German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday that it seems clear there will be no meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Macron welcomed Merz for a working dinner at Bregancon Fort in southern France, where the leaders gave a statement to the press before their meeting.
Merz’s assessment of the breakdown of relations between Zelensky and Putin comes after Russia was just hours away from killing UK workers with a double-tap rocket strike on a British Council building and the European headquarters in Kyiv.
The two buildings were struck overnight as Russia unleashed a barrage of drones and hypersonic missiles on the Ukrainian capital leaving at least 19 dead including four children, the youngest of whom was just two.
Dramatic footage shows a missile exploding in a fireball explosion at around 5.40am before a second followed 20 seconds later leaving the building ‘severely damaged’.
The British Council site, which offers educational courses and English language programmes, is run independently but receives sponsorship from the Foreign Office.
British nationals are recruited from the UK to teach at the centre, and many would likely have been inside had the strike occurred just a few hours later, after it opened at 9am.
In June, Moscow banned citizens from working with the council, claiming it was a front for British spies, Reuters reported.
Two missiles, less than twenty seconds apart, were fired into the building
People stand at the site of a building housing the local branch of the British Council after it was hit during Russian missile and drone strikes
The EU shared a picture of the damage to its office in Kyiv after Russia’s attacks
Russian missiles and drones ripped through apartment blocks in Kyiv early on Thursday
At dawn, residents and emergency workers were looking for possible survivors trapped in the rubble
Human remains on the ground are placed in body bags. It has been reported that at least 14 people have died, including a 14-year-old girl
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Saratov Region Governor Roman Busargin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 28 August 2025
Russia has struck the British Council building in Kyiv as Vladimir Putin blitzed the city with hypersonic missiles and drones in an attack that has killed at least 18 people
Another building that was occupied by the European Union‘s delegation to Kyiv was also hit with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen accusing Moscow of a ‘deliberate’ strike and ‘targeting the EU’.
A furious Keir Starmer accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ‘sabotaging’ any hopes of peace while Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks showed ‘Russia still does not fear the consequences’.
While no EU staff was harmed, a security guard was injured in the British Council attack.
There was also bloodshed across the city with Putin launching 629 drones and missiles – including hypersonic rockets – across the country, the second-highest figure of the entire war, leaving apartment buildings in tatters and at least 19 dead.
Colm McGovern, the head of the British Council in Ukraine, refused to say whether he believed his institution was deliberately targeted.
He said: ‘What I do think is intentional is Russia’s continued attacks on education and cultural infrastructure in Ukraine.
The British Council is steadfastly determined that we will continue to support… education and cultural links for Ukraine with the UK.’
The Putin regime has waged war against the British Council for more than 17 years.
In late 2007, it demanded he closure of its establishments in St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, citing tax evasion reasons.
It then started a harassment campaign against its Russian and British staff that resulted in the arrest of Stephen Kinnock, then head of the Council’s St Petersburg office and now an MP for the Labour Party.
Dmitry Medvedev, then serving as Russian president, made the Kremlin’s opinion on the Council very clear, calling it the ‘secret weapon’ in Britain’s ambitions to reclaim its historic role as ‘mistress of the seas’.
He added: ‘It is known that state-financed structures like the British Council conduct a mass of other activities that are not so widely published. Among other things, they are involved in gathering information and conducting espionage activities.’
The Russian campaign gained momentum and, in 2018, the British Council was ordered to stop operations in Russia completely, while in June this year it was officially designated an ‘undesirable organisation’.
All collaboration by Russians with the council became illegal and academics who had previously engaged with the establishment were investigated.
An EU employee walks in the debris after the strike. Several EU officials have blasted the attack saying it was ‘deliberate’
Children sit at the site of an apartment building that was hit during the deadly strikes
It comes as Putin continues to stall on talks about ending the war and despite US President Donald Trump‘s push for a ceasefire.
Following the strikes, the EU has summoned Moscow‘s envoy in Brussels.
Kaja Kallas the bloc’s foreign policy chief said: ‘It shows that the Kremlin will stop at nothing to terrorise Ukraine, blindly killing civilians, men, women and children, and even targeting the European Union’.
She also warned: ‘No diplomatic mission should ever be a target.’ A number of EU officials have called the attack ‘deliberate’. At dawn, residents and emergency workers were clearing debris from streets covered with broken glass and rubble.
Meanwhile, British prime minister Keir Starmer blasted the ‘senseless’ attacks and accused Putin of ‘sabotaging piece. He said: ‘Putin is killing children and civilians, and sabotaging hopes of peace. This bloodshed must end.’
It was reported on Thursday morning that the Russian ambassador to the UK had been summoned by the Foreign Office – which issued a new statement earlier this afternoon.
