Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Russia concluded their first in-person summit in eight years on Thursday with a commitment to strengthen energy ties, expand trade and investment, and pursue long-term commercial partnerships aimed at diversifying supply sources and reducing exposure to market shocks.

The agreement comes as many Southeast Asian economies grapple with the impact of supply disruptions stemming from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy transit route. The region remains heavily dependent on Middle Eastern crude, with around 60% of Southeast Asia’s crude oil imports originating from the Gulf.

In a joint statement issued after the summit, ASEAN and Russia voiced concern over rising global energy insecurity driven by geopolitical tensions, supply-chain disruptions and market volatility. The two sides also agreed to enhance crisis preparedness, cooperate on energy-transition initiatives and expand engagement in civilian nuclear energy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hosted ASEAN leaders in Kazan, said Moscow was prepared to increase exports of value-added products to Southeast Asian markets, including fertilizers, pharmaceuticals and energy resources.

“Of course, we remain committed to supplying our Asian friends with food products and energy resources, which have been enjoying so much demand,” Putin said at a joint press conference with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The energy partnership has gained urgency as regional economies face higher fuel costs and supply constraints. The Philippines, for example, imports more than 90% of its crude oil requirements from Gulf producers, leaving it particularly exposed to disruptions in Middle Eastern supply routes.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono said ASEAN viewed Russia as an important partner in strengthening regional energy resilience and broadening access to alternative sources of supply.

“We seek cooperation that diversifies our sources, strengthens our supply chains, and shields our region from external shocks,” Sugiono told the summit’s plenary session.

Analysts said Russia’s role as a major energy exporter could become increasingly attractive for Southeast Asian governments seeking to mitigate risks associated with geopolitical instability in traditional supply regions.

Chester Calabaza, founding president of the Manila-based International Development and Security Cooperation think tank, said the recent disruption to Middle Eastern energy flows had increased interest in Russian supplies among ASEAN economies pursuing broader energy-security strategies.

Russia’s outreach to ASEAN comes as Moscow seeks to deepen economic engagement with Asia and expand markets for its energy exports, while Southeast Asian governments look to diversify procurement channels amid heightened uncertainty in global energy markets.

Addressing EU leaders during a summit in Brussels, Zelensky said Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s invasion was central to the continent’s future and that rapid integration into the European Union would provide the strongest long-term guarantee for European stability and security.

“The future of Europe — free, united and of course in peace — is being decided in our defense,” Zelensky said in excerpts of his remarks released on social media.

The Ukrainian leader acknowledged that support for an accelerated accession process was not unanimous among EU member states. Hungary, one of Kyiv’s most vocal critics within the bloc, opposed language endorsing a faster membership track and secured its removal from the European Council’s final statement.

“The most important such step — I know that not everyone loves this — could be a fast-track path for Ukraine to join the EU,” Zelensky said.

The European Council’s statement welcomed the launch of accession negotiations with Ukraine and said it looked forward to opening additional negotiating chapters under the bloc’s merit-based enlargement framework. However, it omitted any commitment to speeding up the process.

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on X that Budapest had succeeded in deleting references to accelerated accession from the summit conclusions.

“It wasn’t easy,” Magyar wrote.

The debate over Ukraine’s EU ambitions unfolded as Kyiv intensified its long-range military campaign against Russia. Earlier on Thursday, Ukrainian drones struck targets deep inside Russian territory, including an oil refinery in Moscow, in one of the latest attacks aimed at critical infrastructure.

Zelensky cited Ukraine’s ability to conduct long-range strikes as evidence of its military capabilities during meetings this week with U.S. President Donald Trump and other Group of Seven leaders in France.

In separate comments posted on Telegram, Zelensky reiterated Kyiv’s goal of ending the war before the end of 2026, while acknowledging the challenges of negotiating with Moscow.

“Of course, we want to end this war before winter — through diplomacy and by putting pressure on Russia. But we understand who we’re dealing with,” he said.

Referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelensky said Ukraine needed continued military and energy support should the conflict continue through another winter. He called for additional air-defense missiles, fuel supplies, energy equipment and a package of at least 300 missiles.

The Ukrainian president also urged European partners to strengthen financial support for Kyiv’s armed forces and called for the release of 6 billion euros from the European Peace Facility, an EU mechanism designed to support international security and defense efforts.

EU ambassadors agreed last week to advance membership negotiations with both Ukraine and Moldova, opening discussions on the first of six policy and legal clusters that candidate countries must complete before joining the bloc.

Ukraine’s latest drone attacks came amid escalating exchanges between Kyiv and Moscow. Ukrainian officials described the strike on Moscow’s refinery as retaliation for an attack that damaged a nearly 1,000-year-old monastery, an allegation Russia has denied.

Zelensky maintained that Ukraine remained open to direct talks with Putin but urged European governments to sustain sanctions pressure and financial assistance.

“Europe has to be engaged for us to have a strong position, to commit fully on sanctions without loopholes, on confiscation without exceptions and on funding Ukraine,” he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after Thursday’s attacks that Moscow would continue carrying out what he described as massive coordinated strikes against Ukrainian targets on a regular basis.

Kyiv’s military administration said four people were killed and 23 wounded in the capital, including a child, after overnight attacks involving ballistic missiles and waves of Shahed drones.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said five emergency responders were killed in Kharkiv after they were hit by a second strike while battling a fire caused by an earlier attack. At least five other rescuers were wounded.

Authorities said powerful explosions were reported across Kyiv overnight, with civilian infrastructure heavily damaged. Several strikes hit residential areas in the city’s Shevchenkivskyi district, including a 25-story apartment building, while a market and grocery store also caught fire.

A nine-story residential building in the Obolonskyi district was also damaged after being directly hit.

Kyiv officials accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilian areas, while Moscow has continued to carry out long-range missile and drone attacks during the ongoing war.

The strikes also caused major damage at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of Ukraine’s most important religious landmarks.

Officials said a major fire broke out at the historic monastic complex, while Metropolitan Epiphanius, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, said the roof of the Dormition Cathedral was damaged.

The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, also known as the Monastery of the Caves, dates back to the 11th century and includes churches, monasteries and underground caves. It has long been considered a major religious and cultural center in Eastern Europe.

The latest attacks came as Russia and Ukraine remain locked in a war that has entered its fifth year, with Moscow continuing strikes against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

Trump’s call with Putin lasted nearly an hour, according to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, who said the US president emphasized the need to end hostilities and was prepared to encourage European allies and Kyiv toward that goal.

Ushakov said Putin argued that Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure would not alter the battlefield situation and said that if Zelensky wanted to meet, he should travel to Moscow.

The discussions also included Iran, with Trump saying an agreement with Tehran was close and that details could soon be made public, Ushakov said.

Zelensky said he had a “wonderful conversation” with Trump and thanked him for supporting Ukraine. He said the two leaders discussed steps that could help move toward peace and agreed to continue discussions during the G7 summit.

The diplomatic contacts came as fighting continued. Ukrainian drone attacks killed two people in Russia’s Oryol and Bryansk regions, according to local authorities. A separate drone strike hit fuel storage facilities in Russia’s Yaroslavl region, causing fires.

Zelensky said the Yaroslavl strike targeted an oil facility important to Russia’s reserves. Ukraine has increased attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, arguing that the sector supports Moscow’s war effort.

The calls took place as Trump prepared to travel to France for the G7 summit, where Ukraine is expected to be a major issue. Zelensky is scheduled to join discussions with world leaders.

The conflict has remained a challenge for Trump, who previously said he could end the war quickly but has since shifted focus toward broader diplomatic efforts.

Separately, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the United Kingdom detained a tanker suspected of being part of Russia’s “shadow fleet,” vessels accused of helping evade sanctions linked to the war.

