Vladimir Putin is “dragging Asia” into the war in Ukraine with the use of Chinese-made drones and North Korean troops, the German foreign minister has said.
On a visit to Beijing, Annalena Baerbock stressed the responsibility of permanent members of the UN Security Council, such as China, not to further fuel conflicts with their support.
“Drones from Chinese factories and North Korean troops attacking peace in the centre of Europe violate our core European security interests,” Ms Baerbock said after meeting with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.
It comes after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky revealed North Korean soldiers deployed to fight for Russia have been killed.
Pyongyang is said to have dispatched between 10,000-12,000 troops to aid Putin’s forces.
A Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson told Radio Free Europe an additional 2,000 North Korean troops have been assigned to Russia's Marine and airborne units fighting on the front.
Meawhile on the frontlines, Moscow's troops have been capturing village after village in Ukraine's east, part of a drive to fully seize the industrial Donbas region, while Russian airstrikes continue to target a hobbled Ukrainian energy grid as winter sets in.
Key Points
- Zelensky’s latest Nato plan is a ‘major concession’ to Putin, says former UK ambassador
- US will not return nuclear weapons to Ukraine, says White House
- Putin signs off on record military spending in 2025
- Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine could temporarily cede territory to Russia
- Zelensky ‘calling Nato’s bluff’ with latest proposals, expert suggests
Zelensky’s latest Ukraine-Russia war plan is a ‘major concession’ to Putin, says former UK ambassador
14:11
Jabed Ahmed
Zelensky and and Scholz visit injured soldiers
13:43
Jabed Ahmed
Volodymyr Zelensky and Olaf Scholz have visited injured Ukranian soldiers in hostpital following Germany’s military aid announcement.
In a post on X, Mr Zelensky said: “We are deeply grateful to Germany for all the assistance it has provided. Germany stands as a European leader in supporting Ukraine, helping us defend ourselves against Russian aggression and terror.
“Our meeting with Olaf Scholz began with a visit to our warriors, wounded in combat against the occupiers, who are currently undergoing treatment and rehabilitation.”
Today, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz is in Ukraine, marking the first bilateral visit by a German Chancellor in more than two years. We are deeply grateful to Germany for all the assistance it has provided. Germany stands as a European leader in supporting Ukraine, helping us… pic.twitter.com/NoTDQLqVuc
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 2, 2024
Commment: Zelensky is playing a clever game with America by talk of ceasefire
13:16
Jabed Ahmed
German aid to Ukraine will include air defence systems, spokesperson says
12:51
Jabed Ahmed
German military aid to be delivered to Ukraine in December includes IRIS-T air defence systems, Leopard 1 tanks and armed drones, a defence ministry spokesperson has said.
“Winter is just around the corner, so there will also be winter equipment, as well as hand-held weapons and warming devices,” the spokesperson said just hours after Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the deliveries during a surprise trip to Kyiv.
A government spokesperson said the deliveries were part of a military aid package already announced by Berlin in October.
Why is Russia targeting Ukraine’s energy grid with missile attacks?
12:19
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine’s process of joining EU marked by ‘sense of urgency’, new European Council chief says
11:47
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine’s process of joining the EU is marked by a “sense of urgency”, new European Council president Antonio Costa has said, during a vist to Kyiv.
Mr Costa, the former Portuguese premier, visited Ukraine along with the new EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and the bloc’s head of enlargement Marta Kos, on the day they all took office.
The EU has “stood with you since the very first day of this war of aggression, and you can count on us to continue to stand with you”, Mr Costa said, in remarks alongside Volodymyr Zelensky, adding: “These are not just words.”
Mr Costa said Ukraine’s process of joining the EU was marked by “a sense of urgency” and that the bloc could take steps to integrate Ukraine before its entry, such as coordinating mobile phone roaming rules and letting some goods into the single market.
“We cannot manage this process as business as usual because it is a geopolitical choice,” he said.
