‘Putin cannot achieve goals on battlefield so will try to negotiate his way there’, warns EU’s Kallas
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is now speaking to the media after today’s videocall with EU foreign ministers. There has been a delay in the press conference starting.
Kallas begins by saying that “it is important that we continue to support Ukraine and pressure Russia. That is what we are working on”. She says those in the meeting all “welcomed the US’s push for the war to end”.
Kallas adds:
We all want this war to end but how it ends also matters. We must keep in mind there’s one aggressor and one victim. A complete and unconditional ceasefire must be the first step … but right now, we see no indiction that Russia is ready for a ceasefire.
Russia is not winding down its military machine but ramping it up. We still need to get from a situation where Russia pretends to negotiate to a situation where Russia needs to negotiate. We are getting there.
She describes how sanctions on Russia have had an impact on its economy and notes some failures on the battlefield. Kallas adds:
Putin cannot achieve his goals on the battlefield so he will try to negotiate his way there.
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Updated at 08.18 EST
Key events
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Morning opening: EU to hold discussions on Ukraine peace plan
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Jakub Krupa
Note that this latest conviction is in a separate case to the Libyan scandal that saw Sarkozy dominate the headlines and briefly go to La Santé prison in Paris last month.
The appeal in that case is scheduled to run from March to June.
But the 20 days behind the bars proved to be very productive: Sarkozy is planning to release his prison memoirs next month, detailing his experiences during the stay in prison.
A Prisoner’s Diary is reportedly 216 pages long – that’s 11 pages per one day of his imprisonment, as Politico helpfully calculated – and will hit the bookstores on 10 December.
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Nicolas Sarkozy convicted of illegal campaign financing in failed 2012 re-election bid
Angelique Chrisafis
The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been convicted of illegal campaign financing in his failed 2012 re-election bid, after the country’s highest court rejected his final appeal.
Sarkozy, who was the country’s rightwing president between 2007 and 2012, was convicted of hiding illegal overspending for his unsuccessful re-election campaign that was shaped by vast American-style rallies.
The case was labelled the “Bygmalion” affair because of the name of the events company that organised Sarkozy’s elaborate and artfully filmed stadium gigs in front of thousands of flag-waving fans when he was fighting for re-election. He ultimately lost to the Socialist party’s François Hollande.
In a 2021 trial, the state prosecutor had highlighted Sarkozy’s “couldn’t care less” attitude in demanding one rally a day in the form of vast “American-style shows” and allowing costs to rise substantially above the legal limit for a presidential election campaign.
Sarkozy’s campaign spending in the end came to at least €42.8m, nearly double the legal limit, prosecutors said. Photograph: Thibault Camus/AP
The prosecution said accountants had warned Sarkozy he was about to pass the official €22.5m spending cap but that he insisted on holding more events to fend off Hollande, who was gaining ground as a “Mr Normal” seeking to crack down on the world of finance.
In the end, Sarkozy’s campaign spending came to at least €42.8m, nearly double the legal limit, prosecutors said.
Sarkozy, who denied all wrongdoing, lodged an appeal process that took several years.
France’s highest court, the Cour de Cassation, which focuses on whether the law has been applied correctly rather than on the facts of the case, has now upheld an earlier ruling, making Sarkozy’s conviction final.
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Russia’s army should be curbed to end the war, says EU’s foreign policy chief
On that last point, Kallas says that Russia’s army and its budget should be “curbed to prevent new attacks”. The focus, she says, should be on “limiting Russia so they wouldn’t have the chance to invade again”.
“A just and lasting peace in Ukraine is needed to prevent the war continuing,” she adds.
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Updated at 08.29 EST
Kallas adds that the “notion Ukraine is losing is false” and says more sanctions against Russia are necessary, as well as more support for Ukraine.
Any peace agreement needs to include concessions from the Russian side, she says, adding that the focus of an agreement “must be on what Russia should do”. Kallas says:
We must ensure that Russia will never attack again.
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Updated at 08.27 EST
‘Putin cannot achieve goals on battlefield so will try to negotiate his way there’, warns EU’s Kallas
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is now speaking to the media after today’s videocall with EU foreign ministers. There has been a delay in the press conference starting.
Kallas begins by saying that “it is important that we continue to support Ukraine and pressure Russia. That is what we are working on”. She says those in the meeting all “welcomed the US’s push for the war to end”.
Kallas adds:
We all want this war to end but how it ends also matters. We must keep in mind there’s one aggressor and one victim. A complete and unconditional ceasefire must be the first step … but right now, we see no indiction that Russia is ready for a ceasefire.
