Ukraine-Russia struggle newest: Moscow airports limit flights after drone assault | EUROtoday

Four Moscow airports restricted flights for safety causes, aviation regulator Rosaviatsia stated on Sunday, amid a drone assault on the Russian capital.

At least seven drones have been downed en path to Moscow, the Interfax information company reported, citing Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

Budapest has threatened to dam a brand new package deal of European Union sanctions towards Russia and to stall efforts to assist Ukraine till Russian oil deliveries to Hungary resume.

The EU’s international ministers are set to satisfy in Brussels on Monday to debate the bloc’s twentieth spherical of sanctions towards Moscow, a measure they hope can be authorized in time to coincide with the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Tuesday.

In a video posted to social media on Sunday, Hungarian international minister Peter Szijjarto stated he would block the sanctions package deal, accusing Ukraine of intentionally holding again Russian oil deliveries by way of the Druzhba pipeline.

“We will not consent to the adoption of the 20th package of sanctions, because we have previously made it clear that until the Ukrainians resume oil shipments to Hungary, we will not allow decisions that are important to them to be approved,” Mr Szijjarto stated.

Russian oil shipments to Hungary and Slovakia have been interrupted since 27 January after what Ukrainian officers say have been Russian drone assaults that broken the Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian crude throughout Ukrainian territory and into Central Europe, resulting in rising tensions between Budapest and Kyiv.

Ukraine headed into the third spherical of direct talks with Russia and US mediators this week following a string of symbolic victories on the frontlines.

There has been little progress within the talks up to now, with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky not too long ago sharing his frustration that his nation is “too often” requested to make concessions – as Moscow sticks to its maximalist calls for.

The Independent’s James C. Reynolds takes a take a look at how the battlefield lies:

One particular person has been detained after a “terrorist attack” in Lviv killed one and injured 25, in line with Ukrainian chief Volodymyr Zelensky.

In a submit on X he stated “all necessary resources have been provided to the investigation”.

Speaking forward of the four-year anniversary of the invasion, the previous politician informed BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that Ukraine’s allies had been “too slow” to reply.

The Independent’s Maira Butt studies:

Ukraine has accused Hungary and Slovakia of “ultimatums and blackmail” after each governments threatened to halt emergency electrical energy provides except Kyiv restores Russian oil transit throughout its territory.

Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, stated he would ask the state grid operator to chop emergency exports inside two days if flows weren’t resumed. Hungary’s Viktor Orbán issued an analogous warning earlier this week.

The Ukrainian international ministry stated in a press release that these actions have been “provocative, irresponsible, and threaten the energy security of the entire region”.

Russian oil deliveries to each international locations by way of the Druzhba pipeline have been disrupted since 27 January, after Kyiv stated a Russian drone strike broken pipeline infrastructure in western Ukraine.

Bratislava and Budapest blame Ukraine for the extended outage.

Hungary and Slovakia collectively account for roughly half of European emergency electrical energy exports to Ukraine, which has relied closely on imports as Russian missile and drone assaults have repeatedly broken its vitality grid.