‘Ukraine’s future is our future’, says Starmer, as he vows coalition will take Russian oil and gas off market to choke funding – as it happened

6.49pm BST Closing summary At a press conference in London, Keir Starmer said the coalition of the willing will act to take Russia’s oil and gas “off the global market” and says it will “choke off funding for Russia’s war”. He said he is determined to push on with releasing funds from Russia’s frozen assets and highlighted the need to move at speed for reparations. Zelenskyy said Russia is carrying out a campaign of terror against Ukraine’s energy system, aiming to make “winter cold” for civilians to pressure Ukraine. He said diplomacy matters only when it leads to real decisions. He added that sanctions, long-range weapons, accountability for war crimes and real actions on frozen Russian assets are the priority. Ukraine will have to find a way to produce air defence systems domestically, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the press conference. Since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Kyiv has ramped up weapons production, with nearly 60% of weapons now domestically produced, but it still depends on western supplies for air defence systems and missiles. Nato chief Mark Rutte said it is a decision for the individual allies of Ukraine to decide which weapons it wants to supply, when asked if he believes the US will provide long-range Tomahawk missiles. He said that, since July, crucial weaponry has been provided by the US to Ukraine. “The issue remains under review by the president and, of course, that is up to the US to decide,” he concluded. Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen said European finances will boost Ukraine’s war effort and says “significant steps” have been taken this week to target Russia’s energy sector. She said she thinks Putin’s strategy has been to wait for Ukraine’s allies to give up and says “we are willing to continue”. She added that allies in the “coalition of the willing” must reach a solution on reparation loans for Ukraine before Christmas. The ringleader of an arson attack on Ukraine-linked businesses in London last year was on Friday jailed for 17 years for what prosecutors described as “a sustained campaign of terrorism and sabotage on UK soil”. Dylan Earl, 21, admitted aggravated arson over the 2024 blaze which targeted companies delivering satellite equipment from Elon Musk’s Starlink to Ukraine, Reuters reported. The Russian defence ministry said on Friday that its forces had taken control of three more villages in eastern Ukraine, Russian agencies reported. According to the ministry, Russian troops have taken Bolohivka in the Kharkiv region, Promin in the Donetsk region, as well as Zlagoda in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Russian president Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev was in the US for meetings with Trump administration officials including special envoy Steve Witkoff, according to media reports on Friday. Dmitriev was expected to meet Trump administration officials “to continue discussions about the US-Russia relationship,” CNN reported, citing sources with knowledge of the visit. A man detonated an explosive device as border guards checked documents at a railway station in northern Ukraine on Friday, killing himself and three women, the State Border Guard Service said. It said in a statement that 12 other people were hurt in the blast at the station in Ovruch, close to the border with Belarus, and that a border guard was among the dead, who were aged 29, 58 and 82. A team of senior EU officials will meet Chinese counterparts next week for urgent talks aimed at disentangling Europe from the ongoing trade war between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. They are battling to persuade Beijing to ease the restrictions they have imposed on both exports of rare earths and semiconductors critical to car production. Spanish police said Friday that a Pablo Picasso painting that vanished en route to an exhibition has been found, raising doubts if it was ever loaded onto a transport truck. “Still Life with Guitar”, a 1919 gouache and pencil work valued at about 600,000 euros (£523,000), disappeared in early October while being transported from Madrid to the southern city of Granada. 6.40pm BST Volodymyr Zelenskyy urges US to expand sanctions on Russian oil across whole sector Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday urged the United States to expand sanctions on Russian oil from two companies to the whole sector, and appealed for long-range missiles to hit back at Russia. The Ukrainian leader said Trump’s decision this week to impose oil sanctions was “a big step” and said “we have to apply pressure not only to Rosneft and Lukoil, but to all Russian oil companies”, reports AP.“Besides, we are carrying out our own campaign of pressure with drones and missiles specifically targeting the Russian oil sector,” he said at a news conference at the Foreign Office in London. 