Zelenskyy says Trump’s call to freeze current frontlines is a ‘good compromise’
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that US president Donald Trump’s call for Ukraine and Russia to stop at the current frontlines was “a good compromise”, reports Reuters.
But Zelenskyy, who is visiting Nordic countries, said he doubted that Russian president Vladimir Putin would support it. According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Zelenskyy told reporters:
[Trump] proposed ‘Stay where we stay and begin conversation’. I think that was a good compromise, but I’m not sure that Putin will support it, and I said it to the [US] president.
It comes as plans to hold a summit between Trump and Putin in Budapest have been put on hold as it was reported that Ukraine and its European allies had rallied in pushing for a ceasefire without territorial concessions from Kyiv.
Russia, however, said on Wednesday that preparation for a presidential summit between Putin and Trump was still continuing.
Key events
Pjotr Sauer
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has voiced support for Donald Trump’s proposal for Ukraine and Russia to freeze the war at the current frontlines, calling it “a good compromise” even as he acknowledged Moscow has made clear it will not accept the arrangement.
“I think that was a good compromise, but I’m not sure that Putin will support it, and I said it to the president,” Zelenskyy said on a visit to Oslo, part of a tour of Scandinavia to seek additional military support.
The US president had earlier this week told reporters on Air Force One “they can negotiate something later on down the line. But I said cut and stop at the battle line”. He was speaking shortly before a planned summit with Vladimir Putin was put on hold after Russia said its goal of seeking the whole of the eastern Donbas region, including areas held by Ukraine, had not changed.
Trump’s latest remarks were seen as a modest win for Zelenskyy. The US leader has repeatedly wavered on key aspects of the war, including whether a ceasefire should come before broader peace talks, and at times appearing to consider Putin’s demands for Ukraine to give up more land.
Most recently, Trump had dashed Ukraine’s hope he would send Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv after a phone call with Putin.
Zelenskyy and his senior officials have previously acknowledged that Ukraine is unlikely to regain all of its occupied territory through military means, and have privately told Washington and European partners they would be open to freezing the frontlines. Still, Zelenskyy’s public endorsement of such a plan marks a notable shift from his earlier stance, when Kyiv vowed to reclaim all land lost to Russia.
Russia, meanwhile, has made clear its maximalist position hasn’t changed, appearing to reject Trump’s fresh proposal to freeze battle lines.
Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s longtime foreign minister, said on Tuesday: “Washington now starts to say that we must stop [the conflict] immediately, that we should no longer discuss anything, that we should stop, and let history judge.”
Moscow has consistently rejected extended ceasefire proposals, arguing they would give Ukraine time to rearm and regroup at a time when Russian forces are making battlefield advances.
“You see, simply stopping would mean forgetting the root causes of this conflict,” Lavrov said.
Those “root causes”, according to Moscow, refer to its sweeping demands that would undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty – including full control over the Donbas region, limits on Kyiv’s armed forces, and a say in its domestic affairs.
Shots were fired outside Serbia’s parliament building in Belgrade and one person was injured, local media reported.
Eyewitness footage shared with Reuters showed armed security officers approaching a tent outside parliament, one of several erected this year by supporters of President Aleksandar Vučić during anti-government protests.
A fire broke out inside a tent and officers were seen detaining a person. The identity of the shooter or how the fire started were not immediately clear
Russia is implementing a methodical campaign to destroy Ukraine’s energy system and is targeting repair teams working at energy facilities after the initial strikes, energy minister Sviltana Hrynchuk said on Wednesday.
Russia launched 405 drones and 28 missiles in its second major round of attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities so far this month, killing six people in Kyiv and the surrounding region and cutting off electricity across the country, officials said.
Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers conducted a scheduled flight over neutral waters in the Baltic Sea, Russian state-run news agency RIA reported, citing the defence ministry.
At various stages of the mission the bombers were escorted by fighter jets from foreign countries, the ministry was cited as saying.
The British prime minister Keir Starmer described the western Balkans as Europe’s “crucible” as he opened talks with leaders in London.
“The region has been described as the crossroads of Europe, but so often it has also been Europe’s crucible – the place where the security of our continent is put to the test,” he said.
He said talks would focus on security, migration and economic growth. Leaders would talk about how to tackle Russia’s “malign influence”, as well as rooting out corruption and shared issues of migration, he said.
“The Western Balkans has long been a vital transit route for the criminal smuggling gangs.
“You don’t want to see those gangs operating in your territory, and we all suffer the consequences of their action,” he said.
In other news, Slovakia has reported an outbreak of bird flu on a poultry farm in the northern part of the country, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Wednesday, as Europe faces a seasonal upturn in the deadly disease.
The H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, killed 27 birds on a farm with chickens, geese and ducks near the border with Poland, the Paris-based WOAH said, citing the Slovakian authorities. The rest of the 197-strong flock was slaughtered.