British forces boarded the tanker Smyrtos in the English Channel in cooperation with French authorities. Starmer said the operation was aimed at increasing pressure on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The meeting followed a summit in London earlier this week attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of Britain, France and Germany. During the gathering, the three European countries expressed support for Kyiv’s proposal for direct talks with Moscow aimed at ending more than four years of conflict.

French Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere described the discussions at Russia’s Foreign Ministry as constructive and told reporters that a joint statement would be released later in the day.

Russia, however, characterized the talks differently, saying the ambassadors were informed of what Moscow described as the “destructive” Ukraine policies of their governments. The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Britain, France and Germany of seeking to prolong the conflict at Europe’s expense.

The diplomatic contact comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected a proposal by Zelensky this month for a face-to-face meeting intended to advance peace negotiations.

At the London summit, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz endorsed Zelensky’s initiative and said the current battlefield positions should serve as a starting point for future negotiations.

Western European diplomats have had limited direct engagement with Russian authorities since Moscow launched its full-scale offensive against Ukraine. Contacts have largely been confined to formal summonses and diplomatic exchanges through established channels.

The meeting also reflects growing discussion within parts of Europe about whether renewed dialogue with Moscow could help create conditions for ending the conflict, which remains Europe’s largest war since World War Two.

Efforts led by the United States to broker a settlement have so far failed to produce a breakthrough. Diplomatic attention has also been increasingly diverted by the conflict involving Iran, complicating international attempts to advance negotiations on Ukraine.

Russia has generally preferred discussing the war with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and has repeatedly signaled opposition to a larger European role in any future settlement process.

Britain, France and Germany remain among Ukraine’s principal military, financial and diplomatic supporters and have consistently backed Kyiv throughout the conflict.

Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said the meeting took place in the Kremlin in a tête-à-tête format but declined to provide details of the discussion.

Schroeder, who served as Germany’s chancellor from 1998 to 2005, has maintained close ties with Putin and later worked for Russian state energy companies, drawing criticism in Germany and across Europe.

The meeting comes weeks after Putin suggested Schroeder could serve as a partner in discussions on future European security arrangements. The proposal was swiftly rejected by European Union officials, with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas arguing that Schroeder could not act as a neutral intermediary.

Ushakov also said Russia maintains numerous informal international contacts and disclosed that a future visit to Moscow by U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner is being prepared, although no dates have been finalized.

The developments occur amid continuing diplomatic efforts related to the conflict in Ukraine and broader tensions between Russia and the West.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian newspaper Izvestia that the letter had been delivered to Putin overnight after first appearing in the media.

“Yes, overnight we already handed over the written version. What came from the media was passed on to the president, and he has reviewed it. The president has been briefed,” Peskov said.

Zelensky published the open letter on Thursday, calling for direct talks with Putin aimed at reaching an agreement to end the conflict. He said Ukraine remained prepared to continue fighting if no diplomatic breakthrough could be achieved.

The Ukrainian leader also sought to increase pressure on the Kremlin by arguing that Russians were growing weary of both the war and Putin’s leadership.

Peskov indicated that Putin could address the letter publicly later on Friday during a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, one of Russia’s flagship annual economic gatherings.

The Kremlin has not yet provided a formal response to Zelensky’s proposal or indicated whether Putin would consider a direct meeting with the Ukrainian president.

The exchange comes as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict remain stalled and fighting continues more than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

China and North Korea announced on Friday that Xi will make a state visit from Monday to Tuesday, where he is expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The visit comes as North Korea deepens military and political cooperation with Russia and a day after Pyongyang unveiled a new facility that South Korea’s military assessed as a uranium enrichment plant.Analysts say Beijing is seeking to reinforce its influence in North Korea as Kim expands ties with Moscow while continuing to advance his nuclear weapons program.

Xi and Kim last met in Beijing in September, where they pledged closer cooperation. China remains North Korea’s largest trading partner and key economic supporter despite international sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile activities.

