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Ukraine conflict - day 218: Russia to claim occupied regions, new Nord Stream gas leak detected
Simon Ormiston

MAIN HEADLINES

· Moscow will formally claim four Russia-occupied regions of Ukraine at a Kremlin ceremony on Friday, according to President Vladimir Putin's spokesman. "Tomorrow in the Georgian Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace at 12:00 GMT a signing ceremony will take place on the incorporation of the new territories into Russia," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. READ MORE BELOW

· A fourth leak has been detected in the undersea gas pipelines linking Russia to Europe, the Swedish Coast Guard announced, after explosions were reported earlier this week in what NATO called "reckless" sabotage. READ MORE BELOW

· EU leaders will discuss next week what the bloc has denounced as sabotage on the gas pipelines, a European Union (EU) official said, adding that the incident had changed the nature of the conflict in Ukraine fundamentally.

· The Kremlin said a foreign state was most likely responsible for the incident that resulted in the leaks at the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines linking Russia to Europe and called for an "urgent investigation."

· French energy provider TotalEnergies will offer bonuses of 30 to 120 euros ($29-$116) this winter to households that reduce consumption in the face of soaring prices and potential supply disruptions.

· Finland will close its border to Russian tourists from midnight local time (2100 GMT), which is expected to lead to a significant drop in cross-border traffic, the government said. The inflow of Russians is now seen as endangering Finland's international relations, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told a news conference.

· Finland, Norway, Turkey, Georgia and Mongolia have reported an increase in Russian arrivals in recent days.

· Hungary cannot support the European Union's planned eighth round of sanctions against Russia if those contain energy sanctions, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said.

· Spain's inflation fell by 1.5 percent in September from 10.5 percent in August, a nearly four-decade high, thanks to a drop in electricity and fuel prices, provisional data from the National Statistics Institute showed. 

· Germany's chancellor Olaf Scholz has pledged to plough 200 billion euros ($194.34 billion) into shielding households and businesses from the steep rise in energy costs.

Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson (center) held a news conference about the gas leak in the Baltic Sea from Nord Stream, in Stockholm. /TT News Agency/Reuters
Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson (center) held a news conference about the gas leak in the Baltic Sea from Nord Stream, in Stockholm. /TT News Agency/Reuters

Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson (center) held a news conference about the gas leak in the Baltic Sea from Nord Stream, in Stockholm. /TT News Agency/Reuters

IN DETAIL

EU promises 'robust' response as new gas leak detected

As gas continued to spew into the Baltic Sea for a fourth day since leaks were first detected, it remained unclear who might be behind any deliberate attack on the pipelines that Russia and European partners spent billions of dollars building.

Sweden's coastguard said it had discovered a fourth gas leak on the damaged Nord Stream pipelines, after ruptures first reported on Monday sent gas spewing into the Baltic Sea.

The EU suspects sabotage was behind the leaks, and has promised a "robust" response to any intentional disruption of its energy infrastructure.

The leak reported on Thursday is the second one found in Swedish waters, while two others were discovered in Danish waters. 

"There are two emission sites in Sweden's exclusive economic zone, the bigger one above the Nord Stream 1 and a smaller one by Nord Stream 2," the coastguard said in a statement.

The distance between the two sites measured about 1.8 kIlometers, it added.

Danish authorities have also reported one hole in each of the two pipeline sections in their exclusive economic zone.

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