As a peace deal remains elusive, Kyiv’s allies meet ukrabet in Paris to discuss security guarantees, with Donald Trump to dial in this afternoon. Meanwhile, Dmitry Medvedev warns Russia could seize British assets in retaliation for the UK’s support of Ukraine. The call took place after Ukraine and its allies met in Paris to discuss security guarantees in the event of a peace deal. The meeting of the so-called coalition of the willing saw them discuss specifics on security guarantees and “the readiness of each country to contribute”, the Ukrainian leader said. European and American officials have discussed the prospect of a US military commander being used to oversee all deployments under the peace plan. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, would likely demand that European troops be stationed in the zone.
Bristol fire engines and kit delivered to Ukraine
Offers of support for the mission have not often been backed up with concrete pledges of how they can join, officials said of discussions. Using private contractors would also allow Mr Trump to allay fears among his Maga supporters who are against foreign intervention, while also providing him with another business deal to champion, officials said. Donald Trump is in talks with European allies about allowing armed contractors to help build fortifications to protect American interests in the country.
While Ukraine and Russia share common historical origins, the west of the country has closer ties with its European neighbours, particularly Poland, and nationalist sentiment has been strongest there. Europe’s second largest country, Ukraine is a land of wide, fertile agricultural plains, with large pockets of heavy industry in the east.
Why did Putin invade Ukraine?
Zelensky mentioned Ukraine’s war dead in a broader post about the prospects for an eventual end to the war. The Russian defence ministry says more than 38,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded in Kursk alone – a number that cannot be verified. The incoming president, who has long made clear he wants to bring an end to the war, said too many lives had been “needlessly wasted”. The last time Zelensky gave an update on Ukraine’s casualties was in February, when he put deaths at 31,000. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to have a one-on-one meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff in Paris, Reuters reported. He also welcomed announcements from other coalition partners that they would to supply long-range missiles to Ukraine.
- Most European nations remain privately concerned that any troop deployment can only go ahead with serious support from the US.
- They remain active in a very small part of Russia’s Kursk region after launching an offensive in August 2024, but have lost control of all major settlements there.
- “Will that directly affect the war? Probably not. Because the Russian military runs on diesel.”
- The mission, supported by Black Sea nations Bulgaria and Romania, would also lead efforts to de-mine the waters.
- “Ukraine is a sovereign nation, if Ukraine wants to have security guarantee forces in Ukraine to support a peace deal, it’s up to them.
Sweeping air strikes hit Ukraine as Putin shakes hands at China parade
- The UK’s defence ministry says Russia suffered 45,680 casualties in November alone – more than during any month since its full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
- Plane for Ursula von der Leyen’s four-day tour of ‘front line’ states on EU’s eastern flank landed with ‘paper maps’.
- European leaders have gathered in Paris to discuss further security guarantees for Ukraine, amid an international push to negotiate an end to the war.
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy tells reporters at a news conference that European weapons production lines should be working at full capacity.
- Putin’s own re-election in 2024 is highly questionable, as Russia’s opposition leaders are either in exile or dead.
- The White House remains opposed to deploying its own troops to Ukraine, but has agreed to broad support to European forces being used to underpin any peace deal.
- The Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro river in southern Ukraine is destroyed, leading to widespread flooding and disruption.
Eight years later, it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has occupied territory in the country’s south and east. Zelensky’s estimates of Russian losses are similar to those provided by senior Western officials, who estimate Russia has suffered around 800,000 casualties, both killed and injured. French President Emmanuel Macron has welcomed leaders at the summit in Paris, giving brief opening remarks to the media before the meeting commenced. The Kremlin has rejected the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine and said it would not accept a peacekeeping force as part of any deal. Speaking at an event organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Prague on Thursday, he expressed his support for the deployment of Nato troops to Ukraine as a peacekeeping force. Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said Russia has no right to decide whether Western troops can be deployed to Ukraine as part of security guarantees if a truce is reached.
Page 44: Checking The Nitrogen Pressure
The Kremlin has suggested China could be used as a security guarantor in talks over a peace deal. The plan is being discussed alongside a range of other so-called security guarantees – drawn up by the coalition of the willing led by the UK and France – that will form the basis of a long-term peace plan. Putin then triggered a lower-level war in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, with pro-Russian proxy forces occupying territory and setting up rebel states supported by Moscow. The White House remains opposed to deploying its own troops to Ukraine, but has agreed to broad support to European forces being used to underpin any peace deal. European military planners accelerated their work after Mr Trump told continental leaders that Putin was open to Western allies offering security guarantees to Ukraine.
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This would include surrendering some of the “fortress belt” – a network of four cities including Kramatorsk and Sloviansk – that has held back Russian forces for 11 years. Mr Putin’s forces control almost all of Luhansk, but about 30% of the others remain in Ukrainian hands and are fiercely contested. He said Kyiv would reject the proposal and explained that such a move would deprive Ukraine of its crucial ‘fortress belt’ defensive line and open the way for Moscow to conduct further offensives. Russia currently occupies around 19% of Ukraine, including Crimea and the parts of the Donbas region it seized prior to the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Ukraine and its Western allies are discussing security guarantees for Kyiv at the meeting before calling Donald Trump. A source told The Telegraph that US officials had also asked Britain’s Ministry of Defence not to share intelligence to this effect while Mr Trump’s peace talks take place with Putin. European officials believe Washington has been amenable to requests for assistance in the form of American heavy-lift aircraft to move equipment and troops eastwards towards Ukraine. US logistical support for any European deployment is seen as a prerequisite for the security guarantees. But this year, it re-emerged under Mr Trump’s pressure to build a peace plan as a way of providing another deterrence effect against a renewed Russian invasion. As confidence builds in any ceasefire arrangements holding, the mission would be extended eastwards towards Kyiv and other cities.