Pictured: Zelensky and Scholz visit memorial for Ukrainian and foreign fighters in Kyiv
11:19
Jabed Ahmed
Putin signs off record Russian defense spending as top EU officials visit Kyiv
10:39
Jabed Ahmed
Kremlin says Georgia protests have signs of attempted Ukraine-style revolution
10:08
Jabed Ahmed
The Kremlin has said that a wave of pro-EU protests in Georgia resembled an attempted Ukraine-style "Orange Revolution" and that the authorities were trying to stabilise the situation.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that some of the protesters had clearly broken the law by attacking police, but that Russia would not interfere in the situation.
More than 200 people have been detained after four nights of protests in the Georgian capital following the government's decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union after the block criticised the country's parliamentary election.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the parliament for the fourth night on Sunday. Some protesters threw fireworks at police who responded by deploying tear gas and water cannon.Georgia’s Interior Ministry said Monday that 224 protesters were detained on administrative charges and three arrested on criminal charges. So far, 113 police officers needed medical treatment while three others were hospitalized.
Zelensky criticised Scholz for call with Putin earlier this month
09:51
Jabed Ahmed
German chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke with Vladimir Putin for the first time in nearly two years, earlier this month.
The German leader urged Mr Putin to pull his forces out of Ukraine and begin talks with Kyiv that would open the way for a “just and lasting peace”, the German government said at the time.
The move was swiftly criticised by Mr Zelensky, who said the call had opened a “Pandora’s box” by undermining efforts to isolate the Russian leader.
“Now there may be other conversations, other calls. Just a lot of words,” said Mr Zelensky in an evening address on 15 November. “And this is exactly what Putin has long wanted: it is extremely important for him to weaken his isolation and to conduct ordinary negotiations.”
Today, Mr Scholz made an unexpected visit to Kyiv and promised military aid worth €650 million (£538mn).
More than 160 clashes on the frontlines in past day, Ukraine Army says
09:31
Jabed Ahmed
There have been 165 combat clashes on the frontlines in the past day, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.
The General Staff also reported that Russian forces carried out 18 airstrikes on the Ukrainian positions and settlements, dropped 25 glide bombs, and deployed 1,635 kamikaze drones.
Asia being dragged into Ukraine war, German foreign minister warns
09:11
Jabed Ahmed
Vladimir Putin is dragging Asia into the war in Ukraine with the use of Chinese-made drones and North Korean troops, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said during a visit to Beijing.
She stressed the responsibility of permanent members of the UN Security Council, such as China, not to further fuel conflicts with their support.
"Drones from Chinese factories and North Korean troops attacking peace in the centre of Europe violate our core European security interests," Ms Baerbock said after meeting with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.
ICYMI: UK Cabinet minister ‘can’t predict’ whether Ukraine will become part of Nato
08:47
Jabed Ahmed
A Cabinet minister has said he “can’t predict” whether Ukraine will become part of Nato, but added that the country has “got to be free to make its choices”.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden said the UK does not want to see “Ukraine coerced into accepting a deal” it does not want after Russia’s invasion.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested that territory under his control should be taken under the “Nato umbrella” to try to stop the “hot stage” of the war with Russia.
He said Ukraine could then get back the other parts of its territory “diplomatically”.
Mr McFadden told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “I don’t know whether Ukraine will be part of Nato or not in the future, I can’t predict that.
“What I do know is that I want the country to be free to make decisions about its own future.”
He added that any application would “have to be considered properly by Nato in the future”.
German Chancellor announces Ukraine military aid in visit to Kyiv
08:25
Jabed Ahmed
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has made an unexpected visit to Kyiv, promising military aid worth €650 million (£538mn).
The visit, his second since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, signals Germany's support at a time of uncertainty ahead of President-elect Donald Trump taking the reins at the White House and as Russian forces make territorial gains.
Scholz will hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is set to push NATO to invite Ukraine to join the military alliance at a meeting in Brussels this week.
"Germany will remain Ukraine’s strongest supporter in Europe," Mr Scholz wrote on X.
At the meeting with Zelenskiy, he said he would "announce further military equipment worth 650 million euros, which is to be delivered in December."
If the war in Ukraine ends in a deal, it must be struck by Zelensky from a position of strength
08:00
Arpan Rai
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, has suggested he would temporarily cede Ukrainian territory to Russia in exchange for joining Nato. The negotiation to end the war has begun.
