Lithuania adds to criticism of Scholz-Putin call
Jennifer Rankin is the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent
Lithuania’s foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has bluntly criticised Olaf Scholz’s call with Vladimir Putin.
Lithuania is one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters in the EU, so the comments are not a surprise, but underscore the differences over how to approach Russia’s invasion, as Kremlin forces make deeper advances.
Landsbergis, who is also one of the EU’s most outspoken foreign ministers, said it was difficult for him to understand why the call had happened, telling reporters:
I’m not in principle against any calling or reach-out, but it has to come from a position of strength, not from the position of weakness, because if it does, then Russians will abuse it. And they clearly are doing exactly that, with massive new rocket barrages against Ukraine’s civil infrastructure, against energy. So what does it help? Why are we doing this?
The German chancellor spoke to Putin for one hour on Friday, urging him to withdraw his troops from Ukraine. At the weekend Russia then launched its largest attack on Ukraine in months, killing at least seven people and forcing the introduction of nationwide electricity rationing.
Kremlin says any decision to use long-range missiles against Russia would lead to a 'rise in tension'
The Kremlin said on Monday that if the US allowed Ukraine to use US-made weapons to strike far into Russia then it would lead to a rise in tension and deepen the involvement of the US in the conflict.
Speaking at his regular daily press briefing, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that there was no change in position from what Vladimir Putin had said in September. The Russian president had said he would consider strikes by US-made weapons on Russian soil as the direct involvement of Nato in the conflict.
In response to a question from Tass, Peskov said Russia was only aware of the apparent decision by the Joe Biden administration from reporting in western media.
Asked about recent overtures towards peace by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Peskov said that any so-called “freezing” of the conflict along the existing frontline was unacceptable for the Russian Federation.
EU foreign ministers signal support for US decision on missile use inside Russia
Jennifer Rankin is the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent
The EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell has expressed hope that European nations will allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons to strike Russia, following the US decision to loosen restrictions on US-made rockets.
Borrell, who is standing down as the EU’s foreign policy high representative next month, said he had long-believed Ukraine should be able to use western weapons to hit military targets inside Russia, telling reporters.
I’ve been saying once and again that Ukraine should be able to use the arms provided to them in order to not only to stop the arrow but also to be able to hit the archers.
He said he hoped member states would agree on that, suggesting if there was no common decision “anyone will do whatever they believe is according to the need to support Ukraine”.
France, the EU’s most consequential military power, has not immediately endorsed the US position.
However, France’s foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot referred to Emmanuel Macron’s words from May, saying his government would consider this option if it was to allow hitting targets where Russia is “currently aggressing Ukrainian territory”.
Dutch foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp described the US decision as very important, saying:
What I see is that President Putin in general only listens to facts on the ground. And I think therefore that it is very important the US also does not [impose] limitations any more for weapons delivered to Ukraine.
Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said this was not a shift in western policy, telling the media:
The decision from the American side, and I would like to emphasise that this is not a rethink but an intensification of what has already been delivered by other partners, is so important at this moment.
The ministers are attending the monthly EU foreign affairs meeting in Brussels, the last one to be chaired by Borrell, who is ending his five-year term.
Reflecting on his tenure Borrell chided member states for being disunited and slow on foreign policy:
My last call to my colleagues will be, be more united. Take decisions quicker. Every time we took decisions in order to support Ukraine, it took too long.
Our video team have this report on yesterday’s Russian strike on Sumy which killed 11 people, including two children.
France: Ukraine use of French long-range missiles 'an option that we would consider'
France, which has already provided long-range missiles to Ukraine, on Monday signalled that allowing Kyiv to strike military targets inside Russia remained an option on the table.
“We openly said this was an option that we would consider if it was to allow to strike a target from where Russia is currently aggressing Ukrainian territory. So nothing new on the other side,” Reuters reports Jean-Noël Barrot told journalists ahead of a EU ministers’ meeting in Brussels.
Local media reports explosions have been heard in Kherson.
An air alert has sounded in Zaporizhzhia.
Borrell: EU should allow Ukraine to strike inside Russia
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday expressed his hope that EU members could agree to allow Ukraine to use arms to strike inside Russia, Reuters reports.
“I’ve been saying once and again that Ukraine should be able to use the arms we provided to them, in order to not only stop the arrows but also to be able to hit the archers,” Borrell said before a meeting with EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
“I continue believing this is what has to be done. I’m sure we will discuss once again. I hope member states will agree on that.”
