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Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated during his visit to the US capital that the Russian president's move to seek negotiations with Donald Trump signals Moscow is feeling pressure. Zelenskyy commented, "We can already see that Russia is rushing to restart dialogue immediately after it learns of Tomahawks." This statement referred to recent comments about supplying long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.

Diplomatic Moves and International Reactions

An ex- American diplomat, Dan Fried, commented, "The Russian leader is attempting to disrupt the momentum toward increased sanctions on the Kremlin." Fried continued, "The outcome will become clear tomorrow, but the likelihood of moving toward a ceasefire by pressuring Moscow to get serious appear to have decreased."

This development followed the US president had in recent days been hardening his language toward Russia until Thursday's conversation with the Russian president, which the Kremlin characterized as "extremely frank and constructive."

European Energy Restrictions and Market Impact

The European Union have established a mandate for energy suppliers into the EU to prove their fuels are not made from Russian oil, as stated in a document released on recently. This step is part of the EU's upcoming prohibition on imports of refined products processed from Russian crude, which is included in its 18th restrictive measures against Moscow over its war in Ukraine.

Market analysts noted that investment activity appeared to be factoring in the possible reduction of India's purchases of Russian crude. Several Indian refiners are preparing to reduce Russian oil imports, with projections of a gradual decrease, as reported by sources knowledgeable about the matter.

"This represents a positive development for the oil market as it would remove a major buyer of Russian crude," said a market analyst, noting that crude values were steady on Thursday.

Military Situation and Energy Strikes

A massive Russian drone and rocket assault hit energy infrastructure in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, causing outages in multiple areas. Authorities in Ukraine reported that Russia deployed hundreds of unmanned vehicles and dozens of projectiles, along with glide bombs.

"During this fall, the Russians use daily opportunities to strike at our energy infrastructure," said Volodymyr Zelenskyy, noting that attacks affected the areas of northern Ukraine, eastern Ukraine, central Ukraine, Sumy and Vinnytsia.

International Diplomatic Responses

Ukraine's envoy to the United States, Olga Stefanishyna, asserted that Moscow showed its true attitude to peace through the "violence" of such strikes. "The Russian government yet again opted for missiles over dialogue, making this assault into a clear blow to ongoing diplomatic initiatives," Stefanishyna commented.

At the same time, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, stated that the European Union had no choice but to build up defensive systems against Russian threats. Kallas announced a "roadmap" to get ready for possible conflict by the end of the decade, featuring a novel defensive network to be completely functional by the 2027 deadline.

This initiative, dubbed the "European drone defence initiative," is projected to start operations in its first phase by the 2026 timeline and be fully functioning by the end of 2027. Brussels aims to secure the support of EU leaders at a meeting in the coming days.