Jakub Krupa

We are focusing on travel disruptions over in France this morning after an unexploded bomb from the second world war was discovered overnight in the suburb of Saint Denis, causing widespread disruption to trains out of Gare du Nord in Paris in the direction of northern France and across the channel.

All Eurostar trains to and from Paris today have been cancelled.

But as the travel situation is expected to get better later in the day, we will later pivot back to Ukraine, including updates from European Council president António Costa’s conversations with non-EU leaders as he updates them on last night’s EU summit.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine… Russia launched a “massive” drone and missile attack on Ukrainian energy facilities early Friday, just days after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European allies proposed that Moscow and Kyiv halt strikes on critical infrastructure, AFP reported.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched at least 58 missiles and nearly 200 drones, damaging energy facilities across the country from Kharkiv in the east to Ternopil in the west.

DTEK, the largest private energy supplier in Ukraine, said its facilities in the Black Sea region of Odesa were targeted for a fourth night in a row.

Ukraine’s energy minister German Galushchenko said Russia was trying to “hurt ordinary Ukrainians by shelling energy and gas production facilities”.

Eurostar has just confirmed to the Guardian that “all Eurostar trains are cancelled to and from Paris today.”

That includes all services on lines: London-Paris, Paris-London, Brussels-Paris and Paris-Brussels.

“Customers can exchange their ticket for free to travel at a different time or date in the same travel class. This is subject to availability,” it added.

Regional traffic from Paris Gare du Nord will not resume before mid-afternoon, the train operator of the RER B line confirmed in a social media post.

Eurostar has issued an update on its website saying that they were “expecting disruption to our services in and out of Paris this morning,” and advising passengers to “please change your journey for a different date of travel.”

In a further statement to the Guardian, it added that Eurostar cancelled all trains to and from Paris until midday CET (11am GMT).

Eurostar sincerely apologises for the disruption and understands the inconvenience this may cause.

Services between Brussels – Marne La Vallée, London – Brussels and London – Amsterdam are running normally, it added.

Morning opening: ‘Watershed moment’ for Europe – now what?

Jakub Krupa

European leaders have reaffirmed their “continued and unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders” on Thursday night, as they announced plans to massively increase defence spending.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen called it “a watershed moment” for Europe.

Setting out their red lines, the EU countries – without Hungary, which refused to sign the conclusions – agreed there can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine, any truce should only be part of a lasting and comprehensive peace agreement, and Ukraine needs to be put in the strongest possible position to negotiate its future.

But the key thing is a clear commitment to spend more, produce more, and streamline procurement processes to rearm Europe.

Since Donald Trump was inaugurated as the US president and put a question mark over US support for Europe, a number of EU countries have revised their defence spending targets, and more are planning to do so in the coming weeks.

The feeling among European leaders was best captured by the Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen:

I do not think we have a lot of time. So [we need to] rearm Europe: spend, spend, spend on defence and deterrence.

The political signal from last night’s meeting of the European Council, attended by Zelenskyy, was clear. Now, it’s about the implementation of these decisions.

Separately, Zelenskyy and the US side indicated that they are likely to meet next week, potentially to sign the much-awaited minerals deal, which could help progress the Trump-led peace process. But there is still a lot of distrust and questions over the US motivations, and on whether Russia is genuinely prepared to sit down to talk about peace given it continues to attack Ukraine.

Top EU officials, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president António Costa will debrief other non-EU leaders on last night’s talk today, including the UK.

I will bring you all reactions and other developments across Europe.

It’s Friday, 7 March 2025, and this is Europe live. It’s Jakub Krupa here.

Good morning.

Eurostar trains between London and northern France and French trains TGV, RER, and TER have been suspended after a suspected object was found near Paris Gare du Nord, Paris North, train station.

A social media account of RER B line reported the disruption was caused by a suspected unexploded bomb from the second world war,

French media said it was discovered during overnight maintenance works on railway tracks in the commune of Saint Denis, with emergency services attending.

Severe travel disruptions are expected as a result.