Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has once again blamed the West for the war in Ukraine. On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Lavrov accused NATO and the European Union of having declared a "real war" on Moscow through Ukraine.

The European Union opened an investigation into urea imports from Russia after fertilizer producers in the bloc complained the shipments undercut market prices.

Moldovans head to the polls on Sunday in an election whose outcome will be of crucial interest to both Moscow and Europe

Estonia is extending a fence along its border with Russia and building anti-tank ditches and bunkers in preparation for a potential conflict with Moscow.

Russia paid for Moldovan Orthodox priests to make Moscow pilgrimages and gave them debit cards loaded with hundreds of dollars on their return home. In exchange, priests created Telegram channels to influence Moldova's elections,

As Moldova prepares for a crucial parliamentary election on Sunday, Russia is ramping up its efforts to interfere in the vote, officials say, in what they describe as a brazen attempt to halt the westward lurch of the former Soviet state and install a government more pliant to Moscow.

Russia rivals Qatar as one of the largest exporters of liquefied natural gas to the European Union after the United States. L.N.G. is chilled, liquid fuel shipped by tanker. The European Union is now proposing to phase out these shipments by 2027.

Tensions have escalated along the eastern flank of Europe, with Estonia accusing Moscow of sending three fighter jets into its airspace, a week after NATO planes shot down Russian drones in Poland. In addition to drones and missiles,

More unidentified drones were spotted over Denmark late Thursday near military airbases as a Russian landing ship, with its location responder turned off, was found loitering in waters off the Scandinavian country.