British, French and German ambassadors to Russia urged direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in a rare meeting at Russia’s foreign ministry on Thursday. The three countries, known as the E3, conveyed support for President Zelenskyy’s call for direct negotiations, following a summit in London earlier this week.
European ambassadors have rarely held talks with Russian officials during the war, but Moscow accused them of wanting to “continue the war against Russia on behalf of and at the expense of” European countries. The E3 have been among Ukraine’s most staunch allies.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces are crippling Russian supply lines along the “highway of death” (R-280), a crucial route linking Rostov-on-Don to Crimea. Ukrainian drone commander Robert Brovdi said military cargo traffic along the highway had fallen by 71% over the past two weeks. Traffic was suspended on the Chonhar Bridge after a series of drone strikes.
Fuel stations on the Russian-held Crimean peninsula were out of petrol on Thursday, with long queues in Yevpatoriya. The Russian-backed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, said Ukrainian drone attacks had disrupted fuel supplies by road, rail and sea barge. A Ukrainian commander, Dmytro Filatov, said Chonhar Bridge had “critical” damage, halting traffic, and that strikes in Armiansk destroyed trucks carrying fuel and ammunition.
In Russia, a fire at the Afipsky oil refinery and damage in Adygea were reported. The deputy prime minister, Alexander Novak, called for a forecasting system to deal with fuel shortages, which have been reported in around a dozen regions. Two people were killed in shelling in Russia’s Bryansk region, and a railway worker died in a drone attack on Konotop, Ukraine.
