The Russian invasion

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell in Kyiv, October 2/Vladimir Putin, archive photo. TT

 

The Russian invasion|The response of the outside world  

Analysis: Putin is celebrating, but support will not collapse  

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a good weekend. That's what CNN's Stephen Collinson writes in an analysis after Russia-friendly Robert Fico won the Slovak election and US aid to Ukraine was temporarily cut in the provisional budget compromise that prevented a shutdown.  

 

The events coincide in a way that gives reason for Ukraine to feel concern, Collinson believes. He writes that any sign of weakened support for the country gives Putin an incentive to prolong the war. However, he notes that the Slovak economy is dependent on EU membership, which gives the West "significant influence over Bratislava". 

 

Le Monde's Jean-Baptiste Chastand writes that Hungary's Viktor Orbán has made it difficult to reach a "united European policy" regarding the war, and that with Fico's win it will be "almost impossible". His line in foreign policy will be completely different from that of the previous government, which went so far as to send fighter jets, writes Chastand.  

 

Defense expert Roger Hilton tells Reuters he doesn't believe there will be too many long-term consequences. It is unlikely that a change of government in Slovakia would be the catalyst that leads to the collapse of European support for Ukraine, he assesses.  

 

 

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Ukrainian anger over Musk's meme of irritated Zelenskyi  

 

Ukrainian representatives are reacting with anger to a post on X from the platform's owner Elon Musk, several media reports.  

 

On the night of Monday, Swedish time, Musk published a famous meme in which President Zelensky's head was cut off, along with the text: "When five minutes have passed and you haven't asked for a billion dollars in support". 

 

The president's adviser Mychajlo Podoljak believes that the post is a way to justify Russian "mass violence and destruction" in Ukraine. The newspaper Ukrainska Pravda has responded by publishing the same meme, but with Elon Musk's head cut in, and the text: 

 

"When five minutes have passed and you haven't spread Russian propaganda".  

 

Ukraine has long used Musk's Starlink satellite network, but this is not the first time his posts have upset Kyiv, AFP notes. In the past, he has suggested that Ukraine should give up territory in order for peace to be reached.