President Vladimir Putin denied plans to absorb Belarus as he paid a rare visit Monday to the country whose strongman assisted his invasion of neighboring Ukraine.Putin flew into Minsk with his defense and foreign ministers in tow, hours after Russian forces launched a swarm of attack drones at critical infrastructure in Kyiv, which provoked emergency blackouts in a dozen regions."I think a statement like that has to be treated as the height of irony coming from a leader who is seeking at the present moment — right now — to violently absorb his other, peaceful next-door neighbor," Price said.She described hearing multiple explosions before power shut off in her building in western Kyiv.The price ceiling on natural gas was fixed at 180 euros ($190) per megawatt hour, although the European Commission said it may suspend the cap if "the risks outweigh the benefits" following protracted negotiations involving Germany, the continent's largest economy which backs Ukraine but is highly dependent on imported energy."