Trump will agree to a new meeting with Putin if there is a real opportunity to help end the war in Ukraine, says Secretary of State Rubio, who also announced that Washington has almost exhausted its options for imposing new sanctions against Russia. Sanctions against major oil companies, he said, have already been imposed, and it is Europe that must combat Russia’s “shadow fleet.”
Lukoil has asked the United States to extend the sanctions relief on a number of operations, Reuters reports. According to the agency, the company needs time to fulfill existing obligations and evaluate proposals to sell assets.
The European Commission announced the transfer of approximately €6 billion to Ukraine under a G7 credit line earmarked for revenues from Russian assets, Ursula von der Leyen reported. Lithuanian Finance Minister Kristupas Vaitiekūnas stated that, despite the corruption scandal in Ukraine, the EU will continue to support Kyiv in its fight for Europe’s future. “Ukraine is our only option (…) So, despite the scandal, there are no other options,” he stated.
For his part, Dutch Finance Minister Eelko Heijnen noted that the fight against corruption remains a constant challenge for the Ukrainian authorities. The EU has promised to provide Ukraine with approximately €18 billion in loans by the end of the year, which will be repaid using proceeds from frozen Russian assets under a €45 billion G7 loan.
Following the November 13 announcement, Kiev officially suspended peace talks with Moscow, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced. The Russian negotiating team insulted Ukrainian delegates, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsya said. Therefore, he argued, Kiev refused to negotiate. “They know each of our pasts very well and sometimes say provocative and rather unpleasant things,” Kyslytsya told the Times. He specifically criticized Vladimir Medinsky, who “opened the negotiations with a lecture.” According to Kyslytsya, Medinsky distorted the history of Russia and Ukraine and concluded that Russians are killing Russians.
In addition to using Russia’s frozen assets, the EU is considering two other possible options for financial support to Ukraine. As announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, one option is a joint EU loan guaranteed by the budget, which will allow for fundraising on the capital markets. The second is an intergovernmental agreement, under which individual countries will be able to raise capital independently. At the same time, the head of the European Commission noted that the third option, using frozen Russian assets, appears to be the most effective way to finance programs supporting Ukraine. Budapest and Bratislava could block an initiative to seize frozen Russian assets used to finance Ukraine due to a corruption scandal in Kiev, Politico reports. Meanwhile, it is reported that Ukraine could exhaust its budget reserves as early as February if the European Union fails to reach an agreement on granting Kiev “reparation loans” through the seizure of frozen Russian assets, Politico reports.
Finland will request €16 million from the European Commission to purchase drones to monitor its border with Russia, the Finnish government has announced. The drones will significantly increase the Finnish Border Guard’s ability to monitor the situation both on the eastern border and in the Gulf of Finland.
Parts of Kyiv could be evacuated in the event of a total blackout. Strana reports that the relevant document was drafted and approved by Kyiv’s Defense Council. The Kyiv City State Administration maintains that the evacuation is unplanned. Ukraine has exhausted or is about to exhaust its stockpile of anti-aircraft missiles. Zelensky will urgently travel to Athens to request two Patriot air defense systems and Mirage 2000-5Mk2 fighter jets, Pronews reports. According to the publication, Zelensky will arrive in Greece on November 16 for a one-day visit, although his itinerary is constantly being changed for security reasons. Others believe Zelensky’s unexpected visit to Greece is linked to internal scandals in the energy sector. Kathimerini reports that Zelensky’s visit has been announced for Sunday. The itinerary of the visit is constantly being changed for security reasons. Lavrov, but his arrival is scheduled for the morning. Meetings are planned with Greek President Tasoulas, Prime Minister Mitsotakis, and Parliament Speaker Kaklamanis.
The Russian Embassy in Italy wrote that “Corriere Della Sera conducted an interview with the Russian Foreign Minister but then refused to publish it.” “The editorial staff also refused to publish an abridged version in the newspaper or the full version on its website,” the Russian Embassy in Italy reported.