“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. We need to do it fast,” Mr Zelensky told Sky News.
He implied that he would worry about recovering the eastern provinces and Crimea later: “And then on the occupied territory of Ukraine, Ukraine can get them back in a diplomatic way.”
Mr Zelensky understands two ways in which the tide of war is turning against him, and is seeking to stay ahead of events. After nearly three years of fighting, enduring terrible losses and hardship, the Ukrainian people are becoming more tolerant of a settlement that ends the war without recovering all Ukrainian territory – something that Mr Zelensky has not previously been willing to contemplate.
Putin’s forces making rapid advances towards lynchpin of Ukrainian defences, warns UK
07:45
Arpan Rai
Vladimir Putin’s forces have made rapid advances towards the eastern flank of a longstanding lynchpin of Ukraine’s defensive line, according to the British Ministry of Defence.
The Donetsk town of Velyka Novosilka is now vulnerable following the loss of Vuhledar in early October, which lies 30 kilometres east, the ministry warned.
“This enabled increased Russian advances into less well-defended areas in western Donetsk oblast,” said the ministry, warning that “Russian forces are attacking behind established Ukrainian defences and threatening the primary logistics routes to the town”.
Zelensky pitches diplomatic solutions to retake occupied land, including Crimea
07:37
Arpan Rai
Ukraine must find diplomatic solutions to retake its occupied territory, president Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Kyodo News published today.
He said such steps could be considered “only when we know that we are strong enough”.
“Our army lacks the strength to do that. That is true,” he said, admitting it is difficult to retake by force some of the Russian-occupied parts of the country, including Crimea that Russia annexed in 2014. “We do have to find diplomatic solutions.”
Mr Zelensky said returning US president Donald Trump and his team were studying the Ukrainian “victory plan” and he expected additional talks with them to explain “certain things in more detail,” according to the report.
Germany’s Scholz arrives in Kyiv for surprise visit
07:20
Arpan Rai
German chancellor Olaf Scholz has arrived in Kyiv for a surprise visit, public broadcaster ZDF reported today.
The German leader will hold talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as announce the delivery in December of further armaments worth €650m ($685m), ZDF cited Scholz as saying upon arrival.
“Germany will remain Ukraine’s strongest supporter in Europe. At the meeting with @ZelenskyyUa I will announce further military equipment worth 650 million euros, which are to be delivered in December,” he said in a post on X.
Ukraine’s process of joining EU marked by ‘sense of urgency’, new European Council chief says
07:00
Andy Gregory
Ukraine’s process of joining the EU is marked by a “sense of urgency”, new European Council president Antonio Costa has said, during a vist to Kyiv.
Mr Costa, the former Portuguese premier, visited Ukraine along with the new EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and the bloc’s head of enlargement Marta Kos, on the day they all took office.
The EU has “stood with you since the very first day of this war of aggression, and you can count on us to continue to stand with you”, Mr Costa said, in remarks alongside Volodymyr Zelensky, adding: “These are not just words.”
Mr Costa said Ukraine’s process of joining the EU was marked by “a sense of urgency” and that the bloc could take steps to integrate Ukraine before its entry, such as coordinating mobile phone roaming rules and letting some goods into the single market.
“We cannot manage this process as business as usual because it is a geopolitical choice,” he said.
Ukraine downs 52 out of 110 Russian drones overnight
06:58
Arpan Rai
Ukraine’s air force said it downed more than 50 drones Russia launched to attack the country overnight.
Of the total 110 drones fired by Russian forces, the air force shot down 52 and 50 were ‘lost’, likely due to electronic warfare, it said.
One drone remained in Ukrainian airspace and six of the drones headed toward Belarus and Russia, the air force added.
Russia using thermal and radar decoys to trick Ukrainian air defences
06:00
Andy Gregory
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.
Photos: Top EU officials visit Ukraine in show of solidarity
05:37
Arpan Rai
European Council president Antonio Costa and Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, arrived in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv yesterday, using the first day in their new roles to send a message of support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Their visit comes as Ukraine struggles to fend off a grinding Russian offensive and faces the uncertainty of US policy toward Kyiv when Donald Trump takes office next month.
