Ukraine-Russia War Latest: Starmer Says Peace Talks Can End Russian Invasion As North Korea Troops Join War

NewsWorldEuropeUK PM shows first signs of accepting peace talks to end Putin’s nearly three-year-old war in Europe

Related: Vladimir Putin hints at strikes on West

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Sir Keir Starmer has backed Ukraine’s need to emerge in “strongest possible position for negotiations” on peace talks to end the Russian invasion.

In his first remarks on the situation, the British PM conceded in the clearest terms there could be a negotiated end to the war and said, “We must continue to back Ukraine and do what it takes to support their self-defence for as long as it takes.”

“To put Ukraine in the strongest possible position for negotiations so they can secure a just and lasting peace on their terms that guarantees their security, independence – and right to choose their own future,” Sir Starmer said in the first signs of accepting peace talks to end Vladimir Putin’s nearly three-year-old war in Europe.

It comes as Volodymyr Zelensky revealed North Korean soldiers deployed to fight for Russia have been killed. Pyongyang is said to have dispatched between 10,000-12,000 troops to aid Putin’s forces.

A Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson told Radio Free Europe an additional 2,000 North Korean troops have been assigned to Russia’s Marine and airborne units fighting on the front.

Germany’s Scholz pledges new military aid worth €650m on rare tripGerman chancellor Olaf Scholz announced new military aid for Ukraine during a rare visit yesterday that he said sent a message to Russian president Vladimir Putin that Berlin would stand by Kyiv for as long as needed in the war.

The visit, his first to Kyiv since the early months of Russia’s 2022 invasion, comes ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House and weeks after Mr Scholz’s governing coalition in Berlin collapsed, threatening his future as chancellor.

The political upheaval in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, adds to a growing sense of uncertainty in Ukraine, with Russian troops advancing ever faster in the east. It is unclear how much Kyiv’s European partners can step up support for Ukraine if Trump cuts help from the United States, its most powerful ally.

“My message from Kyiv to Putin: we’re in this for the long haul. Our support for Ukraine will not waver. We will stand by the Ukrainian people – for as long as it takes,” Mr Scholz wrote on X.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz addresses the audience during a joint press conference with Ukrainian president during their meeting at Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv (AFP via Getty Images)Arpan Rai3 December 2024 07:07

Putin’s forces making rapid advances towards lynchpin of Ukrainian defences, warns UK MoDVladimir Putin’s forces have made rapid advances towards the eastern flank of a longstanding lynchpin of Ukraine’s defensive line, according to the British Ministry of Defence.

The Donetsk town of Velyka Novosilka is now vulnerable following the loss of Vuhledar in early October, which lies 30 kilometres east, the ministry warned.

“This enabled increased Russian advances into less well-defended areas in western Donetsk oblast,” said the ministry, warning that “Russian forces are attacking behind established Ukrainian defences and threatening the primary logistics routes to the town”.

Jabed Ahmed3 December 2024 07:00

Explained: What is in US’s $725m weapons package for UkraineThe Biden administration is sending Ukraine $725m worth of missiles, ammunition, anti-personnel mines and other weapons, secretary of state Antony Blinken said.

The outgoing US president Joe Biden is seeking to bolster Kyiv in its war with Russian invaders before leaving office in January.

The assistance will include Stinger missiles, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), drones and land mines, among other items, Mr Blinken said in a statement.

“The United States and more than 50 nations stand united to ensure Ukraine has the capabilities it needs to defend itself against Russian aggression,” Mr Blinken’s statement said.

The announcement marks a steep uptick in size from MR Biden’s recent use of so-called Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which allows the US to draw from current weapons stocks to help allies in an emergency.

Moscow’s troops have been capturing village after village in Ukraine’s east, part of a drive to seize the industrial Donbas region, while Russian airstrikes target a hobbled Ukrainian energy grid as winter sets in.

Arpan Rai3 December 2024 06:00

Why is Russia targeting Ukraine’s energy grid with missile attacks?Jabed Ahmed3 December 2024 06:00

UK war-games major conflict to test durability of weapons stockpilesThe test run comes just three years after British stockpiles failed to see them through a 10-day exercise.

The Ministry of Defence began the war game on Monday morning. It is taking place at the Defence Academy in Shrivenham, Oxfordshire.

The simulation is intended to “stress-test” how supply chains of artillery munitions and drones would hold up during a major war with an unspecified adversary. It is the first war game to involve representatives of the defence industry alongside military commanders and officials.

Defence companies taking part in the exercise include submarine builder BAE Systems, missiles firm MBDA, American jet fighter business Lockheed Martin and ship builder Babcock.

