Russia refuses to suspend its military operations in Ukraine and is considering inviting Trump to attend the G20 summit in Miami

Moscow reiterated its repeatedly affirmed position that it “will not suspend” its military operations in Ukraine for fear that Europe will exploit the temporary pause and supply more weapons to Kiev, while it said that it is still considering the invitation extended by Washington to Russian President Vladimir Putin, to participate in the “G20 Summit” that will be held in Miami, United States.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov informed the UN Security Council: “We will not suspend our special military operation,” referring to Russia’s official characterization of the invasion that it began in 2022, accusing Europe of seeking to exploit any cessation of fighting in order to “supply the Kiev regime with weapons.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed, on Wednesday, his concern about the possibility of the Russian-Ukrainian war expanding and spreading to other countries, through hybrid attacks, sabotage operations, or even as a result of a miscalculation that could ignite a direct confrontation.

“Among the many concerns we have about the war between Russia and Ukraine is the possibility that it will expand and spread to other regions,” Rubio told reporters on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York. He added: “It can expand to another place, whether through a hybrid attack, a sabotage attack, or through miscalculation - such as a pilot, for example, mistakenly heading in the opposite direction, and you suddenly find yourself facing actual combat.”

Rubio continued: “These matters raise great concern. We raise these concerns in multiple meetings with many countries because they are a cause for real concern.”

Rubio's statements came shortly after his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York. Despite his concern, Rubio expressed in a press interview his optimism that Russia and Ukraine expressed their desire to reach a limited ceasefire that includes the grain and energy sectors.

The US Secretary of State had confirmed, after meeting with his Russian counterpart, on Wednesday, that Trump had invited Putin to participate in the summit scheduled to be held in Miami in December. The move comes amid faltering American efforts to reach an agreement to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while Trump stresses that he is working with both parties to stop the war.

The presidents of the United States and Russia spoke by phone on several occasions, but their last direct meeting dates back to 2025. The G20 summit will be held on December 14 and 15, and the United States holds the rotating presidency of the group, which includes the largest advanced and emerging economies.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that no decision had yet been made on holding a possible summit in December between the two presidents, and that it was too early to discuss the agenda. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia appreciates this invitation and will decide its response to it. Peskov added in his daily press briefing: “No decision has been taken yet,” noting that he attaches “great importance” to the invitation announced by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday. He added: “We will look into it and then make the appropriate decision.”

Since his return to the White House in January last year, Trump has been trying to mediate an end to the war in Ukraine, without achieving tangible progress. Peskov said that Russia seeks a peaceful settlement, not a temporary ceasefire.

In turn, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed, before the leaders of countries at the United Nations, on Wednesday, that Kiev is ready for a naval truce in the Black Sea based on proposals made by several countries, and he said that the ball is now in Russia’s court to respond.

Zelensky spoke at the Ukrainian “Crimea Platform” summit, on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, and before a Security Council meeting was held regarding the war waged by Russia against Ukraine, which has now entered its fifth year.

Ukraine is pressing for a ceasefire that includes attacks on energy infrastructure and maritime navigation in the Black Sea. Kiev fears that Russia plans to bomb its energy and heating facilities with missiles and drones this winter.

Zelensky said that Egypt, India and Turkey have identified options to restore navigational security for commercial ships in the Black Sea, where shipping traffic has almost stopped due to intensified attacks on ships and port infrastructure from both sides. He said: “We are waiting for Russia’s response. Ukraine is ready... to ensure navigation and food security in the Black Sea if Russia is also prepared to take real steps towards reducing tension. We have to start somewhere.”

Zelensky met with the US President on Tuesday, and said that they also discussed stopping targeting energy facilities. Before the Lavrov-Rubio meeting, the Kremlin said there were no reasons to hold broader peace talks on Ukraine, while noting that it remained open to such talks. The Kremlin spokesman told reporters: “At the present time, there are no preconditions for moving to the path of peaceful negotiation, although we, the Russian party, remain open to peace talks.” Zelensky said yesterday that he would be ready to meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Trump's presence.

Zelensky urged world leaders to continue to stifle Russia's revenues and obstruct its war efforts, telling the UN General Assembly that "Russia's revenues must remain a target." “When someone gives Russia more money through trade, they give this war more time,” he said, speaking in English. “It is precisely for this reason that we insist on limiting trade with the aggressor and burning Russia’s revenues ourselves.”

Zelensky warned Moscow, at the United Nations, that Ukraine would respond and make the coming winter extremely harsh for Russia if the two parties were unable to reach a ceasefire agreement regarding attacks on energy facilities before the cold sets in.

“Ukrainians realize that this winter could be very tough for us,” Zelensky said in New York. But in response, we will have no choice but to make it painful for Russia as well.”

