Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky On Friday, the country hosted leaders and representatives from seven regional countries for talks on deepening cooperation after overnight Russian attacks sparked fires in several regions, leaving several dead and injured.
The inaugural summit of the so-called “Carpathian Eight” brings together Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary The European Union also took part.
This comes at a time when U.S.-brokered efforts to end Russia’s four-and-a-half-year-long large-scale invasion have stalled, with the issue of territorial concessions in eastern Ukraine among the key sticking points. Ukraine also demands security guarantees from its partners for a deal.
The summit also lasts three days The voting began in Russia’s first war General electionwhere there is virtually no opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s party and which will almost certainly ensure the Kremlin’s political dominance.
Some of the nations that attended the meeting in the Ivano-Frankivsk region of western Ukraine, such as: Poland And RomaniaThey are staunch supporters of Ukraine. Others, such as Hungary, Serbia and Slovakia, have done so refused to supply Kyiv with direct military support.
Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram that the summit was a “significant beginning” of a movement aimed at “further strengthening relations between our countries and creating another strong element of cooperation at the EU level.”
He added that participating countries would cooperate in the areas of security, energy, logistics, cross-border economic relations and support for local communities.
European countries are concerned about Russian hybrid threats
The meeting in the western Ukrainian ski resort of Bukovel came amid increasing concerns among many European countries that Russia is increasing hybrid threats such as sabotage, cyberattacks, disinformation and possible drone attacks on NATO territory.
Tusk, Poland’s Prime Minister, warned on Thursday Before leaving for Ukraine, he said that Moscow was planning hybrid attacks with drones or missiles on European countries that support Kiev, including Poland.
officials in Poland, Germany and Denmark have accused Russia of involvement in drone attacks, sabotage and arson in recent weeks. Monitoring of defense installations and plan to use a Drone with explosives attack an airport.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that the EU needs a NATO-like mechanism to better respond to hybrid attacks attributed to Russia and to “develop consensus on how to respond to specific incidents…that fall within armed aggression but clearly threaten our national security.”
Putin again warns against the seizure of Russian ships
At a meeting of a government commission on new weapons, Putin said that the West’s claims about Russia’s allegedly aggressive plans were used to justify an increase in defense spending. He again denied that Russia had any hostile intentions toward Europe, but warned that it would be forced to respond to any aggressive action by Western allies, such as the seizure of Russian merchant ships.
“Let us live in peace, otherwise we will be forced to react in kind – that must be clear to everyone,” he said.
Last month, Putin threatened retaliation Western seizures of Russian merchant shipsand described it as “piracy.” He warned that the Russian response would not necessarily occur in the waters where the Russian ships were seized, noting that Moscow could retaliate in any area.
Russia is believed to be using a fleet of hundreds of ships to circumvent international sanctions imposed after Moscow deployed to Ukraine in February 2022.
France and the United Kingdom have detained tankers suspected of being part of the Russian fleet “Shadow Fleet” Shipping oil in violation of international sanctions. The EU has sanctioned hundreds of “shadow fleet” ships.
Russia has recently begun deploying warships to accompany its merchant ships.
Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday it had summoned Britain’s chargé d’affaires to strongly protest the UK’s continued increase in supplies of drones and other weapons systems to Ukraine.
The ministry said the UK’s “fiercely confrontational stance” was aimed at “prolonging and escalating the armed conflict by any means possible”. It added that Russia reserved the right to take necessary countermeasures in self-defense and that “all British military facilities in Ukraine used to attack Russian territory constitute legitimate targets.”
In a statement, the British Foreign Office said the United Kingdom remains committed to providing Ukraine with the equipment it needs for defense. The office called the diplomatic rebuke “a further attempt to divert attention from Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine and discredit Britain on the world stage.”
Ukraine will receive almost $4 billion in EU support
After a phone call with von der Leyen on Friday, Zelensky said in a Telegram post that Ukraine had received a 3.3 billion euros (about $3.8 billion) tranche from an EU financial support package intended to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities, including the purchase of missiles and drones.
The funding comes as Kyiv faces a projected budget deficit of around $27 billion this year. Zelensky said Ukraine was also preparing to meet with von der Leyen at the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week to discuss the country’s financial stability.
Russian attacks start fires and cause deaths and injuries
Russian attacks overnight in the Zhytomyr region west of Kiev left two people dead and two others injured, Ukraine’s state emergency service said in a statement on Telegram.
The strikes led to fires in warehouse and production buildings. Rescuers were forced to retreat due to repeated air raid alerts while emergency deminers scanned the area for explosive devices. The fire department later put out the fires.
Elsewhere, one person was killed and six others injured after Russian forces attacked an electric train in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, the state emergency service said. The drone attack targeted a train station in the municipality of Novovodolazka and caused a fire in two train carriages.
Russian state nuclear company Rosatom said a Ukrainian drone hit a cooling tower of a reactor unit at the Kursk nuclear power plant on Thursday, but that the attack did not pose a radiation threat and did not affect operations.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday that its air defenses intercepted and destroyed 629 Ukrainian drones overnight over 14 Russian regions as well as the illegally annexed Crimea, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said more than 350 drones were en route to Moscow but most were destroyed far from the Russian capital, while 64 were shot down as they approached the city.
The Russian military said Friday it carried out drone strikes overnight on Ukrainian ports, ships and a military logistics center.
Russian forces have attacked a bulk carrier in the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk and a logistics facility in Nova Poshta, 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) northwest of Odessa, which the Russian Defense Ministry said was used to store and distribute military supplies from Europe.