War against Ukraine: this is the situation

Russian invasion - War against Ukraine: this is the situation

Around a week before the possible decision on the opening of EU accession negotiations for his country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has once again expressed hope. It is a Ukrainian "priority" to make final decisions in parliament, for example, so that Ukraine fulfills all the required conditions, Selensky said in his evening speech. "We believe that the EU will also fulfill all its promises to Ukraine," he added.

Ukraine was granted candidate country status in 2022. A large majority of EU states now actually want to decide at a summit meeting on December 14 and 15 on, among other things, the official start of accession negotiations for the country attacked by Russia. However, it is still questionable whether this will actually happen.

A decision is only possible if no EU member state vetoes the decision - and just a few days ago, Hungarian head of government Viktor Orban threatened to block it. One of his criticisms is that Ukraine has not yet fulfilled all the reform requirements. However, some diplomats believe it is conceivable that Orban's threats are in fact primarily aimed at increasing pressure in order to obtain frozen EU funding for his country.

Blinken: Ukraine aid creates growth and jobs in the USA

In the face of great political resistance to further aid for Ukraine, the US government is now also aggressively using economic arguments to campaign for further support for Kiev. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday after a meeting with his British counterpart David Cameron in Washington: "If you look at the investments we've made in the defense of Ukraine (...), 90 percent of the security assistance we've provided has actually been spent here in the United States - with our manufacturers." Blinken emphasized, "That has created more American jobs and more growth in our own economy."

The USA is Ukraine's most important military supporter in the defensive fight against the Russian invasion. Since the start of the war at the end of February 2022, the USA has provided Kiev with billions in military aid. However, the release of new US aid is currently being blocked by a domestic political dispute between Democrats and Republicans in the US Parliament.

Great Britain accuses Russia of hacker attacks

According to the British government, the Russian secret service FSB has attempted to interfere in British politics with cyber attacks on politicians, journalists and non-governmental organizations. "I can confirm today that the Russian security service FSB is behind ongoing efforts to interfere in our democratic processes," said Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Leo Doherty in Parliament in London. Russia rejected the accusations.

The UK government said: "While some attacks have resulted in documents being leaked to the public, attempts to interfere in UK politics and democracy have been unsuccessful." Attacks on MPs from all parties have continued since at least 2015.

Iran's president visits Moscow

During a visit to Moscow, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi accused Israel of bombing the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip. The attacks must stop, he demanded at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. During their meeting, Putin and Raisi also spoke out in favor of expanding bilateral cooperation. Putin mentioned the energy sector and major infrastructure projects.

Iran is Moscow's most important partner in the region, also as a supplier of weapons for the war in Ukraine. Cooperation is set to become even closer through a free trade agreement between the Russian-dominated Eurasian Free Trade Area and Iran. The latter will also be included in the Brics group of important emerging economies and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), in which Moscow plays an important role.

Kiev speaks of 28,000 civilians in captivity

The government in Kiev suspects that around 28,000 Ukrainian civilians from the occupied territories are in Russian captivity. According to the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform in Kiev, the government's human rights commissioner, Dmytro Lubinez, said that around 2,000 of these prisoners were over 65 years old. It was not clear from the report exactly what the Ukrainian estimate was based on.

What will be important on Friday

Heavy fighting continues in Ukraine. The Ukrainian army remains under particular pressure, especially in the eastern Donetsk region near the town of Avdiivka.