Ukraine-Russia war latest: Biden allows Zelensky to conduct long-range missile strikes inside Russia

Vladimir Putin has told Germany’s Olaf Scholz that Russia is ready to look at energy deals if Berlin is interested, the Kremlin has said, following their first phone conversation since December 2022.

A readout from the Kremlin claimed: “It was emphasised that Russia has always strictly fulfilled its treaty and contractual obligations in the energy sector and is ready for mutually beneficial cooperation if the German side shows interest in this.”

Germany was heavily reliant on Russian gas before the war, but direct shipments ceased when the Nord Stream pipelines under the Baltic Sea were blown up in 2022.

Germany and other European Union countries have imposed successive waves of sanctions on Russia over the war and taken steps to wean themselves off their dependence on Russian oil and gas.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed details of a meeting held with Japanese foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya, who visited the war torn country earlier this week.

In a post on X, Mr Zelensky said the pair discussed “North Korea’s alliance with Russia and its support for Putin in this brutal war”.

He added: “I informed him about the activities of North Korean military personnel in the Kursk region and the various threats posed by the collaboration between Pyongyang and Moscow.

“Russia is teaching North Korea modern warfare, which could lead to significant and widespread destabilization. We must work together with all our other partners to counter this.”

When Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine in February 2022, the conventional wisdom was that the capital, Kyiv, would soon fall and the rest of the country wouldn’t last long against a much larger enemy.

Instead, it was that narrative that quickly collapsed. The Ukrainian army proved it could slow the advance of Russia’s forces and, if not drive them out completely, then – with enough support from the West – at least forestall defeat.

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One civilian has been killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian border region of Belgorod, according to regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

The announcement on Sunday comes after Russia launched its largest missile attack on Ukraine for months, according to Kyiv. The attack targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is certain the war with Russia will “end sooner” once Donald Trump returns to the White House.

Mr Zelensky conceded the battlefield situation in eastern Ukraine was difficult and Russia was making advances, adding that Russian president Vladimir Putin was not interested in agreeing to a peace deal.

In an interview on Saturday, the Ukrainian president said he had a “constructive exchange” with US president-elect Trump during a phone conversation following his victory against Kamala Harris.

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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine is defending itself against “absolute evil”, as he shares footage of the devastation following what Kyiv says is Russia’s largest missile attack in months.

“Russian terrorists are once again trying to intimidate us with cold and blackouts, repeating their actions and trying to get results from them,” Mr Zelensky said.

“The entire world sees and knows that we are defending ourselves against absolute evil, which understands no language but force. We need unity, the world needs unity. Only together can we stop this evil.”

Russia used nearly 140 missiles of different types, 900 guided aerial bombs and over 600 strike drones, Mr Zelensky added.

“Efforts to address the consequences of the combined attack on our infrastructure in the Rivne, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Volyn, and Odesa regions are ongoing.”

Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha has taken a thinly-veiled dig at German chancellor Olaf Scholz after he held a phone call with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Friday.

“Russia launched one of the largest air attacks: drones and missiles against peaceful cities, sleeping civilians, critical infrastructure,” Mr Sybiha wrote on X on Sunday morning.

“This is war criminal Putin’s true response to all those who called and visited him recently. We need peace through strength, not appeasement.”

He appeared to be taking direct aim at Mr Scholz following his discussiong with Putin, in which he called for Russian forces to retreat from Ukraine and for Moscow and Kyiv to open talks for a “just and lasting peace”.

Ukrainian air defences destroyed 102 Russian missiles and 42 drones during the major overnight strike, the air force said on Sunday.

Russian forces launched a total of 120 missiles of multiple different types, including hypersonic missiles, alongside 90 drones, Kyiv said.

The scale of the damage to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has not yet been clarified.