US President Donald Trump is ready to support new sanctions against Russia, but on one condition, Reuters reports. According to a White House official, the US President will sign a new bill on sanctions against countries doing business with Russia, but the document must stipulate that the final decision on sanctions rests with Trump. Meanwhile, negotiations with Russia to end the war, according to the official, are ongoing, but for now “are not the focus.”
Fifty Ukrainians have been deported from the United States to Ukraine, according to the State Border Service. The deportees were not US citizens. The reason for their deportation is still unknown.
The President of the European Commission has proposed that EU countries provide Ukraine with between 0.16% and 0.27% of their GDP in 2026-2027 (at least €45 billion annually), according to a letter from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to EU leaders published by Politico.
On November 17, Romanian authorities ordered the evacuation of residents of the village of Plauru, located on the border with Ukraine along the Danube, after a fire broke out aboard the Turkish gas tanker ORINDA following a Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian port of Izmail.
Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán is increasingly at odds with the EU, arguing that statements by European politicians about their readiness for a possible war starting in 2030 indicate that Brussels is openly developing military plans.
In Poland, the initial investigations into the railway safety incident are believed to be linked to Russian intelligence. A representative of the Polish Ministry of Intelligence: “All evidence indicates that Russian intelligence ordered the railway sabotage in Poland.” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that two people involved in this week’s railway sabotage have been identified. According to him, they were two Ukrainian citizens who were cooperating with Russian intelligence and planning to provoke a “catastrophic event.” He added that they had left Poland and taken refuge in Belarus.
An Italian Air Force KC-767-2EY/ER transport and tanker aircraft took off from Lublin Airport in eastern Poland, likely after delivering weapons and ammunition destined for Ukraine on November 17.
On November 17, Ukrainian Air Force images were released showing a French Mirage 2000-5F fighter with six traces of downed Russian cruise missiles, likely Kh-101s, hit over Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to Spain for talks on November 18 and will work in Turkey on the 19th “to intensify negotiations.” “Talks with government officials are planned this week, as well as a meeting with the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada and members of the Servant of the People party. I am preparing several important legislative initiatives and rapid, fundamental decisions,” Zelensky added. Steve Witkoff and Volodymyr Zelensky did not hold talks in Turkey on the 19th as previously announced. “Russian representatives will not be in Istanbul,” Kremlin spokesman Dimytry Peskov said. “Moscow has not received any information from Kiev about its intention to resume negotiations,” he added. Russia and the United States have discussed the possibility of another prisoner exchange, Special Representative of the Russian President Dmitriev said in an interview with Axios.
Meanwhile, MP Zheleznyak, citing his sources, writes that Andriy Yermak will travel to London to meet with Valery Zaluzhny and offer him the post of prime minister, according to the Strana publication. This is in light of the scandals surrounding Zelensky.
A delegation of senior Pentagon officials has arrived in Kiev. US Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll and Chief of Staff Randy George arrived in Kiev to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, military leaders, and Ukrainian parliamentarians, Politico reports. “The trip will focus on the Ukrainian leadership’s participation in the stalled peace process with Russia (…), as the United States tries to find a way to accelerate the end of the war, despite Moscow’s rebuffing of all previous US and Ukrainian attempts to halt the fighting,” the publication states.
“The Special Operation will continue until Russia achieves its goals,” said Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, when asked by a journalist on the progress of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
“Sergey Shoigu was the target of an assassination attempt by Ukrainian intelligence services,” Moskovsky Komsomolets reported, citing sources. Regarding relations between Russia and India in light of Trump’s sanctions, Lavrov confirmed that the Russian-Indian summit is scheduled for New Delhi in three weeks.
The assassination attempt on Shoigu was expected while the Russian Security Council Secretary was visiting his deceased relatives at the Troyekurovskoye cemetery.
And now a look at the front line updated at 3:30 PM on November 19. Russian forces struck Kharkiv (about 20 explosions), Pavlohrad, Odessa, Vinnytsia, Snovsk in the Chernihivska region, and Dnipropetrovsk overnight. Attack drones and Kalibr missiles were used, while Tu-95MS and Kinzhal missile carriers were spotted in flight.
In the Rostov region, a drone attack was repelled in the Kamensky district. By midnight, 18 Ukrainian drones had been destroyed in the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga, Kursk, Moscow, Rostov, and Tula regions. Overnight, footage of a fire breaking out in the Krasnodar Krai near an oil refinery began circulating online.
In the Sumy region, Ukrainian and Russian forces are engaged in trench warfare. Russian assault groups have managed to advance deep into Sumy Oblast in three areas through wooded areas. A large firefight thwarted attempts by Ukrainian Armed Forces battle groups to advance towards Oleksiivka and Varachyne. In the Tetkinio and Glushkovsky District sectors, Russian artillery struck Ukrainian troops near Ryzhivka and Iskryskivshchyna.
In Belgorod Oblast, a car was damaged by an FPV drone strike in the village of Nechayevka. In Posokhovo, a drone exploded in the courtyard of a private home. In the village of Kazinka, an FPV drone explosion damaged a home and two apartment buildings and knocked out a power line. In the village of Tulyanka, the windows of a private home were shattered. In Dunaykk, Dorogoshch, Gora-Podol, and near Gayevka in the Volokonovka District, FPV drones struck property, damaging homes and cars.
Toward Kharkiv, forces from the Northern Group are advancing on the southern edge of Vovchansk. In the forest near Synelnykove, Russian attack aircraft captured three Ukrainian Armed Forces strongholds, and the Ministry of Defense reported the capture of the nearby village of Tsehelne. Advances were made on the Milove-Khatnye front despite a counterattack by Ukrainian Armed Forces.
South of Kupyansk, toward Bohuslavka, the Western Group of Forces is advancing toward Bohuslavka-Novoplatonivka.
Southeast of Lyman, Russian units have reached the Lyman-Zakitne road, taking control of it.
Russian assault groups are operating in the southern part of Seversk, as confirmed by online footage of ground fighting. According to Russian military analysts: “Previously, the Russian armed forces were simply secretly massing troops in built-up areas; now we can say that the assault on the city from the south has begun. It will not be rapid.”
A new development in the situation is the Russian armed forces’ offensive towards Kramatorsk. East of Novomarkove, Russian units have advanced along the Seversky Donetsk-Donbass Canal.
In the direction of Pokrovsk, Russian forces are fighting near Hryshyne. In Pokrovsk, the Ukrainian armed forces acknowledge the successes of Russian troops; fighting is ongoing in several areas of the city.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, fighting continues in Prymors’ke and Stepnohirs’k on the Zaporizhia front.
Graziella Giangiulio
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