Ukraine-Russia war latest: Nato ‘waiting for Trump’ over key decision as Putin’s planes ‘stole children’

A visit to Russia by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is being prepared, but there is no clarity yet on when it will take place, the Kremlin has said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was unclear whether the visit would happen this year, but that a date for the trip could be agreed very quickly if necessary.

“Such a visit is being prepared, preparations are underway,” Peskov said.

Moscow is preparing to sign a new bilateral treaty with Tehran that will include closer defence cooperation, the kind of treaty that Russian President Vladimir Putin often signs in person with his foreign counterparts.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told state television in late October the treaty would be signed “in the near future”.

Moscow signed a similar “comprehensive” treaty with North Korea, which includes a mutual defence clause, in June.

Military ties between Moscow and Tehran are a source of concern to the West as Russia prosecutes its war in Ukraine and turns to allies like Tehran for support.

Nato will step up intelligence sharing and improve the protection of critical infrastructure in the face of Russia’s “hostile” acts of sabotage against allies, Nato chief Mark Rutte said on Tuesday.

“Over the past years, Russia and China have tried to destabilise our nations with acts of sabotage, cyber-attacks, disinformation and energy blackmail to intimidate us,” Rutte told reporters in Brussels.

“Nato allies will continue to stand together to face these threats through a range of measures, including greater intelligence sharing and better protection of critical infrastructure.”

Western allies must step up their military aid for Ukraine to strengthen Kyiv’s position as “Putin is not interested in peace”, NATO chief Mark Rutte has warned.

Moscow’s troops have been capturing village after village in Ukraine’s east, part of a drive to seize the industrial Donbas region, while Russian airstrikes target a hobbled Ukrainian energy grid as winter sets in.

“We will all need to do more. The stronger our military support to Ukraine is now, the stronger their hand will be at the negotiating table,” Mr Rutte said ahead of a Nato meeting in Brussels.

“Putin is not interested in peace. He is pressing on, trying to take more territory. Because he thinks he can break Ukraine‘s resolve and ours, but he is wrong.”

The Kremlin has said that a US decision to send another weapons package to Ukraine worth $725 million showed that the outgoing Biden administration was determined to throw oil on the fire of the war in Ukraine to ensure the conflict kept going.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the aid package would not change the situation on the frontline.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Monday that the new aid would include Stinger missiles, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), and drones and land mines.

Asked about the aid package, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “The current administration is pursuing its goals, its consistent line is to keep this war from slowing down.

“The (Biden) administration is doing everything it can to further add fuel to the fire. At the same time, this and other aid packages cannot change the course of events, cannot affect the dynamics on the frontlines.”

The Russian Defence Ministry has said its forces had gained control of two new settlements, Romanivka in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, and Novodarivka, in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region.

The Independent could not verify this claim.

The two previous winters of the war were already challenging, but Russia has now intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, with at least 11 major missile and drone strikes since March.

About half of Ukraine’s generating capacity was knocked out and distribution networks were also damaged.

In Kyiv, daily blackouts of eight hours are common and people plan their days around when power is scheduled to be available, including waiting in cafes for elevators to work if they live near the top of high-rise buildings.

Some residents and businesses have rushed to install new generating capacity in an attempt to access energy independently of the central energy system.

Analysts said strategies included more electricity imports from Ukraine’s Western neighbours, purchases of generators and alternative energy sources including solar panels, batteries and small gas turbine generators.

Russia has damaged or destroyed all of Ukraine’s thermal and hydropower plants.

In monetary terms, total damage to Ukraine’s energy sector exceeds $56 billion, including $16 billion in direct physical destruction and over $40 billion in indirect financial losses, according to estimates from the Kyiv School of Economics.

The country has to rely increasingly on nuclear generation, which makes it difficult to balance the amount of electricity on the grid, especially during peak morning and evening hours when retail consumption jumps.