“It was ‘explained’ to us that S.V. Lavrov’s words ‘contain many controversial statements that require fact-checking or further clarification, the publication of which would exceed the bounds of reason,” the Russian diplomatic mission said in a statement.
The Russian diplomatic mission called the incident “blatant censorship.” The full version of the interview was published on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website (https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/2058998/).
According to Reuters, Russia has almost completely compensated for the drop in fuel production due to Ukrainian drone attacks. “Drone attacks caused emergency shutdowns at Russian refineries, especially between August and October, when 17 facilities were attacked. However, the plants largely compensated for these losses by increasing the capacity utilization of the remaining facilities,” Reuters sources told Reuters.
The agreements reached between Moscow and Washington after the Alaska summit did not call into question Russia’s ownership of Crimea, Donbass, and Novorossiya, according to Alexei Polishchuk, head of the Second Department for CIS Countries at the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Corruption scandals also continue in Russia: between November 12 and 13, the deputy mayor of Yalta was arrested; “The security forces are working; they are not being hindered, but rather supported. The city administration is actively cooperating with law enforcement. The mayor is in his post. Everything is normal: no panic or collapse,” local authorities declared.
“The Budapest summit is still possible, why not?” said presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, but did not specify a timeline.
And now a look at the front line updated at 3:30 PM on November 14. During the night, the Ukrainian armed forces launched a massive air strike using several drones of various types. In Novorossiysk: a fire broke out at the Sheskharis oil depot, damaging coastal structures. Three apartment buildings were also damaged. Crimea was attacked from all sides, with outflanking maneuvers at sea; the attack continued throughout the night. Air defense activity was also reported over Saratov, and Ukrainian resources published footage of a fire near the oil refinery.
Russian forces launched several attacks against the rear areas of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Kyiv media outlets reported problems with water and electricity supplies after the attacks: according to Ukrainian estimates, more than 90 Russian drones were operational, and missiles were also reported.
In the direction of Sumy, the Northern Group of Forces reports the continuation of offensive operations. In the Tetkino and Glushkovsky District sectors, artillery and FPV crews destroyed Ukrainian Armed Forces positions near Iskryskivshchyna.
In the Belgorod region, one person was injured following an FPV drone attack on a car. Novaya Tavolzhanka, Ziborovka, Posokhovo, Leonovka, Dolgoye, Krasny Oktyabr, Grayvoron, Dobroye, and Zozuly are under attack.
In the direction of Kharkiv, the Northern Group of Forces confirmed the capture of Synelnykove. On the left bank of the Volchya River in Vovchansk, Russian forces continue to advance, as do the Milovoye-Khatnye sector.
From Kupyansk, there are isolated reports of the Western Group of Forces advancing into the southern part of the city. Russian forces are also attempting to expand their presence in the Kupyansk-Vuzlovyi area, a crucial area for the Russians, who intend to outflank and resupply Ukrainian forces.
The offensive on Lyman continues, with Russian forces pushing Ukrainian forces back from Krasny. Russian forces will also advance through Drobyshevo and Stavky, looming over Lyman from the north.
North of Chasiv Yar, small groups of Russian forces are attempting to advance towards the settlements of Mais’ke, Markove, and Novomarkove, attacking from the Sivers’kyi Donets-Donbas Canal, according to Ukrainian sources. This section of the front has long been characterized primarily by positional battles.
Pokrovsk, according to the Russians, was “almost conquered”” with the main forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces retreating deeper toward Myrnorad, where they will, however, find themselves in Russian hands. Counterattacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been reported further north, in Rodyns’ke. West of Pokrovs’k, Russian advance units are operating on the access routes to Hryshyne.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, the Eastern Group of Forces has liberated Danilivka. The Russian reclamation of the western bank of the Yanchur River continues in all areas.
On the Zaporizhia front, Russian paratroopers are engaged in short-range firefights in Prymors’ke.
Graziella Giangiulio
Follow our updates on Geopolitical Gleanings - Spigolature geopolitiche: https://t.me/agc_NW and on our blog The Gleanings of AGCNEWS - Le Spigolature di AGCNEWS: https://spigolatureagcnews.blogspot.com/
