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Energy situation in Ukraine has ‘significantly worsened,’ grid operator warns
Ukraine’s grid operator said the energy situation had “significantly” worsened in the morning after recent Russian air attacks, adding that several power generation facilities were undergoing emergency repairs, Reuters reported.
In a statement, Ukrenergo added that emergency power outages were in force in most regions of the country and that it hoped repairs would be completed in “the near future“.
Key events
Ireland’s deputy prime minister warns that the tariff conversation is unlikely to be over
Europe came “extraordinarily close” to an economic catastrophe this week after Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on six EU nations, the UK and Norway from next month over opposition to the US taking over Greenland.
That’s according to Ireland’s deputy prime minister Simon Harris, who added that it would be “foolish” to assume that Donald Trump will not threaten tariffs again during his tenure.
The US president withdrew the threat after announcing a framework deal on Arctic security at Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday night. But Harris said that “fundamental issues of concern” remain and warned it was a “wake-up call” for Europe.
He said:
“We have seen a situation where in a very short period of time, the threat of additional tariffs on European Union member states was levied, and indeed for the first time, the conflation of trade tariffs with sovereignty and with territory.”
Speaking to reporters at Government Buildings in Dublin after a trade forum attended by industry figures, Harris said he had asked officials in the Finance department to carry out economic “scenario planning.”
He also reiterated something we’ve heard across the week at Davos – that the EU needs to “really accelerate actions to become more self-reliant” on defence and the economy.
According to PA, he also defended the bloc’s approach to defending Greenland against US threats of annexation, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy harsh words for European leaders at Davos.
During a speech on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum summit, he said that “Europe looks lost” and still does not know how to defend itself.
“I have great respect for President Zelensky, I certainly don’t think that’s what happened,” Harris said.
Jakub Krupa
That’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, but Aneesa Ahmed is here to take you through the afternoon in Europe.
Energy situation in Ukraine has ‘significantly worsened,’ grid operator warns
Ukraine’s grid operator said the energy situation had “significantly” worsened in the morning after recent Russian air attacks, adding that several power generation facilities were undergoing emergency repairs, Reuters reported.
In a statement, Ukrenergo added that emergency power outages were in force in most regions of the country and that it hoped repairs would be completed in “the near future“.
Denmark’s Frederiksen lands in Greenland for political talks amid Trump interest
And in the last few minutes, Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen has landed in Nuuk, Greenland for her talks with the territory’s leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
She will no doubt debrief him on her talks with Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte earlier (10:15) as they try to figure out the way forward amid Donald Trump’s continued interest in the territory.
In their public comments in the last 48 hours, both Frederiksen and Nielsen repeatedly stated that territorial integrity and sovereignty remain their red lines in any talks with the US, while saying they’d be open to talk about strengthening the security of the Arctic region.
It is not exactly clear what sort of deal Trump had in mind when he changed his language on Greenland on Wednesday night after meeting with Nato’s Rutte. His later explanations weren’t particularly insightful as to what the new deal with Denmark and Nato could actually involve.
Frederiksen told reporters that she may speak with them a bit later, so worth keeping an eye on this.
Meloni and Merz meet for talks in Rome as they push to reform EU together
Meanwhile, in other news, Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni is hosting German chancellor Friedrich Merz in Rome today for the latest round of Italian-German government consultations.
Merz has travelled to the Italian capital directly from Brussels and will be joined by as many as 10 ministers as the two governments want to discuss their economic cooperation, what can be done to tackle illegal migration, and how to reform the EU to make it more competitive.
The two countries also want to work on securing their supply chain for raw materials.
Some experts see the emerging close partnership between Rome and Berlin as a potential new power couple in the EU, ahead of next month’s informal leaders’ retreat on competitiveness.
During his Davos speech on Thursday, Merz said he worked with Meloni to “formulate a set of proposals” on how the EU should change to tackle what they see as excessive red tape holding up “a fast and dynamic Europe.”
Both are also known to have good relations with the US president, Donald Trump, with Meloni in particular being credited for keeping open channels of communications with him during the Greenland crisis.
