Ukraine responds to Russia's attacks, and will keep doing so
In the Ukrainian border city of Uzhhorod, a meeting between Zelenskyy and Slovakia's Fico revealed the quiet fracturing of European solidarity — two leaders who share a common geography but not a common vision of how wars end and what peace costs. As Ukraine presses its energy retaliation and Western nations sketch postwar security arrangements, Putin has answered with a warning that foreign troops on Ukrainian soil would be met as enemies. The war's endgame is being negotiated in public, and the terms remain deeply, dangerously unresolved.
- Ukraine's pipeline strikes against the Druzhba oil route are straining relations with Slovakia and Hungary, two allies whose energy dependence on Russia has made them reluctant critics of Kyiv's tactics.
- Putin's declaration that Western troops in postwar Ukraine would be 'legitimate targets' transforms a diplomatic debate over security guarantees into a direct military threat.
- Macron's announcement that 26 nations have committed to postwar security guarantees — potentially thousands of troops on the ground — signals the West is preparing for a long, contested peace.
- Belgium's warning against seizing €200 billion in frozen Russian assets exposes a fault line inside the EU itself, where financial self-interest is beginning to compete with geopolitical resolve.
- Australian fighter Oscar Jenkins, sentenced to 13 years in a Russian prison on mercenary charges, has become a symbol of the war's invisible human ledger — foreign lives caught between conflict and diplomacy.
Zelenskyy met Slovakia's prime minister Robert Fico in Uzhhorod on Friday, and the encounter exposed the tensions quietly eroding Ukraine's coalition of support. At issue were Ukrainian strikes on the Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian oil through Ukrainian territory into Slovakia and Hungary. Both countries have objected. Zelenskyy was unapologetic — Ukraine would keep retaliating against Russian energy attacks, he said, and he urged Fico to stop buying Russian oil entirely.
Fico, who had just met Putin in China days earlier, offered a different outlook. He believed the war could end soon and spoke of eventually normalizing relations with Moscow. The two men disagreed openly, their divergence reflecting a broader European split between those who want the war resolved quickly and those who insist on terms that don't reward Russian aggression.
Elsewhere, the shape of a postwar order was beginning to emerge. Macron announced that 26 countries had pledged security guarantees to Ukraine after the fighting stops — including troops, naval forces, and air support. Zelenskyy said the deployment would number in the thousands. Putin responded from an economic forum in Vladivostok: any Western military presence inside Ukraine would be treated as a legitimate target. The message was unambiguous — a foreign-backed security arrangement would not be tolerated.
Canada's Mark Carney announced new allied sanctions against Russia, insisting Putin would not dictate the terms of peace. But pressure was also building from within Europe. Belgium's foreign minister warned that confiscating the roughly €200 billion in frozen Russian central bank assets held at Euroclear would destabilize European financial markets and undermine confidence in the euro — a reminder that economic self-interest and geopolitical solidarity do not always point in the same direction.
Amid the diplomacy, the war's human cost continued quietly accumulating. Oscar Jenkins, a 33-year-old Australian, was sentenced to 13 years in a Russian prison on mercenary charges after being captured fighting with Ukrainian forces. His community in Australia is pressing for his release through prisoner exchanges, arguing the mercenary charge is a political instrument designed to deter other foreign fighters. Jenkins is one face among many suspended between the grinding conflict and the distant possibility of a negotiated peace.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy sat down with Slovakia's prime minister, Robert Fico, in the Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod on Friday, and the conversation that followed laid bare the fractures running through Ukraine's coalition of support. The immediate tension: Kyiv has been attacking the Druzhba pipeline, the artery that carries Russian oil through Ukrainian territory into Slovakia and Hungary. Those attacks have disrupted shipments to both countries, and both have made their displeasure known. Zelenskyy's response was unambiguous. Ukraine would keep retaliating against Russian strikes on its energy infrastructure, he said. He would not apologize for it, and he urged Fico to stop buying Russian oil altogether.
Fico, who had just met with Vladimir Putin in China earlier that week, offered a different vision. He believed the war could end soon, he said, and he saw a path toward normalizing relations with Moscow once it did. The two leaders disagreed fundamentally on how to get there, and they said so publicly. Fico spoke of future cooperation with Russia, of tasks they might undertake together. The subtext was clear: Slovakia wanted this conflict resolved quickly, even if it meant accommodation with the Kremlin.
