An extraordinary Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council is to be held today in Brussels. EU Energy Ministers are expected to discuss options to reign in soaring energy prices including gas price caps. Most member states are against the measure, because there is no clarity on the economic consequences, Reuters reported, referring to diplomatic sources in Brussels.

The Energy Ministers will approve the decision to suspend a visa facilitation regime with Russia in a standard formal procedure, the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU said for the BNR.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensly said in an evening address that the Defense Forces of Ukraine have liberated more than a thousand square kilometers of Ukrainian territory since the beginning of September. According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Ukrainian troops have liberated more than 20 settlements in the Kharkiv direction and penetrated the enemy’s defense to a depth of up to 50 kilometers.

Sir Lawrence Freedman, Professor of War Studies at King’s College London said for the BNR that Ukrainian troops had broken through Russian defensive lines near Kharkiv, because they took the Russian military command by surprise.