Russian President Vladimir Putin met Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico in the Kremlin on Sunday, a rare visit by a European Union leader to Moscow; as the contract allowing Russian gas to pass through Ukraine is now at the border. Slovakia depends on that gas transiting through neighboring Ukraine, and has stepped up its efforts to end the flow from 2025, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticized Ukraine for refusing to extend the contract, which expires at the end of the year. Russian natural gas still flows into some European countries, including Slovakia, through Ukraine under a five-year war deal. “Russian President V Putin has confirmed the willingness (of the Russian Federation) to shut off the gas and Slovakia could continue, which is possible at least after January 1, 2025, in view of the substance of the Ukrainian president,” Fico said. Slovakia last month signed a short-term pilot contract to buy natural gas from Azerbaijan, and earlier this year struck a deal to import liquefied natural gas through a pipeline from Poland. The country can also receive gas through the Austrian, Hungarian and Czech networks, which imports from Germany among other potential supplies.
Russia has captured two more towns in eastern Ukraine, the latest territorial gains for Moscow’s army. The Ministry of Defense said in a Telegram on Sunday that its forces “liberated” the villages of Lozova in the northern region of Kharkiv and Krasnoye – Sontsivka in Ukraine. This is the closest support center to Kurakhove, which Russia has almost surrounded and will be the main prize of Moscow’s attempt to capture the entire Donetsk region. Russia has accelerated its advance across eastern Ukraine in recent months, seeking to gain as much territory as possible before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. Moscow’s army claims to have seized more than 190 Ukrainian settlements this year, as Kyiv struggles to keep up in the face of manpower and weapons shortages.
Zelenskyy told Ukrainian diplomats on Sunday that the country would fight to convince its allies allows you to cancel your membershipBut he described the plan as “activable” as he seeks security measures to protect Russia. Kyiv says membership in the transatlantic military alliance or an equivalent would be a security guarantee a terrible plan for all peace so as not to attack Russia again. Nato said he would join Ukraine one day, but did not suggest when or if he issued an invitation.
Russian forces executed five Ukrainian prisoners of war, Ukraine’s parliamentary commissioner for human rights, Dmytro Lubinets, Sunda claimed.y. Russian forces captured five unarmed soldiers, Lubinetta alleged in the Telegram, without providing further details. “Russian war criminals who send prisoners to Ukraine must be brought to an international tribunal and punished with the most severe penalties provided by law,” said Lubinets. Russia did not immediately comment, but has previously denied committing war crimes.
A video as well A Russian show captured by an Australian man fighting for Ukraine on the eastern war front has prompted an urgent investigation by the Australian government.. A man who called himself Oscar JenkinsHe is beaten several times and questioned harshly in a Russian film, which is based on Telegram. Australian Prime Minister Antony Albanese noted that Russian forces have sometimes planted false information but on Monday said the news was “about” and that the government was “in support, even for this man”.
A Ukrainian drone struck a major Russian fuel port for the second time in a week on Sundayaccording to a senior Russian regional official, as part of a “major” cross-border attack on fuel and energy facilities that Kyiv says supply Moscow’s military. The strikes come days after Russia launched an attack on Ukraine that has already disrupted energy supplies, threatening to plunge thousands of homes into darkness, as winter grips the region, and with Russia approaching its next full-scale invasion in nearly three years.