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.
Zelensky says new military appointees ‘have proved their efficiency on the battlefield'
Volodymyr Zelensky has appointed a new land forces commander and deputy army chief, praising both as having “proved their efficiency on the battlefield”.
Former Kharkiv commander General Mykhailo Drapatyi was placed at the helm of Ukraine’s land forces, as reported in the previous post, while Colonel Oleh Apostol – commander of the 95th separate air-assault brigade – was made deputy to Ukraine’s military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.
The Ukrainian president praised both Mr Drapatyi and Mr Apostol, saying “they had proved their efficiency on the battlefield”.
Ukraine’s Zelenskiy names new land forces chief and warns changes needed
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has replaced the commander of the military’s land forces, putting Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi in charge as he warned that “internal changes” were needed.
The 42-year-old replaces Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavliuk, who took the helm of the land forces in a major shake-up in February 2024.
“The main task is to increase noticeably the combat efficiency of our army, ensure the quality of servicemen training, and introduce innovative approaches to people management in Ukraine’s Armed Forces,” Zelenskiy said.
“The Ukrainian army needs internal changes to achieve our state’s goals in full,” he said on Telegram after meeting his top military and government officials.
Mr Drapatyi is well respected in the army and military analysts praised his appointment. He took command of the Kharkiv front in May and managed to stop the Russian offensive in the northeast, stabilising the front.
World at most dangerous point in 40 years, MI6 chief warns
The world is at its most dangerous point for 40 years, the head of MI6 has warned – accusing Russia of waging a “staggeringly reckless campaign” of sabotage in Europe to undermine support against Vladimir Putin’s push to turn Ukraine into a “vassel state”.
World at most dangerous point in 40 years, MI6 chief warns
If Vladimir Putin allowed to reduce Ukraine to vassal state he will not stop there, Richard Moore says
Why is Russia targeting Ukraine’s energy grid with missile attacks?
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’
Putin says Russia would use all weapons at its disposal if Ukraine got nuclear weapons
Vladimir Putin has claimed that Russia would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if Kyiv were to acquire nuclear arms.
The New York Times reported last week that some unidentified Western officials had suggested US president Joe Biden could give Ukraine nuclear weapons before he leaves office.
“If the country which we are essentially at war with now becomes a nuclear power, what do we do? In this case, we will use all, I want to emphasize this, precisely all means of destruction available to Russia. Everything: we will not allow it. We’ll be watching their every move”, Putin said during a press conference in Astana, Kazakhstan.
“If officially someone were to transfer something, then that would mean a violation of all the non-proliferation commitments they have made,” Mr Putin said.
The Russian president also said it was practically impossible for Ukraine to produce a nuclear weapon, but that it might be able to make some kind of “dirty bomb”, a conventional bomb laced with radioactive material in order to spread contamination. In that case, Russia would respond appropriately, he said.
Russia has repeatedly said, without providing evidence, that Ukraine might use such a device.
Zelensky aide says Ukraine ready to host second peace summit soon
Ukraine is ready to host a second global summit aimed at ending Russia's invasion in the "nearest future", the Ukrainian president's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on Thursday, local media outlets reported.
Ukraine held its first "peace summit" in Switzerland in June, bringing together over 90 countries to draft a resolution based on Ukraine's proposed conditions to end the war.
However Russia was not invited to that summit and dismissed its deliberations as meaningless without Moscow's participation. It has also said it would not take part in any follow-up summit organised by Ukraine.
"Thanks to active work with our partners, a joint peace framework has already been developed, which will become the basis for the Second Peace Summit, and Ukraine is ready to hold it in the near future," Yermak told a conference, according to Ukrainian media.
China also stayed away from the June summit, while other major non-Western powers including India, Saudi Arabia and Mexico withheld their signatures from the summit communique, underlining the diplomatic challenge Kyiv faces in marshalling broader global support for its cause beyond its Western allies.
Germany offers re-deployment of Patriot air defence missiles to Poland
Germany has offered to re-deploy Patriot air defence missiles to NATO ally Poland at the start of the new year, the German defence ministry has said.
The units could be deployed for up to six months, the ministry said in a statement.
"With this we will protect a logistical hub in Poland which is of central importance for the delivery of materials to Ukraine," German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said.
From January to November 2022, Germany had already deployed 300 troops together with three Patriot units to Poland.
They were based in the town Zamosc, about 50 km (31 miles) from the Ukrainian border, to protect the southern town and its crucial railway link to Ukraine.
The deployment was triggered by a stray Ukrainian missile that struck the Polish village of Przewodow in November 2022, in an incident that raised fears of the war in Ukraine spilling over the border.
Russia kills five Ukrainian prisoners of war, prosecutor general says
Russian forces have killed five Ukrainian prisoners of war in Zaporizhzhia region, according to the Ukrainian prosecutor general.
In a statement on Facebook, the prosecutor general said an investigation has been launched after Russian forces shot five out of six captured Ukrainian soldiers.
Investigators also received a video of the moment the shooting was recorded, the prosecutor said.
Russia and Ukraine return children to families after mediation by Qatar
Russia and Ukraine have agreed to return to each other a total of nine children to be reunited with family members, according to a senior Russian official.
The transfers were agreed following mediation by Qatar, which has brokered several similar deals during the war. Russia’s commissioner for children, Maria Lvova-Belova, said six boys and one girl, aged six to 16, were being returned to relatives in Ukraine. She said that Qatari mediation had also enabled the repatriation of two young Russian boys, aged seven and nine, from Ukraine.
Ukraine says about 20,000 children have been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without the consent of family or guardians since the war began, calling the abductions a war crime that meets the UN treaty definition of genocide.
Moscow says it has protected vulnerable children from the war zone. Ms Lvova-Belova and Mr Putin are both wanted by the International Criminal Court over war crimes allegedly committed in relation to the children’s transfer.
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