LIVE UPDATES: EU Adopts Eighth Sanctions Package Against Russia, Which Includes Oil Price Cap

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden said the world is facing the threat of a nuclear war for the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and he is trying to figure out what is Russian President Vladimir Putin's "off ramp."

ENERHODAR (Sputnik) - The specialists of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stationed at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant are maintaining contact and discussing issues of the plant's safety and operation with the authorities of the city of Enerhodar, Alexander Volga, the head of Enerhodar's administration, has told Sputnik.

"There is contact with IAEA staff, who are on the territory of the plant. We are discussing only working issues related to the safety and operation of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, as well as the work of the administration to ensure the life-activity of the city and citizens who live here," Volga said.

Volga added that a breakthrough by Ukrainian troops to the Zaporozhye NPP and Enerhodar is impossible as the Russian military has full control of the situation.

"Regarding the Ukrainian fighters' breakthrough into the city of Enerhodar in the direction of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and all the infrastructure, which surrounds the nuclear power plant - we consider this situation is impossible," Volga said.

He added that any offensive actions will be complicated by the presence of a water barrier near the plant.

Located on the left bank of the Dnieper River, the Zaporozhye NPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe in terms of the number of units and output. During the military operation in Ukraine, launched by Russia on February 24, the nuclear plant and surrounding area went under the control of Russian forces and has since been targeted by Ukrainian troops multiple times, though Kiev has blamed the attacks on Moscow.

PRAGUE (Sputnik) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Thursday called on the European Union to change its misguided sanctions policy toward Russia as Europe "is slowly bleeding to death."

"The sanctions have not delivered upon expectations... Europe is slowly bleeding to death while Russia is making good money in the meantime. It is clear that Brussels' misguided sanctions policy must be changed," Orban said on social media.

In a video message recorded during the European Political Community (EPC) meeting in Prague on Thursday, Orban said that the meeting was discussing a set of complex issues, including whether Europe would have gas and electricity in the coming months.

"Hungary had previously wrangled an exemption from the oil embargo and sanctions, and in recent days we have also managed to ensure that the new sanctions do not apply to either Hungary's nuclear energy or gas supplies to Hungary, but the sanctions have sent energy prices skyrocketing, and this also affects Hungary, prices are almost impossible to pay," Orban said.

BERLIN (Sputnik) - Sustainable peace in Europe can only be achieved if Russia participates in this process, ex-German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday night.

Merkel told a ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in Munich that that long-term and sustainable peace in Europe can only be achieved with the involvement and "participation of Russia."

"As long as we have not really achieved it, the Cold War is not truly over," German outlet Stern quoted Merkel as saying.

The former chancellor reiterated her call on other countries to take Moscow's statements "seriously and not to classify these as a bluff from the start."

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said on Thursday that he could not boycott the possible transfer of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant's (ZNPP) employees to Russian atomic agency Rosatom.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to transfer the ZNPP under the control of Russian institutions, and the corresponding decree was signed later in the day. The former chief engineer of the Balakovo NPP, Oleg Romanenko, was appointed as the head of the new operating organization of the ZNPP. Romanenko clarified that all employees of the Zaporozhye NPP would soon be transferred to the new operating organization with the preservation of wages and social guarantees.

When asked a corresponding question by a CNN reporter, Grossi said he could neither boycott nor play along with potential Russian attempts to operate the plant, while the right thing for him would be to pay attention to the safety and well-being of the staff.

According to Grossi, any changes in the status of the ZNPP would be a complex issue.

Located on the left bank of the Dnieper River, the ZNPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe in terms of the number of units and output. During the military operation in Ukraine, launched by Russia on February 24, the nuclear plant and surrounding area went under the control of Russian forces and have since been targeted by Ukrainian troops multiple times, though Kiev has blamed the attacks on Moscow.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko thanked Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas for the support of the accession of the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR and LPR), as well as Kherson and Zaporozhye regions to Russia during their meeting in Moscow.

