European Union (EU) leaders voted to begin accession talks with Moldova and Ukraine at a Brussels summit yesterday, a boost to Kyiv even while the bloc failed to pass a $54 billion financial aid package for the country (AP)
European Council President Charles Michel called the start to membership talks for Ukraine “a clear signal of hope for their people and our continent,” while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the decision a “political artillery shell that will bring victory closer” in the country’s war against Russia (NYT)
EU leaders said that they would try again to pass the financial aid package when they meet in January (Reuters)
At the summit, EU countries also agreed to a twelfth round of sanctions against Russia in response to its continued invasion of Ukraine; bans on Russian diamond imports and other measures are due to enter into effect beginning on January 1 (Bloomberg)
The package will also require more robust proof from companies saying they comply with the Group of Seven (G7) price cap on Russian oil (Reuters)
EU Weighs Aid, Membership Pathway for Ukraine at Brussels Summit
European leaders said they were ready for long and difficult negotiations at the two-day summit in Brussels, which will weigh providing Ukraine with some $58 billion in economic aid, $26 billion in military aid, and an invitation to start the European Union (EU) accession process (BBC)
Though European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen backs such an invitation, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán vowed at the summit’s opening to block Ukraine’s membership and said that Kyiv should not be funded by the bloc’s common budget (FT)
The summit comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the war in a rare news conference, saying there would be no peace until his war aims had been achieved (AP)
Addressing the EU summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy called on leaders not to “betray” people’s faith in Europe and noted that Ukraine has carried out anticorruption reforms in recent months as recommended for EU accession (Guardian)
Biden Stresses Stakes of Ukraine Aid as Zelenskyy Pitches Reluctant Republicans
During Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy’s visit to Washington yesterday, U.S. President Joe Biden stressed that there is still bipartisan support for more aid to Ukraine (CBS)
While Republicans praised Kyiv’s war effort, some have conditioned aid on stricter immigration and border policy; U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said yesterday that it was “practically impossible” for a Ukraine and border deal to pass in Congress before the holiday recess (WSJ)
Zelenskyy Visits Washington in Push for War Aid
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to meet U.S. President Joe Biden and senior Republican and Democratic members of Congress today in an appeal for new aid in the ongoing war against Russia; opposition from some Republicans blocked an emergency spending bill last week that included aid for Ukraine (NYT)
The International Monetary Fund approved a disbursal of $900 million in aid to Ukraine yesterday, with the bank’s Ukraine mission chief praising the country’s progress on anticorruption reforms (Bloomberg)
Ukraine Moves First Group of Trucks to Poland by Train Amid Polish Trucker Blockade
Polish drivers protesting Ukrainian trucks’ permit-free access to the EU have blocked the main road corridors linking Poland and Ukraine, leading to higher prices for food and fuel and delays of military deliveries (Reuters)
U.S. Charges Four Russian Soldiers with Torturing U.S. Citizen in Ukraine
It is both the first prosecution against Russian forces for atrocities in its war against Ukraine, and the first time the U.S. Justice Department invoked a statute that makes it a crime to torture or inhumanely treat an American during war (AP)
Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers blocked a bill that included aid for Israel and Ukraine, arguing that tougher restrictions on the U.S. border should be added to the package (FT)
Zelenskyy to Virtually Address G7 Summit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to address Group of Seven (G7) leaders at a Japan-hosted virtual summit today to discuss the war in Ukraine (Kyodo)
Zelenskyy was also supposed to address a classified U.S. Senate briefing on the war yesterday, but canceled at the last minute (NYT)
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin began a rare trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia for meetings today with Emirati Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; the leaders were due to discuss global oil production and the wars in the Gaza Strip and Ukraine, a Kremlin spokesperson and a Kremlin aide said (NYT)
The flurry of diplomacy follows a drop in global oil prices and precedes Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to Moscow tomorrow (Reuters)
Putin has not traveled beyond China, Iran, or the former Soviet States since Russia invaded Ukraine in March 2022; neither the UAE nor Saudi Arabia is a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and thus are not required to comply with the ICC’s arrest warrant for Putin for alleged war crimes against Ukraine (AP)
WaPo: Disputes Over Tactics Held up U.S.-Ukraine Communication in Counteroffensive
For weeks during the early part of Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia this year, the commander of U.S. forces in Europe could not get in touch with Ukraine’s top battlefield commander amid disagreements over war tactics, the Washington Post reported
Among those disputes, Washington reportedly wanted Ukraine to carry out a single line of attack against Russian forces, while Ukraine wanted to focus on three different targets (WaPo)
White House Warns Funds for Kyiv Risk Running Out by Year’s End
Without congressional action, the United States will run out of funding to contribute more weapons and equipment for Ukraine, the White House budget director warned lawmakers in a letter today; she said a lack of new U.S. support would “kneecap” Kyiv (FT)
The warning comes as the European Union (EU) is also struggling to reach its own deal on more than $54 billion in new aid (Al Jazeera)
Putin Orders Russia’s Army to Increase Size by 170,000 Troops
The expansion will bring the army to a total of more than 1.3 million troops, and Russia will fill the positions through volunteer recruitment rather than conscription, Russia’s defense ministry said (AP)
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy Says Cease-Fire Talks Are Impossible Without Full Russian Withdrawal
Speaking to reporters, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that cease-fire negotiations with Russia can only begin once Russia’s military fully withdraws from Ukrainian territory; though the war’s apparent stalemate has prompted calls for cease-fire talks, Zelenksyy pointed to the failure of the 2015 Minsk agreement to halt further Russian aggression (Nikkei)