In the UK an opposition politician has called on Keir Starmer’s government to allow Ukraine use of UK-made Storm Shadow missiles to strike inside Russia.
Recently appointed shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge of the opposition Conservative party told the GB News channel that permission from the Biden administration to use US-made weapons inside Russia’s Kursk region was “a very important development” and “very welcome given the military situation in Ukraine.”
He continued:
I do hope it now paves the way for the UK granting full autonomy to Ukraine in relation to the use of Storm Shadow missiles. Russia invaded Ukraine, a wholly unprovoked, illegal invasion, a dictatorship invading a democracy.
It’s been the right thing to do, to not be directly involved in Ukraine, but to support them in whatever way we can, in terms of providing munitions that’s helped Ukraine to check their advance.
He cited the deployment of troops from North Korea as an “escalation” by Russia, saying “imagine how the Russians would feel if 10,000 Nato troops were now in Ukraine, supporting them. The fact is 10,000 North Korean troops have been deployed into this battle. A totalitarian regime, hundreds of thousands of troops, testing nuclear weapons, is sending those troops out to fight in Europe, alongside Russia. We have to understand which country is in the right here. It’s Ukraine. We are doing the right thing to support them.”
The foreign minister of the Netherlands, Caspar Veldkamp, has described the decision by the Joe Biden administration that US supplied weapons can be used to strike inside Russia as an “adequate response” to the deployment of North Korean troops by Russia.
The US president will allow Ukraine to use US-made Atacms rockets, which have a range of 190 miles (300km) inside Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have staged an incursion.
Most Ukrainian regions to experience rolling power cuts on Monday
Reuters reports that Odesa, on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, remains without power. Rolling power outages are also expected today.
Authorities said most regions would face blackouts on Monday of up to eight hours, including the capital Kyiv, with only the west of the country spared.
Ukrainian MP: use of longer range missiles to strike inside Russia not a 'silver bullet' to guarantee victory
A Ukrainian MP has said that the use of longer range missiles against Russia is not a “silver bullet” that will guarantee victory for Ukraine, and called for a change of strategy from western leaders.
Mariia Ionova, who sits on the foreign affairs committee in the Ukrainian parliament, told listeners of the BBC Radio 4 Today programme:
Missiles are not the silver bullet against our common enemies, and that is why we are asking all our friends that we need a change in strategy, because our enemies are united and we should stand together as well.
When we are talking about this permission [for longer range missile fire], yes, we appreciate it, but that [alone] will not bring a victory.
[We need] an air shield over Ukraine, more training, more western military instructors in Ukraine, more sanctions, and also more secondary sanctions.
And I think also we should be, and our friends’ leaders should be, more creative, more brave.
Do not exclude anything. Do not postpone. We understand the procedures in democratic societies, but for us, time is human lives.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, has posted to his Telegram channel to report that air defence in the region shot down “several enemy drones” from Ukraine. “There are no casualties,” he reported.
Oleksandr Prokudin, head of Kherson region, has posted to Facebook to state that four people were killed and ten others wounded by Russian strikes on the region in the past 24 hours.
Death toll from Sunday's strike in Sumy rises to 11, including two children
Ukraine’s authorities have revised up the death toll and number of people injured by a missiles strike on Sumy at the weekend. It is now believed that 11 people have died, and 89 people were wounded.
Reuters reports that two children are among the dead, with 11 children among those hurt.
Volodymyr Artyukh, the head of the Sumy military administration, said it was “a tragedy that Russia brought to our land.”
Local media reports that Ukraine is not expecting any power outages in the Lviv region in the west of the country today.
Russian media reports the country’s security forces have arrested a man on suspicion of preparing explosives and working for the Ukrainian secret service.
Tass reports the FSB in a statement said the man was planning attacks in the Belgorod, Bryansk and Tula regions. The 48-year-old was, the FSB claimed, arrested with bomb-making equipment in Russia’s Kaluga region, which is to the south-west of Moscow.
Ukraine claims to have shot down 8 out of 11 Russian overnight drone launches
Overnight Ukraine’s air force has claimed it shot down eight of 11 drones launched at the country by Russia, Reuters reports.
Citing a message on the Telegram app, the news agency reports that Ukraine’s air force said it lost three of the drones on its radar, and that Russia also launched three missiles into Ukraine. Two fo the missiles were aimed at Ukraine’s Sumy region.
Biden trying to escalate situation ‘to the maximum’ with missile decision, Russian lawmaker says
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Russian lawmaker Maria Butina has said that the administration of President Joe Biden was risking a third world war if it allowed Ukraine to use US-made weapons to strike deep into Russia.
