to spend 2% of its gross domestic product on defence in 2024, the government said on Monday, though well short of incoming U.S. President Donald Trump's call for as much as 5%.