They will be speaking at a press conference later this afternoon, so it might be worth keeping an eye on what they will say.
If I’d pitched Trump’s Greenland plot for Borgen I’d have been laughed at. Now we’re living his sinister drama – opinion
Adam Price
The creator of the hit Danish TV series Borgen
As a writer of political fiction for many years, including four seasons of my TV series Borgen, I find myself in the strangest of landscapes watching Donald Trump desperately wanting Greenland like a spoilt child who has never heard the word “no”.
We dedicated an episode to Greenland in the first season in 2010 and then it became the main setting for the fourth season in 2022. Our focus on this former colony of Denmark, and its amazing Indigenous people, was motivated by one big factor. For political drama I always look for stories with emotion, and the old colonial tale of Denmark and Greenland is full of it. …
We really tried to create a dramatic plot that would seem credible yet take the Arctic tension further than had been done before. And we find ourselves completely overtaken by the theatre of the absurd played out by the Trump administration.
Had I ever suggested a storyline involving an American president who becomes obsessed by the thought of owning Greenland, to the extent that he is willing to sacrifice Nato and use mob methods to bully allies into compliance, I would have been laughed out of any pitching session.
Now we are living this nightmare.
…
It is bizarre how accustomed we have become to a US president who openly lies, distorts facts and is utterly ignorant about history. (Leaving aside that he confused Iceland with Greenland in his speech.)
Trump claimed that Europeans alone benefit from Nato and said he doubted anyone would come to the aid of the US. Yet the only country that has ever called for help invoking Nato’s Article 5 is the US after 9/11. Europe immediately responded. Denmark, along with the UK and other Nato allies, sent troops to Afghanistan. Denmark lost more soldiers per head than any other country in the coalition apart from the US. How utterly insulting for the families, still mourning their dead, to hear the ingratitude of a US president so ignorant of their loss.
In Greenland, people are genuinely afraid of the madness coming out of the White House. So are the Danes. But if anything good has come out of this, it is that Danish and the Greenlandic people stand more united than ever. Danes fully support Greenlanders’ right to Greenland and to decide their own destiny.
Read Adam Price’s comment in full:
Trump’s Nato Afghanistan comments spark angry reactions
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s comments claiming that Nato soldiers “stayed little back” in Afghanistan (Europe Live yesterday) sparked angry reactions across Europe.
In the interview with Fox News yesterday, Trump said: “We’ve never needed them. They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan … and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the frontlines.”
Poland’s deputy prime minister, defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said this morning that Poland stood “shoulder to shoulder” with partners, including in Iraq and Afghanistan.
More than 33,000 Polish soldiers served in Afghanistan, with 44 killed in line of service.
“The tragic moments in which our soldiers gave their lives prove that we are prepared to pay the ultimate price for international and national security. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten and must not be diminished,” he said.
Trump’s comments were also widely picked up in the UK, with defence secretary John Healey reminding Trump that “more than 450 British personnel lost their lives in Afghanistan.”
“Those British troops should be remembered for who they were: heroes who gave their lives in service of our nation,” he said.
Russia ‘deliberately’ wants to deprive Ukrainians of energy, heat to ‘break spirit’, but ‘will fail,’ EU says
The European Commission has offered a bit more detail on the deployment of 447 emergency generators from EU reserves to Ukraine, mentioned in the earlier post (12:33).
“The generators – mobilised from rescEU strategic reserves hosted in Poland – will be distributed by the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine in cooperation with the Ukrainian Red Cross to the most affected communities.
The EU will not let Russia freeze Ukraine into submission and will continue helping Ukrainians get through this winter.”
EU commissioner for preparedness and crisis management Hadja Lahbib said that “Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure are deliberately depriving civilians of heat, light and basic services in the middle of harsh winter.”
They are designed to break Ukrainian spirit. They will fail.
“Europe responds with action, not words. The new shipment of generators is already on the way, adding to more than 9,500 EU-provided generators already providing power across Ukraine,” she said.
