Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s Ukraine plans ‘not affected by Trump’ as Kyiv denies nuclear weapons report
Kyiv does not possess, develop or intend to acquire nuclear weapons, says official
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Your support makes all the difference.Vladimir Putin’s plans of achieving total Ukrainian capitulation have not changed despite his initial claims of interest in engaging in negotiations with Donald Trump, the incoming US president, a war monitor has claimed.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote in its latest update that the Kremlin does not appear “more willing to make concessions” to Mr Trump compared with the outgoing Joe Biden administration.
“The manner in which the Kremlin is trying to set its terms for negotiations strongly signals that Russia’s objectives remain unchanged and still amount to full Ukrainian capitulation,” ISW wrote.
It comes as Ukraine has responded to media reports that it been advised it could develop an atomic bomb in months by saying that it has no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry was responding to reports on a briefing document, apparently prepared by a non-government think tank for the Ukrainian defence ministry, detailing how Kyiv could develop a rudimentary atomic bomb if the US withdraws its military assistance.
“Ukraine is committed to the NPT (the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons); we do not possess, develop or intend to acquire nuclear weapons,” foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said on X.
Kyiv ‘cautiously optimistic’ after discussing strikes on Russia with US
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said he was “cautiously optimistic” after discussing with US secretary of state Antony Blinken the possibility of conducting strikes deep inside Russia as well as Euro-Atlantic integration.
“We discussed issues of long-range strikes and Euro-Atlantic integration. And here we also are cautiously optimistic,” Mr Sybiha said in televised comments.
His talks with Mr Blinken in Brussels come at a turbulent time, just one week after Donald Trump won the US presidential election.
Trump has long criticised the scale of US financial and military aid to Ukraine and has vowed to end the war quickly, without explaining how.
Kyiv has long been lobbying for Western allies to allow long-range attacks on military targets inside Russia, while also pressing for an invitation to join the Nato alliance.
Allies including the US have been unwilling to permit long-range attacks for fear of further escalating the conflict, and some are opposed to inviting Ukraine to join Nato.
Mr Sybiha said his talks in Brussels had also touched on military aid. “We have a clear picture - a clear timeframe, clear volumes – of what will be delivered to Ukraine by the end of the year. This helps us strategically to plan our actions on the battlefield,” he said.
The assistance, he added, would include weapons and funds for arms production deals.
Recap: EU top diplomat nominee strongly backs Ukraine and underlines China’s links to the war
The European Union must back Ukraine against Russia for as a long as it takes and persuade the United States that its strategic interests in China are tied up in the outcome of the war, the woman nominated as the bloc’s top diplomat for the next five years said Tuesday.
Questions have been raised about whether the 27-nation EU’s commitment to Ukraine would remain firm with Russia appearing to have an edge in the war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, and following the reelection of Donald Trump, who has vowed to end the conflict as U.S. president.
“Ukraine’s victory is a priority for us all. The situation on the battlefield is very difficult,” Estonia ex-Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told EU lawmakers during a hearing she must pass to be appointed as foreign policy chief.
Read the full report here:
EU top diplomat nominee strongly backs Ukraine and underlines China's links to the war
The nominee for the European Union's next top diplomat says the bloc must commit to Ukraine for the long-haul even as the war's costs mount
Senior Russian naval officer killed in car bombing claimed by Kyiv
A senior Russian naval officer was killed in a bomb attack claimed by Kyiv in occupied Crimea’s Sevastopol.
According to a Kyiv security source, the bomb attack was a Ukrainian hit on one of its highest-ranking targets to date.
A source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told Reuters that the explosion had killed Valery Trankovsky, a Russian naval captain and the chief of staff of the 41st brigade of Russia’s missile ships in the Black Sea.
The operation was carried out by the SBU, which saw him as a “legitimate” target in line with the laws of war because of “war crimes” he committed, the source said.
The source said he had ordered missile attacks that hit civilian targets in Ukraine, including a deadly strike on the city of Vinnytsia in July 2022.
Russia’s state Investigative Committee, which handles probes into serious crimes, said in a statement that an improvised explosive device had detonated in an act of terrorism, killing a serviceman whom it did not identify.
Several pro-war Russian figures have been assassinated since the start of the war in operations blamed by Moscow on Ukraine, including journalist Darya Dugina, war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky and former submarine commander Stanislav Rzhitsky.
Ukraine repel Russian bid to pierce defences in northeast, General Staff says
Ukrainian forces repelled an attempt by Russian troops to pierce defences near the northeastern city of Kupiansk, Ukraine’s General Staff said.
The city of Kupiansk was seized by Russian troops in the early days of their February 2022 invasion and recaptured by Ukrainian troops in a lightning counter-offensive months later. Russian forces have returned in the area and caused an upsurge in combat activity.
The General Staff report said Russian forces attacked in four waves and deployed about 15 pieces of equipment, including tanks, armoured vehicles and a mine-clearing system.
“With skilful and decisive actions, our defenders stopped the enemy, destroyed all of its armoured vehicles and eliminated a significant portion of its personnel,” the report said last night.
Some of the Russian forces, it said, had, donned uniforms resembling those of the Ukrainian military, a practice it characterised as amounting to a war crime.
DeepState, a popular Ukrainian military blog, said two columns of Russian men and equipment had entered Kupiansk after dark. Russian servicemen scattered through the town, but Ukrainian forces struck armoured vehicles in the town and in surrounding forests and destroyed part of the group.
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