6.09pm BST Further to our earlier report, Russia’s top economic negotiator said he has arrived in the United States for talks, two days after Washington imposed sanctions on Moscow’s two biggest oil companies. The visit comes with increasing US frustration at Russian president Vladimir Putin and his refusal to agree to a ceasefire in the nearly four-year Ukraine war, reports AFP. Earlier this week, US president Donald Trump scrapped planned talks with Putin in Budapest, saying he did not want a “wasted” meeting. “Arrived in the US to continue the US-Russia dialogue – visit planned a while ago based on an invitation from the US side,” Putin’s top economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev said on X. The envoy told Russian news agencies that he would convey Russia’s position on the Ukraine war in meetings with Trump administration officials. Updated at 6.13pm BST 5.57pm BST Ukraine will have to find a way to produce air defence systems domestically, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the press conference. Since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Kyiv has ramped up weapons production, with nearly 60% of weapons now domestically produced, but it still depends on Western supplies for air defence systems and missiles. Earlier this week, Ukraine used a British Storm Shadow missile to bomb a Russian plant in Bryansk that produced explosives and rocket fuel. But the US has so far declined to supply Tomahawk cruise missiles. Mark Rutte earlier suggested the decision on long-range missiles remains “under review” by the US president. 5.51pm BST Danish PM Frederiksen calls for decision on reparation loans for Ukraine by Christmas The Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen said that allies in the “coalition of the willing” must reach a solution on reparation loans for Ukraine before Christmas. “We have to work in a way that we have a solution before Christmas eve so we are able to ensure that we can finance Ukraine for the next years,” Frederiksen said. “I am sure that we will be able to do that ... and I will wait to have a decision before Christmas eve. 5.45pm BST Mark Rutte says it is a decision for the individual allies of Ukraine to decide which weapons it wants to supply, when asked if he believes the US will provide long-range Tomahawk missiles. He says that, since July, crucial weaponry has been provided by the US to Ukraine. “The issue remains under review by the president and, of course, that is up to the US to decide,” he concludes. 5.38pm BST Putin wants to “divide us”, says Zelenskyy, while praising the recent sanctions announced by the United States. He says the decision on Russian frozen assets is “crucial for us” and says there is political consensus on it but that he is hopeful a “practical decision” will follow. Frederiksen says she supports it totally and says she is sure the technical decisions can be resolved by Christmas Eve. Updated at 5.38pm BST 5.31pm BST The coalition of the willing and the European Union (EU) are “all working with president Trump”, Starmer says when asked about whether Ukraine can be protected without US support. He says the combined impact of sanctions from the US have had the most significant impact this week. He adds that progress has been made on frozen Russian assets and that action is needed “on a short timetable”. 5.27pm BST Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen says European finances will boost Ukraine’s war effort and says “significant steps” have been taken this week to target Russia’s energy sector. She says she thinks Putin’s strategy has been to wait for Ukraine’s allies to give up and says “we are willing to continue”. Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof says Russia is the “only party rejecting a ceasefire” and says only increased pressure on Russia will force Putin to discuss peace in Ukraine. He says “we must step up our energy assistance to help Ukraine and Ukrainians through the winter,” adding that he is concerned about the impact Russia is having on Ukraine’s energy sector. 5.22pm BST Nato chief Mark Rutte says he had a very good meeting with Trump in Washington two days ago and says the sanctions on Russia will increase pressure on Putin and force him to the table. “In Ukraine, Putin is gaining little ground on the battlefield,” he says. Marginal gains are coming at great loss, he says. Russia is running out of money, troops and ideas, he says, adding that he welcomes announcements of additional military aid for Ukraine. “On both sides of the Atlantic, we want this war to end,” he says. “We are moving in the right direction.” 