Ukraine war latest: Putin and Trump ‘discuss Ukraine in call’

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Trump and Putin ‘discuss Ukraine in call’Russia and Ukraine trade ‘record’ number of drone strikesDominic Waghorn: Ukraine has most to lose from Trump returnSubmit your questions on what Trump’s win means for the war aboveReporting by Mark Wyatt

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To use this form you need to have javascript enabled. 07:43:11 US will stand with Ukraine for ‘as long as it takes’, says UK defence minister

UK defence minister John Healey says he expects the US to stand with Ukraine for “as long as it takes” to prevail over Russia.

Donald Trump, who will return to the White House for a second term as president in January, has previously threatened to withdraw the US from NATO.

He also said he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member country that doesn’t meet spending guidelines on defence.

Speaking to Sky News, My Healey disagreed that the safety of Ukraine had fallen since Mr Trump won the US election last week.

“The US, alongside the UK, have been two of the leading countries that have been standing by Ukraine and supporting Ukraine,” he said.

“Our determination to do so is just as strong. I was with NATO defence ministers just two weeks ago when all NATO nations recommitted to stepping up support for Ukraine.”

On the US, Mr Healey said America has been “the outstanding supporter of Ukraine” because it recognises the importance of stopping “aggressors” like Mr Putin launching “illegal invasions”.

“As far as President Trump goes, he recognises that countries get security through strength, just as alliances like NATO do,” Mr Healey added.

“I expect the US to remain alongside allies like the UK, standing with Ukraine for as long as it takes to prevail over Putin’s invasion.”

07:13:58 Trump and Putin ‘discuss Ukraine in call’

Donald Trump urged Vladimir Putin not to escalate the war in Ukraine in a phone call in the days after the presidential election, according to reports.

The US president-elect also reminded the Russian president of America’s sizeable military presence in Europe during the conversation on Thursday, according to The Washington Post and Reuters, citing sources familiar with the call.

According to several other sources, the pair went on to discuss the goal of peace on the continent, as well as the prospect of a further call soon to look into the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine.

On Friday, the Kremlin said Mr Putin was ready to discuss Ukraine with Mr Trump – but that did not mean he was willing to alter Moscow’s demands, namely that Ukraine drops its ambitions to join NATO and surrenders four territories currently held by Russia.

The Washington Post said two sources indicated the Ukrainian government was informed of the call between Mr Trump and Mr Putin – and did not object to the conversation taking place.

However, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said it was “impossible” that Ukraine would have endorsed such a call and that reports otherwise were “false”.

When asked about the call, Mr Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung said: “We do not comment on private calls between President Trump and other world leaders.”

The Russian embassy in Washington has so far not commented.

07:11:04 Russia and Ukraine trade ‘record’ number of drone strikes

As we mentioned in our last post, Moscow came under attack from what’s been described as the largest Ukrainian drone strikes since the war began.

Three airports in the Russian capital were briefly closed yesterday, with flights rerouted.

Russia said its air defences intercepted 84 drones, with nearly half of them over Moscow and the remainder over western regions of the country.

“An attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack using airplane-type drones on the territory of the Russian Federation was thwarted,” the country’s foreign ministry said.

It added that falling debris in three settlements injured five people and caused four house fires.

The night before, Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia had launched 145 drones across the entire country, with the majority being intercepted.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian air force said this was a “record” number.

Last night, Russian air attacks killed at least five people in Ukraine and injured 19 others, according to regional governors.

 Four people were reportedly killed in the Mykolaiv region and one was killed in the Zaporizhzhia region, where a residential building was destroyed.

07:01:02 Good morning

Hello and welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. First, a reminder of what’s been happening…

Over the weekend, Moscow came under attack from the largest Ukrainian drone strikes since the war broke out – more on that shortly.

Meanwhile, in anticipation of what Kyiv expected to be a large-scale attack from Russia over the weekend, Ukraine introduced preventative power blackouts and urged people across the country to seek shelter. 

There had been reports that a large number of bombers were taking off from Russian territory for the first time in more than two months. 

So far, the expected missiles have not arrived. According to some Ukrainian military bloggers, the Russian bombers performed flights imitating the launch of missiles.

On the battlefield, Ukraine’s top military commander has said Russian troops are trying to advance in the Kursk region, and that Moscow has amassed tens of thousands of soldiers in the region.

21:35:01 We’re pausing our live coverage

We’re now pausing our live coverage, but keep an eye on the Sky News website for the latest breaking stories surrounding Russia’s war on Ukraine.

