Live blog: NATO talks aim to reaffirm support for Ukraine — Blinken

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

1641 GMT — NATO members urged each other not to let up in backing Ukraine's fight against Russia amid doubts over US support and a bloody stalemate on the ground.

There are fears that a lack of adequate support from the West could end up forcing Kiev to seek a compromise with Russian President Vladimir Putin from a position of weakness.

"We just have to stay the course. This is also about our security interests," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a meeting of the alliance's foreign ministers in Brussels.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the NATO talks were aimed at "strongly reaffirming our support for Ukraine as it continues to face Russia's war of aggression".

Stoltenberg said he was "confident" the United States would keep on arming Ukraine. "It is in the security interest of the United States to do so, and it's also in line with what we have agreed," Stoltenberg said.

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1820 GMT — Ukraine suspects Russia poisoned spy chief's wife

Ukraine said it believed Russia had poisoned the wife of its military intelligence chief, in an apparent assassination attempt targeting the heart of Kiev's leadership.

Marianna Budanova, who is an adviser to Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko, was hospitalised after a prolonged deterioration in her health, the Babel news outlet reported earlier.

Ukrainian investigators' "main hypothesis" is that Russia was involved in the poisoning attempt, Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov later told AFP.

"The target was the wife," he added, because "it is simply impossible to reach the commander directly." Mercury and arsenic, highly toxic substances, were used in the attack, according to Yusov.

Citing unnamed intelligence sources, Babel said Kiev had opened an investigation into what it described as "attempted murder".

1723 GMT — Russian strikes hit coalmine and private homes, four killed: Ukraine

Russian attacks on Ukraine hit residential buildings, private houses, and a coal mine, killing four and injuring at least 10 people, Ukrainian officials said.

A five-storey building was shelled in the morning in the southern town of Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region governor Serhiy Lysak said. Later, Lysak added, Russian troops launched a drone attack, injuring one more person.

"Nikopol district experienced a dozen attacks in a day," he added. Three apartment buildings, two industrial enterprises, an administrative building, and vehicles were damaged. Power lines and a gas pipeline were also targeted.

In a separate attack in the afternoon, Russian shelling destroyed at least five private houses in a northern settlement by the border with Russia, Sumy regional prosecutors reported.

1557 GMT — Ukraine will 'boycott' OSCE meeting over Lavrov's invitation

Ukraine said it will boycott an OSCE meeting in the North Macedonian capital Skopje this week after the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said he plans to attend.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania also said they will not take part in the annual ministerial conference of the pan-European security body. The announcement came the day after Bulgaria said it will open its airspace to the Russian minister, making a diplomatic exemption to European skies being closed to Russia over its Ukraine invasion.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will "boycott" the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) meeting over the decision to allow Lavrov to attend, Kiev said.

1534 GMT — Ukrainians 'ritual sacrifice' for NATO in fight against Russia: Kremlin

NATO has not abandoned its plans to contain Russia and uses Ukrainians as a "ritual sacrifice," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. Commenting on NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's promise to continue supporting Ukraine, Peskov said at a news conference in Moscow that the alliance was created as a tool to contain Russia.

"NATO is an alliance that was created as a tool of confrontation, it was conceived that way, its architecture was built... to contain our country,” he said. “No matter what statements are made, the main purpose of the alliance is precisely this.”

He said the alliance sees what is happening at the frontline but does not abandon its plans to weaken Russia, sacrificing the Ukrainian people.

"Apparently the alliance analyses the situation, the alliance sees the real state of affairs, but so far the alliance has not abandoned its plans to contain Russia and, as they say, slaughter the Ukrainian people as a ritual sacrifice in the fight against Russia," he noted.

1530 GMT — EU ramps up funding for Ukraine military training

The European Union agreed to more than quadruple its spending on training Ukrainian soldiers to battle Russia, investing close to an extra 200 million euros.

The 27-nation bloc has so far trained 34,000 Ukrainian personnel for the front line as Kiev seeks to fight back Russia's invading forces which makes the EU the biggest provider of training for Ukraine's military as Kiev desperately seeks to reconstitute its numbers in the face of heavy fighting.

The latest funding increased the amount from the EU's central European Peace Facility fund for the training by 194 million euros to 255 million in total, Brussels said in a statement.

Officials say they were aiming to reach 40,000 Ukrainian troops trained by the EU in the near future.

1135 GMT — German chancellor vows continued support for Ukraine

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged continued support for Ukraine in its war with Russia despite the ongoing household budget crisis in his country.

"Germany is now the second largest supporter of Ukraine after the United States of America, also when it comes to arms deliveries. We will continue this support as long as necessary," Scholz said in his speech at the German parliament on the government budget.

This support is "of existential importance" for Ukraine as well as Europe. he added. Scholz warned that under "no circumstances" should support for Ukraine be eased.

"None of us wants to imagine what even more serious consequences it would have for us if Russia would win this war," according to the chancellor.

0549 GMT — Russia proposes ban on grain exports if stocks fall: report

Russia might impose a ban on grain exports if their stocks fall to 10 million tons, Izvestia Daily has reported, citing a government document. The government working group on non-tariff measures in foreign trade recommended the Agriculture Ministry monitor grain stocks on a monthly basis, Izvestia cited the protocol of the working group's meeting.

If the monitoring shows stocks decrease to a "critically low level" of 10 million tons the ministry should propose the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Economy introduce a temporary ban on grains export.

The Agriculture Ministry confirmed to Izvestia such scheme had been proposed by the government sub-committee. However, it pointed out Russia has ample grain reserves, given large stocks from last year and a big harvest in 2023.

2320 GMT — Ready to send 3,000 more Chechen fighters to Ukraine: Kadyrov

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has said that another 3,000 of his fighters were ready to go to fight in Ukraine as part of new units of the Russian Defence Ministry and the Russian National Guard forces.

"They [the fighters] have the best equipment and modern weapons," Kadyrov said on the Telegram messaging app.

"In addition, the guys are highly combative and very motivated to achieve results."

In May, Kadyrov said that Chechnya, which is a federal republic of Russia, had sent more than 26,000 fighters to Ukraine from the start of the war, including 12,000 volunteers and that at the time, 7,000 of them were actively fighting.

Earlier in November, Kadyrov said that a large group of Russia's former Wagner mercenaries, who had played a prominent role in some of the fiercest fighting in Ukraine before their group fell into disarray after a brief mutiny against the Russian defence establishment, had also started training with special forces from Chechnya.

2200 GMT — Russian forces advancing on Ukrainian town from all sides

Russian forces are intensifying their drive to capture the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, trying to advance on all sides after weeks of fighting, the town's top official was quoted as saying.

Russian troops have been pressing land and air-based attacks on Avdiivka, since mid-October as the focal point of their slow-moving push through eastern Ukraine's Donbass region in the 21-month-old war.

The latest push, reported by Vitaliy Barabash, head of Avdiivka's military administration, followed reports last week that Ukrainian troops had made some headway in halting and pushing back the Russian advance.

"Things in the Avdiivka sector have become even tougher. The intensity of clashes has been increasing for some time," Barabash told the media outlet Espreso TV.

"The Russians have opened up two more sectors from which they have begun making assaults - in the direction of Donetsk ... and in the so-called industrial zone. The enemy is attempting to storm the city from all directions."

Officials say not a single building remains intact after months of battles in the town noted for a vast coking plant. Fewer than 1,500 residents remain of 32,000 before the war.

For our live updates from Monday (November 27), click here.