5.20pm BST Zelenskyy says there must be no option for Russia but to end war Zelenskyy is now speaking and says Russia is carrying out a campaign of terror against Ukraine’s energy system, aiming to make “winter cold” for civilians to pressure Ukraine. He says diplomacy matters only when it leads to real decisions. He says sanctions, long-range weapons, accountability for war crimes and real actions on frozen Russian assets are the priority. Zelenskyy thanks Trump for applying pressure to Russia’s energy sector. “We have to implement all we have discussed today,” he says. The long-range capability strengthens diplomatic efforts, he says, because Putin needs to suffer losses on his own territory to force him to negotiate. “There must be no option for Russia but to end to war and return peace to our country,” he says. Updated at 5.24pm BST 5.15pm BST 'Ukraine's future is our future', says Starmer, as he vows to take Russian oil and gas off market to choke Kremlin funding Starmer says the coalition will act to take Russia’s oil and gas “off the global market” and says it will “choke off funding for Russia’s war”. He says he is determined to push on with releasing funds from Russia’s frozen assets and highlights the need to move at speed for reparations. He says “we are strengthening Ukraine’s air defence” and that the UK will provide Ukraine with additional missiles to bolster defences during the winter. The coalition will keep up military pressure on Putin, he says, and that work will continue on multinational security for when peace comes. “Ukraine’s future is our future,” says Starmer. “We are determined to act now to dial up the pressure on Putin and finally bring him to the negotiating table in good faith.” Updated at 5.19pm BST 5.12pm BST Starmer says Putin is 'only person' who does not want to end war in Ukraine The leaders have walked out on stage and the press conference begins with UK prime minister Keir Starmer paying tribute to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He says what happens on the frontline of the battlefield in Ukraine today “is shaping our collective future for years to come”. He says the ‘coalition of the willing’ stands with US president Donald Trump in calling for the fighting to stop. Starmer says Russian president Vladimir Putin is the “only person who does not want to end this war” and says the strikes that killed children this week demonstrate that. Starmer adds that Putin’s demands for Ukrainian land is “ludicrous” and calls it a “complete non-starter”. Updated at 5.13pm BST 4.58pm BST Zelenskyy and Starmer set to give joint press conference in London Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is about to give a joint press conference in London alongside the British prime minister Keir Starmer and other European leaders. Nato chief Mark Rutte, Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof and Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen were expected to join Starmer and Zelenskyy at 5pm GMT. Follow along for any key news lines here. 4.44pm BST Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged allies not to “give Russia any reason to think they can finish this war with any outcome that is unfair to us”. Speaking from London, the Ukrainian president thanked countries for their support but told a call of the “coalition of the willing”: “We must all remember that the issues of territorial integrity as well as any alleged trade of lands must not reward the aggressor or reward any future aggression.” He said it was important not to “give Russia any reason to think they can finish this war with any outcome that is unfair to us”. “Only a strong and fair solution to end the war will really work. Please support us in this,” Zelenskyy said. 4.29pm BST Starmer says Putin's 'ludicrous demands' to take Ukrainian land are a 'non-starter' Keir Starmer said Vladimir Putin’s “ludicrous demands” to take Ukrainian land were “a non-starter” as he insisted the “coalition of the willing” and the US were “more united than ever before”. At the top of a virtual meeting of the group, the UK prime minister said: I’m really pleased to say that we’ve got a group now of more than 30 nations who have been unwavering in our support for Ukraine and a just and lasting peace. I would say that today we are more united in that than ever before. United as a group of countries in the coalition of the willing, united with president Trump in our calls to end the bloodshed. He added: Putin continues to meet initiatives for peace by stonewalling and playing for time ... instead he’s making ludicrous demands for Ukrainian land which he could not take by force. Now, of course, that is a non-starter. Updated at 4.48pm BST 4.11pm BST British prime minister Keir Starmer said on Friday that European leaders of the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ needed to agree to finish the job on using frozen Russian assets to bolster Ukraine’s defences. “We need to agree to finish the job on Russia’s sovereign assets and unlock billions to help finance Ukraine’s defence,” Starmer told the European leaders at the meeting in London. “The UK is ready to move in tandem with the EU to drive this forward as fast as possible.” 