It is official that the United States will supply Ukraine with new weapons worth $725 million, including anti-UAV systems and anti-personnel mines. According to the Financial Times, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned Trump at a meeting in Florida of a “serious threat” to the United States if a bad deal to end the war is imposed on Ukraine. “This will bring satisfaction to Kim, Xi, Putin and Iranian leaders,” Rutte fears.
The Biden administration intends to work tirelessly to further strengthen NATO before the end of its term, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. “Every minute, every day, we intend to continue the work that we have done together over the past four years… to strengthen the alliance in extraordinary ways with new members, new assets and new partners,” he said.
According to Politico, the issue of inviting Ukraine to NATO is on the agenda of the meeting of representatives of the “NATO-Ukraine Council” in Brussels. At the same time, other solutions to end the war are being considered, such as the “Israel circuit,” under which Ukraine would not join NATO but would receive broad political and security support from Western countries and work to strengthen its defense industry and economy.
Another scheme that will be considered is the “German scheme”, according to which Western Ukraine, not occupied by Russia, will join NATO, like West Germany during the Cold War, and in the future there will be diplomatic attempts to regain the lost territory in the country. There would also be a third approach, Ukraine’s accession without a formal procedure. The British propose to create a form of confederation or union of Ukraine with one of the European NATO countries, which from a formal point of view will be considered an expansion of an existing NATO member. The issue faces strong opposition, but it is one of the options “on the table.”
In the meantime, Kiev has announced that it is officially renouncing the guarantees of NATO membership – the media reporting on it cite a document from the Foreign Ministry: “The only real guarantee of security and deterrent against further Russian aggression is Ukraine’s full membership in NATO. Having had the bitter experience of the Budapest Memorandum, we will not accept any alternative, surrogate or substitute,” reads a statement released on the day of the start of the NATO ministerial meeting.
NATO has said that it could take months to reach a consensus on the decision to invite Ukraine to the alliance, Reuters reports. “It will take weeks and months to reach a consensus,” a senior NATO diplomat said. A senior US official indicated that during the meeting the parties will discuss strengthening Ukraine’s position for the coming year in view of the possible start of peace negotiations. In his view, this can be achieved by providing Kiev with funds and ammunition, as well as by stepping up mobilization in Ukraine.
Germany and Hungary are against inviting Kiev. Although some countries, including France and Britain, insist on inviting Ukraine to the alliance, Biden refuses to accept this decision and Trump “has never supported the idea”.
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico criticized yesterday’s visit of EU officials to Kiev, saying they do not represent all the countries of the bloc.
Estonian Foreign Ministry chief Margus Tsahkna took a different view, saying: “Putin’s goal is not to conquer territories, but to destroy Ukraine”. “Until Putin changes his goals, the war will continue. He noted that his country’s duty is to “militarily support Ukraine”.
Europe is considering deploying troops to Ukraine for a truce, AFP writes. According to the Agency, discussions have begun on the possibility of deploying European troops to enforce a possible ceasefire.
In Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced “new reshuffles” in the command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces: “We need to act faster. This is not the last change in the command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. There will be more,” he said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Earlier, Zelensky appointed Mykhailo Drapaty as the new commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ ground forces, and Oleg Apostol as deputy commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Ukraine is looking for ways to protect 20 more special facilities from Russian attacks, while there are not enough air defense systems for this, Zelensky explained.
Meanwhile, Scholz said that Germany will supply Ukraine with the sixth complete IRIS-T air defense system and Sea King helicopters. He added that Ukraine will receive launchers for Patriot air defense systems and Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns in December.
Zelensky also said that “Russia will be at the second summit, we will invite it, but Russia will do everything to cancel the “formula” and its presence there, Putin is not interested in ending the war,” he noted. There are still problems on the recruitment front: “For both business and recruitment, the Ukrainian Armed Forces recruit one and a half times fewer recruits than medical losses,” former battalion company commander Aidar Dikiy said: “This does not even take into account desertions,” he added.
Russian Ombudsman Moskalkova has published a list of prisoners that Ukraine refuses to take and expressed hope that they will be included in the next exchange. Vladimir Putin said in an interview: “It is important that more and more people in the world understand the true origins of the conflict in Ukraine, unleashed by Western elites.”
And now a look at the front line updated at 17:00 on December 3.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have been ordered to remain in the Kursk region until Trump takes office, the British BBC writes. “The main task we face is to hold on to as much territory as possible until Trump takes office and the negotiations begin. Then exchange it for something. Nobody knows why,” Pavel, a serviceman in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, told the publication. Soldiers also talk about rewards – drones or extra leave – offered to anyone who captures a North Korean soldier. “It is very difficult to find a Korean in the dark Kursk forest. Especially if he is not here,” Pavel said sarcastically.
The head of the Sumy regional military administration, Vladimir Artyukh, noted that the number of shelling from Russia increased in those areas due to which Ukrainian military personnel entered the Kursk region. “When our troops entered the territory of the Kursk region, the number of shelling increased. And the number of artillery systems, machine guns and small arms decreased, because the Russians were pushed back 20-30 km from the border,” Artyukh said.
In the Russian version, in the Kursk region, the “North” group of troops advanced to the village with heavy fighting in Novoivanovka, as well as in the forests near the village of Malaya Loknya. To stop the Russian troops, the Ukrainian Armed Forces actively use mortars and UAVs of various types and counterattack. The Ukrainian Armed Forces conducted 3 unsuccessful counterattacks in the area of the settlement Dar’ino, Nikolaevo-Dar’ino and Novoivanovka.
From the north of the Kupyansk direction, scant information comes about heavy fighting on the western bank of the Oskil River, where Russian troops, having crossed the waterline, form two bridgeheads in front of Masyutivka and Dvorichna. According to another source, Russian troops are conducting an offensive in the Kupyansk, Borova directions and in the northern part of the Kharkiv region in the north-east of Ukraine.
In Torets’k, Russian forces are waging heavy urban battles, and the control zone of Russian troops in the Zabalka microdistrict has been expanded.
In Chasiv Yar, fighting continues in the Bohoyavlenskyi and Novy microdistricts.
In the Pokrovs’k direction, Russian troops are achieving results in Shevchenko from the side of Zhovte, which is already in Russian hands. The Russians are trying to take control of the fire and thus cut off the Pokrovs’k-Kurachove road. Russian troops are also moving west, near the village of Pushkine.
North of Velyka Novosilka, Russian forces continue to maneuver to cover it from the north, which will also allow the garrisons of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to be brought to the center in the cascade of villages of the Vremivka direction in an operational environment.
On the Zaporizhia front, the Ukrainians are waiting for a large-scale Russian offensive. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have gathered many UAV operators and filled the air with drones, including those with repeaters, increasing the range of FPVs. According to field estimates, this allows the Ukrainians to strike at a distance of up to 30 km. So, yesterday a civilian gas station Tokmak was destroyed. Ukrainians knock out all vehicles within the range of drones, trying to hinder the activity of Russian troops. Such a buildup of Ukrainian forces in the “small sky” is noted in the direction of Kherson.
In the Belgorod region, in the village of Kolotilovka, Krasnoyaruzh district, a UAV attacked a moving car, one man was injured. Shebekino and Krasnaya Niva are under attack.
Graziella Giangiulio
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