While US President-elect Donald Trump is said to have already spoken personally with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chancellor Olaf Scholz also wants to resume discussions with Moscow “soon”. “Yes, I have decided to speak to the Russian President at the right time,” said the SPD politician on the ARD program “Caren Miosga”. “But I am a responsible politician, I am not doing this alone,” he added.
Meanwhile, after the surprising advance of its own troops into Russian territory near Kursk, Ukraine is now expecting an imminent counteroffensive. Moscow has already assembled around 50,000 soldiers for this purpose, reports the New York Times, citing American and Ukrainian military officials. In addition to Russian soldiers, North Korean units are also ready to attack. Pyongyang has sent over 10,000 soldiers to Russia to support Moscow in its fight against Ukraine.
According to American findings, these soldiers have now been dressed in Russian uniforms and have also received appropriate weapons and equipment from the Russian side. Accordingly, the North Koreans remain in their own national units.
The Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing informed people, that Trump had already spoken to Putin on the phone on Thursday. He recommended that Putin not escalate the war of aggression against Ukraine. There was initially no information about this from Trump himself.
Trump also referred to the US military presence in Europe, it said, citing the anonymous sources. It was also about the goal of achieving peace in Europe. Trump encouraged further conversations to talk about a solution to the war. The Ukrainian government was informed about the conversation and had no objections, wrote the Washington Post.
The Republican Trump announced during the election campaign that he would quickly end the war in Ukraine. He hasn’t yet said how he wants to achieve this. US President Joe Biden and Ukraine fear that under Trump US military aid to Ukraine could dry up, thanks to which the Russian invasion can be repelled.
There has been radio silence between Biden and Putin since the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022. According to an unconfirmed report in the Wall Street Journal, Trump spoke to Putin several times as ex-president in recent years. Trump will be sworn in for a second term as president on January 20th.
Scholz further said that a conversation with Putin requires a lot of contacts and conversations with many others. The situation also needs to be discussed with Ukraine. When asked when the right time would be for a conversation with Putin, Scholz replied: “Soon.” Scholz had already emphasized his willingness to talk to Putin about a just peace in Ukraine in mid-October.
He last spoke to Putin by phone in December 2022. He had called for a diplomatic solution and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine. In June, Scholz did not want to rule out a conversation with Putin in the future, but said at the time that a conversation only made sense if there was something concrete to discuss. Moscow, in turn, declared at the beginning of October that Putin was open to dialogue, even if relations between Moscow and Berlin were effectively at zero.
Borrell: Punish Russian war crimes even after peace is concluded
Meanwhile, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell demanded that Russian war crimes must be punished even after a peace agreement. “We must help Ukraine achieve a just and lasting peace that also includes accountability,” he wrote on Platform X. So far, 140,000 cases of war crimes have been registered. The Russian perpetrators must be held accountable.
In Jahidne, the Russian attackers held an entire village – 370 people – in a 170 square meter school basement for a month. “Their ordeal takes us back to the darkest days of European history.” It is a cruel reminder of what life under Russian occupation is like for ordinary Ukrainians. The village is located about 100 kilometers northeast of Kiev and 10 kilometers south of the city of Chernihiv. Russian troops occupied Jahidne during the invasion in 2022, expanding positions and mining the area.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised his drone troops and special forces for their conduct of the war. “Everyone can see how it works,” Zelensky said in his evening video address, just hours after a drone strike against targets in the Russian capital Moscow. According to official information, five people were injured, and according to the Russian statement, all drones were shot down. The information could not be independently verified.
Since its Western partners do not allow Kiev to use heavy weapons, such as rockets or cruise missiles, against military targets on Russian territory, the Ukrainian armed forces use combat drones instead. Most recently, Kyiv has developed long-range drones.
Russian troops continue attacks in eastern Ukraine
The Russian military once again tried to penetrate the Ukrainian defense lines around Kurakhove on the edge of Donbass. Of a total of 108 Russian attacks along the front in eastern Ukraine, 39 were in the Kurachowe sector, as the General Staff in Kiev announced in its evening situation report. The Russian attacks, accompanied by artillery, were repelled. The information could not be independently verified. Russian troops have been massively attacking this section of the front for weeks in an attempt to achieve a breakthrough. Similar heavy fighting was reported in the nearby Pokrovsk region.
According to British Chief of Staff Tony Radakin, the Russian armed forces suffered their heaviest losses since the start of the war in October. On average, Russia suffers 1,500 dead or wounded per day for small gains in terrain, Radakin said in an interview with the BBC. Radakin spoke of possibly 700,000 dead and wounded on the Russian side so far. Moscow and Kyiv keep their own actual loss figures secret, as does Kiev.
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