3.48pm BST Ringleader who organised arson attacks on Ukraine-linked London business properties jailed for 17 years The ringleader of an arson attack on Ukraine-linked businesses in London last year was on Friday jailed for 17 years for what prosecutors described as “a sustained campaign of terrorism and sabotage on UK soil”. Dylan Earl, 21, admitted aggravated arson over the 2024 blaze which targeted companies delivering satellite equipment from Elon Musk’s Starlink to Ukraine, Reuters reports. Prosecutors said on Thursday that he also discussed with his handler - who was linked to Russia’s Wagner mercenary group - plans to kidnap the co-founder of finance app Revolut and torch a warehouse in the Czech Republic. Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb sentenced Earl to 17 years in prison. Updated at 3.52pm BST 3.22pm BST Spain’s High Court is investigating privately-owned steelmaker Sidenor for allegedly selling steel to an Israeli firm for the purpose of making weapons, it said on Friday, in one of the first potential legal consequences of Spain’s ban on such deals. Judge Francisco de Jorge is leading the investigation targeting Sidenor’s CEO Jose Antonio Jainaga Gomez and two other executives for alleged smuggling and complicity in crimes against humanity or genocide, according to the statement. They were summoned to testify on 12 November. The court said Sidenor sold steel to Israel Military Industries, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, in a deal allegedly conducted without government authorisation or proper registry. 2.58pm BST Trump: 'I am the only one that matters' Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán said Friday that his government was working on “ways to circumvent” US sanctions against Russian energy companies. President Donald Trump at the Gaza summit on Friday has said that he liked Orbán and: “I know a lot of people don’t agree with me, but I am the only one that matters.” Updated at 3.09pm BST 2.55pm BST Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to London on Friday for a meeting with more than 20 European leaders at a time when military and financial efforts to ramp up military and financial pressure against Russia are stalled or delayed. The president participated in a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing hosted by UK prime minister Keir Starmer to discuss “to discuss how they can pile pressure” on Vladimir Putin as the war in Ukraine heads towards its fourth winter. The gathering comes a day after EU leaders failed to make a firm decision on whether to use frozen Russian central bank assets to fund Ukraine’s defence, while the US havers over whether to supply long-range Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv. Russia has meanwhile intensified its bombing of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Power and water were out in Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv this week, after targeted attacks aimed at breaking public resistance inside Ukraine. Ahead of the meeting, Starmer accused the Russian president of wanting to prolong a war in which Ukrainian civilians are coming under attack. “From the battlefield to the global markets, as Putin continues to commit atrocities in Ukraine. We must ratchet up the pressure on Russia,” he said. Read more: Related: Zelenskyy arrives in London for meeting with European leaders 2.43pm BST Here are the latest photos coming through on the newswires of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with prime minister Keir Starmer. The leaders have arrived at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), along with Nato Secretary Gen Mark Rutte and other EU leaders for a “coalition of the willing” meeting: 2.24pm BST Picasso painting that vanished in Spain found Spanish police said Friday that a Pablo Picasso painting that vanished en route to an exhibition has been found, raising doubts if it was ever loaded onto a transport truck. “Still Life with Guitar”, a 1919 gouache and pencil work valued at about 600,000 euros (£523,000), disappeared in early October while being transported from Madrid to the southern city of Granada. The artwork, which belongs to a private collector in the Spanish capital, was set to be displayed as part of a new exhibition at the CajaGranada Foundation. But when the truck’s contents were unpacked on 6 October, the curator noticed that the Picasso piece was missing. The missing painting was reported to police, who confirmed its recovery on Friday, though they did not disclose where it was found. “Initial investigations suggest that the painting may not have been loaded on to the transport truck,” said a National Police statement. Police released images of their scientific experts examining the package containing the recovered piece. Picasso’s fame – and the enormous sums his works command – have long made his art a target for thieves around the world. In February 2007, two Picasso paintings worth a total of €50m were stolen from the Paris home of the artist’s granddaughter. Two years later, a Picasso sketchbook worth more than €8m was stolen from a Paris museum dedicated to the artist. Twelve Picasso paintings, valued at around £9m, were stolen from the French Riviera villa of another of his grandchildren, Marina Picasso, in 1989. In 1976, 118 works were stolen from a museum in the southern city of Avignon in one of France’s largest art thefts. 