Here is how things stand on Friday, September 26:

Fighting

• Ukrainian naval drones hit Russian ports in Novorossiysk and Tuapse on Wednesday, causing the temporary suspension of operations by Russia’s oil pipeline monopoly Transneft’s oil terminals at the sites, according to a Ukrainian intelligence source.
• A drone was downed and detonated approximately 800m (some 0.5 miles) from the perimeter of the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant in the Mykolaiv region after 22 Russian drones were observed in the vicinity of the plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.
• Russian state news agency TASS claimed that Ukraine attempted an attack on the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in western Russia – one of the biggest nuclear plants in the country.
• Ukraine’s northern city of Chernihiv and surrounding districts are facing major power cuts after a Russian attack on critical infrastructure, affecting approximately 30,000 consumers, a local official said.

Regional security

• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for “effective deterrence” by NATO in response to repeated airspace violations by Russia and reiterated the military alliance’s commitment to use “all necessary military and non-military tools” to defend itself.
• NATO’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte has backed United States President Donald Trump’s comments this week that NATO member countries should shoot down Russian drones and planes if they enter their airspace.
• Romanian Defence Minister Ionut Mosteanu said European states must respond “firmly but proportionally” to provocations, such as having their national airspace violated, adding that Romania’s top defence council agreed on a clear chain of command response in case of airspace breaches by manned and unmanned aircraft.
• German defence conglomerate Rheinmetall plans to build a new ammunition plant in Latvia, expanding the capability of the Baltic nation bordering Russia to defend itself militarily as European countries race to increase their defence capabilities in the wake of Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

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Politics and diplomacy

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would be ready to step down from his position when the war with Russia is over, he told the Axios news site.
• Trump said NATO’s relationship with the US was the strongest it has ever been, speaking from the White House on Thursday during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
• Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban held a phone call with Trump to discuss energy security in Central Europe, as the prime minister explained to the US president that Hungary’s energy supply cannot be guaranteed without Russian gas and oil imports.

Peace talks

• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow assumed the Trump administration still maintained the political will to find a solution to the war with Ukraine, and that Russia was ready to engage in peace negotiations.
• Peskov’s comment comes just days after Trump abruptly shifted his rhetoric and said he believed Kyiv could recapture all of its land taken by Russia.