Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky says Patriot missiles could ‘close our skies’ but are just gathering dust

Just over 44 per cent of Ukrainians trust US president-elect Donald Trump, around 10 points less than president Joe Biden, a survey by New Europe Center showed.

In comparison, a separate June poll by the Pew Research Center suggested that Hungaraians trusted Mr Trump the most at 37 percent, followed by Britain at 30 per cent and then France with 16 per cent of the population trusting him.

“This high level of support is likely due to the expectation of a clearer and more decisive policy towards Ukraine from the new US administration,” New Europe Center researchers said.

Just over 70 per cent of Ukrainians support gradual NATO accession akin to West Germany’s model, a new survey by the Kyiv-based New Europe Center.

This invitation would cover Ukraine, but the alliance’s defensive umbrella would only extend to occupied territories after liberation.

Different NATO accession pathways are gaining traction in both the West and Kyiv as Russia holds a military advantage on the battlefield and the prospect of liberating occupied territories militarily remains slim.

China’s yuan exports to Russia plunged in November, a sharp deterioration from 24 per cent growth in October and marking the first decline in four months, according to Chinese customs data.

Outbound shipments to Russia shrank 10.5 percent last month from a year earlier, the first drop since July.

Imports from Russia also fell 7.4 percent in yuan terms last month, worsening from a 4.3 percent loss in October.

It comes after Putin said that the primary challenge to Russia-China trade was mutual payment settlements, and the central banks of both countries were working to address the issue.

Britain will support Cyprus in establishing a new national sanctions implementation unit to crack down on "illicit Russian finance" flowing through Europe, the British government has said.

"Together with the Republic of Cyprus, we are stemming the flow of illicit finance through Europe to starve (Russian president Vladimir) Putin’s war machine and protect global stability," British prime minister Keir Starmer said following a visit to the island nation.

French president Emmanuel Macron will visit Warsaw on Thursday to give a rundown on talks with US president-elect Donald Trump and Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris last weekend, Poland’s prime minister said on Tuesday.

“The day after tomorrow, president Macron will be here, he will want to inform about the results of the Paris talks, where the meeting took place with president (elect) Trump and president Zelenskyy,” Donald Tusk told a government meeting.

Germany’s foreign ministry has said it is trying to gain access to a dual Russian-German citizen detained in Russia on suspicion of preparing an act of sabotage on a railroad in Nizhny Novgorod, a city some 280 miles (450 km) east of Moscow.

Russia treats dual nationals exclusively as Russian and therefore generally refuses consular access, a foreign ministry source in Berlin said.

The German embassy in Moscow is working to gain access to the person concerned after learning of the arrest of a suspected German citizen, the source added.

Russia’s Federal Security Service has said it had detained a dual Russian-German citizen on suspicion of preparing an act of sabotage on a railroad in Nizhny Novgorod, a city some 280 miles (450 km) east of Moscow.

The FSB did not name the man, but said he was born in 2003. It said authorities had found an improvised explosive device at his home, as well as evidence he had corresponded with a member of Ukrainian special services.

Russian officials have linked pro-Ukrainian sabotage groups with numerous attacks on railways aimed at disrupting supplies to the battle front in Ukraine since the war began in February 2022.

Kristen Michal, Estonia’s prime minister, has arrived in Kyiv to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky and other top officials, including Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

Friedrich Merz, the German opposition leader, is also making a diplomatic visit to the Ukrainian capital today.

Michal succeeded Kaja Kallas as Prime Minister in July. She resigned to become the EU’s foreign policy leader after becoming one of the political bloc’s and NATO’s most outspoken critics of Russia and backers of Ukraine. It is her first trip to Ukraine as head of the Estonian government.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy will raise Ukraine’s invitation to join the NATO military alliance as well as security guarantees at a meeting with European partners this month, Kyiv has said.

Ukraine announced the meeting on Monday and said it would help coordinate a joint position and ensure Kyiv was in a strong position for potential talks and on the battlefield.

"One of the issues on the agenda of such a meeting will certainly be the issue we are discussing now of obtaining a membership application and the issue of security guarantees for Ukraine until it joins NATO," said Ihor Zhovkva, deputy head of the Ukrainian president's office.

He said there would also be discussions about military aid for Ukraine.

Russian missile attacks on Ukraine’s northeastern region of Kharkiv injured ten people and destroyed an administrative building, according to the governor on Tuesday.

Governor Oleh Syniehubov stated that Russian soldiers launched two missile attacks on the village of Zlatopil.

The first strike harmed non-residential structures and cars, while the second struck an administration facility.

Russia has bombarded the border region with numerous attacks since the beginning of Moscow’s full-fledged invasion in February 2022.