Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Sunday progress had been made at the UAE talks, with further meetings to take place as early as this week.

Posting on X, Zelensky thanked countries across Europe for their continued support. “Our call is simple: this unity must be 100 percent effective. Not halfway. Not for a few months a year. Not until the next elections in one European country or another. But fully effective. Not what is convenient. Not what feels acceptable. But as much as is required to work – so that there is no threat to Europe or to any of our nations,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, according to Portfolio, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Sunday called the European Union’s political leadership incompetent in efforts to diplomatically resolve the conflict in Ukraine and ruled out talks with Kaia Kallas, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Russian attacks continue, with Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko telling press yesterday that 1,300 buildings in the capital were left without heating as a result of Russian strikes.

An important conversation with the Presidents of Lithuania and Poland. It is very important right now to unite our efforts and cooperate as closely as possible. We discussed energy support for Ukraine, strengthening our air defense, including the production of interceptors, and… pic.twitter.com/kkawlfn8eT

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 25, 2026

Europe continues to prep defenses against Russian attacks as well. Over in Finland, the Finnish Border Guard, together with other Baltic Sea states and the European Commission, will establish a maritime observation center to protect critical underwater infrastructure in the Gulf of Finland, the Finnish Border Guard said on Monday.

Competent authorities must have the capacity and authority to intervene in situations occurring in the coastal zone and the exclusive economic zone,” the agency announced in a statement.

Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, sabotage actions against undersea cables have increased in the wider Baltic Sea region, with suspicions that they are mostly carried out on the orders of Moscow.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Moscow launched an attack against Ukraine with a total of 138 drones by dawn on Monday, of which air defenses neutralized 110.

Denis Pushilin, the pro-Russian head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), says that Russian forces have largely surrounded Konstantinovka in Donetsk Oblast.

On yet another front, Zelensky met with Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya for the first time during his visit to Vilnius, where he commemorated the victims of the January Uprising of 1863-1864 when Poles attempted to gain their independence from Russian rule, which lasted some 100 years, until WWI. The Kingdom of Poland at that time spread across present-day Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, and Lithuania. The ceremony in Vilnius was also attended by Polish President Karol Nawrocki and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.

“We honored the memory of those who were killed during the January Uprising of 1863-1864 – an uprising of the Ukrainian, Polish, Lithuanian, and Belarusian peoples against the Russian Empire and oppression,” he posted.

Vilnius. Rasos Cemetery.

We honored the memory of those who were killed during the January Uprising of 1863-1864 – an uprising of the Ukrainian, Polish, Lithuanian, and Belarusian peoples against the Russian Empire and oppression.

Generations before us fought so that we could… pic.twitter.com/uhWWddQxI7

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 25, 2026

“Generations before us fought so that we could exist. Our people are fighting so that our children and our grandchildren, and their children and grandchildren, can exist – and live in peace. So that what matters is not one person sitting on a throne in Russia, but every one of our nations and every human life. This is the European rule: people matter. Nations matter. Cultures matter. Russia does not matter – because anyone who stands against peoples has always lost historically,” Zelensky wrote.

According to independent analysts, Tsikhanouskaya may have won the 2020 Belarusian presidential election, which was allegedly rigged by incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko, who then crushed the nationwide protests that followed with Russian help. Tsikhanouskaya has since lived in exile in Lithuania.

And the Freedom Party (FPÖ) in Austria has decried continued humanitarian support for Ukraine. Michael Schnedlitz, Secretary General of the FPÖ, called for an immediate halt to aid to Ukraine on Sunday, fiercely criticizing the Austrian Foreign Ministry’s previous announcement that humanitarian aid would be increased by an additional €3 million.

“Not a single euro can continue to flow,” emphasized the FPÖ Secretary General, who also demanded the resignation of Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger, a politician from the New Austria and Liberal Forum (NEOS).