+++ Ukraine War +++: For the first time in eight months: Ukraine and Russia are negotiating an end to the war

Henning Ott

Two men arrested in Poland for spying for Russia

Poland has arrested two Ukrainians on suspicion of espionage and sabotage on behalf of Russian secret services. The suspects are accused, among other things, of spying on critical infrastructure and military facilities throughout the country, the Internal Security Agency (ABW) announced on Tuesday. They are also said to have set vehicles on fire after replacing their license plates with ones that resembled those of the Ukrainian military.

“The investigation revealed that the acts of sabotage were carried out at the behest of Russian secret services and served to stir up anti-Ukrainian sentiment,” the prosecutor’s office said. For executing the orders, they were paid in cryptocurrencies, among other things. If convicted, the two men face ten years to life in prison

Lara Dehari

Witkoff: Meeting between representatives of the USA, Ukraine and Europe

Representatives from the US, Ukraine and Europe met in Abu Dhabi ahead of US-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine, according to US special envoy Steve Witkoff. Witkoff said participants discussed how to build on existing European security institutions and agreements after the war. “In addition to the central focus on lasting peace, the discussion also focused on how existing European security institutions and agreements can be built upon after the end of the war in Ukraine,” Witkoff wrote on the online platform X.

Lara Dehari

Zelenskyj travels to Denmark

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to Denmark later today for a meeting with the leaders of the Nordic countries. This was announced by the office of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. The talks should, among other things, focus on military support for Ukraine and security in Europe, the statement continued.

Lara Dehari

Kyiv and Moscow start negotiations in Abu Dhabi

After a break of more than eight months, Russia and Ukraine have begun two-day negotiations under US mediation in Abu Dhabi to end the war. Russian state media showed the start of the meeting in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Lara Dehari

EU representatives probably present at talks in Abu Dhabi

According to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, representatives of European countries are present at the talks in Abu Dhabi. There can be no talks with Russia about European security until a ceasefire is agreed and peace is established, Barrot told Franceinfo radio. “The UK, Germany and France will indeed be present in the negotiating room.”

The French presidential office also said that representatives from France, Great Britain, Germany, the EU, NATO and Italy would take part. There can be no lasting peace in Ukraine without ensuring the security of Europe.

Lara Dehari

Great Britain wants military contacts with Russia

Britain wants additional channels of communication with Russia, particularly at the military level. This is intended to reduce the risk of misjudgments, Defense Minister Wes Streeting told the Financial Times newspaper. The British Embassy in Moscow is an important channel, but he would very much welcome further direct contacts. Relations between Moscow and most European capitals, including London, have been on hold since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Sabrina Frangos

Russia, Ukraine and the USA resume talks in Abu Dhabi

Russian and Ukrainian representatives want to meet in Abu Dhabi for US-mediated talks. These are the first direct negotiations since February. Representatives from the EU, Germany and France are sending representatives to the talks. However, Russia has said it will not accept European representatives at the talks.

From Kiev it was said that the Ukrainian delegation would separately inform its European allies about the progress of the talks. “We are doing everything to ensure that Europe is involved in the diplomatic process,” said the head of the Ukrainian delegation, Rustem Umyerov, on Monday. The Russian delegation includes, among others, Kremlin advisor Vladimir Medinsky and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

Sabrina Frangos

Lavrov: Diesel agreement with the USA is already reducing prices

The agreement with the USA on diesel deliveries is already having an effect and is lowering prices, writes Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an article for the Moscow daily newspaper Kommersant. US President Donald Trump announced the agreement on October 9th. It envisages Russia supplying an initial 300,000 tons of diesel to the US and global markets to reduce fuel prices ahead of the US midterm elections. The US government temporarily suspended its sanctions against Russian fuel. Lavrov further writes that Ukraine is ignoring Trump's calls to stop attacks on Russian energy facilities. Meanwhile, Russian media reported renewed fuel shortages in at least half a dozen Russian regions. The reason for this is Ukrainian attacks on at least eight large oil refineries in the past two weeks.

Sabrina Frangos

Trump: Strong willingness to end the war in Ukraine

US President Donald Trump says Russia and Ukraine are both tired of fighting. "We also see a very strong willingness to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. We are involved in that," Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. He referred to “very good discussions” about this in Abu Dhabi. Trilateral talks led by the USA are scheduled to begin there on Tuesday. A US government official had previously said that both Russia and Ukraine were showing some flexibility behind the scenes on a possible exchange of territory. A main topic of the talks is security guarantees for Ukraine, including a possible guarantee of assistance along the lines of Article Five of the NATO Treaty. However, both sides publicly insist on their maximum territorial demands.

Sabrina Frangos

Merz is urging all EU states to commit to aid for Ukraine

Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) is calling on all EU states, without exception, to make a “fair contribution” to closing the billion-dollar gap in Ukraine financing. In a letter to EU Council President Antonio Costa, he indirectly threatened a blockade on other financial issues if there was no common commitment to aid to Ukraine. Such a commitment is “an essential prerequisite for solving this problem and for discussing further questions, especially those with financial implications,” says the Chancellor’s letter, which is available to the German Press Agency. It's about 45 billion euros that will be missing for Ukraine next year.

