Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg’s daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union.

The European Union is prepared to take a leading role in supporting Ukraine if U.S. backing wanes, EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Jan. 9 at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, German media outlet Tagesschau reported. "If the United States is not ready for it, the European Union is ready to take the lead," Kallas said.

The European Union is ready to take the lead in supporting Ukraine. However, Europe hopes that elected US President Donald Trump will not stop supporting Ukrainians, states Top European Union diplomat,

Polish presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki, supported by the opposition Law and Justice party, said that he does not see the Ukraine of today in the EU or NATO. Source: Nawrocki on air with Polsat News,

Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has rejected statements made by Polish presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki who claimed that Ukraine should not be a member of NATO or the EU due to unresolved historical issues.

The opposition presidential candidate in Poland, Karol Nawrocki, said that he does not see Ukraine as part of the EU or NATO. Prime Minister Donald Tusk condemned his remarks on X. Tusk addressed the leader of the Law and Justice party,

The EU says most states will not be affected but other European countries, including Moldova, are facing shortages.

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico said he wasn’t ruling out the resumption of gas through Ukraine after a deal between Kyiv and Moscow expired at the beginning of this year.

However, Fico says it will cost Slovakia 1 billion euros ($1 billion) a year in higher prices for the gas it uses and 500 million euros in onward transit fees. He has threatened to cut emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine as Russia attacks its power grid,