Russia is not winding down its military machine but ramping it up. We still need to get from a situation where Russia pretends to negotiate to a situation where Russia needs to negotiate. We are getting there.
She describes how sanctions on Russia have had an impact on its economy and notes some failures on the battlefield. Kallas adds:
Putin cannot achieve his goals on the battlefield so he will try to negotiate his way there.
Share
Updated at 08.18 EST
Russia welcomes ‘aspects’ of new US plan to end Ukraine war, says the Kremlin
Russia has seen the latest copy of a draft US plan to end the Ukraine war and views some of it positively, but wants a discussion about the other parts, the Kremlin on said Wednesday, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
In comments to a Russian state TV reporter, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the new draft required “truly serious analysis” and that Russia had not yet discussed it with anyone.
The plan has not yet been published.
US president Donald Trump said on Tuesday that it was a “fine-tuned” version of an earlier 28-point plan that Kyiv and Europe had rejected, and that he was sending officials to meet both sides in the hopes of finalising it.
Ushakov said of the plan on Wednesday:
Some aspects can be viewed positively, but many require special discussions among experts.
The original plan, widely criticised in Europe as heeding Moscow’s demands, would have seen Ukraine withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the US de facto recognise the Donetsk, Crimea and Luhansk regions as Russian.
Ukraine said later it had reached an “understanding” with the US and that the two sides had pared back some of the points Kyiv disagreed with after talks in Geneva.
It is not clear which points were removed and which remain, and deep differences remain in Russia and Ukraine’s negotiating positions.
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The European Union is likely to find a solution in December on how to secure future funding for Ukraine, Finland’s foreign minister Elina Valtonen said on Wednesday after a video call with EU foreign ministers.
The Reuters report did not include any further details but we will update if more information comes in.
ShareBen Makuch
Americans involved in the Ukrainian war effort are embarrassed and dismayed by Donald Trump’s continuing pressures on Kyiv and think his administration’s latest peace plan is tantamount to backstabbing and another catastrophic failure of US foreign policy.
“Complete bullshit and a betrayal by Trump,” said an American special forces veteran who has helped train and advise the Ukrainian military since the full-scale Russian invasion began in February 2022. “But are you even surprised?”
Last week, a 28-point piece-plan reportedly drafted by Steve Witkoff, a Trump envoy negotiating with Kremlin adviser, Kirill Dmitriev, was leaked to the press and then revealed to be an apparent repackaging of Vladimir Putin’s maximalist demands on Ukraine.
As soon as Russian bombs were dropping on Kyiv in the early breaths of the war nearly four years ago, thousands of foreigners – soldiers, veterans, trainers, medics and others – poured into Ukraine to help defend what was largely seen as a collective defence of democracy against naked imperialism.
Among those international volunteers were hundreds of Americans, if not thousands, many of whom were and are Republicans who’ve had trouble squaring the animosity Trump has with the country they help. Voices in the GOP have also railed against Trump’s latest demands on Ukraine, with Don Bacon, a Mississippi congressman, describing it as “gross buffoonery” and “pushing a surrender plan on Ukraine” that “looks like Russia wrote it.”
“Follows Russia’s talking points almost to the letter,” said the same source, who called Witkoff a “Russian sycophant”. He continued:
I’m worried they really are getting forced into this one. But too much blood has been spilled. I don’t think Zelenskyy can take anything close to that deal if it means giving up territory and giving up its own sovereignty to make decisions like joining Nato or the size of the military.
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EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is due to speak with the media soon after today’s hastily arranged videocall with EU foreign ministers.
She seems to be running slightly late, but we will bring you the key lines here.
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EU’s von der Leyen warns against ‘unilateral carving up of sovereign European nation’ with Ukraine peace deal
Jennifer Rankin
Brussels correspondent
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has warned against “the unilateral carving up of a sovereign European nation”, as Europe scrambles to assert influence over a US effort to end the war in Ukraine.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrives for a debate on ‘EU position on the proposed plan and EU engagement towards a just and lasting peace for Ukraine’ at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. Photograph: Ronald Wittek/EPA
Speaking to European lawmakers in Strasbourg on Wednesday, von der Leyen said Russia showed “no signs of true willingness to end the conflict” and continued to operate in a mindset unchanged since the days of Yalta – the much-criticised and misunderstood 1945 summit to settle the post-war order.
“So we need to be clear that there cannot be unilateral carving up of a sovereign European nation, and that borders cannot be changed by force. If today we legitimise and formalise the undermining of borders, we open the doors for more wars tomorrow, and we cannot let this happen.”
