Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s ship fires at German helicopter as North Korean troops kept from combat

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attended the annual meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Malta, marking his first visit to a European Union country since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha were also present, with Ukraine dominating the agenda.

Mr Lavrov, who is under EU sanctions but not subject to a travel ban, accused the West of escalating the Ukraine conflict during his remarks but left the meeting before Blinken and others could respond.

Slovakia wants to keep oil and gas transit corridors from Russia operational because they are reliable and have stable prices, Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said on Facebook on Thursday, after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

“Although we are working on diversifying these supplies, it is important for us to have secured supplies in the quantities we need and at favorable prices,” Blanar said after a meeting on the sidelines of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe meeting in Malta.

The European human rights body, the Council of Europe, paid tribute to the courage and determination of the Ukrainian mayor who died in Russian captivity.

Dniprorudno Mayor Yevhen Matviyev died in Russian captivity after coordinating humanitarian aid and security while Moscow forces occupied the city in southeastern Ukraine.

“Reports of arbitrary detention of Ukrainians by Russian forces are shocking and numerous. They confirm the widespread use of inhuman or degrading treatment and torture,” added Marc Cools of the human rights body.

“All abductions and arbitrary detentions are serious violations of human rights.”

Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov and Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Brown spoke by phone on November 27 at the request of the Russian side, the officials added.

Direct communication between Moscow and Washington has largely ceased since the war in Ukraine, and the Kremlin sees the United States as a direct participant in the conflict.

Russia’s top military officer called his American counterpart to give advance warning of Russian exercises in the Mediterranean Sea, officials said in a rare contact amid high tensions between Moscow and Washington.

Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov addressed General CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Nov. 27 to inform him of a planned Russian naval exercise involving missile launches in the eastern Mediterranean, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

“The information was provided in order to prevent possible incidents in view of the presence of US and NATO warships near the area of ​​the Russian exercise,” the ministry said in a statement.

The Pentagon said Gerasimov briefed Brown on the firing exercise, but did not discuss the specific weapons systems that would be used.

Read more about Russian exercises in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, and the Baltic and Caspian Seas:

The Kremlin is reportedly worried about its economy, despite President Vladimir Putin’s upbeat statements about growth, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Russia has managed to maintain economic growth despite Western sanctions, helped by record military spending.

But high inflation remains a burning issue. Speaking at the VTB Bank Forum in Moscow on Wednesday, Putin acknowledged the “need to curb inflation” but pointed to projected GDP growth of 4 percent by the end of the year.

The comments suggest that Putin is “likely to try to project economic stability” as a central bank record high interest rate further growth is expected this month, ISW said.

The far-right politician leading Romania’s presidential race, Calin Georgescu, has said he will cut off all aid to Ukraine, amid allegations of election violations and Russian interference.

Georgescu told the BBC that he would make “the Romanian people” his priority, but denied that his success so far was the result of a Russian-backed social media campaign.

China will not increase security to stop Russia, says Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.

“Can you imagine [China] suddenly become the guarantor of peace in Europe?” Landsbergis told POLITICO on the sidelines of this week’s NATO summit in Brussels.

The former mayor of occupied Dniprorudna who died in Russian captivity he was laid to rest in Bucha, outside the capital city of Kiev.

Mayor Yevhen Matviyev was captured after coordinating humanitarian aid and security as Moscow forces occupied the city in southeastern Ukraine.

“Today it became known that the mayor of Dniprorudna, Yevhen Matvijev, died of torture in Russian captivity. The enemy kidnapped him almost 3 years ago in the Zaporozhye region because he provided for the community that elected him and trusted him,” Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko wrote on Telegram.

Russia denies mistreatment of prisoners of war and detainees.

“Thanks to him (Mr. Matviyev), a large number of people were saved, freed or relocated to Ukrainian-controlled territory,” said Oleksandr Slobozhan, who worked with the 63-year-old Mr. Matviyev.

Nearly 5,500 residents of Russian-occupied Crimea have been mobilized into the Russian army in 2024, according to a recent report released by the Ukrainian President’s Mission to Crimea.

Russia has mobilized nearly 50,000 Crimeans since occupying the peninsula in 2014, through illegal recruitment campaigns, the report said.