American first lady Melania Trump will personally bring together representatives of Russia and Ukraine at the White House on November 5th. Meanwhile, cross-attacks between Russia and Ukraine resume. Ukrainian armed forces struck an oil refinery in the Russian city of Yaroslavl with drones. This is Slavneft-Yanos, one of Russia's largest oil processing plants, about 250 kilometers northeast of Moscow. Russian armed forces bombed a medical facility in Kharkiv overnight, wounding 62 people and evacuating around 200 patients. Meanwhile, the toll from yesterday's Russian air attack against a humanitarian center in Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhzhia region, has risen to 29 dead and 48 missing. On the diplomatic front, Ukrainian President Zelensky is in Berlin to meet German Chancellor Merz, while a meeting between NATO, the USA and representatives of France, Germany and the United Kingdom is scheduled for this week in Brussels on the future of the conflict.
Germany continues to support Ukraine, "but it is clear that all countries have a responsibility in this, not just the Germans." German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this in a press conference with Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin, with an indirect appeal to the other EU states.
The German chancellor said that Moscow does not yet appear willing to engage in serious peace negotiations with Ukraine, ahead of a meeting in Abu Dhabi, scheduled for November 10-11 under US mediation. "It is important that Russia finally starts serious negotiations on a ceasefire and, at a later stage, on a peace agreement. At the moment, I don't see this happening," said Friedrich Merz speaking to the press at a meeting in Berlin with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
More than fifty people may still find themselves under the rubble in the aftermath of a Russian attack that caused 33 deaths in the Zaporizhzhia region (southeast) - according to a new toll - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in Berlin. "One attack alone resulted in 33 deaths. Five people were rescued and more than 50 may still be trapped under the rubble," he said, calling the incident "an appalling attack, one of the worst massacres perpetrated by the Russians since the beginning of this war."
"We do not invite Putin to Kiev. In 2022 the Russians came uninvited and it makes no sense to invite him to Kiev." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in Berlin. The Ukrainian leader also stressed that no Ukrainian intends to go to Moscow.
"Without Europe there can be no stable peace in Ukraine." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in Berlin. "We need deescalation and for this we need US mediation", he continued, underlining the need for security guarantees for a stable peace.
"We want to find the way to the EU." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in Berlin with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
"Russia must take it seriously and carry out talks. We are committed to every possible avenue to put an end to this war. There will be no lack of diplomatic effort." German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this in Berlin, at a press conference with Volodymyr Zelensky. “Our commitment will not wane.”
"Russia attacks us every day." German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this in Berlin, at a press conference with Volodymyr Zelensky. "We offered a truce but this was the response: new attacks, new blows, new killings of our people."
"Russia continues to carry out its attacks with unabated severity. Ukraine can continue to trust Germany. We continue our support in air defense. We have initiated new aid." German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this in Berlin, at a press conference with Volodymyr Zelensky. "We do it in our own interest," he added, underlining that the majority of Germans understand this.
Poland foiled a possible provocation on the border with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad during the night. This was reported by Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Polish and allied services had been warning for several weeks that "more serious acts of diversion or provocations" could occur on the border with the Russian Federation, including "the entry into Polish territory of armed individuals", it reported. Tusk said he was informed shortly after midnight of suspicious activity at the border in the north of the country. "We very quickly mobilized the necessary forces and means on the ground", he further told journalists, and "we managed to prevent attempts at provocation, if this was the intention". Having said that, "we will certainly never be able to confirm" what it was, he clarified.
“There is a possibility that Iceye could replace Starlink in Ukraine.” This was said by Pekka Laurila, co-founder of Iceye, a Finnish company that owns the largest constellation in the world of satellites equipped with synthetic aperture radar (SAR), during a meeting with a group of European media, including ANSA. Furthermore, the company says, the Satcom communications network is present in the letter of intent signed last week between Iceye, Nokia and the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. "The power of these satellites is that they do not rely on any foreign technology, reducing dependence on third parties. How much do we perceive Russia's threats? There is a risk, it is obvious. And the resources that we must invest to achieve the concept of 'security' are many, but they cannot be compared to what the Ukrainians suffer on the battlefield", added Laurila speaking of the SAR technology, satellites capable of taking multiple images of the terrain in any weather condition and both during the day and at night.
"The European Union is rapidly transforming into an aggressive and militaristic bloc with positions directed against Russia and Belarus", declared the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, in his speech at the fourth International Conference for Euro-Asian Security in Minsk, in which around fifty countries, including Iran, and organizations, including the OSCE, take part, specifying that "there are no prospects for dialogue with Europe", since "Brussels continues to ask for development of a security system directed essentially against Russia, Belarus and against countries that do not want to obey NATO and EU member countries unconditionally". "We do not want, nor are we planning, any kind of war with Europe. But if Europe, as it threatens to do, prepares for war and starts it, then we will be ready for that war. But it will be different and very short," Lavrov added.
The toll from a Russian missile attack on a hospital and a clinic in Dnipro, in central Ukraine, is at least two dead and twenty injured. This was announced by the governor of Dnipropetrovsk oblast, Oleksandr Hanzha, specifying that a medical and health center and one of the city's hospitals were hit. About 100 people were being treated at the hospital, but neither patients nor medical staff were injured, Hanzha told the Kyiv Independent.
American first lady Melania Trump will personally bring together representatives of Russia and Ukraine, the two countries at war, at the White House as part of the diplomatic initiative she promoted. We learn this from an official statement from the White House, which defines the meeting as "an extraordinary moment in American history". According to the note, Melania Trump independently initiated contacts between the two sides, managing to obtain a ceasefire in Oleshky, in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, an achievement described as "an unprecedented diplomatic initiative by an American first lady".
Melania Trump will hold a speech at the White House on Thursday 5th at 11am local time, 5pm in Italy, to talk about the ceasefire in Oleshky. The statement does not specify who the Russian and Ukrainian representatives will be present at the meeting nor does it provide further details on the agenda of the talks.