The spread of bird flu has raised concerns among governments and the poultry industry after it killed or led to the culling of hundreds of millions of poultry in recent years, disrupting supply, fuelling higher food prices and raising the risk of a new pandemic.
Before arriving in Linkoping, Sweden, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy briefly touched down in Oslo where the Norwegian government announced it was donating another 1.5bn Norwegian crowns ($149.4m) to Ukraine for the purchase of natural gas to secure electricity and heating.
In a post on X, the Ukrainian president said:
Today we have a new package of energy support from Norway – already the third this year – amounting to about $150m for gas purchases this winter. Energy support is extremely important. I thanked Norway for this assistance and prime minister @jonasgahrstore [Jonas Gahr Støre] personally during our meeting.
I informed him about the consequences of today’s Russian attack. I am grateful for Norway’s solidarity and condolences. We discussed Ukraine’s needs for air defence systems and missiles for them, as well as other steps that can strengthen Ukraine during the winter.
We also discussed our defence cooperation separately – the production of drones and missiles, and the expansion of the PURL initiative. We coordinated our positions and upcoming meetings to be held in Europe this week. We are very grateful for the great support of the Norwegian people – air defence systems, missiles for these systems – all of this saves lives.
Ukraine aims to get and start using Swedish Gripen jets next year, says Zelenskyy
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that Ukraine aims to receive and start using Swedish Gripen jets next year.
“For our army, Gripens are a priority. It is about money, about manoeuvres,” he told a joint press conference with Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson during a visit to Linkoping.
The possibility of supplying Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine has been under consideration over the past two years but was put on hold to allow Kyiv to focus on the introduction of American-made F-16 fighters that it began deploying last August.
“We have started the work to obtain Gripens to Ukraine and expect the future contract to allow us to acquire no less than 100 such jets,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian pilots have been in Sweden to test the Gripen and help smooth any eventual export of the jets, a rugged and relatively low-cost option compared to aircraft such as the US F-35.
The Gripen has been in commission since 1996 and Saab has produced about 280 of the planes in total.
Reuters reports that Sweden has ordered 60 of the latest Gripen E model and Saab is increasing capacity in Linkoping, aiming to be able to produce 20-30 planes per year at the plant in a couple of years. Saab is also building Gripens in Brazil.
Sweden in talks to sell Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine
Sweden is in talks to sell between 100 and 150 Saab-made JAS Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine, prime minister Ulf Kristersson said on Wednesday.
Kristersson said Sweden could sell 100-150 Saab-made JAS Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine.
The two leaders met for talks in Linkoping in southern Sweden and visited Saab, which is the maker of the JAS 39 Gripen fighter, the GlobalEye surveillance aircraft, missile systems, anti-tank infantry weapons and other equipment
Kristersson told a news conference the two countries had signed a long-term cooperation agreement over air defences that included the possibility of exporting between 100 and 150 Saab-made JAS Gripen fighter jets.
“We fully realise it’s a long road ahead of us,” Kristersson said with a Gripen in Swedish livery in the background. He added:
But from today we are committed to exploring all the possibilities in providing Ukraine with a large amount of Gripen fighters in the future.
The world must now increase pressure on the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, for the war in Ukraine to end, Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson has told a press conference.
Standing next to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Kristersson said that Sweden “stands very united behind you and the Ukrainian people”. He said that the meeting today with Zelenskyy in Sweden and tomorrow’s summit in Brussels “says something about the intensity of the coopearation between Ukraine and Sweden”.
Sweden and Ukraine sign letter of intent to supply up to 150 Gripen fighter jets
Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson said, in a press conference with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, that Sweden and Ukraine had signed a letter of intent.
He said it was “not aimed at any new donations at the moment”, but was focused on a “longer term” connection. He said it would “us closer to an export deal with Saab and Ukraine”.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy will give a press conference shortly, alongside Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson. You can watch it live via the video embed below:
Ukraine is urging European countries not to limit its use of a proposed $163 billion loan based on frozen Russian state assets, arguing that it needs to be able to buy non-European arms, repair war damage from Russian attacks and compensate victims.
With EU leaders to discuss the ‘Reparations Loan’ to Kyiv on Thursday at talks attended by Ukraine’s president, some states suggest the funds be spent mainly on European-made weapons to boost their defence industries as threats from Russia grow.
A senior official in president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s administration told Reuters Ukraine needed the funds by the end of the year and autonomy over how to spend them, in some of the first public comments laying out Kyiv’s stance in detail.
“Ukraine’s position is that any conditionality undermines the principle of justice. So the victim, not the donors or partners, must determine how to address its most urgent defence, recovery and compensation needs,” Iryna Mudra, a top legal adviser in Zelenskyy’s administration, said in an interview.
Several people were killed and many more wounded as Russia launched more than 400 air attacks across Ukraine between Tuesday and Wednesday.
A drone hit a kindergarten in Kharkiv, killing at least one person.
Emergency services said they had evacuated 48 children and that many were suffering “acute stress reactions”.
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