Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin ‘open to nuclear tests’ as Zelensky discusses ending ‘hot phase of war’
Senior Russian official says Kremlin is debating whether to resume nuclear tests for first time since 1990
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Your support makes all the difference.Russia is open to resuming nuclear tests for the first time since the Soviet era, one of Vladimir Putin’s senior ministers has said.
“This is a question at hand,” Sergei Ryabkov told the Tass state news agency. “And without anticipating anything, let me simply say that the situation is quite difficult. It is constantly being considered in all its components and in all its aspects.”
Russia, which has not carried out a nuclear test since 1990, withdrew last year from a global treaty banning such tests, in a move Moscow said would bring it in line with the US, which signed but never ratified the treaty.
It came as Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky suggested he would temporarily cede Ukrainian territory to Russia in exchange for joining Nato.
“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.”
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Zelensky says Ukraine could temporarily cede territory to Russia in exchange for Nato membership
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North Korea’s Kim Jong Un vows ‘steadfast support’ for Russia’s war in Ukraine
Nato invitation to Ukraine would be ‘the adequate response’ to Russian escalation, Kyiv says
A decision by Nato to invite Ukraine to join the military alliance would be “the adequate response” to Russia’s “constant escalation of the war it has unleashed”, Kyiv’s chief diplomat has said in a letter seen by Reuters.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha has urged his Nato counterparts to issue an invitation during a meeting in Brussels next week to Kyiv to join the alliance, according to the letter.
In line with president Volodymyr Zelensky’s “victory plan”, Ukraine says it accepts that it cannot join Nato until the war is over but extending an invitation now would show Vladimir Putin that one of his main goals – preventing Kyiv from becoming a Nato member – could not be achieved.
Nato has declared that Ukraine is on an “irreversible” path to membership. But it has not issued a formal invitation or set out a timeline, and diplomats say there is no consensus among alliance members to invite Ukraine at this stage – a decision which would require the consent of all 32 member states.
But Mr Sybiha wrote: “We believe that the invitation should be extended at this stage,” he wrote.
“It will become the Allies’ adequate response to Russia’s constant escalation of the war it has unleashed, the latest demonstration of which is the involvement of tens of thousands of North Korean troops and the use of Ukraine as a testing ground for new weapons,” Mr Sybiha added.
Ukraine urges Nato to issue membership invite next week, letter shows
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha has urged his Nato counterparts to issue an invitation to Kyiv to join the Western military alliance at a meeting in Brussels next week, according to the text of a letter seen by Reuters.
“I urge you to endorse the decision to invite Ukraine to join the Alliance as one of the outcomes of the Nato Foreign Ministerial Meeting on 3-4 December 2024,” Mr Sybiha wrote.
Iran nuclear proliferation ‘critical threat’ in coming months, French spy chief says
The risk of Iranian nuclear proliferation is a serious threat in coming months, and Britain and France are working out strategies to prepare for such an event, the head of France’s foreign intelligence service has warned – as Iranian and European leaders meet to discuss Tehran’s ties with Moscow.
“Our services are working side by side to face what is undoubtedly one of the threats, if not to say the most critical threat, in the coming months – the possible atomic proliferation in Iran,” Nicolas Lerner, head of the DGSE, said at the British embassy in Paris, alongside MI6 chief Richard Moore.
His rare public comments come as Iran and European powers meet in Geneva to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme, the situation in the Middle East, and Tehran’s ties with Russia amid the war in Ukraine.
“The intelligence will be crucial to enable our authorities to make the right decisions and define the right strategies,” he said.
Sir Richard echoed those comments, saying: “The regime’s nuclear ambitions continue to threaten all of us, especially friends of France and the UK in the Gulf region.”
German foreign minister to visit China next week to discuss Ukraine war
German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock will travel to China next week and discuss issues including the war in Ukraine with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Berlin has said.
Further political talks are also planned, a foreign ministry spokesperson said, adding that Ms Baerbock will also meet with German business representatives in the country.
Russia using thermal and radar decoys to trick Ukrainian air defences
Ukraine’s air force has warned that Russia was using thermal and radar decoys to trick Ukrainian air defences, and putting electronic warfare devices on its missiles.
"All this significantly complicates the operation of Soviet-made anti-aircraft missile systems. Western systems work much more effectively in such conditions, but Ukraine does not have enough to reliably cover hundreds of critical infrastructure facilities," the air force said.
It said foggy weather conditions also made it harder for machine gunners to spot drones, as Russia launched a large-scale attack this week on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
ICYMI: Putin threatens to target Kyiv ‘decision-making centres’ with new missile
Vladimir Putin has threatened to strike Kyiv with Moscow’s new ballistic missile – in the wake of his forces conducting a “massive” aerial assault on energy infrastructure across Ukraine.
The Russian president claimed future targets could include "decision-making centres" in the Ukrainian capital, as he said the latest strikes by almost 200 drones and missiles were in response to Ukraine using long-range US- and UK-supplied missiles against Russia.
But given that Moscow has repeatedly struck Ukraine’s energy sector during its almost three-year invasion – and that this was the second large attack in a month – Putin’s remarks have little credibility.
My colleague Jabed Ahmed has more in this report:
Putin threatens to target Kyiv ‘decision-making centres’ with new missile
It comes as Russia’s second big aerial attack on Ukraine’s energy system this month leaves one million people without power
Russian defence minister makes unannounced visit to North Korea to deepen military ties
Russian defence minister Andrey Belousov arrived in North Korea for a meeting with his counterpart on Friday, deepening concerns about their expanding strategic and military cooperation in the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.
“Today, friendly ties between Russia and North Korea are expanding across all areas, including military collaboration. We are committed to implementing all agreements reached at the highest level,” Mr Belousov told his counterpart No Kwang-chol during their meeting, news agency Tass reported.
“We look forward to close and fruitful cooperation with our Korean comrades,” the Russian minister said. “Today’s discussions will further strengthen the Russian-Korean strategic partnership in the defence industry.”
The visit, kept under the wraps until the last minute, coincided with South Korea scrambling fighter aircraft to intercept six Russian and five Chinese warplanes.
My colleague Shweta Sharma has more details in this report:
Russian defence minister makes unannounced visit to North Korea
Andrey Belousov lands in Pyongyang after Ukrainian defence minister meets South Korean president in Seoul
Moscow denies meddling in Romania election as authorities weigh re-running vote
Any accusations of Russian interference in Romania’s presidential election are groundless, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has insisted – after far-right, anti-Nato candidate Calin Georgescu surged into the lead in a shock first round of voting.
Romanian authorities have said they have found evidence of meddling in the election campaign by hostile actors, and officials are awaiting a decision by the Constitutional Court on whether to validate the results of the first round.
The head of Romania’s electoral commission said on Friday that the first round of voting could be re-run on 15 December, with the run-off between the final two candidates pushed back from 8 December to 29 December.
According to Romanian law, the court can annul the result of the first round vote only it finds evidence of fraud that affected who reached the run-off.
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