Gitanas Nausėda

LONDON - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday in London at the opening of the fourth European Political Community summit.

"A cordial meeting with Olaf Scholz. We will see each other in Belgrade soon," Vucic wrote in an Instagram post.

NATO leaders pose for an official photo at the NATO summit in Washington, Wednesday, July 10, 2024. Front row from left, Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, Dimitar Glavchev, Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Alexander De Croo, Prime Minister of Belgium, Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania, U.S.

Leaders from 32 countries gathered in Washington for the 75th anniversary NATO summit, with all eyes on President Biden. With questions swirling about his mental and physical fitness to run for re-election, Biden will now be tested on a global level.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban recently made headlines by asserting Hungary's potential to intervene in Ukraine's EU accession process, should the need arise. Orban referred to the EU's decision as merely a symbolic gesture, implying that Hungary retains the power to halt Ukraine's progress into the EU.

The EU's top diplomat warned Thursday that a "weaker" Russian President Vladimir Putin would pose a "greater danger" after Wagner's aborted mutiny sparked the largest political crisis in decades in the nuclear-armed country.

"A weaker Putin is a greater danger. So we have to be very much aware of the consequences," Josep Borrell said ahead of a gathering of EU leaders in Brussels.

Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:

Zelensky expects more weapons from the allies, heavy fighting for Soledar

Ukraine says its troops are holding their ground in the eastern town of Soledar, where heavy fighting is taking place. President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed the need for more weapons from the allies.

The European Union and Russia have agreed on the transit of goods in the Kaliningrad region, the newspaper "Izvestia" reports, citing high-ranking sources from the Russian side.

"The European Union and Russia have agreed on the transit of goods in the Kaliningrad region. Brussels has provided a document that 'fully satisfies' Moscow," the message said.

Russian forces emphasize that they are finishing the "liberation of Svyatogorsk and neighboring territories" in the Donetsk region.
On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk are "dead cities".

The head of Latvia's natural gas storage operator has said the Baltic states were no longer importing Russian natural gas.    

"If there were still any doubts about whether there may be any trust in deliveries from Russia, current events clearly show us that there is no more trust," said Uldis Bariss, CEO of Conexus Baltic Grid on April 2.    

Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski has accused Germany and France of being in close relations with Russia.

"For years, the German government has not wanted to notice what Russia is doing under Putin, and today we are seeing the result," he was quoted as saying in an interview with the German newspaper Welt.