The trip will be Xi’s first visit to North Korea in nearly seven years and highlights the strategic importance both countries place on maintaining close ties amid shifting geopolitical dynamics in Northeast Asia.

Speaking to reporters in Limassol, Kallas said the debate over appointing a European envoy for potential peace talks with Russia risked distracting the bloc from maintaining pressure on Moscow and supporting Kyiv. Her remarks came as discussions within Europe intensified over whether and how to re-engage diplomatically with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“It’s a trap that Russia wants us to walk into, that we discuss who talks to them, and they are already picking who is suitable, who is not,” Kallas said. “Let’s not walk into that trap.”

The meeting of EU foreign ministers took place against a shifting geopolitical backdrop, with U.S. President Donald Trump increasingly focused on tensions involving Iran while European officials assessed signs that Putin’s position may be weakening after more than four years of war in Ukraine.

Speculation over possible European negotiators has grown in recent weeks after Putin suggested former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, a longtime ally of the Kremlin leader, could serve in such a role. The proposal was widely rejected across Europe.Several ministers attending the Cyprus talks argued that the European Union should nonetheless prepare for a future negotiating role.

Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said Kyiv expected the bloc to organize itself politically and diplomatically for eventual talks with Moscow.“We should now get ready,” Meinl-Reisinger said, adding that she would push for the EU “to appoint a chief negotiator” capable of representing European interests and coordinating with Ukraine.

Other ministers cautioned against shifting focus away from sanctions, military assistance and diplomatic pressure on Russia. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said the immediate priority should remain increasing costs for Moscow rather than debating representation.“This is not a time when we are discussing who is going to have the negotiations,” Budrys said.

“We have to discuss what we are doing to put additional pressure on Russia.”Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna warned that Europe risked undermining its own position if it moved too quickly toward the role of neutral intermediary. He said the bloc should continue pursuing what he described as “strategic patience” while supporting Ukraine’s objectives.

“Of course we can find, if the time is right, who’s going to represent Europe,” Tsahkna said. “But this is a trap now that Putin wants to bring Europe in.”He added that no immediate breakthrough in negotiations appeared likely.

“Whoever would like to go right now this guy is not going to have a Nobel Prize, because there won’t be any serious talks,” he said.

Authorities in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro said Russian forces launched missiles, drones and artillery strikes that killed two civilians and wounded six others.

Regional officials also reported additional casualties in the northeastern Sumy region and the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, where 13 more people, including three children, were injured.
Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of targeting civilian areas, allegations both sides deny.

At the same time, Ukrainian drone attacks struck several Russian regions overnight, targeting industrial zones and energy infrastructure that Kyiv views as critical to Moscow’s war financing capabilities.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defense systems intercepted 273 Ukrainian drones across the country overnight, according to state news agency TASS.

In Russia’s southern Stavropol region, Governor Vladimir Vladimirov said drones targeted industrial facilities near Nevinnomyssk, home to the large chemical producer Nevinnomyssky Azot, which has previously been attacked during the conflict.

Authorities in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region also reported drone activity near the city of Kstovo, where one of Lukoil’s major oil refineries is located.
Additional drone interceptions were reported over the Leningrad region, which hosts one of Russia’s largest oil export terminals and refinery complexes, as well as near Moscow and the Tula region south of the capital.

Regional officials in Belgorod, near the Ukrainian border, said an ambulance driver was injured during attacks in the area.

Ukraine has intensified long-range drone operations against Russian oil infrastructure in recent months, seeking to disrupt fuel supplies and reduce energy export revenues that support Moscow’s military operations.

The latest strikes coincided with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China, one of Russia’s largest energy customers and a key economic partner since Western sanctions intensified following the invasion of Ukraine.

The conflict has increasingly evolved into a war of attrition marked by missile barrages, drone warfare and attacks on strategic infrastructure far from the front lines.