Putin will use North Korean troops as cannon fodder, says Zelensky
05:23
Arpan Rai
Volodymyr Zelensky has said North Korean soldiers deployed by Russia will be used as “cannon fodder”.
Many North Korean soldiers will be sent to the frontlines of the war in the future, Mr Zelensky told Kyodo News and he said that it was “indisputable” that Russian president Vladimir Putin will use them “as cannon fodder” to reduce losses to his country’s military.
Mr Zelensky said there is evidence that about 12,000 North Korean soldiers had been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region bordering Ukraine but Kyiv needs “to have proof” before disclosing the exact number of casualties.
Russia downs 15 drones fired by Ukraine overnight
05:07
Arpan Rai
Russia’s air defence systems destroyed 15 Ukrainian drones over several Russian regions overnight, the state-run RIA news agency reported this morning, citing the defence ministry.
Putin’s secret daughter ‘is part-time DJ living in Paris under pseudonym’
05:00
Andy Gregory
Vladimir Putin’s youngest daughter is an occasional DJ who has lived in Paris under a pseudonym, according to reports.
While the Russian president officially has two daughters with his ex-wife, who has remarried as Lyudmila Ocheretnaya after she and Putin were divorced in 2014, he is also alleged to have had a daughter with a woman named Svetlana Krivonogikh.
Her daughter Elizaveta has now been reported in Ukrainian media to haved lived in Paris under the name Elizaveta Olegovna Rudnova, and to have studied at the ICART international school of art management.
You can read more details here:
German foreign minister slams China for providing weapons to Russia
04:10
Arpan Rai
German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has accused China of providing Russia with weapons for its war against Ukraine and threatening peace in Europe and the Indo-Pacific.
“Instead of taking responsibility for peace and security in the world as a permanent member of the UN security council, China is opposing our core European interests with its economic and weapons aid to Russia,” Ms Baerbock said in a statement ahead of a visit to Beijing.
The German foreign minister will travel to China next week, where she will meet with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to discuss issues including the war in Ukraine. “Putin’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine is a direct threat to our peace,” Ms Baerbock said. “I will also speak in Beijing about the fact that we cannot simply ignore this in our relations with China.”
She noted that the war in Ukraine shows how security in Europe is inextricably linked with that in Asia.
“If North Korea sends soldiers and weapons against Ukraine, while Russia supports Pyongyang’s nuclear programme, then this jeopardises peace both here and in the Indo-Pacific,” Ms Baerbock said.
Why is Russia targeting Ukraine’s energy grid with missile attacks?
04:00
Andy Gregory
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:
Russia says its forces capture two settlements in Ukraine's east
03:44
Arpan Rai
The Russian defence ministry said its forces had gained control over two settlements, Illinka and Petrivka, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
It also said that Russian air defences shot down 55 Ukrainian drones in the past 24 hours.
Russian forces hold a little less than 20 per cent of Ukraine’s territory and have advanced through Donetsk region over the past two months at their fastest rate since March 2022, according to open source data.
They are approaching Kurakhove and the town of Pokrovsk to the north, the site of the sole colliery that supplies Ukraine’s steel industry with coking coal.
Zelensky’s latest plan is a ‘major concession’ to Putin, says former UK ambassador
03:39
Arpan Rai
Volodymyr Zelensky’s suggestion that Ukraine could temporarily cede territory to Russia in exchange for joining Nato would mark a “major concession” to Vladimir Putin, the UK’s former ambassador to Russia has said.
In a significant development on the route to a potential ceasefire after 33 months of conflict, the Ukrainian president indicated for the first time that Kyiv could accept Russian control over some of its territory in order to end the “hot phase of the war”.
With Moscow appearing to ramp up its push for territory in Ukraine’s east ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January, Mr Zelensky told Sky News that peace could be struck if territory he controls is taken “under the Nato umbrella”, allowing him to negotiate the return of the rest later “in a diplomatic way”.
US will not return nuclear weapons to Ukraine, says White House
03:00
Arpan Rai
The US is not considering returning to Ukraine the nuclear weapons it gave up after the Soviet Union collapsed, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said yesterday.
