Ukraine's territorial integrity must be restored before any "genuine peace negotiations," according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. UK said Russia was reinforcing defense lines. DW rounds up the latest.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv would enter “genuine peace negotiations” with Russia once Ukraine’s territorial integrity was restored, Russia’s aggression ended and compensation for all damages caused by the war was guaranteed.
In his address late Monday, Zelenskyy added that “respect for the UN charter” and “guarantees that this will not happen again” would also needed to be provided, describing this as “completely understandable conditions.”
Zelenskyy also said Ukraine had repeatedly proposed talks with Russia, but was met with “insane Russian responses with new terrorist attacks, shelling or blackmail.”
At the end of September, Russia had announced the annexation of several territories of Ukraine, leading to Zelenskyy vowing to never enter negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kyiv has signaled they would be willing to negotiate with Putin’s eventual successor.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated Moscow’s position that it is willing to talk but that Kyiv is refusing them. Moscow has made clear that there will be no negotiations over the regions it claims to have annexed from Ukraine.
Here are the other main headlines from the war in Ukraine on Tuesday, November 8:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said around 4 million people were without power in 14 regions plus the city of Kyiv on Tuesday, but on a stabilization rather than an emergency basis.
“As of this evening, close to 4 million Ukrainians in 14 regions and in the city of Kyiv are disconnected from the power grid,” he said in his nightly address. “But the majority of them are so under prearranged schedules,” he added.
Zelenskyy also said that Russia wanted to press its advance in eastern Ukraine beyond the Donetsk region, but Ukrainian forces would not yield “a single centimeter.”
“The activity of the occupiers remains at an extremely high level — dozens of attacks every day,” he said.
“They are suffering extraordinarily high losses. But the order remains the same – to advance on the administrative boundary of Donetsk region. We will not yield a single centimetre of our land,” the Ukrainian president stressed.
As much as €5.5 billion ($5.54 billion) of the total €17 billion ($17.1 billion) of Russian assets frozen in the wake of EU sanctions as a result of the war in Ukraine are in Luxembourg, Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said.
“If Russia does not give in, then further sanctions are inevitable,” Asselborn said. He said it was important that the EU did not recklessly put its unity at risk.
Luxembourg had so far delivered weapons and materiel to Ukraine worth more than €72 million ($72.4 million), which corresponds to 16% of the Grand Duchy’s total defence budget.
The Italian coalition official said Rome was ready to provide Ukraine with a variety of air-defense systems, including the medium-range Franco-Italian SAMP/T and Italian Aspide, as well as portable Stinger missiles.
However, it remains unclear how many of these it could offer or when any shipment might be delivered, the official said.
On Monday, Kyiv said it had received its first delivery of NASAMS air defense systems from the United States. French President Emmanuel Macron also pledged last week to boost Kyiv’s anti-air defenses.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has distracted world governments from efforts to combat climate change, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message played at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt.
“There can be no effective climate policy without peace,” he said, highlighting the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on global energy supplies, food prices and Ukraine’s forests.
“This Russian war has brought about an energy crisis that has forced dozens of countries to resume coal-fired power generation in order to lower energy prices for their people … to lower prices that are shockingly rising due to deliberate Russian actions,” Zelenskyy said.
“(It) brought an acute food crisis to the world, which hit worst those suffering the existing manifestations of climate change … the Russian war destroyed 5 million acres of forests in Ukraine in less than six months,” the Ukrainian president added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the United States to remain united, as questions hover over American support for his country following midterm elections to determine control of the US Congress.
“I call on you to maintain unwavering unity, as it is now, until that very day when we all hear those important words we have been dreaming of … Until we hear that peace has finally been restored. Democracies must not stop on their way to the victory,” he said in a recorded address, receiving the US Liberty Medal.
US President Joe Biden, who has been a key ally to Ukraine in supplying weapons and financial backing to fend off Moscow’s invasion, has been encouraging voters to back Democrats in the House of Representatives and the Senate. If both flip, Biden would be left as little more than a lame duck, calling into question continued robust US support for Kyiv.
In an interview with DW, Sudha David-Wilp, director of the German Marshall Fund’s Berlin office, said a Republican-dominated House could see more pressure heaped on Europe to help Ukraine.
“What will change — and this actually aligns with growing Republican voter sentiment — is that the US doesn’t want to just do it alone,” she said. “There won’t be any blank checks for Ukraine, but they’re going to expect European partners to step up support for Ukraine.”
David-Wilp stressed that there is currently overwhelming bipartisan support for Ukraine and NATO in Washington.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that he saw no need at present to evacuate Kyiv or any other cities that are not near the front lines in the war against Russia.
“Right now, the situation is far from (needing to) announce an evacuation,” Shmyhal said. “We must say that to announce the evacuation of any city not near the front lines, especially the capital, would not make any sense at present.”
