
Ukraine gas interconnector still working after Russian attack, operator says
Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday Russia had struck a gas pumping station in Ukraine's southern Odesa region used to import LNG from the U.S. and Azerbaijan, undermining preparations for winter.
"Deliveries are made in the same manner as before," an official from the operator told Reuters on Thursday.
The operator said 0.42 million cubic metres of gas were scheduled to be pumped through Orlovka, located near the border with Romania, on Thursday.
Orlovka is a part of a route connecting Greek LNG terminals with Ukrainian gas storage facilities via the Transbalkan gas pipeline.
Kyiv has called the route "extremely important", as it provides access to LNG from Greek and Turkish terminals, Azerbaijani and Romanian pipeline gas and, potentially, Bulgarian offshore gas.
Last month, Ukraine pumped a small test volume of Azerbaijani gas through the Transbalkan route for the first time and announced plans to significantly increase gas imports from Azerbaijani energy firm SOCAR.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Europe stresses protection of Ukrainian interests ahead of Trump-Putin talks
European leaders stressed the need to keep pressure on Moscow and protect Ukrainian and European security interests after Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin arranged to meet in Alaska next week. A joint statement from French, Italian, German, Polish, British and Finnish leaders and the president of the European commission welcomed the move but noted that the 'path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine' and that negotiations could take place only in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities. It added: 'only an approach that combines active diplomacy, support to Ukraine and pressure on the Russian Federation to end their illegal war can succeed'. They also said a resolution 'must protect Ukraine's and Europe's vital security interests', including 'the need for robust and credible security guarantees that enable Ukraine to effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity'. US vice-president JD Vance met British foreign secretary David Lammy and representatives of Ukraine and European allies on Saturday at Chevening House, a country mansion south-east of London, to discuss Trump's push for peace. A European official confirmed a counterproposal was put forward by European representatives at the Chevening meeting but declined to provide details. The Wall Street Journal said European officials had presented a counterproposal that included demands that a ceasefire must take place before any other steps are taken and that any territory exchange must be reciprocal, with firm security guarantees. 'You can't start a process by ceding territory in the middle of fighting,' it quoted one European negotiator as saying. The White House did not immediately respond when asked about the European counterproposals. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday rejected the idea that his country would give up land to end the war with Russia after Trump suggested a peace deal could include 'some swapping of territories.' Zelenskyy said Ukraine 'will not give Russia any awards for what it has done' and that 'Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.' Later, Zelenskyy called the Chevening meeting constructive: 'All our arguments were heard,' he said in his evening address to Ukrainians. 'The path to peace for Ukraine should be determined together and only together with Ukraine, this is key principle.' French leader Emmanuel Macron stressed the need for Ukraine to play a role in any negotiations: 'Ukraine's future cannot be decided without the Ukrainians, who have been fighting for their freedom and security for over three years now,' he wrote on X after what he said were calls with Zelenskyy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Starmer. 'Europeans will also necessarily be part of the solution, as their own security is at stake.' On Saturday two people died and 16 were wounded when a Russian drone hit a minibus in the suburbs of the Ukrainian city of Kherson, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. Two others died after a Russian drone struck their car in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov. Ukraine's air force said it intercepted 16 of the 47 Russian drones launched overnight, while 31 drones hit targets across 15 different locations. It also said it shot down one of the two missiles Russia deployed. Russia's defence ministry said its air defences shot down 97 Ukrainian drones over Russia and the Black Sea overnight and 21 more on Saturday morning.


BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
p0lw4l92 (GIF Image, 1 × 1 pixels)
August 10, 2025 31 minutes Available for 89 days The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine must be involved in deciding the path to peace in his country -- as the US and Russian presidents prepare to meet without him on Friday. In his nightly address, Mr Zelensky said he had spent Saturday coordinating with European allies. He said he did not want a pause in the killings, but an immediate, just and lasting peace. He's ruled out surrendering land to Russia in exchange for peace, something Donald Trump has suggested ahead of the talks with Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Also: Tens of thousands of people have been protesting across Israel against the government's decision to expand its war in Gaza, and Jen Pawol makes baseball history as first woman to umpire an MLB game. The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: globalpodcast@


Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Europe stresses need to protect Ukrainian interests ahead of Trump-Putin talks
KYIV/LONDON Aug 9 (Reuters) - European leaders on Saturday welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump's plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the war in Ukraine, while stressing the need to keep pressure on Moscow and protect Ukrainian and European security interests. Trump plans to meet Putin in Alaska on August 15, saying the parties, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, were close to a deal that could resolve the three-and-a-half-year conflict. Details of the potential deal have yet to be announced, but Trump said it would involve "some swapping of territories to the betterment of both". It could require Ukraine to surrender significant parts of its territory, an outcome Zelenskiy and his European allies say would only encourage Russian aggression. U.S. Vice President JD Vance met British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, and representatives of Ukraine and European allies on Saturday at Chevening House, a country mansion southeast of London, to discuss Trump's push for peace. A joint statement from the French, Italian, German, Polish, British and Finnish leaders and the president of the European Commission welcomed Trump's efforts, while stressing the need to maintain support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia. "We share the conviction that a diplomatic solution must protect Ukraine's and Europe's vital security interests," they said. "We agree that these vital interests include the need for robust and credible security guarantees that enable Ukraine to effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity," it said, while adding: "The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine." The leaders also said "they remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force," and added: "The current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations." They also said negotiations could only take place in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities. A European official confirmed a counterproposal was put forward by European representatives at the Chevening meeting but declined to provide details. The Wall Street Journal said European officials had presented a counterproposal that included demands that a ceasefire must take place before any other steps are taken and that any territory exchange must be reciprocal, with firm security guarantees. "You can't start a process by ceding territory in the middle of fighting," it quoted one European negotiator as saying. A U.S. official said "hours-long" meetings at Chevening "produced significant progress toward President Trump's goal of bringing an end to the war in Ukraine, ahead of President Trump and President Putin's upcoming meeting in Alaska." The White House did not immediately respond when asked about the European counterproposals. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke and pledged to find a "just and lasting peace" in Ukraine and "unwavering support" for Zelenskiy while welcoming Trump's efforts to end the fighting, a Downing Street spokesperson said. It was not clear what, if anything, had been agreed at Chevening, but Zelenskiy earlier called the meeting constructive. "All our arguments were heard," he said in his evening address to Ukrainians. "The path to peace for Ukraine should be determined together and only together with Ukraine, this is key principle." He had earlier rejected any territorial concessions, saying "Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier". NBC News citing an unnamed U.S. official as saying that the Trump administration was considering inviting Zelenskiy to join the U.S. and Russian presidents at their Alaska meeting. A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this, and Russian and Ukrainian officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Macron stressed need for Ukraine to play a role in any negotiations. "Ukraine's future cannot be decided without the Ukrainians, who have been fighting for their freedom and security for over three years now," he wrote on X after what he said were calls with Zelenskiy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Starmer. "Europeans will also necessarily be part of the solution, as their own security is at stake." Zelenskiy has made a flurry of calls with Ukraine's allies since Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to Moscow on Wednesday which Trump described as having achieved "great progress". Ukraine and the European Union have pushed back on proposals that they view as ceding too much to Putin, whose troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022, citing what Moscow called threats to Russia's security from a Ukrainian pivot towards the West. Kyiv and its Western allies say the invasion is an imperial-style land grab. Moscow has previously claimed four Ukrainian regions – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – as well as the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014. Russian forces do not fully control all the territory in the four regions and Russia has demanded that Ukraine pull out its troops from the parts of all four of them that they still control. Ukraine says its troops still have a small foothold in Russia's Kursk region a year after its troops crossed the border to try to gain leverage in any negotiations. Russia said it had expelled Ukrainian troops from Kursk in April. Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, described the current peace push as "the first more or less realistic attempt to stop the war". "At the same time, I remain extremely sceptical about the implementation of the agreements, even if a truce is reached for a while. And there is virtually no doubt that the new commitments could be devastating for Ukraine," she said. Fierce fighting is raging along the more than 1,000-km (620-mile) front line along eastern and southern Ukraine, where Russian forces hold around a fifth of the country's territory. Russian troops are slowly advancing in Ukraine's east, but their summer offensive has so far failed to achieve a major breakthrough, Ukrainian military analysts say. Ukrainians remain defiant. "Not a single serviceman will agree to cede territory, to pull out troops from Ukrainian territories," Olesia Petritska, 51, told Reuters as she gestured to hundreds of small Ukrainian flags in the Kyiv central square commemorating fallen soldiers.