Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky appeals to Nato ‘sceptics’ as US rules out giving nuclear weapons to Kyiv
Zelensky says any invitation to join Nato must apply to all of Ukraine’s territory
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Your support makes all the difference.Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the US to convince “sceptics” in Europe that Ukraine should be invited to join Nato.
For the first time the Ukrainian president indicated that Kyiv could accept Russian control over some of its territory in order to end the “hot phase of the war”, and on the condition that Ukraine joins Nato.
Any invitation to join Nato must apply to all of Ukraine’s territory, Mr Zelensky told Sky News, but he accepted its defence “umbrella” could not apply to parts of Ukraine that remain occupied by Vladimir Putin’s forces.
This came as the US said it was not considering returning to Ukraine the nuclear weapons it gave up after the Soviet Union collapsed.
“What we are doing is surging various conventional capacities to Ukraine so that they can effectively defend themselves and take the fight to the Russians, not (giving them) nuclear capability,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.
Ukraine is now entering a “potentially decisive phase” in Russia’s war which will be crucial for Britain’s future security and prosperity, Sir Adam Thomson, the UK’s former representative to Nato has said.
Putin would not accept any part of Ukraine being in Nato, analyst suggests
James Nixey of the Chatham House think-tank has warned that any part of Ukraine being in Nato would be unacceptable to Vladimir Putin, after Volodymyr Zelensky said he could accept territory being temporarily ceded to Russia in exchange for security assurances from the alliance.
“After all, [Nato] is, for him, an abhorrence. Putin doesn’t want a pause anyway – he believes he’s on the brink of an historic and strategic victory, kindly deal-sealed by Donald Trump,” Mr Nixey told The Independent.
UK-based spy ring passed secrets to Russia for nearly three years, court told
A “sophisticated” UK-based spy ring passed secrets to Russia for nearly three years, a court has heard.
Bulgarian nationals Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, allegedly carried out surveillance on individuals and places of interest to Russia.
The spying activities allegedly included locations in London, Vienna, Valencia, Montenegro and Stuttgart, jurors have heard.
Read the full report from our crime correspondent Amy-Clare Martin below:
Bulgarians paid ‘significant sums’ to work for UK-based Russian spy ring, trial hears
Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, deny conspiring with a Russian agent to pass information to the country
Georgian PM brushes off US criticism of excessive force against pro-EU protesters
Facing condemnation from the United States and defiance from his own president, Georgia’s new prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze has praised police for cracking down on protesters who he sought to claim were acting on foreign orders to undermine the state.
Georgia has been plunged into crisis since his governing Georgian Dream party said on Thursday it was halting European Union accession talks for the next four years, following an election contested by the country’s pro-Western president, who alleges interference by Russia.
Large-scale anti-government protests have taken place in the capital Tbilisi for the past three nights, with police have fired water cannon and tear gas into the crowds, resulting in scores of injuries. More protests are planned in Tbilisi for Sunday night, with demonstrations reported throughout the country.
Brushing off Washington’s suspension of a new strategic partnership with Georgia, Mr Kobakhidze said this was merely a “temporary event”, and that Georgia would talk to the new administration when Donald Trump takes office in January.
Responding to condemnation of “excessive force” being used against protesters, he said: “Despite the heaviest systematic violence applied yesterday by the violent groups and their foreign instructors, the police acted at a higher standard than the American and European ones and successfully protected the state from another attempt to violate the constitutional order.
EU and Nato would need to be present in any future Ukraine-Russia negotiations, says Zelensky
Any future ceasefire negotiations with Russia would need to include representatives from the EU and Nato, because Ukraine views its future security as being within both alliances, president Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
However, in remarks at a press conference with European Council president Antonio Costa, the Ukrainian president said he failed to see what any such negotiations would focus on, adding that Ukraine would “never legally recognise any occupation of our lands by the Russian Federation”.
Zelensky claims most Nato members see ‘no risks’ to Ukrainian membership
Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed that most Nato members see “no risks” to Ukrainian membership of the military alliance.
Urging Joe Biden’s outgoing administration in Washington to use its remaining two months in office to exert influence “over those few European sceptics about our future”, the Ukrainian president told reporters on Sunday: “I personally see no risks.