The head of Kyiv’s military administration said that Moscow had fired ballistic and cruise missiles along with Iranian-designed Shahed drones from different directions to ‘systematically’ target homes
Several people had to be rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment
A spokesperson describes the overnight Russian strikes in Kyiv as ‘outrageous attacks’ as they condemn the damage done to British Council and EU mission buildings in the Ukrainian capital.
They add that they have ‘made clear’ to the Russian ambassador that such action ‘will only harden UK and Western resolve to support Ukraine’.
‘Russia must stop this senseless killing and destruction immediately,’ says the Foreign Office.
Images posted by Zelensky showed a five-storey crater blasted into an apartment block, splitting the building in two. Windows of nearby homes and small businesses were shattered.
Local media reported that Ukraine had also targeted the Novokuibyshevsk refinery in Russia‘s Samara Oblast and the Afipsky refinery in Krasnodar Krai in a clear display that the war shows no signs of ending.
In the attacks on Kyiv, mattresses dangled from crumpled balconies, blown open by the impact.
The attack blasted a five-storey crater in one apartment block, ripping the building in two. Victims were seen being carried in body bags as heavy construction equipment was used to sort through the rubble.
It is believed that some people may still be trapped underneath the carnage. A man whose building was hit told AFP: ‘If I had gone to the shelter a minute later, I would not be here now, I would have been buried.’
Red tracer bullets lit up the night sky as air defences tried to shoot down drones over the city centre, an AFP journalist said
Emergency workers approach a damaged residential building hit by the strikes
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said: ‘Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table. It chooses to continue killing instead of ending the war,’ he wrote on social media. This means that Russia still does not fear the consequences.’
Zelensky called the strikes a ‘horrific and deliberate killing of civilians’ asked for a strong response from Ukraine’s allies, including more sanctions. He also urged China and Hungary to take a tougher stance against Moscow.
‘All deadlines have already been broken, dozens of opportunities for diplomacy ruined. Russia must feel accountable for every strike, for every day of this war,’ he said.
The Kremlin, however claimed that Putin is still open to negotiations but insisted that the strikes would not stop.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: ‘The Russian armed forces are fulfilling their tasks.’
He added: ‘At the same time, Russia remains interested in continuing the negotiation process in order to achieve our goals through political and diplomatic means.’
They continue to strike military and military-adjacent infrastructure facilities.
Kyiv was well protected from Russian air attacks early in the war, but in recent months it has faced multiple deadly strikes as Moscow fires record numbers of missiles and drones.
Last month, the city suffered one of its worst attacks when more than 30 people were killed, including five children.
Among Thursday’s victims was a 14-year-old girl, Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said.
Several civilian infrastructure were targeted in the attack, which has been called one of the deadliest since the war began
Charred vehicles in the aftermath of Russia’s deadly overnight strikes on Kyiv
He added that Moscow had fired ballistic and cruise missiles along with Iranian-designed Shahed drones from different directions to ‘systematically’ target homes.
Russia’s Novokuibyshevsk facility, situated 560 miles from the Ukrainian border, paused production early in August after it was damaged by a strike.
Telegram channels in Russia posted pictures and videos of massive fires on the premises of the facility, according to Kyiv Independent.
Red tracer bullets lit up the night sky as air defences tried to shoot down drones over the city centre, an AFP journalist said.
During the attack, people sheltered in subway stations, some lying in sleeping bags and others holding their pets.
A five-storey building in the Darnytsky district collapsed, and a city centre shopping mall was also hit, mayor Vitaly Klitschko said.
The strikes came a day after the Kremlin dismissed the chances of a quick meeting between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kyiv says such a summit is key to breaking the deadlock over how to end the war.
Zelensky called for a strong response from Ukraine’s allies, including more sanctions. He also urged China and Hungary to take a tougher stance against Moscow
A resident looks on as fire burns in an apartment building after Russia’s overnight attacks
Residents examine the damage to apartment buildings in Kyiv. Russia has said it will continue to bomb Ukraine, despite claiming it still wants to negotiate a deal
Several buildings have been completely destroyed in Putin’s latest onslaught on Kyiv
Moscow wants Kyiv to give up more land and drop Western military support as preconditions for a deal. Kyiv has ruled that out.
On Wednesday, Putin’s spokesman said Russia viewed the idea of a European peacekeeping force ‘negatively’. Kyiv says this is vital to stop another Russian attack.
Putin has rejected repeated calls for a ceasefire from Zelensky, Trump and European leaders. Ukraine says Russia only pretends it wants to stop the war.
Russian forces have been slowly gaining ground on the battlefield, where they have more troops and weapons.
Before signing any peace agreement, Ukraine wants Western security guarantees to stop future Russian attacks. Moscow opposes this.
Zelensky’s top aides will meet Trump’s team in New York on Friday to push for strong US support.
