China isn’t expected to join a meeting in Malta this weekend where national security officials from more than 55 nations will discuss Ukraine’s drive to build support for its so-called 10-point peace formula. Beijing’s absence would be a blow to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
New US House Speaker Mike Johnson met Thursday with President Joe Biden as the White House pushed Republican lawmakers to act quickly on their emergency requests for additional foreign aid, including for Ukraine. Johnson said the House will consider new military assistance for Ukraine and Israel as separate measures.
A Russian missile hit a fire station in the city of Izyum in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region with eight firefighters injured, Ukraine’s interior ministry said. Non-official Russian Telegram channels are citing a drone attack on Russia’s Kursk nuclear power plant, with no casualties or damage reported. Heavy Russian equipment losses around Avdiivka in the Donetsk region will likely undermine Russian offensive capabilities over the long term, according to analysts at US-based Institute for the Study of War.
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Coming Up
- Russia predicted to raise interest rates at Friday’s central bank meeting
- Russian President Vladimir Putin may hold weekly security council meeting
- Third round of peace-formula talks in Malta this weekend
Markets
Oil advanced as the US conducted strikes on two Iran-linked facilities in Syria, renewing investor concerns that the Israel-Hamas war may spark a wider conflict and disrupt crude supplies.