Separately, commission spokesperson Eva Hrncirova said:
We won’t let Russia freeze Ukraine. We bring light and warmth where Russia sends darkness.
Germany doubts Russia is ready to move away from maximalist territorial demands in Ukraine peace talks
Germany expressed doubts that Moscow would be willing to compromise to end the Ukraine war at three-way talks to be held in the United Arab Emirates between Ukrainian, Russian and US envoys, AFP reported.
“There are still major questions about the extent to which Russia is really willing to move away from its maximalist demands,” government spokesperson Steffen Meyer said, shortly after Moscow made clear it was still demanding that Kyiv withdraw from the Donbas.
Poland sends power generators to Ukraine to help amid outages caused by Russian strikes
Jakub Krupa
Meanwhile, Poland has begun sending hundreds of generators to Ukraine to help the wartorn country respond to regular energy outages caused by Russian airstrikes on critical infrastructure as the country faces a particularly bitter winter.
Poland’s interior minister Marcin Kierwiński said the generators, owned by the government’s strategic reserves agency, will leave Poland already today.
Another 447 power generators will be provided from EU reserves, and a further 90 generators were donated by the Polish capital, Warsaw, for Ukraine’s Kyiv.
The move comes after days of dramatic warnings about the worsening situation in the country, with hundreds of thousands of Kyiv’s residents reportedly leaving the city amid prolonger energy and heat outages as temperatures plummeted well below -10 Celcius.
During his Davos speech on Thursday, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was deliberately targeting Ukraine’s critical infrastructure to “cause blackouts” and affect civilians. “This is the face of Russia, and, really, this is the face of this war,” he said.
Separately, a public fundraiser to buy even more generators for Ukraine was close to hitting 6m PLN (£1.2m, €1.42m) on Friday morning. “For us, it is a gesture of support – for them, a real chance to survive the winter,” the organisers said.
Poland has been one of Ukraine’s closest allies during the nearly four years of the Russian aggression, with over million Ukrainians finding permanent refuge in the country.
Danish troops were ordered to be combat ready in case of US attack on Greenland – media report
Troops sent to Greenland by Copenhagen were ordered to be combat ready in case the United States attacked the autonomous Danish territory, Danish public broadcaster DR reported.
DR said a Danish military order last week said soldiers in Greenland should be equipped with live ammunition, AFP said.
DR said the order described “a multi-phase operation” that includes the possibility of sending even more soldiers and military capabilities later.
The broadcaster chose not to reveal the plans in detail.
Nordic prime ministers had been working on unity trip to Greenland, Norway says
Back to Greenland, there is an interesting report in the Norwegian press, saying that while Frederiksen is travelling to Greenland this morning, initially she was meant to go there together with the other Nordic prime ministers of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland in a strong show of unity against the US pressure.
Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre told NRK that the joint visit had been postponed after Trump’s U-turn on tariffs and pledge to not use force to take control of Greenland, with further talks expected through Nato channels – but he didn’t rule out it happening at a later date.
Kremlin repeats demand that Ukraine must pull out of Donbas for peace talks to progress
Meanwhile, the Kremlin repeated its demand that Kyiv must withdraw its forces from the eastern Donbas region for the war to end, showing it had not dropped its maximalist demands ahead of trilateral talks with the US and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi, AFP reported.
“Russia’s position is well known on the fact that Ukraine, the Ukrainian armed forces, have to leave the territory of the Donbas. They must be withdrawn from there,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding: “This is a very important condition.”
French foreign minister to travel to Greenland in coming weeks in show of support
French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot will travel to Greenland in the coming weeks to show France’s support for the territory amid interest from Donald Trump.
Speaking on BMF/RMC, he said the date is yet to be confirmed, but Le Figaro speculated the visit could coincide with the opening of the French consulate there on 6 February.
Barrot also repeated that France stands behind Denmark and Greenland and insists their sovereignty over the territory is “indivisible.”
