Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin ‘dragging Asia into war’ as North Korea troops join marine and air forces

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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 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."

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.