Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky offers conditions to stop ‘hot phase of war’ amid North Korea talks
North Korea’s Kim Jong-un says Pyongyang ‘will invariably support’ Russia to ‘defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity’
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Your support makes all the difference.Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested he would temporarily cede Ukrainian territory to Russia in exchange for joining Nato to end the “hot phase” of the war.
“If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we need to take under the Nato umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control,” Mr Zelensky told Sky News.
“We need to do it fast. And then on the occupied territory of Ukraine, Ukraine can get them back in a diplomatic way.”
The statement comes as North Korea pledged its “invariably support” to Russia’s war in Ukraine amid military talks with Moscow. Pyongyang has reportedly sent thousands of its troops to Russia to join the fight against Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military claimed that Vladimir Putin’s forces suffered more than 2,000 casualties in a single day.
With both Kyiv and Moscow anticipating that Donald Trump could seek to broker a rapid peace deal upon returning to the White House in January, freezing the front lines, Ukraine’s military said on Friday there had been more than 200 combat clashes over the past 24 hours.
Georgia’s PM claims ‘foreign entities’ seeking ‘Maidan-style scenario'
Georgia’s prime minister has claimed that unspecified “foreign entities” wish to see the “Ukrainisation” of Georgia with a “Maidan-style scenario”, in a reference to Ukraine’s 2014 uprising, as his government said more than 100 people had been arrested in protests.
It marked the second night of protests since prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced a decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union, in the wake of his Georgian Dream party’s disputed victory in parliamentary elections on 26 October.
The government’s announcement that it was suspending EU negotiations came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning last month’s vote as neither free nor fair. It said the election represented another manifestation of Georgia’s continued democratic backsliding “for which the ruling Georgian Dream party is fully responsible”.
In his latest remarks, Mr Kobakhidze claimed that Georgia remained committed to European integration. He has said that Georgia will reject any budgetary grants from the EU until the end of 2028.
He said: “Once again, we pledge to the Georgian public, which expressed solid trust in us during the October 26 elections, that no one will shake the peace and stability of Georgia. Despite artificial barriers, Georgia will persistently continue its progress toward European integration.”
More than 100 arrested as Georgian police clash with protesters over suspension of EU talks
Georgia’s interior ministry has said that more than 100 demonstrators were arrested overnight as protesters clashed with police following the government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union.
It was the second straight night of protests after premier Irakli Kobakhidze announced the decision the previous day. Demonstrators faced off against police late on Friday in a number of major Georgian cities, including the capital, Tbilisi, and the Black Sea port of Batumi.
The Associated Press reported that protesters in Tbilisi were chased and beaten by police as demonstrators rallied in front of the country’s parliament building. Riot police used water cannon to disperse protesters, and used heavy force against members of the media, while shouting profanities and insults at the crowds using loudspeakers.
Georgian Dream’s disputed victory in the country’s parliamentary election last month, which was widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union, has sparked massive demonstrations and led to an opposition boycott of the parliament.
The opposition has alleged that the vote was rigged with the help of Russia, and Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili joined protesters on Thursday, after accusing the government of declaring war on its own people. In an address to the nation, she urged police not to use force against protesters.
“This is evident in every way – no one is willing to accept a Russified Georgia, a Georgia deprived of its constitution, or a Georgia in the hands of an illegitimate government and parliament,” Zourabichvili said, adding: “It is unprecedented for citizens of Georgia to rise up simultaneously and spontaneously in this way.”
Donald Tusk inspects new fortifications on Poland’s eastern border
Poland’s premier Donald Tusk has travelled to his country’s border with the Russian region of Kaliningrad to inspect the construction of military fortifications there, which he called “an investment in peace”.
Poland’s government and army began building the system dubbed East Shield this year, which will eventually stretch to approximately 500 miles along Poland’s borders with Russia and Belarus.
“The better the Polish border is guarded, the more difficult it is to access for those with bad intentions,” Mr Tusk told reporters near the village of Dabrowka, as he stood in front of concrete anti-tank barriers.
Mr Tusk’s government estimates that the strategic military project – which he expects to eventually be expanded to protect Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – will cost at least 10 billion zlotys (£1.9bn).
“Everything we are doing here – and we will also be doing this on the border with Belarus and Ukraine – is to deter and discourage a potential aggressor, which is why it is truly an investment in peace,”Mr Tusk said. “We will spend billions of zlotys on this, but right now the whole of Europe is observing these investments and our actions with great satisfaction and will support them if necessary.”
Why is Russia targeting Ukraine’s energy grid with missile attacks?
