Washington DC, US/Kyiv, Ukraine
Reuters
The United States is privately encouraging Ukraine to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia, the Washington Post reported, as the State Department said Moscow was escalating the war and did not seriously wish to engage in peace talks.
The newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying the request by American officials was not aimed at pushing Ukraine to the negotiating table, but a calculated attempt to ensure Kyiv maintains the support of other nations.
Ukrainian soldiers prepare to fire a round on the frontline from a T80 tank that was captured from Russians during a battle in Trostyanets in March, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, in the eastern Donbas region of Bakhmut, Ukraine, on 4th November. PICTURE: Reuters/Clodagh Kilcoyne
US and Ukrainian officials acknowledged that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s ban on talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin had generated concern in parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America, where the war’s effects on costs of food and fuel are felt most sharply, the Post said.
“Ukraine fatigue is a real thing for some of our partners,” it quoted an unnamed US official as saying.
Ferries with civilian evacuees depart from Kherson River Port in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in the city of Kherson, Russian-controlled Ukraine on 31st October. PICTURE: Reuters/Alexander Ermochenko/File photo.
UKRAINE SAYS RUSSIA DESTROYING CIVILIAN SHIPS ON RIVER IN SOUTHERN STANDOFF
Ukraine’s army accused Russia on Sunday of the large-scale destruction of civilian vessels moored on the banks of the Dnipro River in the occupied southern region of Kherson that Kyiv’s forces are trying to capture.
Ukrainian forces have been piling pressure on Russian troops on the western bank of the Dnipro that bisects Ukraine, fuelling speculation that Moscow’s troops are preparing to retreat to the other side.
The Ukrainian General Staff’s spokesperson said in a statement that the fuel from the destroyed vessels had leaked into the river’s delta and also accused Moscow’s forces of appropriating the vessels’ engines and other equipment.
The Ukrainian General Staff gave no explanation for Moscow’s actions. Destroying civilian vessels would prevent Ukrainian forces from using them should they decide to cross to the eastern side in the event of any Russian withdrawal.
There was no immediate comment from the Russian Defence Ministry.
The statement fitted into a pattern of mounting tension in the region where Russian-installed occupation officials said on Sunday that an act of sabotage had knocked out power and water supply in the city of Kherson and a number of settlements.
– TOM BALMFORTH/Reuters
Zelenskiy signed a decree on 4th October formally declaring the prospect of any Ukrainian talks with Putin “impossible” but leaving the door open to talks with Russia.
The White House National Security Council had no immediate comment on the accuracy of the report.
A State Department spokesperson responded: “We’ve said it before and will say it again: Actions speak louder than words. If Russia is ready for negotiation, it should stop its bombs and missiles and withdraw its forces from Ukraine.
“The Kremlin continues to escalate this war. The Kremlin has demonstrated its unwillingness to seriously engage in negotiations since even before it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”
The spokesperson also noted remarks by Zelenskiy on Friday, in which he said: “We are ready for peace, for a fair and just peace, the formula of which we have voiced many times.”
On Sunday Zelenskiy said on Twitter he had spoken to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about macro-financial aid for Ukraine and further sanctions on Iran.
“Noted the importance of continuing the grain initiative for world food security. Discussed increasing sanctions & opposing actions of Iran, which supports aggression,” Zelenskiy wrote.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said during a visit to Kyiv on Friday that Washington’s support for Ukraine would remain “unwavering and unflinching” after Tuesday’s midterm congressional elections.
The United States announced $US400 million worth of additional security assistance for Ukraine, including refurbishing T-72 tanks from the Czech Republic and missiles for HAWK air defences that could be used against Russian drones and cruise missiles.
The new help brought the amount of US military aid sent to Kyiv to more than $US18.2 billion since the invasion.
Fighting
Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter that Ukraine would “stand” despite Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure, adding that this would be done by using air defence, protecting infrastructure and optimising consumption.
“Today, the situation with the supply of electricity to consumers in the capital is difficult,” the deputy head of the presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, wrote on Telegram, but assured Kyiv residents that the outages were still controlled.
Citing emergency services, Russian news agencies reported on Sunday that Ukraine’s vast Russian-held Nova Kakhovka dam was damaged in shelling by Ukrainian forces. The reports provided no evidence to support the allegation, which could not be immediately verified by Reuters.
Russian state-owned TASS quoted an emergency services representative as saying that a rocket launched by a US-made HIMARS missile system had hit the dam’s lock and caused damaged. The official quoted said it was an “attempt to create the conditions for a humanitarian catastrophe” by breaching the dam.
The dam, which blocks the Dnipro river upstream of the southern city of Kherson where Ukrainian forces have been making advances, has taken on strategic significance in recent weeks.
Satellite image shows the Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River near Nova Kakhovka in Ukraine, on 18th October. PICTURE: Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters
Since October both Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each of planning to breach the dam using explosives, in a move that would flood much of the area downstream in what would likely cause destruction around Russian-held Kherson city.
In the latest sign of Russia’s retreat in one of the most bitterly contested areas, Putin publicly endorsed the evacuation of civilians from parts of the Kherson region on Friday.
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Last week Russia said the evacuation zone would also include a 15-kilometre buffer area on the east bank.
Kyiv says the measures have included forced deportations of civilians, a war crime, which Russia denies.
Putin’s comments came amid signs Russia could be preparing to abandon its military foothold on the west bank of the Dnipro, including Kherson city.
The regional capital is the only big city Russia has captured intact since its invasion in February. Its loss for Russian forces would be one of the severest blows of the war.
The Russian-installed administration in the Kherson region said a number of settlements, including Kherson city, had lost water and power supplies after what it said was a “terrorist attack” that damaged three power lines in the region.
It said that the attack had been organised by Ukraine, though it provided no evidence. Reuters was unable to immediately verify battlefield accounts from either side.
– With reporting by Reuters bureaux
