Ukraine-Russia battle newest: Nato warns Kyiv faces its ‘harshest winter’ as Putin weaponises freezing circumstances | EUROtoday

Authorities within the Philippines mentioned they had been verifying studies of a Filipino nationwide mentioned to have died on the entrance traces preventing for Russia.

Ukraine’s navy intelligence yesterday claimed {that a} Filipino nationwide, recognized as John Patrick, was killed preventing for Russian forces within the Donetsk area.

The man had served in Russia’s ninth Battalion, 283rd Regiment, 144th Motorized Rifle Division within the twentieth Combined Arms Army of the Russian navy, Ukraine claimed.

The Kremlin mentioned US-brokered trilateral talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators held within the Middle East had been held in a “constructive spirit” however there was nonetheless “vital work forward”

.“It would be a mistake to expect any significant results from the initial contacts… But the very fact that these contacts have begun in a constructive spirit can be viewed positively. However, there is significant work ahead,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday.

Negotiators from Moscow and Kyiv faced each other for the firs time since the onset of the invasion in 20222 to talk about a peace plan being pushed by US president Donald Trump.

“I wouldn’t say there was any friendliness there, it’s hardly possible at this stage,” Peskov said.

“But if you’re trying to achieve something through negotiations, you need to speak constructively,” he added.

The next round of trilateral talks is expected to take place on 1 February.

The Donald Trump administration has signalled to Ukraine that US security guarantees would depend on Kyiv first agreeing to a peace deal likely requiring it to cede the Donbas to Russia, the Financial Times reported.

Washington has also indicated it could offer Ukraine more weapons to strengthen its peacetime army if Kyiv agreed to withdraw forces from the parts of the eastern region it controls, the newspaper said.

Prime minister Viktor Orban said Hungary would summon Ukraine’s ambassador over what he claimed were attempts to interfere in a Hungarian parliamentary election due on 12 April.

Orban has intensified his anti-Ukraine campaign in the past weeks, and has sought to associate Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar with Kyiv and the EU executive in Brussels as the campaign heats up.

In a campaign primarily targeting rural voters, Orban has portrayed Ukraine as unworthy of financial support, framing the April vote as a choice between war and peace and echoing his past anti-migrant campaigns.

Orban, who has kept close ties with Moscow, has repeatedly refused to support European Union aid for Ukraine, and has launched a “nationwide petition” asking voters to sign up to say they do not want to help pay for the war.”

Last week, Ukrainian leaders and even the president himself made grossly insulting and threatening statements in opposition to Hungary … Our nationwide safety companies have … concluded it is a coordinated try to intrude in Hungarian elections,” Orban said in a video.

Finland is set to establish a new maritime surveillance centre in the Gulf of Finland, a move aimed at protecting critical undersea infrastructure amidst heightened regional tensions.

The initiative, announced by Finland’s Border Guard, will involve cooperation with other Baltic Sea states and the European Commission.

This development comes as the Baltic Sea region remains on high alert following a series of incidents involving power cables, telecommunications links, and gas pipelines since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Russian forces captured 17 settlements and took control of more than 500sqkm territory in Ukraine so far in January, Russia’s top general, Valery Gerasimov, said this morning.

Gerasimov, chief of Russia’s general staff, inspected the “West” group of Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, the defence ministry said.

There has been no immediate confirmation or denial from Ukraine.

EU nations have given their final approval to ban Russian gas imports by late 2027, making their vow to cut ties with their former top supplier legally binding, nearly four years after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Ministers from EU countries approved the law at a meeting in Brussels on Monday, although Slovakia and Hungary voted against and Bulgaria abstained.

Hungary said it would challenge the law at the European Court of Justice. Slovakia’s foreign ministry also announced it would appeal the decision at the EU Court.

The ban was designed to be approved by a reinforced majority of countries, allowing it to overcome opposition from Hungary and Slovakia, who remain heavily reliant on Russian energy imports and want to maintain close ties with Moscow.

Under the agreement, the EU will halt Russian liquefied natural gas imports by the end of 2026 and pipeline gas by 30 September 2027.

The law allows that deadline to shift to 1 November 2027, at the latest, if a country is struggling to fill its storage caverns with non-Russian gas ahead of winter.

Russia supplied more than 40 per cent of the EU’s gas before 2022. That share dropped to around 13 per cent in 2025, according to the latest available EU data.

Russia claims its forces have captured two more settlements in eastern Ukraine, identifying them as Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi and Novopavlivka.

The defence ministry this morning added that Vladimir Putin’s troops have captured 17 settlements in Ukraine since the beginning of January this year.

There has been no immediate confirmation or denial from Ukraine.