2.07pm BST Russian special envoy in US for meetings with Trump administration Russian president Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev was in the US for meetings with Trump administration officials including special envoy Steve Witkoff, according to media reports on Friday. Dmitriev was expected to meet Trump administration officials “to continue discussions about the US-Russia relationship,” CNN reported, citing sources with knowledge of the visit. Axios reported that Dmitriev would meet Witkoff in Miami on Saturday. Donald Trump hit Russia’s two biggest oil companies with sanctions this week to press the Kremlin leader to end the war in Ukraine. Trump spoke to Putin last week and said he planned to meet Putin soon, but US officials have said the meeting is on hold. 1.39pm BST Zelenskyy says Putin pushing Ukraine towards ‘humanitarian disaster’ as he meets Starmer and European leaders Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the UK for its support and said Vladimir Putin was pushing Ukraine towards “humanitarian disaster”. At the top of a bilateral meeting with UK prime minister Keir Starmer, the Ukrainian president said: Yes, I agree with you and know that Putin doesn’t show that he wants to stop the war. He said Russian aggression was “pushing us with such humanitarian disaster” with attacks targeting infrastructure including Ukraine’s energy sector. “We’re thankful to you that we are not alone in this situation - from the very beginning of war but especially now, it’s very important,” Zelenskyy said. Updated at 3.24pm BST 1.31pm BST UK says allies should boost Ukraine's long-range missile reach Keir Starmer said “huge steps forward” had been taken this week to support Ukraine but there was “further we can do” on long-range capability as he described the UK as Kyiv’s “closest supporter and ally.” At the start of a bilateral meeting with the country’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the British prime minister said: Volodymyr, it’s really good to be able to welcome you here in Downing Street again for a really important meeting between the two of us, bilaterally, but also for the coalition of the willing. He added: Through seeing his majesty, through our meeting and through the coalition of the willing, we reaffirm again our support for you and Ukraine and our absolute commitment to meeting the challenge of Russian aggression. And whilst you have signalled the path for a way forward and shown that willingness of courage and determination, what we see from Putin is an absolute unwillingness to engage, in fact, the opposite, which is the continued attacks increasingly on civilians and on children and sadly I have to offer you my condolences again, as I did the last time we met and the time before, for those terrible losses. I do think that this week we can really bear down on Russian oil and gas. Huge steps forward this week already. I think there’s further we can do on capability, particularly … long-range capability, and of course, the vital work for coalition of the willing when it comes to the security guarantees that are necessary. So we’ve got really important business to go through with the coalition of the willing today, but it’s very good to be able to welcome you back. Updated at 2.31pm BST 1.15pm BST French government faces threat of censure over wealth tax A swing group in French parliament on Friday said that if a 2026 budget bill was not changed to include a tax on the supremely wealthy, it would vote down the government. Prime minister Sebastien Lecornu has promised to get an austerity budget through a divided parliament by the end of the year, after the legislature toppled his two predecessors over cost-cutting measures. Earlier this month, he agreed to suspend an unpopular pensions reform so the Socialists could help him survive a confidence vote in parliament. Lecornu has also pledged not to use a constitutional power to ram the budget bill into law without a vote as has been done in previous years. But the Socialists, a swing group in the hung National Assembly, have also demanded a tax on the ultra-rich, which Lecornu has refused and not included in the draft budget. A parliamentary commission earlier this week rejected the proposed budget 37 votes to 11, and it is to go to a debate in the lower house on Friday afternoon. The idea is to make people with at least 100 million euros in assets pay a minimum tax of two percent on that wealth. French economist Gabriel Zucman has said such a tax on the mega-wealthy could raise about 20 billion euros (£17.5bn) per year from just 1,800 households. Parliament could discuss a proposal from the left wing to add a so-called Zucman tax on Saturday. But the far right and government are