US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday announced a new $500-million military aid package for Ukraine at a meeting in Germany.

Austin announced Thursday another round of weapons from the U.S. worth $500 million, including missiles for fighter jets, sustainment equipment for F-16s, armored bridging systems and small arms and ammunition.

Donald Trump must keep backing Ukraine with weapons and ammunition to ensure the country is not “erased off the map”, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said during a final meeting of Kyiv’s allies before the president-elect returns to the White House.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has expanded his threats against Ukraine over Kyiv's suspension of Russian natural gas transit. Source: Teraz.sk, citing Fico's words in Brussels after talks with European Commission officials on 9 January,

Péter Szijjártó, Hungarian Foreign Minister, has threatened to block Ukraine's accession to the European Union in response to the registration of draft law No. 12380 in the Ukrainian parliament, which would ban the transit of Russian oil and gas through Ukraine during martial law.

In a Facebook post, Szijjártó commented on the bill No. 12380, which proposes banning the transit of Russian oil and gas through Ukraine during martial law. “In this regard, I must respectfully remind our Ukrainian colleagues that there are rights and obligations.