Russia has urged its citizens not to travel to the West, especially the US, during the Christmas holidays.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the warning came “in the context of the increasing confrontation in Russian-American relations, which are teetering on the verge of rupture”.
The statement from the Russian foreign ministry, which referred to America “and its allied satellite states”, came after the Pentagon said Vladimir Putin could strike Ukraine again with its new intermediate-range ballistic missile in “the coming days”.
Vladimir Putin has claimed that the Oreshnik, or hazel tree, is impossible to intercept and that it has destructive power comparable to that of a nuclear weapon, even when fitted with a conventional warhead.
On the battlefield, “exceptionally fierce” fighting has erupted near the eastern city of Pokrovsk as Russian troops destroyed or captured several Ukrainian positions near the important strategic hub, Kyiv’s military said last night.
Russia is “throwing all available forces forward, attempting to break through our troops’ defences,” Ukraine’s top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said.
IAEA’s 35-nation Board condemns attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure
The United Nation nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution on Thursday condemning attacks on Ukraine‘s energy infrastructure, but failed to mention Russia as the culprit.
Ukraine called Thursday’s emergency International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board meeting to discuss a wave of attacks on 28 November that Russia unleashed on its energy infrastructure, triggering deep power cuts across the country.
The drone and missile attacks hit electricity sub-stations used by three of Ukraine‘s nuclear power plants to receive and transmit off-site power, which is critical to their safety since that power is necessary to cool their nuclear fuel and avoid a potentially catastrophic nuclear meltdown.
Diplomats at the closed-door meeting in Vienna said 22 countries voted in favour of the resolution with 10 abstaining and two, Russia and China, voting against. Unlike previous Board resolutions on Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, however, it failed to mention Russia by name.
“The Board of Governors … emphasises that attacks targeting Ukraine‘s energy infrastructure critical for the off-site power supply of nuclear power plants represent a direct threat to nuclear safety and security,” the resolution said.
Tom Watling12 December 2024 21:00
In pictures: Christmas in Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv
Tom Watling12 December 2024 17:00
Nato head Mark Rutte warned the US-led transatlantic alliance on Thursday that it was not ready for the threats it would face from Russia in the coming years and called for a shift to a wartime mindset – with much higher defence spending.
Rutte said Nato members had spent more than three per cent of GDP on defence during the Cold War, and future spending would have to be much higher than the current alliance target of two per cent.
“Russia is preparing for long-term confrontation, with Ukraine and with us,” Rutte said in a speech in Brussels.
“We are not ready for what is coming our way in four to five years,” the Nato secretary-general said, adding: “It is time to shift to a wartime mindset, and turbocharge our defence production and defence spending.”
Tom Watling12 December 2024 15:26
Trump criticises Ukraine’s use of US missiles for attacks deep into Russia-Time interview
US president-elect Donald Trump has criticised Ukraine‘s use of US-supplied missiles for attacks deep into Russian territory in a Time magazine interview published on Thursday, comments that suggest he would alter US policy toward Ukraine.
“It’s crazy what’s taking place. It’s crazy. I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing that? We’re just escalating this war and making it worse. That should not have been allowed to be done,” Trump said in an interview coinciding with him being named Time’s Person of the Year.
President Joe Biden last month lifted the US ban on Ukraine using US-supplied longer-range missiles for strikes deep inside Russia, his latest attempt to boost Kyiv in its battle to repel a Russian invasion force from his country.
The decision came after pleas from Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky. The White House cited Russia’s deployment of 15,000 North Korean troops along the battlefront as the main reason why Biden changed his mind.
Trump has said he would like to bring a quick end to the nearly three-year-old war. He told Time he had a “very good plan” to help but that if he reveals it now “it becomes almost a worthless plan”.
Trump, who takes office on 20 January, met last weekend with Mr Zelensky and French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
Tom Watling12 December 2024 15:01