Ukraine, Briefly

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• Russian natural gas began flowing again at a reduced volume through a crucial pipeline into Europe on Thursday, allowing time for countries to decouple from the Kremlin’s exports as they anticipate a more unstable supply of energy from Moscow heading into the winter, the Wall Street Journal noted.

• Iran’s supreme leader announced he was backing Russia in its war against Ukraine, CBS News reported Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vilified the US-led NATO alliance, claiming that the West was attempting to hinder the rise of an “independent and strong” Russia.

• Syria will formally break its diplomatic relations with Ukraine, the Associated Press wrote. The move is a response to Kyiv’s decision to cut ties with Syria last month after Damascus said it would recognize the “independence and sovereignty” of Ukraine’s Russian-backed eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday that Moscow’s military “tasks” in Ukraine had grown beyond the eastern Donbas area, the strongest acknowledgment yet that Moscow’s war objectives had broadened in the previous five months, according to Reuters. Lavrov told state media that geographical realities have altered since Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met in Turkey for peace talks in late March but failed to reach an agreement.