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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asserted during his visit to the US capital that Vladimir Putin's decision to seek talks with Donald Trump indicates the Kremlin is on the defensive. He remarked, "We can already see that Moscow is scrambling to restart conversations immediately after it learns of cruise missiles." This statement addressed earlier comments about supplying long-range weapons to Ukraine.

Political Developments and International Reactions

An ex- American diplomat, Dan Fried, observed, "Putin is attempting to disrupt the progress toward greater sanctions on the Kremlin." Fried continued, "We'll see tomorrow, but the likelihood of achieving a truce by pressuring Russia to engage sincerely seem to have diminished."

The development came after the US president had recently been hardening his language toward Russia until the recent conversation with Putin, which the Russian government characterized as "highly frank and constructive."

EU Fuel Sanctions and Economic Impact

EU authorities have established a requirement for fuel suppliers into the EU to prove their products are not sourced from Russian oil, as stated in a document published on Thursday. This measure is part of the EU's upcoming ban on imports of fuels processed from Russian petroleum, which is included in its 18th restrictive measures against Russia over its war in Ukraine.

Market experts noted that investment activity appeared to be considering the potential reduction of India's purchases of Russian oil. Some oil processors in India are getting ready to cut Russian oil imports, with projections of a gradual reduction, as reported by insiders familiar with the situation.

"This is a favorable turn for the oil market as it would remove a major buyer of Russian oil," commented a market analyst, noting that oil prices were steady on Thursday.

Military Developments and Infrastructure Attacks

A large-scale Moscow's drone and missile assault targeted gas facilities in Ukraine's eastern regions on Thursday, causing outages in eight regions. Ukrainian officials stated that Russian forces deployed numerous of drones and many of projectiles, along with glide bombs.

"During this fall, the Russian forces use every single day to strike at our power facilities," said Ukraine's president, noting that attacks affected the areas of Chernihiv, eastern Ukraine, Poltava, northeastern Ukraine and western Ukraine.

International Political Reactions

Ukraine's envoy to the United States, Olga Stefanishyna, asserted that Moscow demonstrated its true attitude to peace through the "violence" of these attacks. "Russia yet again chose missiles over talks, turning this assault into a clear blow to current peace efforts," Stefanishyna commented.

At the same time, the European Union's foreign policy chief, the bloc's representative, announced that the European Union had little option but to build up defensive systems against Russia. She revealed a "roadmap" to prepare for potential conflict by 2030, featuring a novel defensive network to be fully operational by the end of 2027.

This initiative, called the "EU defensive program," is projected to begin working initially by the end of 2026 and be fully functioning by the end of 2027. EU authorities hopes to secure the support of EU leaders at a summit in the coming days.