against taxing professional assets, which this tax would target. The government instead wants to tax wealth management holdings with at least five million euros (£4.4m) in assets. The government expects to be able to raise 1 billion euros (£872m) from about 10,000 taxpayers with the measure. Socialist party leader Olivier Faure said his party would vote to oust Lecornu’s government if no levy was imposed on the uber-wealthy. “We need to tax the ultra-rich and mega-inheritances,” he said. “If there is no progress by Monday, it will be over.” 1.00pm BST Four dead, 12 wounded in blast at Ukraine train station A man detonated an explosive device as border guards checked documents at a railway station in northern Ukraine on Friday, killing himself and three women, the State Border Guard Service said. It said in a statement that 12 other people were hurt in the blast at the station in Ovruch, close to the border with Belarus, and that a border guard was among the dead, who were aged 29, 58 and 82. The man who detonated the explosive device was a 23-year-old resident of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine who had recently been detained for trying to cross the border, it said. It made no mention of any link with Russia’s war in Ukraine. 12.53pm BST Zelenskyy arrives at Downing Street Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived at Downing Street on Friday to meet prime minister Keir Starmer, and join other European leaders on a “coalition of the willing” call to discuss boosting Ukraine’s defences. Updated at 12.58pm BST 12.21pm BST Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries drive fuel price rise in Tajikistan, Reuters reports Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries are partly responsible for a rise in fuel prices in Tajikistan, three sources in the Central Asian country’s government told Reuters on Friday. “There is currently a gasoline shortage on the market, which has led to higher prices”, said a source in the Tajik government’s anti-monopoly service. The source said that contracted supplies from Russian producers were not arriving, linking it to strikes on Russian refineries that provide for many of Tajikistan’s fuel needs. Two other sources agreed. Reuters monitoring on Friday showed that fuel prices in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, had risen significantly since the beginning of October. The A-95 grade has risen by 3.54%, the AI-92 grade by 3.68%, diesel by 5.58%, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by 5.81%. One of the sources said that prices were even higher outside the capital. All five of Central Asia’s former Soviet republics, whose economies are tightly linked to Russia’s, have been rocked since 2022 by the economic fallout of Moscow’s war in Ukraine. 11.56am BST German foreign minister's visit to China postponed amid tensions A forthcoming trip by German foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, to China has been cancelled amid growing fears that Beijing’s restriction on semiconductor and rare earth exports could paralyse the country’s car industry. “We are postponing the journey to a later time,” the spokesperson told a regular press briefing on Friday. “The Chinese side was ultimately able to confirm only the appointment with the Chinese foreign minister, and could not confirm any other additional appointments,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said. It is not clear if the meeting was cancelled because senior officials from the European Commission have a meeting with counterparts from China next week. Yesterday the German car industry confirmed it had urgent talks with the economy ministry over the potential disruption to the car industry, the backbone of German manufacturing. Updated at 2.03pm BST 11.38am BST King Charles meets Zelenskyy at Windsor King Charles hosted president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Windsor on Friday, ahead of the Ukrainian leader’s latest talks with European leaders in London on how to increase pressure on Russia. It was the third time this year the 76-year-old monarch has hosted Zelenskyy, with the Ukrainian leader given a royal salute and his country’s national anthem played as he arrived at Windsor Castle, west of London. Zelensky next heads to Downing Street to meet prime minister Keir Starmer, before joining other European leaders on a so-called coalition of the willing call to discuss boosting Ukraine’s defences. 