The Kremlin has been discussing Donald Trump’s claims that a meeting between him and Vladimir Putin is being set up. Meanwhile, Russian elites are concerned with Vladimir Putin’s efforts to wage a full-scale war in Ukraine. Submit your questions for our correspondents in the box below.
Friday 10 January 2025 14:02, UK
Thanks for following today’s updates.
Before we go, here’s a recap of the key developments today:
Moldova’s Moscow-backed separatist region of Transnistria extended its state of emergency today for another month as it grapples with an energy crisis after losing access to Russian gas supplies that had propped up its economy for decades.
Russia’s Gazprom suspended gas exports to Transnistria on 1 January, citing unpaid Moldovan debts of $709m (£580m).
Moldova disputes that debt and says Moscow is engineering a crisis to undermine its pro-Western government.
Russia used to supply gas to Transnistria via Ukraine and Moscow blames the crisis on Kyiv, which refused to roll over a gas transit deal that expired on 31 December due to Russia’s invasion.
Moldova, which supports Ukraine, says Moscow could use an alternative route to continue supplies.
Residents and businesses in Transnistria, which broke away from Moldova in the final days of Soviet rule and has long relied exclusively on Russian gas, have since faced gas cut-offs, rolling power cuts and problems with water supplies.
The separatist authorities said on Telegram that residents would have five hours of power cuts today and that the state of emergency would be in place until at least 8 February.
With less than two weeks before Donald Trump’s inauguration, there is seemingly a growing focus on his potential role in shaping the outcome of the war in Ukraine.
Shortly after the Kremlin commented on Trump’s claim that a meeting was being set up with Vladimir Putin (see 10.07am post), remarks from Kyiv indicate that it expects significant communication with the new US administration as soon as the Republican takes office.
Kyiv’s foreign ministry said today that Ukraine also expected an eventual meeting between Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“We are waiting for a meeting between our presidents because for us the main thing is to work together with America,” ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said.
The latest briefing from leading US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War covers an intriguing report from Russian opposition media outlet Meduza.
According to the site, the article suggests Russian elites and high-ranking security officials are frustrated with Vladimir Putin’s efforts to wage a full-scale war in Ukraine with half measures and are increasingly concerned with the president’s timeline to end the war.
It says sources in the Russian presidential administration, State Duma, and wider Russian federal government and regional governments told Russian opposition media outlet Meduza that Russian elites were increasingly “disappointed” and “tired” of waiting for the war to end and are growing increasingly concerned about the long-term impact of Western sanctions on Russia’s economy.
Meduza cites two sources close to the presidential administration as saying the Russian government currently lacks a clear vision for post-war Russia and that an end to the war could be “critical” for the presidential administration if the administration cannot identify a clear narrative and political framework for Russian society after the war.
A source in the Russian presidential administration also told the outlet that Russian elites – mainly high-ranking security officials – are increasingly frustrated with not having “enough” manpower and materiel to conduct the war and believe that Putin needs to conduct “mobilisation” and completely transition Russian society and the Russian economy to a wartime footing.
Analysts at ISW suggest the report indicates that the high-ranking Russian security officials “appear to be assessing that Russia needs to intensify its war in Ukraine rather than seek an exit via negotiations”.
They continue: “Meduza’s report suggests that Russian security and military officials may recognise that the Russian military is not accomplishing significant territorial gains proportionate to the manpower and materiel losses they are incurring in Ukraine.”
Vladimir Putin promised Slovakia that Russia’s Gazprom would find alternative ways to deliver contracted gas to Slovakia after the end of transit through Ukraine, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said today.
Fico met Putin in Moscow in late December to discuss gas and the war in Ukraine after Kyiv decided not to allow Russian gas flows through Ukraine from 1 January.
Fico has threatened to take retaliatory measures against Kyiv as Slovakia wanted to continue receiving Russian gas through Ukraine to keep costs down and keep earning transit country revenue from onward gas shipments to Europe.