Tom Watling reports:

Arpan Rai3 December 2024 05:46

Russian drone attack leaves parts of Ternopil without powerAn overnight Russia drone attack has left Ukraine’s western city of Ternopil without electricity, a regional military official said this morning, a week after Moscow’s strikes cut power to much of the city and its surrounding region.

“Energy workers and rescuers are eliminating the consequences of the attack. Stock up on water, charge your phones,” Serhiy Nadal, the head of the regional defence headquarters in Ternopil, said on his Telegram messaging channel.

The full scale of the attack on Ternopil, a major city in Ukraine’s west, was not immediately clear.

Air raid alerts over the Ternopil region, of which the city of Ternopil is the administrative centre, lasted for about two and a half hours, starting at around 11.30pm GMT yesterday.

At least one person was killed and several were wounded in Russia’s drone attack on Ternopil earlier yesterday.

A week ago, much of the Ternopil region lost power in Russia’s largest ever drone attack on Ukraine.

Arpan Rai3 December 2024 05:35

Starmer concedes peace talks may end Ukraine warPrime minister Keir Starmer vouched for stepping up support for Ukraine as an essential move to put the country in the strongest position for peace talks.

Sir Starmer stressed the importance of continued Western support to Ukraine and warned a Russian victory in Ukraine would threaten Europe’s security, stability and prosperity, particularly because it could embolden Russia’s allies.

“We must continue to back Ukraine and do what it takes to support their self-defence for as long as it takes,” the British PM said in a speech in London’s historic financial district.

He added: “To put Ukraine in the strongest possible position for negotiations so they can secure a just and lasting peace on their terms that guarantees their security, independence – and right to choose their own future.”

Sir Starmer’s comments come at crucial moment in the war with Russia advancing at its fastest rate since 2022 and US president-elect Donald Trump – who is deeply sceptical of US support for Ukraine – promising to end the war quickly after he is inaugurated next month.

Britain has been one of Ukraine‘s most vocal supporters since the start of the invasion by Russia in 2022 and was the first country to supply more sophisticated weapons to Ukraine, including battle tanks and long-range cruise missiles.

Arpan Rai3 December 2024 04:19

Photos: Mobile anti-drone teams operate near Ukraine’s southeastern front

Soldiers of the 188th separate mechanised brigade smoke cigarettes before starting anti-drone work in Zaporizhzhia (Getty Images)

A machine gunner with the 118th Separate Mechanised Brigade’s firing team holds an American FIM-92 Stinger man-portable air defence missile system for reconnaissance and destruction of Russian drones (Getty Images)

The commander of a mobile firing group of the 118th Motorized Rifle Brigade prepares a machine gun on a tripod to fire at Russian drones in Zaporizhzhia (Getty Images)

The commander of a mobile firing team of 118th motorised brigade prepares his machine gun to go on patrol and check for drones near the front line and the town of Orikhiv (Getty Images)

The commander of a mobile firing team of 118th motorised brigade prepares his machine gun to go on patrol and check for drones near the front line and the town of Orikhiv (Getty Images)Arpan Rai3 December 2024 04:10

German aid to Ukraine will include air defence systems, spokesperson saysGerman military aid to be delivered to Ukraine in December includes IRIS-T air defence systems, Leopard 1 tanks and armed drones, a defence ministry spokesperson has said.

“Winter is just around the corner, so there will also be winter equipment, as well as hand-held weapons and warming devices,” the spokesperson said just hours after Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the deliveries during a surprise trip to Kyiv.

A government spokesperson said the deliveries were part of a military aid package already announced by Berlin in October.

Jabed Ahmed3 December 2024 04:00

More than 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers charged with desertion, prosecutors sayMore than 100,000 soldiers have deserted the Ukrainian army, Ukraine’s prosecutor general has said, starving Kyiv of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia.

Facing every imaginable shortage, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops, tired and bereft, have walked away from combat and front-line positions to slide into anonymity, soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials have told the Associated Press.

Entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, military commanders and soldiers said. Some take medical leave and find themselves unable to bring themselves to return. Others clash with commanders and refuse to carry out orders, sometimes in the middle of firefights.

Nearly half of the 100,000 peope charged have deserted in the last year alone, after Kyiv launched an aggressive mobilisation drive that government officials and military commanders concede has largely failed.

There were an estimated 300,000 Ukrainian soldiers engaged in combat before the mobilisation drive began. One politician with knowledge of military matters estimated the actual number of deserters could be as high as 200,000.

Jabed Ahmed3 December 2024 03:00