Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump sympathises with Putin’s stance on Nato as Kursk battle rages
Trump said he ‘understands’ Russia’s feelings about Ukraine in Nato bloc
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump says he sympathises with Vladimir Putin’s position that Ukraine should not be part of Nato, incorrectly accusing Joe Biden of changing US policy on the issue.
“A big part of the problem is, Russia – for many, many years, long before Putin – said, ‘You could never have Nato involved with Ukraine.’ Now, they’ve said that. That’s been, like, written in stone,” Mr Trump said, speaking at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach.
“And somewhere along the line Biden said, ‘No. They should be able to join Nato’ Well, then Russia has somebody right on their doorstep, and I could understand their feelings about that.”
Nato’s official position since 2008 has been that Ukraine should work towards membership, and that remains the case. No new invitation to join Nato has been offered, despite calls from Kyiv for the alliance to do so.
On the battlefront, Ukraine said its forces were “commencing new offensive actions” in Russia’s western Kursk region, finally confirming the renewed assault first reported over the weekend.
And in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv said it was still clinging on to part of Kurakhove, a strategic town that Russia claims to have captured.
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Russia claims it has captured another town in eastern Ukraine but Kyiv doesn't confirm the loss
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Ukrainian refugee family learns that son is alive after almost three years of captivity in Russia
A Ukrainian refugee family have received the heartwarming news that their son is alive – nearly three years after he was captured by Russian forces while battling the invading forces in his homeland.
Valeriia and Roman Biletskiy fled to Washington state at the start of the brutal war in February 2022 along with seven of their children. Their other child, Roman Jr., instead remained, and enlisted to defend Ukraine. However, three months later, he was captured by Russian forces and later, presumed dead.
But on Monday 30 December, the couple saw a picture shared by Ukraine’s media that showed their son Roman Biletskiy Jr., 25, alive, and sitting at the back of a bus with a group of men who had just been freed from a Russian prison.
Ukrainian family learns son is alive after nearly three years of captivity in Russia
The 25-year-old soldier was captured by Russian forces in May 2022 ‘while defending civilians in Mariupol’ said family
What does Ukraine stand to gain with latest Kursk counterattack?
What Kyiv stands to gain and lose in surprise counter-attack on Russian soil
Russian military commentators are ‘worried’ about the multipronged Ukrainian attack in the border region
Ukraine still fighting for eastern town despite Russian claims of a takeover
Ukraine has denied Russian claims that they have captured a key town in the eastern Donetsk region, but admitted that the situation looks desperate.
Russia claimed control of the eastern town of Kurakhove on Monday, after months of heavy fighting. The town has been decimated by continuous Russian shelling.
A Ukrainian military spokesperson, however, said on Monday that fighting is ongoing in the western outskirts of the town.
“Currently, the situation in Kurakhove is indeed quite difficult, because a significant part of the city has been destroyed,” spokesperson Viktor Tregubov said.
Ukraine still fighting for eastern town despite Russian claims of a takeover
Ukraine says the eastern town of Kurakhove remains partially in their control despite heavy Russian bombing
Ukraine says Trump’s envoy’s visit cancelled but will be rescheduled
An upcoming trip to Kyiv by US president-elect Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia has been canceled but will be rescheduled, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said yesterday.
The planned meetings between Keith Kellogg, a highly decorated retired three-star general who has long been Mr Trump’s top adviser on defence issues, and Ukrainian officials are “extremely important,” Mr Sybiha told reporters in the Ukrainian capital.
“I am confident that this meeting will take place in its own time,” he said during a news conference with his visiting Icelandic counterpart. “We are in contact to clearly define the timeline for its organisation and to ensure that the meeting is as meaningful as possible.”
Mr Trump’s arrival in the White House on 20 January injects another measure of uncertainty into how the almost three-year-old war might unfold and whether it can end in the foreseeable future.
Ukraine attacks Russia’s Kursk from multiple directions
Ukraine attacks Russia’s Kursk from multiple directions in surprise assault
Ukraine’s top presidential advisor, Andriy Yermak, says the fresh counterattack is what Russia deserves
Ukraine appears to confirm new offensive in Kursk
Ukraine confirmed its forces were “commencing new offensive actions” in Russia’s western Kursk region, before quickly deleting the phrase from an official update.
The first substantive remarks came more than two days after the first Russian reports of a renewed Ukrainian thrust in the area. The Russian defence ministry said on Sunday that Kyiv had launched a new counter-attack.
Ukraine’s general staff yesterday said Kyiv’s military had hit a Russian command post near Kursk settlement of Belaya.
The strike and other recent operations in the region were coordinated with Ukrainian ground forces who “are currently commencing new offensive operations” against Russian troops, it said.
The military later edited out any mention of a new attack in the Telegram statement, replacing the phrase with the much vaguer “combat operations”. It provided no explanation.
Ukraine first seized part of the Kursk region in a surprise incursion last August, and it has held territory there for five months despite losing some ground.
Ukraine-Russia war map: Where are Putin’s forces making gains?
Ukraine-Russia war map 2025: Where are Putin’s forces making gains on the frontline?
Russian forces are advancing in the east, slowly but surely, and they are shrinking Ukraine’s partial hold of the border region of Kursk
Biden set to announce ‘substantial’ final weapons package for Ukraine
The Biden administration is set to announce a massive, final weapons aid package for Ukraine as part of defence secretary Lloyd Austin’s visit to Germany tomorrow to meet with representatives of about 50 partner nations who have come to Ukraine’s defence since Russia invaded nearly three years ago, two senior defence officials said.
The officials did not provide an exact dollar amount but said the package was expected to be “substantial,” although it would not include all of the roughly $4bn left in the congressionally authorised funding for Ukraine.
There likely would be “more than a couple of billion dollars” remaining for the incoming Trump defence team to provide to Ukraine if it chooses to do so, the officials said yesterday in briefing reporters traveling with Mr Austin.
Mr Biden’s defence officials working on Ukraine have been in contact with Trump’s transition team to discuss “all the issues that we believe are important,” one of the officials said.
Ukraine is in the midst of launching a second offensive in Russia’s Kursk region and is facing a barrage of long-range missiles and ongoing advances from Russia as both sides seek to put themselves in the strongest negotiating position possible before president-elect Donald Trump takes office on 20 January.
Trump sympathises with Russia’s opposition to Ukraine’s Nato bid
President-elect Donald Trump said he sympathised with the Russian position that Ukraine should not be part of Nato, and he lamented that he will not meet Russian president Vladimir Putin before his inauguration.
“A big part of the problem is, Russia - for many, many years, long before Putin - said, ‘You could never have Nato involved with Ukraine.’ Now, they’ve said that. That’s been, like, written in stone,” Mr Trump said, speaking at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
He also blamed outgoing Democratic president Joe Biden for allegedly changing the US position on Nato membership for Ukraine.
“And somewhere along the line Biden said, ‘No. They should be able to join Nato’ Well, then Russia has somebody right on their doorstep, and I could understand their feelings about that.”
Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation have officially expressed support for Ukraine‘s eventual membership since the Bucharest Summit of 2008, and the Biden administration continues to support Ukraine‘s eventual Nato accession, though Ukraine has never been extended an invitation.
Bulgarians celebrate the feast of Epiphany with a ritual plunge into icy rivers
Bulgarians celebrate the feast of Epiphany with a ritual plunge into icy rivers
Thousands of Orthodox Christian worshippers in Bulgaria on Monday braved the freezing winter weather to plunge into icy waters as they observed centuries-old Epiphany traditions
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