‘Difficult’ battle for Bakhmut could be won with faster military aid, says Zelensky

Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the situation in the city of Bakhmut and other frontline cities depends on the speed and volume of military aid received from international partners, and not just the heroism on display by the Ukrainian military.

“The most difficult situation on the territory of our state is in Bakhmut. The greatest use of various weapons and artillery is there. There is a very, very difficult story,” he said during a meeting with reporters after talks with Polish president Andrzej Duda in Warsaw.

He added: “And there is a shortage every day: sometimes there is artillery and enough shells on our side, sometimes there are less of them. This happens every day. Sometimes there is success in some parts of Bakhmut, we go forward, then there is no success, and we retreat to our positions again. But we are in Bakhmut, and the enemy does not control the city. This is the situation as of today.”

“…The more and faster weapons and ammunition will arrive in Ukraine, the faster the armed forces will change the situation not only in Bakhmut, but also in other areas of the front on the territory of our country,” the war-time president said.

Finland’s new Nato membership poses a “real dilemma” for Russian President Vladimir Putin, western officials have warned.

The latest addition to the alliance will be able to make a “significant” contribution to its armament, officials said on Wednesday.

Finland, which has an 830-mile border with Russia, formally became the 31st member of the bloc in a ceremony at Nato’s Brussels headquarters on Tuesday.

Ukraine is willing to speak with Russia about the future of Crimea if the forces sent by Kyiv reach the border of the Russia-held peninsula, a top official to Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

“If we will succeed in achieving our strategic goals on the battlefield and when we will be on the administrative border with Crimea, we are ready to open [a] diplomatic page to discuss this issue,” Andriy Sybiha, the deputy head of Mr Zelensky’s office, told FT.

“It doesn’t mean that we exclude the way of liberation [of Crimea] by our army,” the top adviser said.

After Crimea’s annexation in 2014 and since taking office in 2019, Mr Zelensky has ruled out peace talks on the disputed peninsula with the Russian forces along with all separatist territories, seeking that the soldiers deployed by Moscow leave all of Ukraine.

The head of the UN’s atomic energy watchdog met with Russian officials in Kaliningrad on Wednesday for negotiations on the safety of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, currently held by Russian forces.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi’s trip to the Russian exclave came a week after he visited the plant, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.

“I met high level officials from several Russian agencies in Kaliningrad,” Grossi said on Twitter. “I continue my efforts to protect the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant,” he said, emphasizing that this was “in everyone’s interest.”

Read our full report here:

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday he expected decisions to be announced in the coming days and weeks to alleviate anger among Polish farmers linked to Ukrainian grain imports.

He told reporters at a briefing standing alongside Poland’s prime minister that he had discussed the matter of Ukrainian and Polish farmers at talks in Warsaw on Wednesday and found a solution.

“We have found a way out, I believe that in the coming days and weeks we will finally resolve all issues as there cannot be any questions, any complications between such close partners and real friends as Poland and Ukraine,” he said.

Polish agriculture minister Henryk Kowalczyk resigned earlier on Wednesday amid rising anger among farmers over the impact of Ukrainian grain imports on prices.

Russian President Vladimir Putin charged Wednesday that Western intelligence agencies have helped Ukraine carry out acts of sabotage, as he urged his officials to mount a stronger response.

Putin spoke during a call with members of his Security Council that focused on efforts to shore up control of the four Ukrainian provinces that Russia claimed as part of its territory in September — a move that was rejected by most of the world as an illegal annexation.

“There are reasons to believe that the capabilities of third countries, Western special services, have been involved in preparation of acts of sabotage and terror attacks,” Putin said, without elaboration and without providing any evidence.

More from the Associated Press here:

The situation at the front is “completely under control” despite repeated Russian attempts to take Bakhmut and other cities in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv’s deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar has stated.

Malyar wrote on Telegram that Ukrainian soldiers were repelling dozens of attacks a day around Bakhmut, Lyman, Avdiivka and Marinka.

Donald Trump’s indictment in New York City has been met with ridicule by state TV in Russia, where hosts have enjoyed themselves by showcasing artwork depicting the former president wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and speculating about future jail time.

Mr Trump appeared at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on Tuesday afternoon to plead not guilty to 34 felony charges relating to the falsification of business records to conceal a series of hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels, Playboy model Karen McDougal and a former Trump Tower doorman on his behalf in exchange for their silence about his alleged extramarital affairs.

More on this from my colleague Joe Sommerlad here: