Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Slovakia’s Prime Minister, Robert Fico, in the Kremlin on Sunday, a rare visit by an EU leader to Moscow. A contract allowing Russian gas to transit through Ukraine is nearing expiration. Slovakia is dependent on gas passing through its neighbor Ukraine, and it has stepped up efforts to maintain those flows through 2025, despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky refusing to extend a contract that expires at the end of the year. Has criticized. Russian natural gas still flows through Ukraine to some European countries, including Slovakia, under a five-year agreement signed before the war. “Russian President V. Putin confirmed the (Russian Federation)’s readiness to continue supplying gas to the West and Slovakia, which, given the Ukrainian president’s stance, is practically impossible after January 1, 2025,” FICO said. Is.” Slovakia last month signed a short-term pilot contract to buy natural gas from Azerbaijan, and earlier this year, it struck a deal to import U.S. liquefied natural gas through a pipeline from Poland. The country could also receive gas through Austrian, Hungarian and Czech networks, making imports from Germany possible, among other potential suppliers.
Russia has captured two more villages in eastern Ukraine, the latest territorial gains for Moscow’s growing military. The Defense Ministry said on Telegram on Sunday that its troops had “liberated” the villages of Lozova in the north-eastern Kharkiv region and Krasnoye – known as Sontsivka in Ukraine. The latter is close to the resource center of Kurakhov, which Russia has virtually encircled and would be a key prize for Moscow’s effort to capture the entire Donetsk region. Russia has stepped up its advances into eastern Ukraine in recent months, trying to secure as much territory as possible before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. Moscow’s military claims to have seized more than 190 Ukrainian settlements this year, while Kiev is struggling to hold the line despite a shortage of manpower and ammunition.
Zelensky told Ukrainian diplomats on Sunday that the country would struggle to persuade allies to allow it to pursue NATO membership.But described the goal as “achievable” as he sought security guarantees to protect it from Russia. Kiev says membership in the transatlantic military alliance, or an equivalent form of security guarantee, will be key to any peace plan to ensure Russia does not attack again. NATO has said Ukraine will one day join, but has not said if or when an invitation will be issued.
Russian forces executed five Ukrainian prisoners of war, Ukraine’s parliamentary commissioner for human rights, Dmytro Lubinets, claimed on Sunda.Y. Lubinets alleged on Telegram that Russian troops shot five unarmed soldiers after capturing them, without giving further details. Lubinets said, “Russian war criminals who shot Ukrainian POWs should be brought before an international tribunal and punished with the harshest punishment provided by law.” Russia did not immediately comment on the incident, but has previously denied committing war crimes.
A video that implies The Australian government has launched an urgent investigation into Russia’s capture of an Australian man fighting for Ukraine on the war’s eastern front.In a video circulating on Telegram, the man identifying himself as Oscar Jenkins was struck multiple times and roughly interrogated in Russian. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Russian forces sometimes provide misinformation, but said on Monday the reports were “concerning” and the government was working to ascertain the facts “to provide assistance to this gentleman.” Was.
Ukrainian drones attacked a major Russian fuel depot on Sunday for the second time in more than a weekAccording to a senior Russian regional official, as part of a “large-scale” cross-border attack on fuel and energy facilities that Kiev says supply Moscow’s forces. The attacks come just days after Russia launched a widespread assault on Ukraine’s already strained energy grid, threatening to leave thousands of homes in the dark as winter tightens its grip on the region. And Russia’s all-out attack on its neighbor was approaching three years old.