Putin, key issue to recognise Russian Donbass and Crimea. EU sources: 'Kiev asks partners for more drones than ammunition'

"If a peace agreement is ever reached, for which we are all working together at the European level, Ukraine will continue to need strong armed forces and reliable security guarantees from its partners". German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this during a joint conference with Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal in Berlin. Merz then called the debate on sending international peacekeeping troops 'premature'.

"Ukraine's defence needs are very high. It is around EUR 105 billion for next year. Of this, 52 billion can be financed by Ukraine itself. The rest should come from partners. By this I mean the planning of a war scenario. Of course, Ukraine is planning two different scenarios. One is the war scenario, the other is the post-cessation of fire scenario. But we also know that the need will remain high even after the ceasefire. So the means for a ceasefire would amount to more than EUR 70 billion per year, already by 2026'. This was stated by a senior EU official ahead of next Monday's Defence Council.

'This is because it will remain important to ensure that Ukraine has strong armed forces to defend itself and act as a deterrent,' he explains. The 'steel hedgehog' has been mentioned a lot and, from a financial point of view, we know that the need is huge, so I think the reparation loan has always been mentioned as the most useful one. I cannot predict how the negotiations will go, but what I do know is that we have some very big gaps to fill. I have not heard of a coalition of the willing as far as funding is concerned. There is, of course, the Coalition of the Willing as far as military support is concerned, but that is different,' he adds.

"Russia will not attack Europe. It's funny, ridiculous, we never wanted to attack Europe. All right, let's put it in writing,' said the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, during a speech in Kyrgyzstan, where a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) is taking place, denying the possibility of Russia attacking Europe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed 'dismay' at the imposition of sanctions against Lukoil and Rosneft following the Anchorage summit. "We were standing on the Anchorage platform and suddenly the US announced sanctions against two of our oil companies. What was the reason? I tell you honestly, I didn't even understand what was going on,' his words reported by Interfax.

Ukrainian presidential elections and a referendum are to be announced as soon as martial law is lifted, Russian President Vladimir Putin said today. "As soon as peace agreements of any kind are concluded and hostilities cease, martial law must be lifted immediately. And if martial law is lifted, (presidential) elections must be announced immediately.... After that, a referendum will have to be held on all territorial issues,' Putin told reporters in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The Ukrainian leadership has made a strategic mistake by not holding presidential elections, Putin said, adding that Russia holds elections, including presidential elections, even under conditions of a military operation. It is difficult for the current Ukrainian leadership to count on winning elections without fraud, Putin said, recalling that only Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada has the right to extend its powers under martial law, and the president does not.

The decisions on the Ukrainian agreement must be internationally recognised, Russian President Vladimir Putin said today.

"We need these decisions of ours to be recognised internationally by the main international players," Putin told reporters in Bishkek. The issue of the US recognition of Crimea and Donbass should be the subject of negotiations with the US, Putin said, adding that Russia needs international recognition of its new territories, but not from Ukraine. Putin hopes that Russia and Ukraine will reach an agreement in the future.

Russia has not yet been officially invited to rejoin the G8. This was emphasised by Russian President Vladimir Putin at a press conference in Bishkek. "We never refuse contact. We are always open to interaction. But we have not received any official proposal' in this regard, the Russian leader noted, pointing out that 'as far as the G7/G8 is concerned, we have not asked to participate'.

Steve Witkoff "defends the interests of his president and his country as he sees them", not those of Russia. President Vladimir Putin said this after the controversy over the phone call between the US special envoy and Russian presidential advisor Yuri Ushakov. "It is true," Putin said, quoted by Tass, "we have a dialogue, and it is not easy. Yes, we conduct this dialogue without insulting and spitting at each other, like intelligent people'. As for the contents of the phone call, they could also be "a fake", Putin added, and in any case spying on conversations "is a crime in Russia".

The Ukrainian leadership is illegitimate and there is no need to sign joint documents with Kiev. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the US plan can be a basis for a peace agreement and that Dombass and Crimea are key points in this agreement. On the hypothesis of stopping hostilities and then negotiating on a peace agreement, Putin reiterated the Russian line: the war will end when Kiev's troops also withdraw from the territories they currently control and which Russia claims, especially those areas of Dombass not yet conquered. If they do not, then Russia will achieve its goals 'militarily' and the trend in the theatre of war sees Moscow's troops advancing rapidly in all directions. On the possibility of frozen Russian assets being used to pay for the war and the reconstruction of Ukraine, Putin stated that this would be theft and that Russia would prepare appropriate countermeasures. On US sanctions, Putin said they were damaging bilateral relations and said he was surprised that Washington was targeting Russian energy giants. On a possible return to the G8, Putin barred the door saying that no one invites Russia and in any case he does not see how it would interact with the other leaders at the summit. Putin also said that Russia has no intention of attacking the European Union and called any such hypothesis 'ridiculous'. He also said he was ready to discuss European security.