Meanwhile, the conversation about what comes after the war was taking shape elsewhere. Emmanuel Macron announced that 26 countries had committed to providing security guarantees to Ukraine once fighting stopped. These would include an international military presence—troops on the ground, naval forces, air support. Some nations would offer guarantees from outside Ukraine's borders, training and equipping Kyiv's forces from a distance. Zelenskyy said the deployment could run into the thousands. "It is important that we are discussing all this," he told António Costa, the European Council president, also in Uzhhorod. "It will definitely be in the thousands, not just a few."
Putin's response came swiftly and ominous. Speaking at an economic forum in Vladivostok on Friday, he declared that any Western troops placed inside Ukraine would be "legitimate targets" for Russian destruction. He framed it as a matter of principle: Moscow had always opposed NATO forces near its borders, and if they appeared now, during active military operations, Russia would treat them as combatants. The threat was unmistakable. A postwar security arrangement involving foreign boots on the ground would not be accepted. It would be met with force.
Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney, announced that Ukraine's allies were preparing new sanctions against Russia, another attempt to pressure Putin toward the negotiating table. "Mr Putin is the cause of this war," Carney said. "He's not going to dictate the terms of the peace." But even as the West tightened the screws, a different kind of pressure was building from within Europe itself. Belgium's foreign minister, Maxime Prévot, warned against seizing the roughly 200 billion euros in Russian central bank assets frozen by the EU since the invasion began. Most of that money sits in Euroclear, a Belgian-based international deposit organization. Confiscating it, Prévot argued, would be catastrophic for European financial markets. It would shake confidence in the euro and send shockwaves through the entire system. "For Belgium, confiscating Russian sovereign assets is not an option," he told the news media.
Beyond the high-level diplomacy, the human toll of the war continued to accumulate. Oscar Jenkins, a 33-year-old Australian citizen, had been captured while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces and sentenced to 13 years in a Russian prison on charges of being a mercenary. Australia's Ukrainian community was pushing their government to secure his release through prisoner exchanges, warning that he risked being forgotten in the machinery of war. The charge of mercenary, they argued, was a pretext—a way for Russia to send a message to other foreign fighters considering Ukraine's cause. Jenkins was one face among many caught between the grinding conflict and the diplomatic maneuvering that might, someday, bring it to an end.
Notable Quotes
Ukraine responds to Russia's attacks on our energy facilities, and will keep doing so— Volodymyr Zelenskyy
If some troops appear there, especially now, during military operations, we proceed from the fact that these will be legitimate targets for destruction— Vladimir Putin
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does Zelenskyy keep attacking the pipeline when it's clearly costing him allies like Slovakia?
Because he sees it as the only leverage he has. Russia is destroying Ukrainian energy infrastructure—hospitals, heating plants, civilian infrastructure. If he stops hitting Russian oil, he's accepting that asymmetry. Slovakia and Hungary can buy oil elsewhere. Ukraine can't buy electricity elsewhere.
But Fico just met with Putin. Doesn't that suggest the diplomatic door is still open?
It suggests Fico thinks it is. But notice what he didn't say—he didn't say Putin agreed to anything. He's positioning Slovakia to be useful to whoever wins, or whoever negotiates the peace. That's not the same as a breakthrough.
The security guarantees sound reasonable. Why would Putin object to foreign troops protecting Ukraine after the war ends?
Because "after the war" is a fiction. As long as foreign troops are there, Russia hasn't actually won. Putin wants Ukraine neutralized, not defended. Troops on the ground mean Ukraine stays out of his reach forever.
What about the frozen Russian assets? That seems like a practical solution—use the money to rebuild Ukraine.
It would be, except it breaks something fundamental in global finance. If the West can just seize a country's central bank assets because of a conflict, every nation starts moving their reserves out of Western banks. The whole system destabilizes. Belgium is saying the cure might be worse than the disease.
And Jenkins? Is he actually a mercenary?
He was a foreign fighter, which is different. But Russia calling him a mercenary lets them deny him prisoner-of-war protections. It's a legal category that serves their interests. Australia has to fight to get him back, and they're not even at the table yet.