Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky urges Trump to back Kyiv as Kremlin says ‘let’s see’ if he helps end war

The Ukrainian President said: “Congratulations to Donald Trump on his impressive election victory!

“I recall our great meeting with President Trump back in September, when we discussed in detail the Ukraine-US strategic partnership, the Victory Plan, and ways to put an end to Russian aggression against Ukraine.

“I appreciate President Trump’s commitment to the “peace through strength” approach in global affairs. This is exactly the principle that can practically bring just peace in Ukraine closer. I am hopeful that we will put it into action together.

“We look forward to an era of a strong United States of America under President Trump’s decisive leadership. We rely on continued strong bipartisan support for Ukraine in the United States.

“We are interested in developing mutually beneficial political and economic cooperation that will benefit both of our nations. Ukraine, as one of Europe’s strongest military powers, is committed to ensuring long-term peace and security in Europe and the Transatlantic community with the support of our allies.

“I am looking forward to personally congratulating President Trump and discussing ways to strengthen Ukraine’s strategic partnership with the United States.”

On the front lines of Ukraine’s eastern conflict, soldiers are still focused on survival.

Amid the daily barrage of Russian fire, a 39-year-old artillery commander known only as Mozart is wary of the political shifts sweeping across the Atlantic.

The news of Donald Trump’s victory in the United States presidential election reached them through brief updates from journalists, but their main concern remains unchanged: the flow of military aid from Washington.

"We don’t care who is president, as long as they don’t cut us off," Mozart said. "We need weapons, we need support."

Mr Trump’s return to the White House raises troubling questions for Ukraine, which has depended on US assistance since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Under Mr Trump’s first term, the US sent Ukraine crucial weapons, like Javelin anti-tank missiles, but his stance on foreign entanglements - coupled with his history of praise for Vladimir Putin - has sparked fears that support for Ukraine might dwindle under his leadership.

The new Republican President has repeatedly said he could broker peace between Ukraine and Russia within a day if elected, but he has yet to clarify how such a deal would be achieved.

Russia will keep sending nuclear warning signals to its enemies in the West until they get the message, an influential foreign policy hawk has said.

Speaking on the Valdai forum, where Putin will speak on tomorrow, security expert Sergei Karaganov urged President Vladimir Putin to lower the threshold for using nuclear weapons, and in the past has even advocated a pre-emptive strike on a NATO country.

Mr Karaganov told Reuters he hoped that strikes against Western countries would not happen. But he said the changes announced by Putin to Russia’s nuclear doctrine were part of an effort to “sober up our Western partners, especially the Europeans”.

“That’s exactly it...There will be steps up the ladder of nuclear escalation, of which several have been made, (and) there will be more. Until finally the Europeans run away,” he said.

Since the start of the Ukraine war, Putin has staged a series of nuclear exercises, changed Russia’s position on major arms treaties and announced the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in its ally Belarus, which borders three NATO countries.

Russia says it is the West that is raising the risk of a nuclear confrontation by arming Ukraine and accused the US and its allies of using Ukraine as an instrument in a proxy war aimed at inflicting a “strategic defeat” on Russia.

Mr Karaganov argued that Russia needs to restore the West’s fear of nuclear weapons in order to deter its enemies.

“They have stopped being afraid of war. And especially the Europeans. They are climbing into a third world war right before our eyes,” he said.

Western security officials suspect Russian intelligence was behind a plot to put incendiary devices in packages on cargo planes headed to North America, including one that caught fire at a courier hub in Germany and another that ignited in a warehouse in England.

Poland said last month that it has arrested four people suspected to be linked to a foreign intelligence operation that carried out sabotage and is searching for two others.

Lithuania’s prosecutor general Nida Grunskiene said Tuesday there were an unspecified number of people detained in several countries, offering no elaboration.

Read the full story below:

Germany is the first nation to discuss its response to North Korea’s military involvement in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said he had discussed with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock the “need for decisive action” in response to North Korean involvement in the war with Russia.

“We urge Europe to realise that the DPRK [North Korea’s official name Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] troops are now carrying an aggressive war in Europe against a sovereign European state,” he told a briefing after meeting Ms Baerbock in Kyiv.

Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking later during his nightly video address, said a meeting of top commanders had considered a report by Ukrainian intelligence on the presence of North Korean troops in Russia. He repeated his call for greater action from Ukraine’s Western allies.

“There are already 11,000 in the Kursk region,” Mr Zelensky said, referring to the southern Russian region where Ukrainian troops have seized chunks of land since an incursion there in August.

“We see an increase in North Koreans, but we don’t see any increase in the reaction from our partners.”

During Prime Minister’s Questions this afternoon, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has asked Sir Keir Starmer what he will do to encourage Donald Trump to change his mind about Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Sir Keir said he will continue to talk out about “Russian aggression” and said that he looks forward to working with Mr Trump “to ensure that [special] relationship stays”.