Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Germany's Olaf Scholz on Friday of playing into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin after the chancellor spoke by phone to the Kremlin chief for the first time in almost two years.

In the call, Scholz "condemned Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and called on President Putin to end

Russia is expected to stop delivering gas to Austria from Saturday, said a spokeswoman for OMV, the Alpine nation's energy company.

"We have been informed" by Russian energy giant Gazprom that it will no longer deliver Russian gas, the OMV spokeswoman told AFP on Friday.

Austria has long been heavily dependent on Russian gas, but its environment

At least three Russian oil refineries could face closures next year as declining exports, high crude oil costs and soaring interest rates lead to mounting financial losses, Reuters reported Friday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.

The Tuapse refinery, a large but “relatively unsophisticated” facility owned by the state-backed oil g