Developments in Ukraine The prospect of peace talks between Kiev and Moscow and the role of the West in it

According to the international group Tasnim news agency, “Harald Kujat”, the former head of NATO’s military committee And the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr (German Army) expressed his opinion in an interview that the West and the NATO member states deliberately destroyed the possibility of signing a peace agreement in Istanbul. According to him, the events that happened in Ukraine could have been prevented, but Boris Johnson, the former Prime Minister of England, immediately traveled to Kiev after these talks to prevent the signing of the peace agreement.

This official Former NATO member recalled: Even 20 years ago, NATO had a very close cooperation with Russia, but then it was decided to destroy everything. It all started in 2002 when the United States withdrew from the Treaty on the Prohibition of Ballistic Missiles. Russia perceived this action as an attempt to gain superiority in the strategic sphere. The former head of the military committee added: In 2008, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit was held in Bucharest, where George Bush with all his might He himself tried to invite Ukraine to NATO, and these events, which caused concern and irritation to Moscow, should not be forgotten. In addition, Scott Ritter, a former American intelligence officer, this morning, Friday, on the network Social X (former Twitter) wrote: “The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmitry Koleba, lied about the invalidity of the agreement with Russia.” From 2014 to 2022, Minsk accused, commented, and pointed out that even the former president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, admitted that the Minsk agreements were a sham, saying that they were only needed by NATO until then the armed forces It strengthened Ukraine. The American expert added: “Kiev rejected Moscow’s peace proposal in March of last year, and the problem lies precisely in the Ukrainian leadership’s point of view.” Moscow is ready to negotiate with Kiev, but the Ukrainian side does not even mention new contacts. Ushakov said: “So far there has not been even a hint [of contact with Russia], but we are always ready to talk.”

Earlier, NBC reported that the United States and Europe are There are talks with Ukraine to start peace talks with Russia. According to this information, Western countries have openly told Kiev that it must be ready to compromise in order to conclude a peace treaty.

Next, you can follow the developments related to the 625th day of the Ukrainian war:

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Putin’s overnight visit to the headquarters of the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don

The press office of the Kremlin announced this morning that Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the headquarters of the Southern Military District last midnight. visited the country in Rostov-on-Don.

Dmitry Peskov said: “After returning from his official visit to the Republic of Kazakhstan, Vladimir Putin immediately flew to the Rostov region and there from the headquarters According to him, President Putin was accompanied by Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu, Chief of the General Staff of the Army Valery Gerasimov and other high-ranking military officials at the headquarters of this command. It is recalled that during the visit, Putin received reports on the progress in the special operations area and got acquainted with several new models of Russian-made military equipment. Lavrov’s reaction to Biden’s words about the possibility of “returning Ukraine’s lost territories

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last night in a television interview and in commenting on US President Joe Biden’s comments about Ukraine’s ability to “return lost territories” He said: “Blessed is the one who keeps his faith and this is what our people say.” The future replied. According to Lavrov, it is difficult to comment on these words, because he has claimed that even if they stop helping him, Ukraine will continue to fight on its own.

Permanent Mission of Russia: The European Parliament also doubts the effectiveness of the sanctions

The office of the permanent representative of Russia in the European Union announced this morning, Friday, that in the latest resolution of the European Parliament, the fact that the European Union is concerned with the sanctions is mentioned. Russia “committed a mistake”.

The statement released by the Russian delegation reads: “When reading another anti-Russian resolution passed on November 9, 2023, we are sure that we are not the only ones who get the impression that, to put it mildly, In the European Union, a mistake has been made in terms of imposing sanctions on Russia.

The panel noted that the EU has now launched a “manhunt for the culprits”, which may end up with the EU Council and the European Commission, as they have been asked to “take a professional and not emotional approach”. increase in relation to imposing restrictions against Moscow.

As the Russian delegation pointed out, the unilateral sanctions imposed by the European Union are “legally illegitimate” and contradict the UN Charter. Russian diplomats came to the conclusion that the restrictions of Brussels provoked some global crises, the consequences of which affected the whole world.