“These guys, Biden’s administration, is trying to escalate the situation to the maximum while they still have power and are still in office,” said Butina, who was jailed in the US for 18 months in 2019 after she tried to infiltrate US conservative groups and the National Rifle Association to promote Russian political interests around the 2016 election. She is now a lawmaker for the ruling United Russia party.
“I have a great hope that [Donald] Trump will overcome this decision if this has been made because they are seriously risking the start of World War Three which is not in anybody’s interest,” she told Reuters.
Biden on Sunday reversed a ban on the firing of long-range US missiles into Russian territory by permitting them to be used against Russian and North Korean forces in the Kursk region. The US president will allow Ukraine to use US-made Atacms rockets, which have a range of 190 miles (300km) .
President Vladimir Putin said on 12 September that western approval for such a step would mean “the direct involvement of Nato countries, the United States and European countries in the war in Ukraine” because Nato military infrastructure and personnel would have to be involved in the targeting and firing of the missiles.
In late October, Putin said that Russia’s defence ministry was working on different ways to respond if the United States and its Nato allies help Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with long-range Western missiles.
“I guess there are some people in the United States who have nothing to lose for whatever reason or who are completely off the grid so much that they simply do not care,” said Butina.
In other developments:
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, appeared to confirm the news of the US policy reversal, though he said any proof about the change in policy would emerge on the battlefield, if and when the missiles are used. “Today, there’s a lot of talk in the media about us receiving permission for respective actions. But strikes are not carried out with words. Such things are not announced. Missiles will speak for themselves. They certainly will,” Zelenskyy said.
Ten people, including two children, were killed and 52 have been injured after when a Russian missile hit a residential nine-storey building in Ukraine’s northeastern region of Sumy, Ukraine’s emergency services and military have said. “Sunday evening for the city of Sumy became hell, a tragedy that Russia brought to our land,” Volodymyr Artyukh, the head of the Sumy military administration said in a post on the administration’s Telegram messaging channel.
Russia pounded Ukraine’s power grid into the early hours of Sunday in what Kyiv said was a “massive” attack with 120 missiles and 90 drones that killed at least seven people. The attack was the largest missile and drone assault on Ukraine since August and the first big Russian assault since the US election, showing the Kremlin in little mood to compromise after Donald Trump’s victory.
Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s principal energy supplier, said blackouts and consumption restrictions would be introduced “in all regions” from Monday as engineers tried to repair as much of the damage to power facilities as possible. With the harsh Ukrainian winter fast approaching, the country is already suffering from major energy shortfalls.
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said the attack showed that talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone would not stop the war in Ukraine, two days after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rang him. “No one will stop Putin with phone calls. The attack last night, one of the biggest in this war, has proved that telephone diplomacy cannot replace real support from the whole west for Ukraine,” Donald Tusk wrote on X.
Scholz defended his decision to phone the Kremlin, telling reporters on Sunday it was important to tell him [Putin] that he cannot count on support from Germany, Europe and many others in the world waning”. He added: “The conversation was very detailed but contributed to a recognition that little has changed in the Russian president’s views of the war – and that’s not good news.”
Ukraine will be “top of the agenda” this week at a meeting of leaders from the world’s most powerful economies, Keir Starmer pledged, though he said he had “no plans” to follow Scholz and speak directly to Putin. Starmer will meet world leaders on Monday at the G20 summit in Brazil, which the Russian president has declined to attend, sending his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, in his place.
Finland is hosting its first large-scale Nato artillery exercise since the Nordic nation joined the military alliance last year, with live fire drills starting on Sunday. The exercise conducted in the northern Lapland region in November is part of Dynamic Front 25, the largest Nato artillery exercise ever held in Europe, with fire drills in Finland as well as Estonia, Germany, Romania and Poland. The Nordic nation, which shares a border with Russia, joined Nato last year, dropping decades of military non-alignment after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
About 1,500 supporters of Russia’s exiled opposition marched through central Berlin on Sunday – led by Yulia Navalnaya and chanting “No to war!” and “No to Putin” – in a demonstration against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The march saw a smaller turnout than expected and was seen as a credibility test for the movement – weakened by years of repression and thrown into disarray since the death of its main leader Alexei Navalny in prison earlier this year.
Russia’s air defence units destroyed a drone heading towards Moscow, mayor Sergei Sobyanin said early on Monday. “According to preliminary information, there is no damage or casualties at the site of the fall of the debris,” Sobyanin wrote on his Telegram messaging channel.