11.33am BST Senior EU officials to visit China next week for urgent talks A team of senior EU officials will meet Chinese counterparts next week for urgent talks aimed at disentangling Europe from the ongoing trade war between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. They are battling to persuade Beijing to ease the restrictions they have imposed on both exports of rare earths and semiconductors critical to car production. The meetings will take place on line and in person, sources have said. They follow a meeting of more than two hours this week between trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and commerce minister Wang Wentao earlier this week. The car industry warned on Thursday that China’s ban on exports of semiconductors made by Chinese owned Nexperia could halt production. The ban, which was taken in the wake of the Dutch government’s decision to take over Nexperia in Nijmegan, comes on top of recent restrictions Beijing imposed on rare earth exports. China has a stranglehold on global supplies of rare earths, and supplies could mean new cars cannot be finished if elements including magnets needed for window and boot openings and closings are choked off. Updated at 1.48pm BST 11.24am BST Russian president Vladimir Putin spoke by phone to Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, the Kremlin said on Friday, saying the two leaders had discussed their mutual desire to deepen trade and economic ties. They had also discussed their wish to implement joint energy and transport and logistics projects, the Kremlin said. Updated at 11.25am BST 11.04am BST Russia 'analysing' latest sanctions and will act according to its interests Russia is analysing the latest western sanctions, and will act according to its interests, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. Peskov told reporters: At the moment, we are analysing the sanctions that have been defined and announced, and, of course, we will do what best suits our interests. That’s the main thing in our actions. We are acting primarily not against someone else, we are acting for our own benefit. That’s what we will be doing. The US this week imposed sanctions on Russia’s largest oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft, and EU countries approved a 19th package of sanctions on Moscow for its war against Ukraine that included a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas imports. Updated at 11.22am BST 10.51am BST EU finds Meta and TikTok in breach of transparency obligations Instagram, TikTok and Facebook have breached EU law by failing to provide users with simple ways to flag illegal content including child sexual abuse material and terrorist content, the European Commission has said. In preliminary findings on Friday, the EU’s executive body said Meta, the $1.8tn California company that runs the social media services, had introduced unnecessary steps in processes for users to submit reports. It said both platforms appeared to use deceptive design – known as “dark patterns” – in the reporting mechanism in a way that could be “confusing and dissuading” to users. The commission found this amounted to a breach of the company’s obligations under the EU-wide Digital Services Act (DSA), and meant that “Meta’s mechanisms to flag and remove illegal content may be ineffective”. Meta denies it has breached the act. Read more: Related: Instagram and Facebook found in breach of EU law over flagging of illegal content 10.38am BST Russian forces take control of three villages in eastern Ukraine, says Russian ministry The Russian defence ministry said on Friday that its forces had taken control of three more villages in eastern Ukraine, Russian agencies reported. According to the ministry, Russian troops have taken Bolohivka in the Kharkiv region, Promin in the Donetsk region, as well as Zlagoda in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Earlier, the ministry also said its forces had captured the settlement of Dronivka in the Donetsk region. The Guardian cannot independently verify battlefield reports. Updated at 10.39am BST 9.44am BST Turkey: US and others must push Israel to stop violating Gaza ceasefire Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan said the United States and others must do more to push Israel to stop violating the Gaza ceasefire agreement, including the possible use of sanctions or halting arms sales. According to an official readout of his remarks to reporters aboard a return flight from Oman, Erdogan said the Palestinian militant group Hamas was abiding by the agreement. Erdogan told reporters on his return flight from a regional Gulf tour: As Turkey, we are doing our utmost for the ceasefire to be secured. The Hamas side is abiding by the ceasefire. In fact, it is openly stating its commitment to this. Israel, meanwhile, is continuing to violate the ceasefire. The international community, namely the United States, must do more to ensure Israel’s full compliance to the ceasefire and agreement,” he said, according to a transcript of his comments shared by his office on Friday. Israel must be forced to keep its promises via sanctions, halting of arms sales. Ankara has said that it would join a “taskforce” to oversee the implementation of the ceasefire, that its armed forces could serve in a military or civilian capacity as needed, and that it will play an active role in the reconstruction of the enclave. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted on Wednesday at his opposition to any role for Turkish security forces in the Gaza Strip. For more updates on the situation in Gaza, follow our Middle East liveblog here. Updated at 10.11am BST 9.23am BST Ireland votes for next president as polls predict landslide for Catherine Connolly Irish voters go to the polls on Friday to elect a new president, with final opinion polls predicting a landslide for Catherine Connolly, an outspoken leftwing independent who has captured the imagination of many younger people. An opinion poll on Thursday gave Connolly 40% versus 25% for her opponent, Heather Humphreys, a former cabinet minister. When the figures were adjusted for those who are undecided or plan to spoil their vote, Connolly had 55% and Humphreys 35%. Two polls earlier this week also gave Connolly, 68, a wide lead in the race to succeed Michael D Higgins, who has served two seven-year terms, and become Ireland’s 10th president. The presidency is a largely ceremonial office, but victory for the member of parliament from Galway would be a humbling rebuke to the centre-right government. It would also mark a triumph for an alliance of opposition leftwing parties – Sinn Féin, Labour, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit and the Greens – who forged a rare unity to jointly campaign for Connolly. While the role does not have the power to shape laws or policies, past presidents have been known to air their views on important issues. Higgins has spoken out on the war in Gaza and Nato spending, among other things. Related: Ireland votes for next president as polls predict landslide for Catherine Connolly 8.43am BST Zelenskyy to meet Starmer and ‘coalition of the willing’ to discuss further military support Ukrainian president Volodmyr Zelenskyy will travel to London on Friday for a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” hosted by prime minister Kier Starmer. Starmer intends to make the case for using frozen assets to fund Ukraine’s defences. Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds told LBC: We want to try and take Russian oil and gas off the global market. We want also to finish the job on the frozen Russian sovereign assets, essentially so we can use the them to unlock billions of pounds to fund Ukraine’s defences and, thirdly, supplying long-range capabilities. By that, I mean missiles to Ukraine going into the winter months, which obviously has jobs benefits here in the United Kingdom as well. But fundamentally it is about that message to Putin and action to ramp up the pressure. Because it is Putin who is playing for time, Putin who is the one who is not coming to the table and engaging. In other developments: Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever said on Thursday that his country needs concrete and solid guarantees before supporting a plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund a giant loan to Kyiv, pointing out that the plan is “uncharted territory”. Belgium’s position is critical, as the assets in question are held by Belgian financial institution Euroclear. “Can this (plan) be legal? That is a very good question … There are no clear answers,” De Wever told reporters after attending an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday. “We will in any case be buried in litigation. That seems like a certainty.”EU leaders did not reach an agreement on how to handle the frozen assets during the summit. The issue will be discussed further at the next EU summit in December. An overnight Ukrainian drone attack injured a young boy and four others in a Moscow suburb, Russian officials said Friday. The drone hit an apartment on the 14th floor of a residential building in Krasnogorsk, the governor of the Moscow region, Andrey Vorobyov, said on Telegram. Russia’s defence ministry meanwhile said it had downed 111 Ukrainian drones. Germany’s economy minister begins a visit to Ukraine on Friday to discuss how Berlin can bolster the country’s defences as its energy infrastructure confronts intensifying Russian attacks. Hungary is working on finding a way to “circumvent” US sanctions on Russian oil companies, prime minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview with state radio Kossuth on Friday. Orban also said that he has talked to Hungary’s oil and gas company MOL on the topic. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Russia for the first time in his second term, targeting Lukoil and Rosneft, signifying a major shift in his approach to ending the war. Vladimir Putin has said Russia will never bow to US pressure but conceded new sanctions could cause some economic pain, as China and India were reported to be scaling back Russian oil imports after Washington targeted Moscow’s two largest producers. The Russian leader on Thursday described the US sanctions as an “unfriendly act that does nothing to strengthen Russian-American relations” and “an attempt to put pressure on Russia”, which he said was futile. “No self-respecting country ever does anything under pressure,” Putin added in comments to Russian journalists. Updated at 11.26am BST