She welcomed Donald Trump’s efforts to find peace, describing them as “a starting point”, but made clear that Europe had many concerns about the details outlined in the original 28-point US-Russian plan.
Some of the maximalist Russia-friendly demands have since been removed, Ukraine has said, and the US president has rowed back on his Thursday deadline tied to the US holiday of Thanksgiving, amid little sign of progress on key sticking points.
Describing the situation as volatile and dangerous, von der Leyen also said she saw “an opportunity here to make real progress”, while adding that “so far we have seen no signs from Russia of true willingness to end this conflict. So we have to keep up the pressure on Russia.”
EU foreign ministers were holding a hastily arranged video conference on the situation on Wednesday.
ShareJakub Krupa
I brought you the key lines from the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s speech in the European parliament earlier today (9:24, 9:24, 9:24, 9:26, 9:29, 9:33), but let’s now cross to our Brussels correspondent Jennifer Rankin for the full story.
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Poland to get €44bn funding from EU’s SAFE defence programme, PM Tusk says
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has just announced Poland will receive €44bn from the European Union’s SAFE programme to spend on defence projects, including drones, space defence, AI, cyber and cryptosecurity, and equipment for its army and border guards.
He said that would make Poland the biggest beneficiary of the programme.
ShareJakub Krupa
I’m listening to the daily European Commission press conference looking for any new lines on Ukraine.
On the proposed reparations loan, backed by the frozen Russian assets, the commission’s chief spokesperson Paula Pinho said the discussions on this are “taking place” with officials expecting to “receive further feedback from member states.”
We should hear more about it at the top of the hour too, when the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is due to address the media after today’s foreign ministers videocall.
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US discussing major Belarus prisoner release that could see over 100 freed – reports
Meanwhile, we are getting reports that the US and Belarus are working on another round of prisoner release which could see “at least” 100 political prisoners held by the Minsk regime freed.
Reuters reported that US officials want to secure the release of well over 100 prisoners in a single deal, the sources said in recent days, requesting anonymity to describe sensitive diplomatic conversations.
The Trump administration’s push for the biggest prisoner release so far is part of its controversial campaign to thaw relations with the authoritarian state in exchange for the prospect of sanctions relief, the agency noted.
In the largest prisoner release to date, Belarus freed 52 people in September, but the regime is understood to hold more than 1,000 political detainees.
Reuters noted that most European countries have kept Minsk at arm’s length given Belarus’ deep ties with Russia and its poor human rights record. The EU last month tightened its sanctions against Belarus.
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Overnight Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia leaves 19 injured
Meanwhile, Russia has overnight conducted a mass drone attach on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, injuring 19 people and badly damaging buildings and vehicles, the regional governor said, as reported by Reuters.
The site of a Russian strike on a residential building in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Photograph: Sergey Kozlov/EPA
Ivan Fedorov, posting on the Telegram messaging app, said the attack had destroyed shops, and damaged 31 apartment blocks and 20 private homes. He said eight people were being treated in hospital.
Ukraine’s air force said it downed 72 out of 90 drones and two ballistic missiles launched by Russia in a country-wide attack overnight.
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Ushakov says he will discuss Witkoff phone call leak in another phone call with Witkoff
Ushakov also told reporters that he will be in touch with US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff about the apparent leak of their phone call, saying it was “unacceptable”.
“About the leak? We will exchange opinions by phone,” he replied.
Reuters noted that Ushakov told reporters that some of what was leaked was “fake” and he would not comment on the rest because the call was confidential.
Leaking a discussion of a serious issue was “of course unacceptable”, he added.
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Updated at 05.05 EST
Europe’s ‘meddling’ in Ukraine talks ‘completely unnecessary,’ Kremlin aide says
Meanwhile, in sharp contrast to von der Leyen and Merz’s comments earlier today (9:33, 9:54), the Kremlin insisted that Europe’s involvement in the peace talks on Ukraine was “completely unnecessary.”
“The Europeans meddling in all these affairs is, as I see it, completely unnecessary,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told a state TV reporter.
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Trump says envoy to meet Putin in Moscow amid efforts to end Ukraine war – video
Here are some other comments from Trump on Air Force One on his plans to continue negotiations with Russia and Ukraine, and his comments backing away from an earlier Thursday deadline for Ukraine to agree the deal, by saying: “The deadline for me is when it’s over.”
Trump says envoy to meet Putin in Moscow amid efforts to end Ukraine war – videoShare
