Putin increasingly belligerent as truce talks flounder, Ukraine war rages

Russia this week rejected the latest United States bid connection for Ukraine and declared victory successful battles implicit cardinal Ukrainian cities – claims Ukraine has dismissed arsenic propaganda.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence connected Monday nighttime said it had seized the eastbound Ukrainian metropolis of Pokrovsk it has been besieging for a year. Defence Minister Andrei Belousov aboriginal repeated the assertion personally.

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Russia besides said it had pushed Ukrainian defenders retired of Vovchansk and Kupiansk, cities successful the bluish Kharkiv region.

“Most of the metropolis of Kupiansk is nether the power of Ukrainian troops,” said Ukraine’s Joint Forces Task Force, a bid operation liable for the defence of Kharkiv, rebutting Russia’s claim.

(Al Jazeera)

The reported Russian advances came connected the eve of US envoy Steve Witkoff’s accomplishment successful Moscow for bid talks with Yury Ushakov, a cardinal adjutant to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said the timing of the claims was designed to marque an content connected the US delegation.

“The brazen statements of the enactment of the aggressor state astir the ‘seizure’ of these settlements by the Russian service are not valid,” the General Staff said, decrying them arsenic “propaganda” to power participants of “international negotiations”.

The General Staff said its forces were inactive warring successful Pokrovsk, Vovchansk and Kupiansk.

In Pokrovsk, “the Defence Forces clasp the bluish portion of the metropolis on the railway line,” it said.

Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskii went further, saying Ukraine had blocked Russian infiltration into Kupiansk, and was “working connected gradually pushing the force retired of their bridgehead northbound of the city”.

But arsenic Ukraine’s subject commanders denied claims of further losses, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s authorities was rocked again by the latest dismissal of a high-profile governmental fig implicit corruption allegations. Observers have debated however the sacking of Zelenskyy’s right-hand man, Andriy Yermak, a week ago, could impact Kyiv’s lasting successful bid talks.

(Al Jazeera)

The documents Witkoff took to Moscow were the effect of aggravated negotiations betwixt the US and Ukraine successful Florida connected Sunday and Monday.

Those talks followed a archetypal circular of US-Ukrainian talks successful Geneva a week earlier connected the ground of a 28-point bid program presented by Washington.

Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov person said that the archetypal program was the result of talks betwixt US President Donald Trump and Putin astatine a acme successful Alaska past August. The forum was considered arguable since it near retired Ukraine and its European allies.

Putin’s adjutant Ushakov told journalists the US-Ukrainian talks had reduced the points to 20, and breached up the database into 4 abstracted documents, but that Russia had agreed to nothing.

“We didn’t sermon circumstantial wording oregon circumstantial American proposals,” Ushakov said astir his five-hour gathering with Witkoff. “We specifically discussed territorial issues … we besides discussed the tremendous prospects for aboriginal economical practice betwixt the 2 countries,” helium said, referring to the US and Russia.

Russia has occupied conscionable nether a 5th of Ukraine’s territory, astir a 3rd little than it held successful 2022 erstwhile it launched the full-scale invasion. Although Moscow’s forces person conquered little than 2 percent of Ukraine successful the past 2 years astatine an estimated outgo of hundreds of thousands of casualties, Putin appears to judge clip is connected his side.

Capture of Pokrovsk ‘good base’ for warfare aims: Putin

The conquest of Pokrovsk, Putin told journalists connected Tuesday, was “a bully basal for achieving each the objectives acceptable astatine the opening of the peculiar subject operation”, suggesting Russia’s warfare goals remained unchanged.

He threatened to “cut Ukraine disconnected from the sea,” a wide notation to Odesa and Mykolaiv, Ukraine’s lone remaining littoral territory, the seizure of which appears to person been portion of the archetypal Russian penetration plan.

(Al Jazeera)

Asked astir bid past week, Putin told journalists, “We inactive person proposals coming successful astir ceasing hostilities. When the Ukrainian troops permission the areas they are present occupying, past the hostilities volition cease. And if they don’t, we volition marque them permission utilizing our firepower.”

Putin besides threatened Europe, playing into fears of a broadened war.

“We person nary volition of going to warfare with Europe,” helium said. “But if Europe abruptly wants to combat america and does, we’re acceptable close now.”

He suggested the Russian subject was pacing itself successful Ukraine to springiness bid talks a chance.

“We’re dealing with Ukraine surgically, carefully. Understandable, right?” Putin said. “This isn’t warfare successful the literal, modern consciousness of the word.”

(Al Jazeera)

At the 22nd yearly Valdai Discussion Club, an yearly world league successful Moscow, Putin said the warfare successful Ukraine had efficaciously created a multipolar satellite helium described arsenic “a overmuch much open, 1 mightiness adjacent accidental creative, abstraction for overseas argumentation behaviour. Virtually thing is predetermined; everything tin unfold successful immoderate direction.”

Despite claims of seeking peace, Putin has not eased the run against Ukraine.

During the week from November 27 until December 3, Russian forces launched conscionable nether 1,100 drones and 39 missiles. Ukraine said it intercepted 1,000 drones and fractional the missiles.

At slightest 4 radical were killed successful Dnipro connected Monday, portion 40 were injured.

Throughout November, Ukraine’s cities and vigor infrastructure were connected the receiving extremity of 119 missiles and conscionable nether 3,000 long-range Shahed drones, the Ukrainian Air Force said.

Ukraine has retaliated against Russian vigor infrastructure.

Andriy Kovalenko, the caput of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, hailed attacks connected the Saratov refinery and the Engels airbase connected November 28. He besides said Ukraine struck the Alabuga drone-manufacturing factory.

On Saturday, Kovalenko said Ukraine had utilized aboveground drones to destruct 3 Russian lipid offloading docks astatine Novorossiysk connected the Black Sea.

On Wednesday, Ukraine’s General Staff said it struck “several” lipid retention tanks successful the Tambov portion utilized by the Russian army.

In summation to nonstop strikes to choke disconnected substance supplies to Russia’s army, Ukraine has supported stiffer vigor sanctions to choke disconnected Russia’s currency flow.

Zelenskyy’s advisor for sanctions policy, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, said Russian crude lipid accumulation was expected to alteration by 5 percent by the extremity of the year, and that exports had fallen by 15 to 20 percent.