Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky accuses Scholz of opening ‘Pandora’s box’ after call with Putin
Zelensky said the call between Scholz and Putin is part of the latter’s strategy to avoid changing policy
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Your support makes all the difference.Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has criticised German chancellor Olaf Scholz for speaking with Russian president Vladimir Putin over the phone for the first time in two years.
Mr Scholz urged Putin to pull his forces out of Ukraine and open talks with Kyiv in order to set the region on course for a “just and lasting peace”.
The Kremlin said that Berlin had requested the conversation, and Putin told Mr Scholz that any agreement to end the war in Ukraine must take into account “new territorial realities”.
Mr Zelensky said the call “opens Pandora’s Box”, claiming it is “critical for [Putin] to weaken his isolation, as well as Russia’s isolation, and to hold mere talks that will lead nowhere”.
This is a decades-old strategy which has “allowed Russia to avoid making any changes to its policies, effectively doing nothing, which has ultimately led to this war,” Mr Zelensky added.
“We understand all the current challenges and we know what to do. And we want to make it clear: there will be no ‘Minsk-3’; we need real peace,” he said, referring to the peace agreement signed in 2015 which granted self-governance to certain areas of Donbas.
Trump’s US defence secretary pick ‘investigated by police over sexual misconduct claims’
Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for US secretary of defence, previously faced accusations of sexual misconduct that were investigated by police, according to a report.
Mr Trump’s newly-appointed White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was briefed on Wednesday evening about an allegation that Mr Hegseth engaged in sexual misconduct in Monterey, California seven years ago, according to Vanity Fair.
Ms Wiles and Mr Trump’s lawyers spoke to Mr Hegseth after learning about the alleged incident, Vanity Fair added. The Fox News host reportedly said the incident was consensual.
My colleague Katie Hawkinson reports:
Trump’s Defense Secretary pick Pete Hegseth ‘faced sexual misconduct police probe’
Donald Trump announced he’s picking the Fox News host for defense secretary on Tuesday
Zelensky’s claim to be tying down 50,000 troops in Kursk ‘a double-edged sword’, says analyst
Dr Patrick Bury, a former Nato analyst now at the University of Bath, has suggested that Volodymyr Zelensky’s comments about a 50,000-strong force in Kursk tie in with Ukrainian officials’ insistence that they are drawing in Russian forces that would otherwise be deployed elsewhere.
“The double-edged sword is the Russians may have a five-to-one advantage in manpower, if that’s correct, and they are maybe facing a major offensive there,” Dr Bury told The Independent.
He added: “Unfortunately, although it’s certainly put those resources there, it hasn’t resulted in [eastern] front lines being weakened massively in the way that the Ukrainians may have hoped.”
Putin has decided Ukraine’s grip on Kursk must be ‘wiped out’ before Trump returns, analyst says
Vladimir Putin has decided that Ukraine’s hold in Kursk has to be “wiped out” by the time Donald Trump returns to the White House, a leading expert on Russian affairs has told The Independent.
“The great advantage that the Ukrainians have had in Kursk is precisely that the focus up to now has been on the Donbas. That’s where the veteran troops have been and so forth,” said historian Dr Mark Galeotti, author of Forged in War: A Military History of Russia.
“Now it is clear particularly with prospect of a potential ceasefire freezing the frontlines under Trump, Putin is determined that, by the time Trump is inaugurated, the Kursk salient has to have been wiped out. So I think this is what we’re seeing now.”
Scholz told Putin deployment of North Korean soldiers a serious escalation, says Berlin
German chancellor Olaf Scholz made clear to Vladimir Putin that the deployment of North Korean soldiers to Russia for combat missions against Ukraine was a serious escalation and expansion of the conflict, a Berlin spokesperson said.
Scholz urges Putin to seek ‘just and lasting peace’ in Ukraine
More details are emerging from Berlin’s readout of German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s hour-long phone call with Vladimir Putin – their first direct conversation since December 2022.
Mr Scholz is claimed to have urged Mr Putin to begin talks with Ukraine that would open the way for a “just and lasting peace” and demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.
“The Chancellor urged Russia to show willingness to enter talks with Ukraine with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace,” a spokesperson said, adding: “He stressed Germany’s unbroken determination to back Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression for as long as necessary.”
Mr Scholz, the most unpopular German chancellor on record, is preparing for a national election on 23 February in which his Social Democrats face stiff competition from left-wing and far-right parties that are critical of Germany’s backing for Ukraine.
Ukraine's Zelenskiy warned Scholz against Putin call, Kyiv source says
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned German Chancellor Olaf Scholz against speaking to Vladimir Putin by phone on Friday, saying it would reduce the Russian leader’s isolation and keep the war going, a source in Ukraine's presidential office has said.
“The President said this would only help Putin by reducing his isolation. Putin doesn’t want real peace, he wants a break,” the source told Reuters.
Mr Scholz’s office said that the German chancellor was speaking to Mr Zelensky both prior to and following his call with Mr Putin.
North Korea tests exploding drones as Kim calls for mass production
North Korea tested exploding drones designed to crash into targets and leader Kim Jong Un called for accelerating mass production of the weapons, state media has said – as Pyongyang steps up its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Kim Tong-Hyung reports:
North Korea tests exploding drones as Kim calls for mass production
North Korea says it has tested exploding drones designed to hit targets and leader Kim Jong Un called for accelerating their mass production
Scholz urges Russia’s Putin to end Ukraine war in call, says Berlin
German chancellor Olaf Scholz has urged Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine and withdraw troops in a phone call, stressing that Germany would support Ukraine for as long as necessary, Berlin has said.
In their first direct conversation since December 2022, Mr Scholz also told Mr Putin that Russia should prepare for negotiations with Ukraine with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace, his spokesperson said.
Mr Scholz had spoken to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy prior to the call and was due to do so again after, according to the spokesperson.
Poland moves to reopen embassy in North Korea
Poland is reactivating its embassy in the capital of North Korea – becoming the second Western nation to resume operations suspended due to the pandemic, with Sweden having done so in September.
The move opens a channel of communication between Poland and Pyongyang – an increasingly close ally of Russia, as it provides Moscow with troops to fight in Ukraine. Polish diplomats were in the North Korean capital this week as Poland seeks to restore its diplomatic presence.
“The visit is of a technical and political nature and one of its main goals is to restore the permanent diplomatic presence,” Poland’s foreign ministry said.
The Polish embassy was closed in December 2020 after the North Korean authorities announced a complete closure of the state border due to Covid, which the ministry said made the normal work of the diplomatic mission “impossible”.
Poland boosts drone purchases, to start unmanned aircraft inspectorate in January
Poland has ordered 52 FlyEye surveillance drones in a contract worth 100 million zlotys (£19.3m), its defence minister has said.
“We will develop drone forces ... in all domains in which drones can operate,” the minister, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said, while signing the drone purchase deal.
A new drone military inspectorate due to start work in January will coordinate strategy for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as unify the training of their operators he said.
FlyEye drones, produced by Polish company WB Electronics, are designed to conduct image reconnaissance from the air both in daylight and using thermal imaging at night. Already in use by the Polish armed forces, FlyEye drones are also used by Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Mr Kosiniak-Kamysz told a press conference that, when his country’s EU presidency starts in January, Poland will push for the bloc to devote more funds to defence, possibly by using unspent funds from national recovery plans.
“It is good that the EU sees the need to support the arms industry and the operational capabilities of the national armies of EU countries, but much more money is needed,” he said.
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