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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared during his visit to the US capital that Vladimir Putin's move to seek negotiations with Donald Trump indicates Moscow is feeling pressure. Zelenskyy commented, "We can already see that Moscow is scrambling to resume dialogue immediately after it learns of cruise missiles." This statement referred to recent comments about supplying advanced missiles to Ukraine.

Political Developments and Global Responses

An ex- US state department official, a foreign policy expert, commented, "Putin is attempting to disrupt the progress toward greater pressure on Russia." He added, "We'll see tomorrow, but the chances of moving toward a truce by pressuring Russia to engage sincerely seem to have decreased."

This situation followed the US president had in recent days been strengthening his language toward Russia until Thursday's conversation with Putin, which the Kremlin described as "highly open and trustful."

EU Fuel Restrictions and Market Impact

EU authorities have established a requirement for fuel suppliers into the European Union to demonstrate their fuels are not made from Russian oil, as stated in a official guideline published on Thursday. This step is included in the EU's forthcoming prohibition on imports of refined products made from Russian crude, which forms part of its latest restrictive measures against Moscow over its war in the region.

Market analysts noted that trading activity appeared to be considering the potential reduction of India's imports of Russian crude. Some Indian refiners are getting ready to cut purchases from Russia, with projections of a gradual decrease, as reported by sources knowledgeable about the situation.

"This represents a favorable turn for the oil market as it would remove a big buyer of Russian crude," said a market analyst, adding that crude values were steady on the trading day.

Security Developments and Energy Strikes

A massive Moscow's unmanned aircraft and rocket attack hit energy infrastructure in Ukraine's eastern regions on the same day, resulting in outages in multiple regions. Ukrainian officials stated that Russian forces launched numerous of unmanned vehicles and many of projectiles, along with glide bombs.

"During this fall, the Russians use daily opportunities to attack at our energy infrastructure," said Volodymyr Zelenskyy, adding that attacks impacted the areas of Chernihiv, eastern Ukraine, central Ukraine, northeastern Ukraine and western Ukraine.

International Political Reactions

Ukraine's envoy to the United States, Olga Stefanishyna, asserted that Moscow showed its real approach to peace through the "terror" of these attacks. "Russia yet again chose missiles over dialogue, making this assault into a clear blow to current peace efforts," she said.

At the same time, the EU's top diplomat, the bloc's representative, stated that the EU had no choice but to strengthen anti-drone defences against Russian threats. Kallas announced a "roadmap" to prepare for possible conflict by 2030, including a new defensive network to be fully operational by the end of 2027.

This initiative, dubbed the "EU defensive program," is expected to begin working initially by the end of 2026 and be completely operational by the following year. EU authorities aims to obtain the support of EU leaders at a meeting in the coming days.