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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared during his visit to the US capital that Vladimir Putin's decision to request talks with Donald Trump indicates Moscow is feeling pressure. Zelenskyy commented, "It's evident that Moscow is rushing to restart conversations as soon as it hears about Tomahawks." This statement addressed recent comments about supplying long-range missiles to the Ukrainian military.

Political Developments and Global Responses

An ex- US state department official, Dan Fried, commented, "Putin is trying to derail the progress toward increased sanctions on Russia." Fried continued, "The outcome will become clear on Friday, but the chances of achieving a ceasefire by pushing Russia to get serious seem to have diminished."

The situation came after the US president had recently been hardening his rhetoric toward Moscow until the recent call with the Russian president, which the Russian government described as "highly open and constructive."

European Fuel Restrictions and Market Effects

The European Union have set a mandate for fuel suppliers into the EU to prove their fuels are not sourced from Russian oil, as stated in a official guideline published on Thursday. This measure is part of the European Union's upcoming prohibition on imports of fuels processed from Russian petroleum, which is included in its latest sanctions package against Russia over its war in Ukraine.

Market analysts noted that investment activity appeared to be factoring in the potential end of India's purchases of Russian crude. Several Indian refiners are preparing to cut purchases from Russia, with expectations of a phased reduction, according to sources familiar with the situation.

"This represents a favorable turn for the crude oil price as it would remove a big customer of Russian crude," said Tony Sycamore, noting that crude values were steady on Thursday.

Security Developments and Energy Attacks

A large-scale Russian unmanned aircraft and rocket assault targeted energy infrastructure in eastern Ukraine on the same day, causing outages in eight regions. Authorities in Ukraine reported that Russia deployed hundreds of unmanned vehicles and dozens of projectiles, along with glide bombs.

"This autumn, the Russian forces use daily opportunities to strike at our energy infrastructure," declared Volodymyr Zelenskyy, adding that attacks impacted the areas of northern Ukraine, eastern Ukraine, central Ukraine, northeastern Ukraine and Vinnytsia.

International Political Responses

Kyiv's envoy to the United States, the Ukrainian ambassador, asserted that Russia demonstrated its true attitude to negotiations through the "terror" of these attacks. "Russia yet again chose missiles over talks, making this attack into a clear setback to ongoing peace efforts," she said.

At the same time, the EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, announced that the EU had no choice but to strengthen defensive systems against Russian threats. She revealed a "plan" to get ready for possible conflict by the end of the decade, including a new anti-drone system to be completely functional by the end of 2027.

The proposed system, dubbed the "EU defensive program," is expected to begin working in its first phase by the 2026 timeline and be completely operational by the end of 2027. Brussels aims to obtain the backing of EU leaders at a summit next week.