“And most Nato countries see no risks from the recommendation regarding the positive future of Ukraine's membership in Nato.”
Putin’s invasion was ‘opening stage’ of third world war, analysts suggest
Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was the “opening stage” of a third world war, national security expert Mark Toth and former US intelligence officer Jonathan Sweet have said in comments reported by the Daily Mail.
“This third global conflagration doesn’t look or feel like what Hollywood envisioned,” they said. “No mushroom clouds or apocalyptic wastelands. Rather, it is war by a thousand cuts, conducted across multi-regional and multi-domain battlefields.”
“Putin's invasion of Ukraine was the opening stage. It was his marker to the global community that the world order as it had existed since the end of the Second World War was no longer,” they said, adding that Moscow “continues to play the victim while escalating against Ukrainian civilians”.
They continued: “‘It’s already a World War, only largely contained to the borders of Ukraine – until August when Ukraine invaded Kursk.”
However the outlet also carried comments by Adeline Van Houtte, of the Economist Intelligence Unit, who rejected the idea that a new world war had begun, saying: “Action to widen the scale of the war to bring in new players or expand the current battlefield within Ukraine remains highly unlikely”.
New European Council president says EU will stand with Kyiv for as long as necessary
Speaking at a news conference with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, the new European Council president Antonio Costa reiterated the EU’s recent commitment to help Ukraine continue through the war.
That includes €4.2bn (£3.4bn) to support Ukraine’s budget and €1.5bn (£1.25bn) of assistance every month from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets.
Asked whether the EU would step up funding if Donald Trump withdraws support upon his return to the White House in January, Mr Costa – a former prime minister of Portugal – said the bloc would “stand for Ukraine as long as necessary”.
US not considering returning nuclear weapons to Ukraine, White House says
The United States is not considering returning to Ukraine the nuclear weapons it gave up after the Soviet Union collapsed, the White House has said.
Asked about a New York Times article last month that said some unidentified Western officials had suggested US president Joe Biden could give Ukraine the arms before he leaves office, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said: “That is not under consideration, no.
“What we are doing is surging various conventional capacities to Ukraine so that they can effectively defend themselves and take the fight to the Russians, not [giving them] nuclear capability,” he told ABC.
Last week, Russia said the idea was “absolute insanity” and claimed that preventing such a scenario was one of the reasons why Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.
Kyiv inherited nuclear weapons from the Soviet Union after its 1991 collapse but gave them up in 1994 in return for security assurances from Russia, the United States and Britain.
Full report: Cabinet minister ‘can’t predict’ whether Ukraine will become part of Nato
A Cabinet minister has said he “can’t predict” whether Ukraine will become part of Nato, but added that the country has “got to be free to make its choices”.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden said the UK does not want to see “Ukraine coerced into accepting a deal” it does not want after Russia’s invasion.
Caitlin Doherty has more details in this report:
Cabinet minister ‘can’t predict’ whether Ukraine will become part of Nato
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested that territory under his control should be taken under the ‘Nato umbrella’.
Analysis | Zelensky is playing a clever game with America by talk of ceasefire
In an analysis piece for Independent Voices, historian Mark Almond writes:
After Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, Western leaders repeated constantly that they would stand behind Kyiv “as long as it takes”, first as Ukraine struck back, then as Russia counter-attacked.
But the costly bloodletting and Europe’s inability to sustain Ukraine’s munitions and monetary needs was skinning those proud commitments to the bone even before the spectre of Donald Trump’s return to the White House became a nightmarish reality. But Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky wasn’t a tap dancer for nothing. His footwork is far more deft than his European partners’. The Russians have already found that to their cost.
Zelensky’s warm words about Donald Trump are not just positioning for the new president. Trump’s talk of “peace through strength” offers the Ukrainian president a chance to profile himself as the pilot who steered Ukraine, or most of it, to safety under an American umbrella. Getting in well with Trump could buy Ukraine, and Zelensky himself, time to reconstruct its economy while hoping for things to go wrong for Putin at home or abroad.
You can read his analysis in full here:
Mark Almond: Zelensky is playing a clever game with America by talk of ceasefire
Getting in well with Trump could buy Ukraine, and Zelensky himself, time to reconstruct its economy while hoping for things to go wrong for Putin at home or abroad, writes Mark Almond
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