The European Union is concerned about the possibility of a veto of financing Ukraine by Hungary >

Bloomberg news agency reported last night, citing its sources, that EU countries are studying an alternative plan to finance Ukraine if Hungary vetoes a 50 billion euro aid package in this regard. .

According to this report, the proposal includes national guarantees of member states to attract capital from the markets, if Budapest avoids the revision of the EU’s long-term budget, which includes aid to Ukraine.

Bloomberg also pointed out that the US Congress has also reached an impasse regarding aid to Kiev, and the long talks on this matter have caused concern to the Ukrainian government.

This report also emphasizes that Hungary’s position in The case of aid to Ukraine causes disputes in the European Union. Thus, some countries are planning to increase the pressure on Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister of Hungary, while others, including Spain, are trying to reach an agreement with Budapest within the framework of a long-term cooperation program.

Hungarian government: Ukraine has not met the requirements to join the European Union

Gergli Goyash, the head of the Hungarian Prime Minister’s office, announced during a press conference last night: The Hungarian government believes that Ukraine has not met the necessary conditions to start negotiations for its accession to the European Union. This country had not taken any action in this field before the start of the military conflict, and now it has not come close to these conditions at all.

Guyash emphasized that Kyiv does not meet the Copenhagen criteria for membership in the European Union, because It does not respect the rights of national minorities, an example of which is the situation of Hungarians living in the western regions of Ukraine. He had spoken in Ukraine, but since then the situation has not changed and even worsened. We must admit that Ukraine is a completely corrupt country and does not deserve to be a member of the European Union. He also said that the European Union should formulate a new strategy regarding Ukraine, and this requires a strategic review of European policy and approach. to the future relations with Kiev.

Ukraine plans to hold another meeting on the “peace formula” in February

Reuters last night, citing Igor Zhukova, deputy chief of staff of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, reported that a world summit on Ukraine’s “peace formula” could be held as early as February 2024. According to him, this meeting will definitely be held, because it will be the symbolic beginning of the practical implementation of the “Peace Formula” of Ukraine, and it will summarize and review the results of the meetings already achieved in this regard.

In his opinion Zhukova, the leaders of the countries of the southern world should also be present at this summit.

Previously, in early November, the Ukrainian authorities of the need to hold a double consultative meeting with the United States, Great Britain, Germany and France for The discussion about the “Peace Formula” was announced. This decision was made after a telephone conversation between Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff of the President of Ukraine, and Jake Sullivan, the National Security Adviser of the US President. Ermak recalled that the conversation was devoted to discussing the results of the international meeting in Malta on October 28-29 to promote the “Peace Formula”. A number of EU countries rushed to use the assets Russia does not

Bloomberg news agency, citing informed sources, reported that the countries of France, Germany, Italy and Belgium are against some efforts to accelerate the possibility of using frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank for aid. They are wary of Ukraine and want not to impose these measures.

The publication writes: “Member states, including France, Germany, Italy and Belgium, are wary of accelerating efforts to use the proceeds of the Russian central bank’s sanctioned assets to support Ukraine.”

According to the agency’s news sources, key EU countries reminded the European Commission in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday that they “support a more gradual approach in this regard”. The sources added that the countries primarily want to draft a non-legal document to ensure that “the formula for using profits from frozen Russian assets is legally correct” and does not jeopardize their financial stability. /p>

On Thursday, the head of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, emphasized that the confiscation of frozen Russian assets abroad will lead to negative consequences in general for the development of the global financial system.

Kiev’s talks with Paris Expansion of joint production of weapons in Ukraine

Ukraine Defense Minister Rostam Umerov announced yesterday that the authorities of Kyiv and Paris held joint negotiations to develop joint production of weapons in Ukraine.

Umarov wrote on his social network: Negotiations were held with Sebastien LeCorneau, Minister of the French Armed Forces, regarding the extension of military aid to Ukraine. We also exchanged views on the prospect of expanding cooperation in the defense sector and localization of weapons production on the territory of Ukraine. change Ukraine with the expectation that the conflict will continue”. Slow weapon production. French Defense Minister Sébastien LeCorneau said earlier that French and Ukrainian companies of the military-industrial complex have signed about 12 cooperation agreements.

Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine: there is no Russian national minority in our country