Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda with Donald Trump during a NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands (Reuters)

Thursday’s Coverage: Zelensky and Europeans Confer in Paris

UPDATE 1654 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko have met Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, a long-time ally of Vladimir Putin, in Uzhhorod in western Ukraine.

Fico has been an obstacle to European Union sanctions on Russia and on Ukraine’s campaign for accession to the bloc. He has challenged the EU’s efforts to reduce Russian oil and gas, with Slovakia still heavily reliant on supplies from Moscow.

Earlier this week he met with Putin in China and called for “standardization” of relations with Russia, including on economic matters.

Zelensky said the talks were “substantive”, but he and Fico differed during a press conference.

Zelensky repeatedly referred to Donald Trump’s demand for Europeans to stop importing Russian energy. He called for more pressure on Russia to end its invasion, as Moscow continues to reject high-level talks.

Ukraine is ready to work with Slovakia to ensure energy stability, the President said, but “with one condition: not from Russia. That’s because of the war. Full stop.”

He said Ukraine will continue to respond to Russian attacks on its energy systems, even if this could cause disruption in other countries.

In recent weeks, Ukrainian drones have hit the Druzhba pipeline, suspending supplies from Russia to Slovakia.

Fico said there was “enormous” potential for cooperation on energy: “This is a task for all of us, to find a system that will ensure that every country has a safe, high-quality energy supply at reasonable prices, and that countries will not take measures to harm each other.”

He defended his engagement with Putin:

We may have a different view on this, but one day the war will end, and we all hope it will be very soon, and we will need to normalise relations with Russia, and we simply talk about possibilities in advance.

On a more conciliatory note, the Prime Minister endorsed Ukraine’s plans to join the EU, offering to share Slovakia’s experiences.

A Slovak-Ukrainian ministerial meeting is expected in late October.

UPDATE 1151 GMT:

Alongside European Council President António Costa, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said of deployment of western troops as part of security guarantees in a deal ending Russia’s invasion, “It will definitely not be single digits, but in the thousands. And that is a fact, but it is still a little too early to talk about it.”

Costa said:

We must push Putin to the negotiating table….

Only more pressure can change this course, and we are ready to do more. We are working with the United States and other like minded partners to increase our pressure through further sanctions – direct sanctions and secondary sanctions, more economic measures to push Russia to stop this war, to stop killing people, to stop this threat in Ukraine.

The work is starting in Brussels on the new sanctions package, and a European team is travelling to Washington D.C. to work with our American friends.

UPDATE 1015 GMT:

At least 11 civilians have been killed and 32 injured by Russian strikes across Ukraine over the past 24 hours.

Air defenses downed 121 of 157 drones. The other 35 drones and seven missiles struck 10 locations.

In the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, five civilians were murdered, three of them in the town of Kostiantynivka, and two injured.

In the Chernihiv region in the north, two Ukrainian members of a Danish demining group were slain when their vehicle was hit. Five people were injured.

In the Kharkiv region in the northeast, three civilians were killed and six wounded in attacks on eight settlements.

In the Kherson region in the south, one person was murdered and eight injured during strikes on residential areas, critical infrastructure, and social facilities. An apartment building and 17 houses were damaged.

Casualties were also reported in the Sumy and Zaporizhzhia regions.

UPDATE 0907 GMT:

President Volodymyr Zelensky has told an economic conference in Italy that Ukraine needs “more systems to shoot down missiles and drones, and modern fight jet” as “Russia’s main tool of war is killing civilians”.

“Limiting their ability to attack means moving closer to peace,” he explained.

Zelensky said Donald Trump has confirmed that “America is ready to take part” in security guarantees for Ukraine.

President Trump expects a stronger Europe with closer US coordination. But he’s disappointed some countries still buy Russian oil, funding Putin’s war machine. Energy independence from Russia is vital for Europe’s security and is a key to strong relations with the US.

Zelensky also commented on a “very substantive” conversation with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte: “It is important to move faster on security guarantees for Ukraine, to be as productive as possible together with America, to strengthen our air defense.”

UPDATE 0711 GMT:

Overnight Ukrainian drone strikes hit multiple Russian oil facilities, including one of Russia’s four largest refineries and an oil depot in occupied eastern Ukraine.

The commander of Ukraine’s drones, Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, said, “Gasoline [in Russia] is becoming scarce, while gas and oil are quickly running out.”

The Rosneft refinery, the company’s largest, is in Ryazan, 180 km (120 miles) southeast of Moscow. Residents said they heard explosions around 2 a.m., followed by a large fire lighting up the sky.

The complex, with a capacity of 13.8 million tons per year, was also struck August 2. Two of its three main refining units suspended operations.

The extent of the damage to the oil depot in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine is still unclear.

Without mentioning the strikes, Vladimir Putin acknowledged on Thursday that Russia is facing a gas shortage.

In August, Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries cut output by 17%.

UPDATE 0701 GMT:

Trying to prevent security guarantees for Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has declared, “If any troops appear there, especially now, during the fighting, we assume that they will be legitimate targets for destruction.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, alongside Putin at a forum in Vladivostok, added:

Can Ukraine’s security guarantees be ensured and provided by foreign, especially European and American, military contingents? Definitely not, they cannot.

You cannot guarantee the security of one country by undermining the security of another. We would recognize it as a threat to ourselves — the presence of international forces, or any foreign forces, or NATO forces on Ukrainian soil, near our border.

Putin also indicated he will never agree an end to his invasion:

I have said many times that I am ready for these contacts [with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky]….[But] I don’t see much point. Why? Because it will be practically impossible to agree with the Ukrainian side on key issues: even if there is political will – which I doubt – there are legal and technical difficulties.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Even as it considers joining the Coalition of the Willing for security guarantees for Ukraine, the Trump Administration is phasing out support for security of Eastern European countries also threatened by Russia.

Department of Defense officials informed European diplomats last week that the US will no longer fund programs that train and equip militaries in the countries, according to “six people familiar with the matter“.

Funds approved by Congress are available until the end of September 2026, but the Administration has not requested any more money.

The US programs have a global budget of more than $1 billion. The Administration has not informed lawmakers of the amount being phased out.

The Baltic Security Initiative, a separate program created in 2020 to support the militaries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, is also threatened. Last year, Congress approved $228 million for the program.

A “White House official” said the move fits Donald Trump’s efforts to “re-evaluate and realign” foreign aid.

“This action has been co-ordinated with European countries in line with the executive order and the President’s long-standing emphasis on ensuring Europe takes more responsibility for its own defense,” the official said.

Officials from dozens of European embassies in Washington, including from countries that do not receive the assistance, were informed at a meeting with Pentagon officials about the cuts.

European representatives said their governments were surprised by the news and are trying to get further details from the Administration.