The confiscation of Russian assets would be 'theft'. The Russian president said this today during his visit to Kyrgyzstan.

The legal recognition of Crimea and the Donbass as Russian territories, and not only de facto, is "a key issue" that will be discussed with an American delegation expected next week in Moscow. President Vladimir Putin said this, quoted by Interfax. "This is a subject of our negotiations with the US, ... a key issue," Putin said.

The presence of troops of the so-called 'Coalition of the Willing' in Ukraine is 'absolutely excluded'. This was stated by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko. "Currently, they insist on the presence of a certain Coalition of the Willing in Ukraine, which is absolutely ruled out, and undermines the entire meaning and content of a peace agreement," Grushko was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

'No occupied territory will ever be recognised as Russian'. This is what the Eurochamber says in its report on the peace plan for Ukraine, approved this morning in Strasbourg with 401 votes in favour, 70 against and 90 abstentions. The report also recognises the US negotiating efforts, but criticises 'Washington's ambivalence', which is deemed 'detrimental to lasting peace'. "Any agreement," say the MEPs, "cannot restrict Ukraine's right to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity, nor its freedom to choose its alliances, without Russian vetoes".

The US has started a campaign in the Philippines to recruit volunteers to fight alongside the Ukrainian armed forces, with the German embassy issuing Schengen visas. This was stated by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

"According to information received, US representatives have started a campaign in the Philippines to recruit local citizens to fight alongside the Ukrainian armed forces... Preference is given to former employees of Philippine security agencies and retired military personnel. Candidates are promised a monthly salary of $5,000,' Zakharova said in a briefing.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said a meeting between the Ukrainian and US negotiating teams on the resolution of the war is planned 'soon'. This was reported by the Kiev media. According to Sybiga, Ukraine expects 'concrete results'.

A Russian court has sentenced eight people to life imprisonment in connection with the explosion that severely damaged the Crimean bridge - the double road and rail viaduct built over the Kerc Strait - on 8 October 2022, also involving a goods train carrying fuel, a truck bomb attack attributed to the Kiev intelligence services. "The defendants were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment," the military legal instance in Rostov-on-Don announced on Telegram.

A 34-year-old woman and a six-year-old child were killed in the Ukrainian city of Kherson this evening at 7.40pm after Russian forces dropped explosives from a drone on a car. This was said by Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson Oblast military administration. Ukrainska Pravda writes this. Prokudin added that a 50-year-old man was also injured. He was taken to hospital with a head injury and various wounds.

Russia has no say in the accession of Ukraine to the NATO Alliance and this decision depends solely on the unanimity of the member states. This was said by Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte in an interview with El Pais. "Russia has no right to vote or veto on who becomes a Nato member," he said, adding that at the same time, within the Alliance, membership decisions must be unanimous. "At the Washington summit, we decided that Ukraine is on an irreversible path to Nato. At the same time, several allies, including the United States, have stated that they are currently against Ukraine's membership,' he said. According to Rutte, as part of the US peace plan, Ukraine must be given sufficiently reliable security guarantees so that Russia will never again attempt to attack it if NATO membership is not an option. Russia, he added, 'will continue to pose a long-term threat. If a Russian president is willing to sacrifice one million of his countrymen (...) we must be prepared. That is why we have to invest much more in our defence. A peace plan does not change the assessment that Russia is a long-term threat to Europe'.

In its daily report on Russian night attacks, the Ukrainian Air Force said it was attacked by 142 Shahed and Guerbera type drones, among others, between Wednesday and Thursday night. It claimed to have shot down 92 of them, mainly in the north, south and east of the country. Forty-two attacks targeted 18 sites, it added, without providing further details.

Russian air defences shot down 118 Ukrainian drones overnight, according to Russian news agencies, which quote the Ministry of Defence. According to the ministry, 52 drones were shot down in the Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine.

Moscow opens up on peace talks for Ukraine. "A serious process is underway to find a negotiated solution to the conflict and many will try to make it fail," said Kremlin spokesman Peskov. But Zelesnky does not trust and, after a phone call with EU Commission President von der Leyen, calls for continued pressure on Russia.

Meanwhile, in the US, a blizzard surrounds White House envoy Witkoff: a phone call with Russian mediator Ushakov has surfaced, in which he suggests how Putin should have presented the peace proposal to Trump. Discontent also among the Republicans. Moscow furious: 'Leak to blow up deal'. Nyt enquiry into Trump: 'Fatigued and tired, shorter days and fewer appointments. 'Age advances, he's not invincible'. 'Bad newspaper, I'm just fine,' Tycoon retorts. --