If you’re just checking in, here is a summary of what’s happened over the past 24 hours:

Russian attacks on Ukraine last night killed one civilian and injured more than 30 others, according to officials;A Ukrainian drone attacked the Russian city of Saratov overnight, its regional governor said;According to a report tonight in the US, Donald Trump’s call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday left the Ukrainian president “somewhat reassured”;The Kremlin said Vladimir Putin was ready to discuss Ukraine with Trump, but that doesn’t mean he is willing to alter his demands;In one of Joe Biden’s final acts as president, US defence contractors will be allowed to work in Ukraine to maintain and repair weaponry provided by Washington, according to a report;Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban predicts Trump will end US support for Ukraine.

21:20:46 US contractors will help to repair F-16 jets and Patriot systems

A little earlier we brought you a report from Reuters news agency that US defence contractors will be allowed to work in Ukraine to maintain and repair weaponry provided by Washington.

We can bring you more information on this now from our US partner NBC News, including that the contractors will help with repairing American-provided equipment such as F-16 fighter jets and Patriot air defence systems. 

NBC understands the contractors will be located far from the frontlines and will not be fighting Russian forces. 

The extra help is being provided as some of the US-made equipment is technically difficult to maintain and repair.

The US Department of Defence made the decision after a risk assessment, and each contractor, organisation or company will need to come up with risk mitigation plans. 

19:45:01 In pictures: Aftermath of Russian attacks around Ukraine

As we reported earlier, one person was killed and more than 30 injured in overnight Russian attacks – see our 9.59am post.

Below is a look at the aftermath of some of those strikes.

19:01:01 EU could consider swapping Russian gas imports for US

The EU may consider replacing Russian liquefied natural gas imports with those from the US.

That’s according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said: “We still get a lot of LNG from Russia and why not replace it by American LNG, which is cheaper for us and brings down our energy prices.”

She added that the bloc’s approach to trade policies when Donald Trump becomes US president in January will be to look at common interests and negotiate.

The flow of LNG out of Russia represents a key source of Russian income, both for domestic businesses and, even more so, for government revenues.

While many other streams of natural resource exports are declining, the Kremlin is hoping to increase its share of global LNG market share from 8% to 20%.

However, sanctioning these vessels is a thorny business, since they are still providing large quantities of gas to Europe, which has so far stopped short of sanctioning Russian gas.

A package of sanctions unveiled in June did not place an outright ban on Russian LNG shipments.

Instead, the measures put a ban on trans-shipments off EU ports of Russian LNG – essentially preventing the commodity from being sold to third countries via EU ports.

18:34:01 US contractors to be allowed in Ukraine for weaponry repair

US defence contractors will be allowed to work in Ukraine to maintain and repair weaponry provided by Washington, according to a new report.

Reuters news agency has said a US official has told them a small number of contractors will be in Ukraine, located far from the front lines.

“Having small numbers of contractors in Ukraine conducting maintenance away from the front lines will help ensure US-provided equipment can be rapidly repaired when damaged and be provided maintenance as needed,” the official said.

None will be engaged in combat, Reuters added.

The move could be one of the last made by outgoing President Joe Biden, in what will be his final weeks at the White House.

18:05:30 Ikea store operator sells last asset in Russia

Ikea’s store operator has sold its last remaining asset in Russia, completing its exit from the country.

Ingka Group, which runs most IKEA stores globally, announced today it sold a warehouse near Moscow, joining hundreds of other foreign companies who have pulled out of Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.

“We can confirm that we have sold Esipovo Distribution Center outside of Moscow, as well as remaining land plots,” the firm said in a statement. 

“We no longer hold any assets in Russia.”

Russian business news outlet RBC reported Russian businessman Robert Uzilov is the buyer – though Ingka Group has not confirmed this.

Ingka Group had been in Russia for more than 20 years.

The group is the biggest franchisee of IKEA, with its stores in 31 countries accounting for 88% of IKEA retail sales around the world.

The invasion of Ukraine sparked a mass exodus of multinationals from the Russian market, wary of a potential consumer backlash should they stay.

Starbucks and McDonald’s were among those to pull out as the West unleashed sanctions on Moscow and sought to isolate Russia’s economy.

But nearly two and half years on, more than 2,000 foreign firms remain in Russia, according to the Kyiv School of Economics.

That is compared to around 1,750 that have either scaled back their operations or left completely.

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