Shmyhal made his comments at a cabinet meeting following Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy system, and after the mayor of Kyiv told residents to consider everything including a worst-case scenario where the capital loses power and water completely.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield has arrived in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials.
Zelenskyy told Thomas-Greenfield that the Black Sea grain export deal that unblocked three major Ukrainian ports must be extended.
“We maintain the line that the initiative must continue regardless of whether the Russian Federation is willing,” Zelenskyy said.
The deal, agreed in July under the mediation of the United Nations and Turkey, lifted a blockade that Russia imposed on Ukraine’s Black Sea ports after its February 24 invasion. The initiative expires on November 19.
Thomas-Greenfield visits Kyiv “to reiterate Washington’s unwavering support for Ukraine as it defends its freedom and sovereignty amidst Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion,” spokesman Nate Evans wrote on Twitter.
Thomas-Greenfield’s visit falls on the day of the US midterm elections. Their outcome could also have an impact on US support for Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is likely to attend the G20 summit next week online, but his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is unlikely to take part, officials said.
Zelenskyy will attend the meeting of the Group of 20 leading world economies, but will probably not travel to Indonesia in person. He will most likely be connected via video, presidential spokesman Serhiy Nykyforov was quoted as saying on Ukrainian television. In any case, Zelenskyy will participate in some form, Nykyforov said.
Putin on the other hand is unlikely to travel to Bali to attend the G20 summit next week, an aide to the Indonesian president said, potentially resolving a diplomatic dilemma for the summit hosts.
Zelenskyy said last week that he would not attend the Bali summit if Putin was present. This was his “personal position and the position of the country,” Zelenskyy was reported as saying.
Russia has banned military cooperation with 74 foreign companies in response to Western sanctions, the Kremlin said.
The list includes companies from various “unfriendly countries,” including 20 from Germany. It also includes companies from Bulgaria, Britain, Canada, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Montenegro, Poland and the United States.
In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, numerous countries as well as the European Union imposed far-reaching sanctions on Moscow. Russia regularly responds with countermeasures.
British military experts said that Russian forces were readying themselves for potential breakthroughs by the Ukrainian army. Anti-tank structures, known as “dragon teeth” had been installed in the port city Mariupol for this purpose, a daily intelligence update from the Ministry of Defence in London said on Tuesday.
“Russia is reinforcing its lines in all occupied territories,” the statement said. “Dragon’s teeth have additionally been sent for the preparation of defensive fortifications in occupied Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.”
On Monday, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan had held talks with Russian officials about avoiding further escalation of the conflict, according to source cited by the Reuters news agency.
The White House has not confirmed the talks, but assured that that it will not make any diplomatic moves without Kyiv’s involvement.
In a separate statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that it was open for dialogue with the United States for “mutual benefit.” Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday that Russia wanted to “maintain contacts with the United States on necessary issues.”
Russia and the United States are discussing a potential bilateral meeting on the Strategic Arms Reduction and Limitation Treaty (START) in the coming weeks.
This was the first time a meeting on strategic nuclear weapons was considered since Russia sent troops into Ukraine, Russian newspaper Kommersant said on Tuesday.
The meeting could take place in the Middle East as Russia no longer recognizes Switzerland, which has traditionally hosted such talks, as a neutral state. Switzerland has joined other Western countries in imposing sanctions on Russia over Ukraine.
Germany’s Ifo Institute at the University of Munich, which specializes in economic reasearch, calculated that the country will lose some $110 billion (€110 billion) in real income between 2021 and 2023 due to the rapid rise of energy prices amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The report stated that there will be less room for negotiations of employees when it comes to wage and salary increases.
“The current decline in real income is likely to persist in the coming years,” Ifo’s Director of Economic Research and Forecasts, Timo Wollmershäuser said.
Real incomes adapt for inflation, but due to the increased amount of money spent on energy imports from countries other than Russia, Germany will lose billions.
According to Ifo, this could mean the highest real income loss for Germany since the second oil crisis at the end of the 1970s.
On Monday, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said it received its first NASAMS and Aspide air defense systems.
Russia has hit Ukrainian infrastructure with a barrage of strikes over the past month that has destroyed around a third of the country’s power stations leaving many cities facing frequent blackouts.
Ukraine hopes to use advanced air defense systems to prevent further loss of infrastructure.
North Korea on Tuesday denied having any arms dealings with Russia, and said it had no plans to do so, according state news agency KCNA. The comments came after the US said Pyongyang appears to be supplying Russia with artillery shells for its war in Ukraine.
Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant, is no longer connected to Ukraine grid. The national nuclear power authorities assume the Kremlin intends to connect the plant to Russia’s power network.
los/dj (AFP, Reuters, AP, dpa)