Debates on Ukraine’s EU membership to start Tuesday
Envoys of the European Union’s member countries are set to start debating a proposal to begin membership talks with Ukraine on Tuesday, Reuters reported, citing officials and diplomats.
The discussions are part of the preparations for the European Council meeting on Dec. 14-15, when leaders are set to consider potential EU accession for countries including Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Bosnia.
A draft agreement on potential accession talks is set to be debated Tuesday and is expected to change following discussions, diplomats and officials said.
— Sophie Kiderlin
Ukraine is changing its strategic tactics, presidential aide says
Ukraine is shifting its military tactics as a result of the arrival of winter and an analysis of Russia’s resource capabilities, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Monday.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Podolyak said: “On the frontline and in the cities, we are already moving to a different tactic of warfare – effective defense in certain areas, continuation of offensive operations in other areas, special strategic operations on the Crimean peninsula and in the Black Sea waters, and significantly reformatted missile defense of critical infrastructure.”
Resources will be directed to increasing domestic arms production and speeding up negotiations with allies to increase equipment supplies for the “new stage” of Ukraine’s offensive operations, he said, particularly missile defense systems, long-range missiles, drones, and electronic warfare systems.
Russia has increasingly focused on drones this year, Podolyak added.
This year has also seen numerous reports of drones being shot down by Russia.
— Jenni Reid
Bulgarian president blocks delivery of armored transport vehicles to Ukraine
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev on Monday blocked a deal, signed in August, that would have provided armored transport vehicles to Ukraine, news agency Novinite reported.
Radev said parliamentarians did not fully understand the specifics of the donation, and that the vehicles could play a role in safeguarding Bulgaria’s borders and aiding its own citizens in emergencies, according to Novinite.
He also said that recent floods that required military support showed the need for increasing, rather than reducing domestic supplies.
The agreement will now return to parliament for further debate.
It comes as Ukrainian officials stress their need for reinforcements amid struggles to make progress in occupied areas, and as frontline fighting progresses into winter.
The White House on Monday warned that the U.S. will no longer be able to provide additional military equipment to Ukraine by the end of the year, unless Congress approves further funding.
There are also rumblings of discontent over support for Ukraine within the European Union. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has threatened to block all EU funding for Ukraine unless the coalition holds a review of its strategy, while Slovakia’s new Prime Minister Robert Fico has suspended the provision of all military aid.
— Jenni Reid
White House says Ukraine funding will run out soon without congressional approval
Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget Shalanda Young speaks at the daily press briefing at the White House on September 29, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images News | Getty Images
A senior White House official on Monday warned that the U.S. would run out of resources to supply Ukraine with more weapons and equipment by the end of the year unless Congress approves additional funding.
“There is no magical pot of funding available to meet this moment. We are out of money—and nearly out of time,” Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said in a letter to congressional leaders.
Young said cutting off U.S. supplies would “kneecap Ukraine on the battlefield,” risk it losing gains already made and increase the likelihood of Russian military victories.
U.S. packages of security assistance and aid deliveries have already become smaller, she said.
Congress has so far approved $111 billion in supplemental funding for Ukraine, by far the largest such support of all Ukraine’s allies, but the issue has become increasingly contentious in the U.S. legislature.
President Joe Biden has expressed staunch support for Ukraine and the continuation of U.S. support, and in October the White House requested more than $105 billion from Congress for security needs across Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the U.S. southern border.
Young said Monday that support for Ukraine would advance domestic national security interests by preventing larger conflict in the region that could involve NATO and U.S. forces, and by deterring future aggression.
— Jenni Reid
Russia trying to capture Avdiivka ‘at any cost,’ Ukrainian official says
A view of Ukraine’s Avdiivka city as an airstrike on the Metinvest coke plant is seen in the background on Oct. 30, 2023.
Libkos | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Russian forces have launched new fronts in the fierce battle for Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, an Ukrainian official noted.
“The current third wave of enemy assaults differs from the previous two in that they have conditionally opened two new directions,” the head of Avdiivka’s military administration, Vitaliy Barabash said. “The launching of new directions proves that the enemy has been given a command to capture the city at any cost.”
In comments to state media, Barabash said these latest events were an attempt to distract Ukrainian defences and close a gap west of the town that would see it entirely encircled. Independent military analysts have said that about 1,300 civilians remain in the town, which was once home to about 30,000 people.
The industrial town in eastern Ukraine has been under constant Russian fire in a bid by Moscow to capture it. Ukrainian officials have accused Russian forces of assaulting Avdiivka, in the eastern Donetsk region, from two new directions, AFP reported.
— Jenni Reid
