Ukraine war briefing: Nato warns that Putin wants to ‘wipe Ukraine off the map’ | Ukraine

Nato secretary general Mark Rutte has warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to “wipe Ukraine off the map” and could come after other parts of Europe next. Rutte told the Carnegie Europe thinktank in Brussels it is “time to shift to a wartime mindset” and that people should gird themselves for the prospect that Russia might try to use “swarms of drones” in Europe as it has to deadly effect in Ukraine. The former Dutch prime minister was making his inaugural speech just over two months after he took office as Nato’s top civilian official.

US President Joe Biden announced another package of weapons aid for Ukraine on Thursday, valued at $500m, secretary of state Antony Blinken said in a statement. White House spokesperson John Kirby said earlier the US would continue to provide additional packages for Ukraine “right up to the end of this administration.” Washington said 10 days ago it would send Ukraine $725m worth of missiles, ammunition, anti-personnel mines and other weapons. Biden’s outgoing administration is seeking to bolster Ukraine in tackling Russia’s invasion, before Biden’s term ends in January when president-elect Donald Trump takes office.

In a wide-ranging interview with Time magazine, US president election Donald Trump offered his thoughts on global affairs, including the war in Ukraine. The president-elect has previously derided US aid to Kyiv. Pressed on whether he would abandon Ukraine in its efforts to stave off Russia’s invasion, Trump said he would use US support for Kyiv as leverage against Moscow in negotiating an end to the war. “I want to reach an agreement,” he said, “and the only way you’re going to reach an agreement is not to abandon.”

Ukraine’s top military commander says fighting around a key eastern Ukraine city is “extremely intense” after a months-long Russian push. Analysts estimate Russian forces are now within just a few kilometres, or miles, of Pokrovsk. Ukraine’s general staff said on Thursday that Ukrainian troops had repelled nearly 40 Russian attempts to storm defences around Pokrovsk over the previous 24 hours. Ukraine’s stretched defences in Donetsk have been creaking since early this year under a fierce Russian drive. Pokrovsk is one of Ukraine’s main defensive strongholds and a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff said in an interview broadcast late on Thursday that Kyiv was not yet ready to start talks with Russia as it lacked the weapons, security guarantees and international status that it sought. Andriy Yermak’s comments to public broadcaster Suspilne come as Zelenskyy publicly considers the possibility of a negotiated settlement to the war with Russia, launched by Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022. “Not just yet today,” Yermak told Suspilne, when asked whether Ukraine was ready to embark on talks. “We don’t have the weapons, we don’t have the status that we are talking about.”

French President Emmanuel Macron and Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, said Ukraine must have a pivotal role in any potential negotiations over Russia’s war in the country, after a meeting Thursday in Warsaw. Macron also insisted Europeans must be involved in security talks in “very close” coordination with the United States to ensure Europe’s interests are taken into account. The meeting comes after Macron held key talks with Trump and Zelenskyy on Saturday in Paris.

Billions of Russian state funds frozen in the European Union should be used to aid Ukraine, the EU’s top diplomat has said. Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security, told the Guardian and four other European newspapers that Ukraine had a legitimate claim to compensation and that Russian assets held in the EU were “a tool to pressure Russia”. “Better to have a small bird in your hand than a big bird on the roof,” she said. “So we have the small bird in our hand [the frozen assets] and this is the tool to also pressure Russia.” Her proposal comes amid growing questions over how to fund Ukraine in the medium term and pay its colossal reconstruction bill.