In the letter, Merz also calls for a solution supported by all member states to be found for solid financing of Ukraine, which is attacked by Russia, over several years as part of the negotiations on the EU budget for the years 2028 to 2034. The EU wants to reach an agreement on the entire financial framework by the end of the year.

Miriam Braun

Oleschky ceasefire – praise for Melania Trump in the UN Security Council

Diplomats from several countries honored US First Lady Melania Trump at the UN Security Council for her commitment to a ceasefire in the Ukrainian front-line town of Oleshky. Representatives from European countries, Pakistan, Colombia and Bahrain praised them on Monday in a meeting requested by Ukraine after Russian attacks on a school, a hospital, a train platform and other civilian targets.

In addition to Melania Trump, the UN Director for Political Affairs in Europe, Kayoko Gotoh, also praised Pope Leo XIV and representatives of Russia and Ukraine with regard to the six-day ceasefire. This is “an encouraging example of what can be achieved with the necessary political will to save lives and enable humanitarian breathing space,” she said.

Vivian Melchert

Russia: Two dead in border area after Ukrainian attack

According to authorities, two people were killed in a Ukrainian drone attack in the Russian border region of Belgorod. A drone attacked a car in the Borissowka district. Two men inside were killed, the regional civil defense team said. The information cannot be independently verified.

Vivian Melchert

Lithuania tightens controls on Russian and Belarusian grain

According to government information, checking the origin of Russian and Belarusian grain is likely to delay its export via Lithuania by months in the future. Deliveries of wheat, barley, sunflower seeds and corn via the Baltic Sea port of Klaipeda will only be released next week after origin tests have been completed, a representative of the Ministry of Agriculture told the Reuters news agency on Monday. The tests could take two months or longer. If the declared origin turns out to be incorrect, the delivery must be returned or destroyed. Since there is no laboratory in Lithuania for the necessary analyses, their evaluation abroad takes a correspondingly long time. Exporters would have to cover all storage, testing, return or destruction costs.

Lithuania began testing in September. The background is the suspicion that some of the grain comes from the Ukrainian territories occupied by Moscow. While the European Union bans the import of Russian grain, transit through the EU is still permitted. However, the Baltic states are pushing to ban transit throughout the EU. Russia has increasingly turned to export routes across the Baltic Sea since Ukrainian attacks on ships and port facilities on the Black Sea have largely brought trade there to a standstill.

Vivian Melchert

US insider: Russia and Ukraine are showing flexibility

According to a US government official, Russia and Ukraine have shown flexibility on territorial issues ahead of closed-door talks planned in Abu Dhabi. However, a solution is only possible after the security architecture for the post-war period has been clarified, the representative told reporters in Washington on Monday. He wanted to remain anonymous. Negotiations brokered by the US to end the war are scheduled for Tuesday.

Vivian Melchert

Ukraine: Attack apparently hits rocket fuel plant near St. Petersburg

A Ukrainian attack is said to have hit a factory near St. Petersburg that produces solid fuel for Iskander-M ballistic missiles. The military attacked the facility near Russia's second-largest city, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Monday. The information could not initially be independently verified.

Vivian Melchert

New start for Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi

After more than eight months, the USA, Russia and Ukraine want to resume discussions on a possible end to the war in Ukraine. The talks announced for this Tuesday and Wednesday will take place again in Abu Dhabi.

US President Donald Trump recently fueled expectations that a peace treaty would soon be reached through statements about an imminent “big, beautiful agreement” and talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, observers do not expect a breakthrough in this round. Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's father-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to be there from the USA. Under Trump, Washington sees itself as a mediator. There was most recently a tripartite meeting in Geneva in February, and before that twice in Abu Dhabi.

According to the European Commission, the EU will also take part in meetings on a possible end to the war in Abu Dhabi this week. No information was initially given about the exact format. The Ukrainian negotiator and head of the foreign intelligence service, Rustem Umjerov, wrote on Telegram about separate coordinated meetings with the European partners. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized in Moscow that the talks were continuing as before with US mediation and that the EU was not at the table in Abu Dhabi.

Vivian Melchert

Zelensky: EU activates emergency mechanism for power grid

The EU has agreed to activate a special emergency mechanism that will speed up financing repairs to Ukraine's power grid, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported on Monday attacks on four substations in the Ukrainian regions of Kiev, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkassy and Vinnytsia. In total, Russia attacked the neighboring country overnight with 317 drones of various types, including 105 jet engines, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.

According to local reports, three people were killed in a Russian attack on a warehouse in Odessa in the southwest of the country that stored food supplies for kindergartens and schools.

Vivian Melchert

Drone kills employees of occupied nuclear power plant in Ukraine

An employee of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine has been killed in a drone strike. This was announced by the power plant management appointed by Moscow and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.

The power plant management blamed the Ukrainian armed forces for the man's death. It was said that his car was hit by a drone on the way to work. According to Russian information, another nuclear power plant employee was killed in a drone attack on his vehicle on the way to the power plant at the end of October. At the beginning of November, a cleaning employee at the plant died in a drone attack in the nearby town of Enerhodar.

Following military incidents surrounding the nuclear power plant, the IAEA generally does not comment on those who may be responsible. However, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi condemned the attacks and called for an immediate end to the killings. Such attacks would violate essential safety principles for nuclear facilities, Grossi wrote in an IAEA communication on Platform X. It must be ensured that all nuclear power plant employees can carry out their important work without excessive stress or fear.