Mr Sullivan made his remarks when questioned about a New York Times article last month that said some unidentified Western officials had suggested president Joe Biden could give Ukraine the arms before he leaves office.
“That is not under consideration, no. What we are doing is surging various conventional capacities to Ukraine so that they can effectively defend themselves and take the fight to the Russians, not (giving them) nuclear capability,” he told ABC.
Last week, Russia said the idea was “absolute insanity” and that preventing such a scenario was one of the reasons why Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.
Kyiv inherited nuclear weapons from the Soviet Union after its 1991 collapse but gave them up under a 1994 agreement, the Budapest Memorandum, in return for security assurances from Russia, the United States and Britain.
MI6 chief warns Russia must not succeed in turning Ukraine into ‘vassal state'
03:00
Andy Gregory
The head of MI6 has accused 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”.
“In 37 years in the intelligence profession I’ve never seen the world in a more dangerous state. And the impact on Europe, our shared European home, could hardly be more serious,” Sir Richard Moore said, adding that if “Putin is allowed to succeed in reducing Ukraine to a vassal state he will not stop there.”
Read more details in this report:
Russian drone attack kills one in Ternopil, says Ukraine
02:50
Arpan Rai
Russia’s drone attack on Ukraine’s western city of Ternopil hit a residential building, killing one person and injuring several others, Ternopil’s military administration said this morning.
“A residential building was damaged,” Viacheslav Negoda, the head of the military administration of Ternopil region, said. “Unfortunately, there are casualties: one person has died, there are seriously wounded.”
Serhiy Nadal, the head of the regional defence headquarters in Ternopil, said via Telegram that as result of the attack, a fire engulfed several flats on the top floor of a five-storey apartment building.
He said that residents from several apartments were evacuated and that emergency services were working at the scene. Social media videos showed flames bursting out of the windows of a multi-storey apartment building in the darkness.
The city of Ternopil and its surrounding region were under air raid alerts for a couple of hours starting soon after midnight today, according to data provided by Ukraine’s air force.
Britain needs a more integrated defence industry, minister warns
02:00
Andy Gregory
British defence secretary John Healey has warned that the UK’s defence industry needs to be more integrated in order to strengthen the country’s security and economy.
Unveiling plans for the first British defence industrial strategy since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mr Healey said: “Our defence sector should be an engine for jobs and growth, strengthening our security and economy.
“That requires a defence industry that is better and more integrated – one that can keep our armed forces equipped, innovating at a wartime pace, and ahead of our adversaries.
“We will develop this new defence industrial strategy with industry, with innovators and with workers. We will mobilise the private sector to help face down global threats, direct more public investment to British businesses and create jobs and growth in every nation and region of the UK.
“National security is the foundation for national stability and growth. We are sending a signal to the market and to our adversaries: with a strong UK defence sector we will make Britain secure at home and strong abroad.”
UK to unveil first military industrial strategy since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
01:00
Andy Gregory
British defence firms will be prioritised for UK government money under a new strategy due to be announced on Monday.
Defence secretary John Healey will launch the defence industrial strategy and pledge to increase jobs in the sector across the UK, with investors and unions among those set to be invited to offer views on the sector.
Officials are also exploring how to make the defence supply chain more resilient, with the industry due to take part in a “war game” exercise which will test how firms and the Ministry of Defence could maintain supplies to the front line if they were faced with fighting and supply chain disruption.
This will be the first defence industrial strategy since Russia invaded Ukraine, with the last version published in 2021, and it is expected to be published in the first half of 2025, with consultation open until the end of February.
Ukraine ‘entering potentially decisive phase’ in Russia’s war, says ex-Nato ambassador
Sunday 1 December 2024 23:59
Andy Gregory
Ukraine is entering a “potentially decisive phase” in Russia’s war which will be crucial for Britain’s future security and prosperity, the UK’s former representative to Nato has said.
Speaking to Sky News in the wake of Volodymyr Zelensky’s interview discussing how to end the “hot phase” of the war, Sir Adam Thomson said: “This is a very significant statement by President Zelensky.