"At the beginning of the meeting, Dmitry Chernyshenko thanked Cuba for its support of the accession of the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions to Russia," Chernyshenko's press service said.

Chernyshenko and Cabrisas held talks ahead of the 19th meeting of the Russian-Cuban intergovernmental commission. The officials discussed development of trade cooperation between the two countries, implementation of joint projects, and partnership in the areas of finance, industry, energy and tourism.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - The very idea that nuclear conflict has become a subject of debate is "totally unacceptable," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told Sputnik, commenting on Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggesting that NATO carry out a preemptive strike against Russia.

Speaking at Australia's Lowy Institute via a video link, Zelenskyy said that NATO should launch "preemptive" strikes on Russia rather than "waiting" for Russia to attack.

"As to any remarks that relate to the use of nuclear weapons, I would refer you to what the Secretary-General as already said on the issue. His position is unchanged," Dujarric said.

He referred to Guterres' remarks at the UN Security Council on September 22.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States has not seen any escalation conducted by the cyber tools used by Russians except for Ukraine, Nate Fick, the newly appointed US ambassador at large to lead the State Department’s newly established Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy (CDP), said on Thursday.

"We have not seen escalation using cyber means outside Ukraine by the Russians," he told reporters at a briefing.

The long-awaited Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy was launched in April to tackle pressing security challenges in the cyber arena. The CDP consists of three units, including Cyberspace Security, International Information and Communications Policy and Digital Freedom, the statement said.

The US government stated its plan to set a cyber bureau in October of 2021, according to the statement.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States has no plans to deploy nuclear weapons on territories of NATO members that joined the alliance after 1997, State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Thursday.

"The United States has no plans to deploy nuclear weapons on NATO member territory that had joined NATO post 1997," he told journalists.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The European Union will deny technical assistance as well as insurance and brokering services to tankers of third countries carrying Russian oil sold above the G7-agreed price cap.

The EU announced the eighth package of sanctions against Russia on Thursday. It sets a framework for capping the price of Russian oil exports from December at a level coordinated by G7 allies.

The Council of the European Union published the regulation that says a third-country vessel carrying overpriced Russian oil should be denied "technical assistance, brokering services, financing or financial assistance, including insurance, related to any transport in the future by that vessel of crude oil or petroleum products."

PRAGUE (Sputnik) - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday that neither Croatia nor anybody else will decide for Serbia whether it imposes sanctions against Russia as the EU increases pressure on Belgrade to join its policy.

"As for the introduction of sanctions, I say it once again: nether you in Croatia nor your government will determine Serbian policy. It is determined by Serbian citizens through fairly elected representatives in opposition to everyone who thinks that they could impose their will on Serbia," Vucic told Croatian journalists on the sidelines of a meeting of the European Political Community in Prague.

Earlier in the day, the European Commission agreed on the eighth sanctions package against Russia over its special military operation in Ukraine. The new package of EU sanctions includes the implementation of the G7 oil price cap and expansion of the ban on the import and export of goods.

The new sanctions package also includes price cap on exports of Russian oil to non-EU countries through the territory of the EU, which has been particularly lobbied by Croatia. This measure would harm Serbia that imports Russian oil through the Adria pipeline, which pumps oil from tankers in the Omisalj terminal in the Croatian island of Kirk to the refineries in Serbia.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - RT broadcaster said on Thursday that its war correspondent Andrey Filatov sustained fresh injuries while filming in Donetsk.

The incident occurred when Filatov was filming an assault group of the 11th regiment of the DPR People's Militia liberating the settlement in the Donetsk region.

The United States extended export restrictions on the supply of US-made aircraft and parts to Russia’s Aeroflot, Utair, and Azur Air airlines for another 180 days as part of the sanctions imposed in connection with the Ukraine crisis, the Commerce Department said in an order to be published on Friday.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov considered OPEC+ to be a responsible organization that standing up for stabilization in the global energy markets, adding that the US and some EU countries are trying to impact the group with their absurd steps.