Russia has unleashed another “massive” attack against Ukraine‘s energy infrastructure, firing nearly 200 missiles and drones and leaving more than a million households without power, Ukrainian officials said.
Explosions were heard across the country as damage to the energy and other critical infrastructure was reported by officials in cities in the west, south and centre of the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia used cruise missiles with cluster munitions in Thursday’s attack, calling it a “vile escalation”.
In this article, The Independent takes a look at why Russia is launching so many strikes and the likely impact of them on Ukraine.
Read our analysis here:
Why is Russia targeting Ukraine’s energy grid with missile attacks?
Moscow unleashes second major strike on power sector in two weeks in what Ukrainian president Zelensky calls ‘vile escalation’
Zelensky: I want to speak with Trump directly without voices around him
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his need to speak to Donald Trump directly without “different voices from people around him” that could risk destroying their communication, my colleague Holly Patrick reports.
In a wide-ranging interview with Sky News, Mr Zelensky said he did not want to allow “anybody [around] to destroy our communication.”
Desertion threatens to starve Ukraine's forces at a crucial time in its war with Russia
Desertion is starving the Ukrainian army of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia, which could put Kyiv at a clear disadvantage in future ceasefire talks.
Facing every imaginable shortage, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops, tired and bereft, have walked away from combat and front-line positions to slide into anonymity, according to soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials. Entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, according to military commanders and soldiers.
Some take medical leave and never return, haunted by the traumas of war and demoralized by bleak prospects for victory. Others clash with commanders and refuse to carry out orders, sometimes in the middle of firefights.
Desertion threatens to starve Ukraine's forces at a crucial time in its war with Russia
Desertion is starving the Ukrainian army of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia
Ukraine’s Western allies provided enough aid to equip two brigades out of requested 10, Zelensky says
Ukraine’s Western allies provided enough aid to fully equip just two and a half out of the 10 Ukrainian brigades that Kyiv had requested support for, president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned.
“Just equip the brigades,” Mr Zelensky said, after being asked what Nato or the US could do to help with Ukraine’s shortages of troops.
Boris Johnson calls for British ‘peacekeeper’ troops in Ukraine after Russia ceasefire
British troops should be sent to guard Ukraine’s border under any future ceasefire with Russia, Boris Johnson has said.
The former prime minister has said responsibility for keeping any deal intact should fall to a group of European peace-keeping forces.
Ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, which is expected to spark talks to end the conflict, Mr Johnson said British troops should be sent to Ukraine to maintain a ceasefire.
Speaking to The Telegraph’s Ukraine: The Latest podcast, he said: “I don’t think we should be sending in combat troops to take on the Russians.
“But I think as part of the solution, as part of the end state, you’re going to want to have multinational European peace-keeping forces monitoring the border [and] helping the Ukrainians.
“I cannot see that such a European operation could possibly happen without the British.”
The former PM said Western countries should ensure Russia cannot simply re-arm and launch another attack on Ukraine down the line by making clear what security guarantees are on offer.
Russia suffers ‘record 2,000 casualties in day’ as Ukraine military chief vows to reinforce eastern front
Russia has suffered more than 2,000 casualties in a single day, Ukraine’s military has claimed, in what would mark one of the heaviest toll of losses inflicted on Vladimir Putin’s forces at any point in the war so far.
Russia appears to be ramping up its push for territory with the Kremlin potentially anticipating that Donald Trump could seek to follow through on his presidential election campaign claim that he would rapidly end Moscow’s invasion with a peace deal once he re-enters the White House in January.
As Moscow focuses its efforts in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas – made up of the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk – and in trying to push Ukraine’s forces from Russia’s Kursk region, war analysts say that Russia is seizing more territory than at any point since the early days of its February 2022 invasion.
Read the full article here:
Russia suffers record 2,000 casualties in day, Ukraine claims
Intense clashes reported along front line in Ukraine as Moscow ramps up efforts to seize territory ahead of Donald Trump’s return to White House
Ukrainian poet Myroslav Herasymovych killed in frontline, brother says
A Ukrainian poet and screenwriter was reportedly killed on the frontlines while fighting against Russia in Donetsk Oblast.
Myroslav Herasymovych died on 25 November just four days before turning 57, his brother Taras Kulyk confirmed on Facebook.
“In the battle with Russia, my brother, Myroslav, gave away his life in the city of Avdiivk, Donetsk region,” Mr Kulyk wrote on Friday about his brother whose real name is Myroslav Kulyk, according to Ukrainska Pravda. He shared a picture of his brother wearing a military uniform.
Read the full article here:
Ukrainian poet Myroslav Herasymovych killed in frontline, brother says
Poet dies in war just four days before turning 57
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