“With a new US administration coming in, we’re entering a potentially decisive phase in the Ukraine war that’s going to be crucial for the UK’s security and prosperity for years to come.
“Zelensky is addressing his own domestic audience, and is preparing them for compromises, but above all in this interview he is making opening moves in what’s likely to be an extended negotiation with the incoming Trump administration about what line Washington is going to take with the Kremlin.
“He’s moving Ukraine to a much more realistic position. Still not necessarily an achievable one, but more realistic.
“About three quarters of Nato allies, I would say, privately think that if it could be done Nato membership would be the least bad outcome in the sense of being the least expensive and the most stable outcome. But it couldn’t be done without the US president being wholly behind it and persuading two thirds of the US senate and quite a number of doubting allies.”
Desertion threatens to starve Ukraine's forces at a crucial time in its war with Russia
Sunday 1 December 2024 23:11
Andy Gregory
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.
Russia has raised threat of nuclear weapons 200 times, former UK diplomat says
Sunday 1 December 2024 22:21
Andy Gregory
Russia has raised the threat of using nuclear weapons more than 200 times since invading Ukraine, the UK’s former representative to Nato has said.
Sir Adam Thomson told Sky News: “If Ukraine were actually inside Nato it would have the US nuclear guarantee. And this has been a very nuclear conflict.
“Over 200 times Moscow has threatened its nuclear capability as a way of deterring Western countries from helping Ukraine, and it’s perfectly logical therefore that the best way of stabilising this is giving Ukraine the Nato nuclear guarantee.”
He added: “The whole Russian behaviour and use of nuclear threat is extraordinarily dangerous because Putin is actually bluffing until he isn’t, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to tell when that moment comes.
“But clearly at present Russia is not in a desperate situation where it would contemplate the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine and its bluff in that sense has been called by its use of British and American missiles deeper into Russian territory.”
Full report: Poland's prime minister visits defensive fortifications on border with Russia
Sunday 1 December 2024 21:43
Andy Gregory
Poland’s premier Donald Tusk has travelled to his country’s border with the Russian region of Kaliningrad to inspect progress in the construction of military fortifications along the eastern frontier, calling it “an investment in peace.”
Vanessa Gera and Rafal Niedzielski have more details in this report:
Putin wants ‘control not territory’, says analyst
Sunday 1 December 2024 21:01
Andy Gregory
Volodymyr Zelensky’s suggestion that Ukraine could temporarily cede territory to Russia in return for Nato assurances are “quite smart” but it is unlikely that Vladimir Putin would accept such an arrangement, an expert has suggested.
Asked about the Ukrainian president’s recent remarks on ending the “hot phase” of Russia’s war, James Nixey, of the Chatham House think-tank, told The Independent in emailed remarks: “It’s quite smart.
“Because territory can be regained – even militarily if need be (and the Ukrainians could switch to ‘deniable’ subversive warfare). Or it could be re-acquired under a post-Putin regime. It’s hard to see Ukraine ever giving up on it forever.
“However, it’s even harder to see Putin going for it,” said Mr Nixey, adding: “Putin wants control, not territory. That’s why he hasn’t invaded Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan etc. He controls them ‘enough’ and they have not been so wayward.
“So Ukraine – any part of it – in Nato as part of a deal would be unacceptable.”
Former British diplomat gives verdict on whether ceding territory would hand Putin a form of victory
Sunday 1 December 2024 20:16
Andy Gregory
Asked whether Ukraine ceding territory in a peace deal would hand a form of victory to Vladimir Putin, the UK’s former representative to Nato Sir Adam Thomson told Sky News: “The outcome that Zelensky is suggesting is agreement to disagree over who owns a chunk of Ukraine currently owned by Russia.
“Russia would claim it as its own. Zelensky is making the crucial point that this would not be internationally legally recognised – it would just be a de facto control that could change at some future stage through diplomacy.
“Putin would have seized some territory, he would have done it at extraordinary cost – billions and billions of dollars, two new Nato members already, a thousand or more Russian soldiers being killed or wounded every day at the moment.
“It’s in that sense a compromise. He’s got some territory under his control, it’s not recognised, and it’s an outcome that means he’s lost the rest of Ukraine and alienated Europe for a generation.”