Trump has been pushing for peace settlement for months, but sticking points remain – analysis
Jonathan Yerushalmy
The Trump administration has been pushing for a peace settlement, with its envoys shuttling between Kyiv and Moscow in a flurry of negotiations that some worry could force Ukraine into an unfavourable deal.
The US president, Donald Trump, said on Wednesday that Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy would be “stupid” if they failed to come together and get a deal done.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, US envoy Steve Witkoff said one major issue remained to be resolved in the negotiations, without saying what it was.
Zelenskyy said the future status of land currently occupied by Russia in the east of the country was unresolved but peace proposals were “nearly ready”. Both sides have previously highlighted the issue of territory as crucial. In particular, Putin has demanded that Ukraine surrender the 20% it still holds of the eastern region of Donetsk. Zelenskyy has refused to give up land that Ukraine has successfully defended since 2022 through grinding, costly attritional warfare.
Russia also demands that Ukraine renounce its ambition to join Nato, and rejects any presence of Nato troops on Ukrainian soil after a peace deal.
Speaking overnight, Trump repeated that both Putin and Zelenskyy wanted to reach a deal and that “everyone’s making concessions” to try to end the war.
He said the sticking points in talks had remained the same over the past six or seven months, noting “boundaries” were a key issue. “The main hold-up is the same things that’s been holding it up for the last year,” he said.
Nato’s Rutte meets with Denmark’s Frederiksen for talks over Greenland
Meanwhile, Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte met this morning with Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen to discuss the latest developments on Greenland, including Rutte’s meeting with US president Donald Trump in Davos, which seemingly led to him dropping his threats against European countries on tariffs.
Their talks took place just hours after the overnight emergency EU summit in Brussels, which also focused on the bloc’s response to the worsening EU-US relations as a result of Trump’s ambitions over Greenland.
Posting a snap from the meeting, Rutte said in a social media post that they are “working together to ensure that the whole of Nato is safe & secure and will build on our cooperation to enhance deterrence & defence in the Arctic.”
“Denmark continues to make robust contributions to our shared security and is ramping up investment to do even more,” he added.
For her part, Frederiksen said that “we agree that Nato must increase its engagement in the Arctic,” adding that “defence and security in the Arctic is a matter for the entire alliance.”
She is expected to travel from Brussels to Greenland to meet with Greenlandic prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, in a further show of support for the territory.
Meanwhile, Denmark’s foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said that further discussions with the US on strengthening the Arctic could start “fairly quickly,” but without too much media attention, arguing it was needed to “take the drama out of it.”
Morning opening: Can Ukraine see breakthrough in talks with Russia this weekend?
Jakub Krupa
With a (temporary?) pause on the Greenland crisis, the attention shifts back to Ukraine after Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s talks with Donald Trump in Davos, and the US delegation’s late talks with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin last night, which was described by Russian aide Yuri Ushakov as “useful in every aspect.”
Let’s see if they can lead to a genuine breakthrough.
Starting today, and over the weekend, the Ukrainian, US, and Russian delegations are now going to hold trilateral discussions in the United Arab Emirates on ending the war. They will be focusing on a few outstanding issues, including the thorny problem of territorial concessions demanded by Moscow in eastern Ukraine.
The Russian delegation will be headed by Gen Igor Kostyukov, director of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency. The Ukrainian team will by led by secretary of the National Security and Defence Council and former defence minister, Rustem Umerov.
This morning, Zelenskyy repeated that the much-awaited deal with the US on security guarantees is effectively ready to be signed and he is just waiting for Trump to set a date and place for signing the documents. He also said the pair discussed air defence and economic cooperation for postwar recovery.
But before Ukraine can truly focus on its postwar recovery, there is still the small matter of ending the war. Can the three sides meaningfully get really closer to that today, as Trump’s rhetoric in the last few days would suggest?
“Anytime we meet, it’s good. If you don’t meet, nothing’s going to happen,” he told reporters on board Air Force One overnight.
I will bring you all the latest updates here.
It’s Friday, 23 January 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
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