“I spoke to Putin about a contract between us and Gazprom, which says that they have to somehow deliver the gas to us,” Fico told a parliamentary committee.
“We are able to push something through the southern flow (route through Turkey), but so far we have storage, Slovak consumption is secured.”
Fico said Putin guaranteed that Russia would meets its obligations, although capacity in the TurkStream pipeline and connecting route taking Russian gas through Turkey to Europe was limited.
“President Putin guaranteed that they will honour their commitments,” Fico said.
Part could be delivered through western Europe, Fico said, referring to Slovakia’s pipeline connections to gas networks of central and west European neighbours.
Fico has argued Europe suffered multi-billion euro losses from a rise in gas prices caused by the absence of around 13.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas that flowed through Ukraine last year, including around 3 bcm for Slovak consumption.
More now from Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov’s daily news briefing, where he has been discussing Russia’ position on Ukraine negotiations – which he said was very clear.
“As far as the conflict around Ukraine is concerned, our position is consistent, extremely clear, and has been repeatedly stated by the president,” he said.
“Everyone understands that it is considering realities on the ground.”
And on yesterday’s announcement of a further $500m in US aid to Ukraine, Peskov said: “We see that contradictions are growing there and we see that many disagreements are emerging on the prospects and modalities of providing further aid, efficiency, etc.
“We are closely monitoring this process. We see that countries continue to declare their political will and continue to support Ukraine.
“Speaking in Russian language, the US, under the current leadership, which has 10 days left in office, intends to keep doing everything to continue the war.
“Of course, European countries are following in the wake of this general line.”
He also accused the Joe Biden administration of trying to leave Trump the most toxiclegacy possible – and suggested Biden might therefore impose a final round of sanctions on Moscow.
The Kremlin said this morning that there may be progress on setting up a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin after the US president-elect is sworn in later this month.
Trump said yesterday that a meeting was being set up between him and Putin, but offered no timeline.
The Kremlin said it welcomed the fact that Trump was demonstrating a desire to solve problems through dialogue.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “Moscow has repeatedly declared its openness to contacts with international leaders, including the US president, including Donald Trump.
“And the president himself repeatedly said this, and we have repeatedly said this, and no preconditions are required for this.
“What is required is a mutual desire and political will to conduct dialogue and resolve existing problems through dialogue. We see that Mr Trump also declares his readiness to resolve problems through dialogue. We welcome this.
“There are still no specifics, we proceed from the mutual readiness for the meeting. Apparently, when Mr Trump enters the Oval Office, there will be developments.”
Images released this morning show the moment a drone strike struck Kyiv – and the aftermath of the suspected Russian attack (see 8.47 post).
Ukraine’s army hit a supermarket in the Russian-held city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine this morning, a senior Russian-backed official has said.
Denis Pushilin accused the Ukrainian army of using US-supplied HIMARS missiles in an attack on the area during the morning rush hour, saying two people were wounded.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine and the report has not been confirmed.
Unverified photos posted on social media showed a burnt-out car in front of a shattered two-storey circular building surrounded by debris.
Dashcam footage posted by a driver nearby appeared to show the moment the supermarket – called Moloko (Milk) – was struck, with an ensuing large explosion and flames soaring into the sky.
Reuters news agency says it was able to confirm the location from a nearby building’s facades, signages and road layout that matched satellite imagery and street view imagery. The date was verified by a time stamp on the footage.
Russia’s TASS state news agency said other buildings and around 15 cars had been damaged in the same attack.
Pushilin said in a statement on his official Telegram account that an apartment building in the city of Svitlodarsk in the Donetsk region had also been struck by Ukrainian forces, killing one woman and wounding four others.
Russia attacked Ukraine with 72 drones overnight, but 33 of them were downed and 34 more disappeared from radars without reaching their targets, Ukraine’s air force said this morning.
The air force said five drones struck various buildings in the northern region of Chernihiv, wounding one person.
One downed drone fell on a building in the capital city, Kyiv, but did not cause casualties.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free