Watch: Protester shoots fireworks at police during pro-EU protests in Georgia
Sunday 1 December 2024 19:33
Andy Gregory
No reason to think Russian offensive will run out of steam any time soon, says analyst
Sunday 1 December 2024 18:52
Andy Gregory
There is no reason to think Russia is going to run out of steam any time soon in its attacks on Ukraine, an analyst has warned.
Warning that a ceasefire in the conflict is “a terrible idea” which would hand Vladimir Putin time to regroup for another attack, Keir Giles of the Chatham House think-tank told The Independent that Russia’s heavy assaults in Ukraine’s east are “probably” sustainable, at least in the short term.
“Especially if there is not a Western response which dissuades Russia from expanding that North Korean group into something which is militarily significant and actually brings increased pressure to bear on the Ukrainians,” said Mr Giles, author of the recently published book Who Will Defend Europe?
“And especially if they can keep up their campaign of pressure both militarily and against Ukraine functioning as a state through these attacks on critical infrastructure.
“There’s no reason to think Russia is going to run out of steam any time soon. Eventually of course, they’ll find it is not sustainable. But that’s in the medium-term, and we have to survive the short-term in the meantime.”
Putin would not accept any part of Ukraine being in Nato, analyst suggests
Sunday 1 December 2024 18:22
Andy Gregory
James Nixey of the Chatham House think-tank has warned that any part of Ukraine being in Nato would be unacceptable to Vladimir Putin, after Volodymyr Zelensky said he could accept territory being temporarily ceded to Russia in exchange for security assurances from the alliance.
“After all, [Nato] is, for him, an abhorrence. Putin doesn’t want a pause anyway – he believes he’s on the brink of an historic and strategic victory, kindly deal-sealed by Donald Trump,” Mr Nixey told The Independent.
UK-based spy ring passed secrets to Russia for nearly three years, court told
Sunday 1 December 2024 17:53
Andy Gregory
A “sophisticated” UK-based spy ring passed secrets to Russia for nearly three years, a court has heard.
Bulgarian nationals Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, allegedly carried out surveillance on individuals and places of interest to Russia.
The spying activities allegedly included locations in London, Vienna, Valencia, Montenegro and Stuttgart, jurors have heard.
Read the full report from our crime correspondent Amy-Clare Martin below:
Georgian PM brushes off US criticism of excessive force against pro-EU protesters
Sunday 1 December 2024 17:25
Andy Gregory
Facing condemnation from the United States and defiance from his own president, Georgia’s new prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze has praised police for cracking down on protesters who he sought to claim were acting on foreign orders to undermine the state.
Georgia has been plunged into crisis since his governing Georgian Dream party said on Thursday it was halting European Union accession talks for the next four years, following an election contested by the country’s pro-Western president, who alleges interference by Russia.
Large-scale anti-government protests have taken place in the capital Tbilisi for the past three nights, with police have fired water cannon and tear gas into the crowds, resulting in scores of injuries. More protests are planned in Tbilisi for Sunday night, with demonstrations reported throughout the country.
Brushing off Washington’s suspension of a new strategic partnership with Georgia, Mr Kobakhidze said this was merely a “temporary event”, and that Georgia would talk to the new administration when Donald Trump takes office in January.
Responding to condemnation of “excessive force” being used against protesters, he said: “Despite the heaviest systematic violence applied yesterday by the violent groups and their foreign instructors, the police acted at a higher standard than the American and European ones and successfully protected the state from another attempt to violate the constitutional order.
EU and Nato would need to be present in any future Ukraine-Russia negotiations, says Zelensky
Sunday 1 December 2024 16:56
Andy Gregory
Any future ceasefire negotiations with Russia would need to include representatives from the EU and Nato, because Ukraine views its future security as being within both alliances, president Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
However, in remarks at a press conference with European Council president Antonio Costa, the Ukrainian president said he failed to see what any such negotiations would focus on, adding that Ukraine would “never legally recognise any occupation of our lands by the Russian Federation”.
Zelensky claims most Nato members see ‘no risks’ to Ukrainian membership
Sunday 1 December 2024 16:29
Andy Gregory