Russian state television has blamed European countries and Western media for the stalled preparations for a planned summit between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.

The European Union's 19th package of sanctions against Russia will list four companies involved in China's oil industry that circumvent Western restrictions, EU diplomatic sources said on Wednesday.

As temperatures drop in Ukraine, Russia has stepped up drone attacks on power facilities supplying millions of homes across the country.

More than three and a half years on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europe is still grappling with its energy security by diversifying its oil and gas imports away from Moscow and toward other markets.

Only Russia friendly Hungary and Slovakia, refused to back the bill, which terminates Russian pipeline and liquified natural gas imports.

European democracy and rule of law are at risk, the general says, so Europe must give Ukraine whatever it can to pressure Moscow, even if Trump does not.

During a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on Monday 20 October, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha briefed his European counterparts on the results of the meeting between the presidents of Ukraine and the United States and called for increased pressure on Russia.

Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson believes that the intensification of Russia's hybrid operations requires European states to respond decisively and prepare for a possible war. Source: Jonson in an interview with German outlet RND,