European leaders trying to escalate war after Trump win, claims former Russian president
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has accused European leaders of seeking to escalate the war in Ukraine after Donald Trump’s re-election.
In a post to Telegram, Medvedev claimed their goal was to “drive the conflict with Russia into an irreversible phase”.
He also warned Western politicians against sending long-range missiles to Ukraine to fire at targets inside Russia, saying they would not be “capable of changing anything significantly”.
“The risk of the conflict escalating into the most dangerous stage is greatly increased by cruise missile strikes,” he said.
Medvedev went on to accuse European leaders of looking to “drag the war onto their territory”.
Watch: Ukrainian military is ‘in trouble’
Ukraine’s military is “in trouble” as it runs short of infantry and other critical supplies, says our chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay, who is in the country’s east.
He says Kyiv’s defence is “well dug in” but suffering with a “massive problem with numbers of infantry”.
“They’re having to use American tanks in infantry manoeuvres just to support the men, because they just don’t have enough bodies on the ground to carry out offensive attacks,” he says.
It means getting aid from its allies, particularly the US, is now “absolutely vital”, Ramsay adds – but it comes at a time when Kyiv fears a drop-off in US support as a result of Donald Trump’s election win.
Watch more from Ramsay here…
Peace deal may come at Kyiv’s expense as Trump wants to prove he can deliver on promises, analyst says
Donald Trump would be willing to put pressure on Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire deal to prove to his domestic audience that he can deliver on promises, a former US army adviser has said.
Trump previously vowed to rapidly end the Ukraine war if he returned to the White House – but did not explain how he would achieve this.
Mark Voyger, former special adviser for Russian and Eurasian Affairs to the commanding general of US Army Europe, told Sky News’ The World programme that Trump would likely seek “peace for the sake of peace”.
“He would be willing to put pressure on Ukraine, in my opinion, in order to deliver peace – not for the sake of justice and not for the sake of restoring Ukraine’s sovereignty and punishing Russian aggression, but rather peace for the sake of peace itself, so he can actually deliver what he has promised to his base,” he said.
Any deal put forward when Trump returns to office will likely come as a result of pressure on Ukraine “by threatening to withhold vital aid”, Mr Voyger said, adding that Trump does not have “any levers to influence Putin’s behaviour”.
Asked whether he felt Trump’s incoming presidency was detrimental to Ukraine’s fate, Mr Voyger said he did.
“[Trump] will be more inclined to actually work with autocrats,” he said. “He has autocratic instincts as a personal trait. He’s isolationist… this behaviour would harm NATO, transatlantic solidarity and ultimately would jeopardise the pillars of international order as we know it.”
Russian navy warship carrying missiles conducts drills in English Channel – state media
A Russian navy warship equipped with hypersonic cruise missiles has conducted drills in the English Channel, Russian news agencies have reported.
The ship – the Project 22350 frigate Admiral Golovko – passed through the channel to carry out tasks in the Atlantic Ocean, according to state news agency TASS.
It is reportedly equipped with Zircon hypersonic anti-ship missiles.
While in the Channel it conducted counter-terrorism drills and training on avoiding dangerous targets, Russian state agencies reported, citing the northern fleet’s press service.
On Sunday, the Russian ministry of defence said that the Admiral Golovko had crossed the narrowest part of the Channel – Pas de Calais – having left the fleet’s base in Severomorsk, Russia, on 2 November.
It said the “main task of the mission” was to “demonstrate the flag and ensure the naval presence in important areas of the off-shore maritime zone”.
Trump’s reported pick for secretary of state voted against aid for Ukraine
The man Donald Trump has reportedly picked to be his top diplomat voted against a multi-billion pound aid package for Ukraine earlier this year.
The president-elect is expected to confirm Marco Rubio will be his secretary of state when he takes office in January.
Rubio is the most hawkish option on Trump’s shortlist, having previously adopted hardline positions on Washington’s geopolitical opponents including China, Iran and Cuba.
The war in Ukraine will also be high on his agenda.
He has recently said in interviews that Kyiv should pursue a negotiated settlement with Russia rather than trying to take back all the territory it has lost in the past decade.
Rubio was also one of 15 Republican senators to vote against a $95bn (£74bn) military aid package including support for Ukraine which ultimately passed in April.
