Russian invasion The world's response

Fico: Zelensky is treating Slovakia and the EU badly

Slovakia's populist Prime Minister Robert Fico is stepping up his rhetoric against Volodymyr Zelensky after Ukraine halted Russian gas exports across its territory, Euronews reports.

Fico is threatening retaliatory measures against the war-torn neighbor, such as withdrawing emergency aid and blocking support at the EU level.

- Some may think what I say is bad, but what Zelensky is doing to us and the EU is also bad, he says.

Ukraine's failure to renew the five-year contract with Russia's Gazprom will cost Slovakia 500 million euros a year in lost revenue, says Fico, who calls it "sabotage" of Slovakia's economy.

Trump abandons goal of resolving the war in 24 hours

Ahead of his inauguration, Donald Trump has backed down from his oft-repeated claim that he can end the Ukraine war within 24 hours, writes the Financial Times.

Earlier this week, he highlighted a six-month timeframe as more reasonable, and his special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg told Fox News on Wednesday that the goal is to stop it within 100 days.

Two European officials who have spoken to Trump's team say that the new administration has not decided how to act, and that US support for Ukraine will therefore continue after January 20.

- The whole team is obsessed with strength and looking strong, so they have reassessed their Ukraine stance, says one of them.

The Trump camp is said to be particularly worried about comparisons with the US's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, something Trump has hit out at Joe Biden for.

Europe buys record amount of Russian liquefied natural gas

Last year, Europe bought a record amount of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), despite widespread promises to break its dependence on Russian energy, writes The Guardian.

A total of 17.8 million tons were unloaded in European ports – two million tons more than the previous year, according to the research company Rystad Energy.

Europe has cut off a large part of Russian gas imports via pipelines since the invasion of Ukraine, but has in return bought more LNG, also from Russia. Last year, Russia overtook Qatar as Europe's second-largest LNG exporter after the United States.