NATO Foreign Ministers Pledge New Cooperation With Ukraine at Brussels Summit
In Brussels today, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries agreed to increase cooperation with Ukraine on a range of security and energy issues as part of the first foreign ministers meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council (Politico)
They also said they were developing a roadmap for Ukraine’s “transition to full interoperability with NATO,” a prerequisite to joining the alliance (NATO)
Large aid packages to Kyiv are currently pending approval in European and U.S. legislatures, with U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) suggesting earlier this week that he would support new war aid for Ukraine and Israel (The Hill)
Today’s meeting came after Russia launched a new round of drone strikes across Ukraine last night and as a spokesperson for Ukraine’s intelligence service announced that the wife of the country’s military intelligence chief is being treated for a suspected poisoning attack (Politico)
During their two days of broader talks in Brussels, NATO foreign ministers also discussed the Israel-Hamas war and security concerns in the Pacific (Anadolu)
Ukraine Launches Drone Attacks on Moscow Following Russian Strikes on Kyiv
Russia foiled twenty-four Ukrainian drone attacks across several territories in the last twenty-four hours, including Moscow, Russian officials said yesterday; the attacks came the day after Ukrainian officials said Moscow carried out its largest drone attack on Kyiv since the start of the war (CNN)
Senior U.S. And European Officials Visit Kyiv, Pledge Continued Support
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and European Council President Charles Michel are visiting Kyiv today, following a trip by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin yesterday that included an announcement of $100 million in new military aid (AP)
Pistorius said he came “to pledge further support” for Ukraine’s war effort in the conflict as it nears twenty-one months, while Michel will likely discuss new military support and the possibility of opening talks on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union (Euractiv)
Overnight, Russian shelling in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Kharkiv regions killed three people and wounded eight, Ukrainian officials said today (Reuters)
U.S. Defense Secretary Visits Kyiv, Pledges Continued Support
Lloyd Austin said he is meeting with Ukrainian leaders to affirm Washington’s continued support for Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression (Bloomberg)
The visit followed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s dismissal of the head of Ukraine’s military medical support service amid calls for a “fundamentally new” level of medical care for troops; Zelenskyy appointed the head of Kyiv’s main military hospital as the replacement (Kyiv Independent)
New UK Foreign Minister Visits Ukraine
In his first overseas trip as United Kingdom (UK) foreign secretary, David Cameron visited Ukraine yesterday and pledged continued support for Kyiv’s war efforts (Guardian)
Ukraine Charges Three with Treason
Authorities say two politicians and a former prosecutor collaborated with a Russian intelligence agency in an attempt to connect President Biden’s family to corruption in Ukraine (NYT)
Ukraine Attacks Russian Forces in Occupied Melitopol
Ukrainian forces have stepped up operations behind Russian lines, killing three Russian officers in a bomb attack; Russia’s defense ministry did not immediately comment on the attack, which comes as Ukraine tries to increase pressure on high-profile Russian assets amid a stalled counteroffensive (NYT)
Meanwhile, the governor of Kherson said Russia conducted another round of strikes in the region, including targeting another hospital (Guardian)
Washington Post: Ukrainian Officer Coordinated 2022 Nord Stream Pipeline Sabotage
An investigation conducted by the Washington Post and Der Spiegel concluded that Roman Chervinsky, a Ukrainian military officer, oversaw a team that placed explosives on the pipeline on orders from higher-level Ukrainian officials (WaPo)
Russia Strikes Kyiv, Explosion Derails Russian Train
Russia continued airstrikes across Ukraine and claimed to have hit an ammunition depot near Kyiv, the first time it has targeted the capital in weeks (NYT)
Meanwhile, an explosive device derailed a freight train in Russia (AP)
G7 Countries Reaffirm Support for Ukraine
Foreign ministers from Group of Seven (G7) countries reaffirmed their countries’ commitment to support Ukraine’s fight for independence and sovereignty at a Tokyo meeting; Ukraine’s foreign minister joined the meeting via video conference (AFP)
Meanwhile, the European Commission proposed that Ukraine and Moldova enter talks for European Union (EU) membership once final conditions have been met; for Kyiv, those conditions include stepping up measures regarding anticorruption, lobbying, and the treatment of minorities (AP)
Russia Formally Withdraws From Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe
The country formally withdrew from the post-Cold War agreement after having suspended its participation in the treaty in 2007 and halted active participation in 2015; in 2011, the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) stopped implementing the treaty in relation to Russia (Reuters)
Russia Strikes Ukrainian Military Ceremony, Killing Nineteen Soldiers
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a “tragedy that could’ve been avoided,” and the casualties make it one of the single deadliest attacks on Ukrainian forces; the State Bureau of Investigation said it aims to hold military officials accountable for holding the gathering near the frontline where Russian drones could easily spot it (AP)
Russia also struck Odesa’s National Art Museum on the eve of its 124th anniversary (Guardian)
Putin Signs Law Pulling Russia Out of Treaty Banning Nuclear Testing
Russian President Vladimir Putin said his move was meant to “mirror” the position of the United States, which signed the treaty in 1996 but never ratified it; Russia’s de-ratification leaves the New START treaty as the only major arms control deal between the two countries (NYT)
Meanwhile, the United States yesterday announced new sanctions on hundreds of people and entities connected to Russia’s ongoing war effort in Ukraine; the new measures target current sanctions evasion, drone suppliers, and the development of a natural gas project in Siberia, among others (Reuters)
Russia Conducts Most Extensive Shelling of This Year in Ukraine
Ukraine said Russia hit more than one hundred settlements in twenty-four hours, as well as the Kremenchuk oil refinery (Guardian;Reuters)
Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed frustration that allies underestimate Ukraine’s war effort and take its battlefield achievements “as a given” (NYT)