Russia will deliver its speech next Saturday, before the General Assembly. President Vladimir Putin has not traveled to the United Nations for years, and instead sent Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Zelensky added in his speech that Ukraine handed over two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea, adding: “We recently sent North Korean prisoners of war to the Republic of Korea.” He added: “It was not easy to capture these two men alive.” Zelensky did not provide further details about the extradition process. Ukraine captured the two North Korean soldiers in the Russian Kursk region in January last year. They were the first two North Korean soldiers to be captured alive since their country joined the Russia-Ukraine war in 2024.

Zelensky had said at the time that he would hand them over to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if he helped exchange them for Ukrainians detained in Russia. However, human rights organizations urged him to hand them over to South Korea, attributing this to the dangers they might face in North Korea. South Korean media reported that the two soldiers expressed their desire to seek asylum in South Korea.

A South Korean lawmaker said on Thursday that two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine had been transferred to South Korea after months of negotiations. Representative Yoo Young-won, who met the two men during a visit to Ukraine in 2025 and has since organized campaigns for their transfer, said they arrived in South Korea several days ago.

According to Ukrainian and South Korean estimates, North Korea has sent between 14,000 and 15,000 soldiers since 2024 to support Russia's war against Ukraine, and most of them were deployed in the Russian Kursk region, where they helped Moscow forces repel a Ukrainian incursion. According to Ukrainian and independent assessments; North Korea has supplied Russia with millions of artillery shells, mortars, ballistic missiles, and more.

About ten powerful explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, early Thursday, according to what Agence France-Presse correspondents reported, coinciding with the authorities issuing a warning of a missile attack.

The explosions, which set off car alarms so powerfully, come a day after Russia launched a series of strikes that killed at least seven people in Ukraine and sparked fires in Kiev. Before the explosions occurred, the Ukrainian Air Force had issued a warning of a Russian attack after monitoring the flight of ballistic missiles towards Kiev and its surroundings, as well as towards the Chernihiv region in the north of the capital.

Seven people were killed and ten others were injured in a Russian drone attack on Thursday that targeted an agricultural facility in the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergei Korytsky. The Prime Minister wrote on the Telegram application: “This morning, a drone hit an agricultural facility, killing seven people and wounding ten others.”

The British government confirmed, on Wednesday, that it would rework the agreement to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, after US President Donald Trump described the agreement as “bad” during his first meeting with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

London's decision to return the Indian Ocean archipelago to its former colony, in exchange for leasing a strategic American-British military base in Diego Garcia, has been a point of contention with the Trump administration for months. In April, Britain announced the suspension of implementation of the plan that was agreed upon last year between the government of Mauritius and former British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

American opposition

The agreement faced public opposition from Trump, who initially expressed support for it, before later returning and describing it as “an act of great stupidity,” as reported by Agence France-Presse.

The US President renewed his criticism of the agreement on Tuesday, during his first direct meeting with Burnham, who succeeded Starmer as British Prime Minister in July. During their meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Trump said that he believed Burnham would reconsider the “bad deal,” while the British Prime Minister was sitting next to him, and he nodded in agreement, saying: “Yes.”

Burnham later told the media that Britain would “work hard” to find a solution to this complex issue, adding that he was “confident that we can find a solution in cooperation with our American partners.”

Hours later, British Defense Secretary Wes Streeting said that Trump’s opposition to the agreement “is not something new for us,” but his recent statements “conclusively demonstrate that his position on the Chagos Agreement in its current form has not changed.” He added to the BBC on Wednesday: “Therefore, we must do more work with our American allies, and with President Trump and his administration, to reach an agreement on a formula that we can support.”

Streeting confirmed that annual payments of at least 120 million pounds ($159 million) for leasing the military base from Mauritius will not be made “at this stage.”

Starmer concluded the agreement after stressing that international legal rulings cast doubt on the continued British sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, and that the agreement with Mauritius is the only way to ensure the continued American and British use of the Diego Garcia base.

Legal and political legacy

Britain retained control of the Chagos Islands after Mauritius' independence in the 1960s. It evacuated thousands of indigenous people from the archipelago, who have since filed a series of lawsuits in British courts demanding compensation.

In 2019, the International Court of Justice recommended that Britain return the archipelago to Mauritius. The agreement stipulated that Britain would be granted a 99-year lease for the military base, with the possibility of extending it.

James Cartledge, the opposition Conservative Party's defense spokesman, said the agreement "should be abandoned completely." But Streeting told Times Radio: “The ostrich strategy of burying our heads in the sand and hoping the problem will go away... is not a wise strategy when it comes to one of the most sensitive national security assets we have anywhere in the world.”

Jack Pannell, a senior researcher at the British Foreign Policy Group, said that Burnham's priorities in dealing with Trump will focus on "major international issues," such as regulating artificial intelligence, Ukraine, and the Middle East.

Pannell added to Agence France-Presse: “Success for Burnham means avoiding this issue becoming a burden on him, while he seeks to implement his other foreign policy priorities and focuses on his domestic agenda.” He continued: “The chances of achieving a breakthrough in this issue are slim, and this may be entirely appropriate for the Prime Minister.”