Slovakia will consider reciprocal measures against Ukraine such as halting back-up electricity supplies after Jan. 1 if Kyiv, as expected, stops the transit of Russian gas to Slovakia, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Friday.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico threatened to cut off back up power supplies to Ukraine if Kyiv stops transporting Russian gas to Central Europe.Most Read from BloombergMigrant Crisis Pushed US Homelessness to Record High in 2024Ho Chi Minh City Opens First Metro Line After Years of Delay“After January 1,

Benchmark European natural gas futures jumped as much as 5% in early trading Friday after Russia's President Putin said it would be impossible to reach agreement on any new transit contract for the flow of natural gas through Ukraine to Europe before year’s end.

Ukraine, a global producer and exporter of grain and oilseeds, has sent its first batch of food aid to Syria, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday. Zelenskiy said that 500 metric tons of wheat flour were already on their way to Syria as part of Ukraine's humanitarian "Grain from Ukraine" initiative in cooperation with the United Nations World Food Programme.

Ukraine has sent 500 tons of wheat flour to Syria as humanitarian aid, seeking to build ties with the nation after the ouster of its Russian-backed government.

The aid aims to help alleviate a looming food crisis following the collapse of the Russia-backed regime of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8 amid a large-scale rebel offensive.