Ukraine-Russia latest: Trump ‘to call Putin’ as Biden plans final surge in military aid to Kyiv
Biden rushing to get billions more in aid to Ukraine before he exits office in January
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump is now likely to call Russia’s Vladimir Putin and tell him to “stop the war”, a former American diplomat has said.
The incoming US president is “going to make a phone call to Putin as quickly as possible and tell Putin that he needs to stop the war, that the fighting has to stop, and that there has to be peace,” Kurt Volker, former US special representative for Ukraine negotiations, said.
Mr Trump does not want to see the Ukraine war continue once he is actually in office, he said, while emphasising that Putin would inevitably have “demands” and that this would only be the start of the conversation.
Ukrainian war-time president Volodymyr Zelensky has congratulated Mr Trump, who will return to the White House, and urged the Republican to keep supporting Kyiv against Mr Putin’s invasion.
The current US administration, expecting a more frugal handling of Ukraine from Mr Trump, is now rushing military aid worth $9bn to Kyiv before Joe Biden exits office in January.
“The administration plans to push forward... to put Ukraine in the strongest position possible” before Trump enters office, a senior Biden administration official said.
Russia claims town in eastern Ukraine, state media reports
Russian forces captured the village of Kreminna Balka in Ukraine‘s eastern Donetsk region, the Tass state news agency has claimed , citing the defence ministry.
The Independent could not independently confirm the battlefield report, though DeepState, a Ukraine-based organisation that tracks developments on the frontline, and is known to have close ties to the military, has updated it’s map to include Kreminna Balka in Russian-occupied territory.
In pictures: Ukrainian soldiers train in Donetsk
Edwina Currie on selling her antiques to raise money for Ukraine
Edwina Currie on selling her antiques to raise money for Ukraine
The former MP tells Lisa Salmon about taking part in TV show Celebrity Yorkshire Auction House, and the Ukrainian family that lives with her.
Russia's Shoigu says West should negotiate end to Ukraine war based on current realities
Top Russian security official Sergei Shoigu has claimed that the situation in the combat zone in Ukraine is not in Kyiv’s favour and that the West should accept this and negotiate an end to the conflict, the Interfax news agency reported.
“Now, when the situation in the theater of military operations is not in the favour of the Kyiv regime, the West is faced with a choice - to continue financing it and destroying the Ukrainian population or to recognise the current realities and start negotiating,” Shoigu was cited as telling a meeting of secretaries of Commonwealth of Independent States countries’ security councils in Moscow.
His comments came as Donald Trump became president-elect in the US for a second time, only months after vowing to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. His vice-president, JD Vance, has also talked about ceding Ukrainian territory to Russia to secure a deal.
In pictures: Ukrainian emergency services tackle Russian destruction
‘Our survival depends on American aid’ Ukrainians on Trump’s election
‘Our survival depends on American aid’ Ukrainians react to election of Donald Trump
Trump’s victory comes at a precarious moment in the conflict for Kyiv as Putin advances bolstered by some 10,000 North Korean soldiers
In pictures: Kyiv hit by Russian drone attack
Two hurt in Russian drone attack on Kyiv, city officials say
Fragments from downed Russian drones injured at least two people and damaged several buildings in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv overnight, city officials said on Thursday.
Ten buildings were damaged by drone debris, including a medical facility and a business centre, said Serhiy Popko, head of the city’s military administration.
The attack also caused a fire in a restaurant on the 33rd storey of a building in the wealthy central Pechersk district, and three residential buildings were also damaged in other areas, Popko said.
Photos posted by the city authorities showed burnt-out vehicles in ruined garages, and shattered windows and charred walls in another location.
Popko said more than 30 drones had been brought down in and around the capital in the latest overnight attack.
“Currently, there is no air raid alert in Kyiv. But there are drones in the airspace of Ukraine that may move towards Kyiv,” he warned in a message on the Telegram app on Thursday morning.
Air raid sirens sounded again in Kyiv shortly after 9.00 a.m. (0700 GMT).
Large-scale drone attacks have become a nightly danger for Kyiv residents over the past month as Russia, which began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, increased the number of drones launched against Ukraine.
VOICES: Chris Stevenson: A Trump presidency won’t necessarily be the gift for Putin Moscow thinks it is…
A Trump presidency won’t necessarily be the gift for Putin that Moscow thinks it is
Washington is by far Kyiv’s largest military backer – and any loss in support will mean more deaths on the front line, writes Chris Stevenson. But if a push to end the war does come from the White House, that also poses a problem for the Kremlin
What does North Korea stand to gain from sending troops to Russia?
North Korea expects food, cash and new leverage for sending troops to Russia
A lot is at stake for North Korea’s leader as he sends young, inexperienced recruits to join Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine
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