“I’m not on Russia’s side – but unfortunately the reality of it is that the way the war in Ukraine is going to end is with a negotiated settlement,” Rubio told NBC in September.
North Korea ratifies major defence treaty with Russia
North Korea has ratified a major defence treaty with Russia stipulating that each side should be prepared to provide military aid to the other if necessary, according to state media KCNA.
Russia had already completed ratification of the treaty – which was first signed by the two countries’ leaders in June – last week.
It is said to be the biggest defence deal between Moscow and Pyongyang since the end of the Cold War.
The treaty stipulates that either side should “immediately provide military and other assistance using all available means” if the other is attacked.
It comes as US, South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments say up to 12,000 North Korean combat troops are being sent by North Korea to the war under a pact with Russia.
A Kyiv official said last week that Ukraine had begun firing on North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk border region for the first time since they were deployed in the conflict.
A US official told CNN on Sunday that Russia had amassed a large force of tens of thousands – including some North Korean troops – to carry out an attack on Ukrainian positions in Kursk in the coming days.
Fire at depot in Russian border region after ‘Ukrainian attack’
A fire erupted at a depot in Russia’s Belgorod border region after a Ukrainian drone attack, a Russian official has said.
Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a tank at the depot caught fire in the Starkooskolsky district near the Ukrainian border, but firefighters brought the blaze quickly under control.
Ten fire crews were sent to the site, he said.
Belgorod has been repeatedly attacked by Ukrainian forces during the conflict.
Russian air defence systems destroyed a total of 13 Ukrainian drones overnight, the Russian defence ministry claimed.
It said all the drones were downed over regions bordering Ukraine.
Good morning
Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Yesterday, the Ukrainian armed forces reported that Russia lost 1,770 soldiers, apparently marking its deadliest day of the conflict so far.
It came as Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his soldiers had been fighting nearly 50,000 Russian troops in the Kursk region.
He also said that Moscow had fired 145 drones at Ukraine in a single attack – more than any previous nighttime strike.
We could see Russian forces launch a ground assault in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region as soon as today, after a Ukrainian military spokesman warned it could come soon.
The attacks could create a new pressure point for Kyiv’s overstretched defenders who already are on the back foot in the east, although it was unclear if they would involve a single offensive push or separate assaults, Vladyslav Voloshyn said.
“[The assaults] could begin in the near future, we’re not even talking about weeks, we’re expecting it to happen any day,” he told Reuters yesterday.
We’ll be bringing you all the latest updates throughout the day.
Goodnight
We’re pausing our live coverage on the war in Ukraine for now, but we’ll be back in the morning with all the latest updates.
Before we go, here’s a reminder of today’s key events:
- The Kremlin has denied that Vladimir Putin has spoken to US President-elect Donald Trump about the war in Ukraine, after reports suggested the pair had a phone call;
- Ukraine’s armed forces reported that Russia had suffered its deadliest day of the war so far, losing 1,770 soldiers yesterday;
- Ukraine’s forces have been fighting nearly 50,000 troops in Russia’s Kursk region, according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy;
- He also said Moscow had fired 145 drones at Ukraine, more than any previous single nighttime attack during the conflict;
- Analyst Tim Marshall told Sky News that the situation was “not looking good” for Ukraine after Mr Trump’s win, warning the country will be “thrown under the bus” when the new US leader takes office;
- In Moscow, a woman has been injured and flights from major airports were disrupted after the city was hit with the biggest drone strike since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine yesterday;
- Russia’s defence ministry claimed its forces had captured the village of Vovchenko in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, where the army has been making advances in recent weeks;
- Ukraine’s military intelligence claims to have destroyed a Russian attack helicopter at an airbase northwest of Moscow.
Watch: Russians react to Trump’s victory
Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential elections isn’t just big news for America…
Many believe he is likely to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war largely on Moscow’s terms.
His running mate JD Vance has previously said that Russia will keep the land it has taken and receive a guarantee of Ukrainian neutrality.
So what do Russians think of Mr Trump’s win?
“Trump is a businessman so there is a glimmer of hope that he will abandon the military methods of escalation and perhaps the situation will improve,” one woman said.
You can listen to other people’s views below…