Zelenskyy says Trump’s call to freeze current frontlines is a ‘good compromise’
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that US president Donald Trump’s call for Ukraine and Russia to stop at the current frontlines was “a good compromise”, reports Reuters.
But Zelenskyy, who is visiting Nordic countries, said he doubted that Russian president Vladimir Putin would support it. According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Zelenskyy told reporters:
[Trump] proposed ‘Stay where we stay and begin conversation’. I think that was a good compromise, but I’m not sure that Putin will support it, and I said it to the [US] president.
It comes as plans to hold a summit between Trump and Putin in Budapest have been put on hold as it was reported that Ukraine and its European allies had rallied in pushing for a ceasefire without territorial concessions from Kyiv.
Russia, however, said on Wednesday that preparation for a presidential summit between Putin and Trump was still continuing.
Key events
Before arriving in Linkoping, Sweden, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy briefly touched down in Oslo where the Norwegian government announced it was donating another 1.5bn Norwegian crowns ($149.4m) to Ukraine for the purchase of natural gas to secure electricity and heating.
In a post on X, the Ukrainian president said:
Today we have a new package of energy support from Norway – already the third this year – amounting to about $150m for gas purchases this winter. Energy support is extremely important. I thanked Norway for this assistance and prime minister @jonasgahrstore [Jonas Gahr Støre] personally during our meeting.
I informed him about the consequences of today’s Russian attack. I am grateful for Norway’s solidarity and condolences. We discussed Ukraine’s needs for air defence systems and missiles for them, as well as other steps that can strengthen Ukraine during the winter.
We also discussed our defence cooperation separately – the production of drones and missiles, and the expansion of the PURL initiative. We coordinated our positions and upcoming meetings to be held in Europe this week. We are very grateful for the great support of the Norwegian people – air defence systems, missiles for these systems – all of this saves lives.
Ukraine aims to get and start using Swedish Gripen jets next year, says Zelenskyy
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that Ukraine aims to receive and start using Swedish Gripen jets next year.
“For our army, Gripens are a priority. It is about money, about manoeuvres,” he told a joint press conference with Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson during a visit to Linkoping.
The possibility of supplying Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine has been under consideration over the past two years but was put on hold to allow Kyiv to focus on the introduction of American-made F-16 fighters that it began deploying last August.
“We have started the work to obtain Gripens to Ukraine and expect the future contract to allow us to acquire no less than 100 such jets,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian pilots have been in Sweden to test the Gripen and help smooth any eventual export of the jets, a rugged and relatively low-cost option compared to aircraft such as the US F-35.
The Gripen has been in commission since 1996 and Saab has produced about 280 of the planes in total.
Reuters reports that Sweden has ordered 60 of the latest Gripen E model and Saab is increasing capacity in Linkoping, aiming to be able to produce 20-30 planes per year at the plant in a couple of years. Saab is also building Gripens in Brazil.
Sweden in talks to sell Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine
Sweden is in talks to sell between 100 and 150 Saab-made JAS Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine, prime minister Ulf Kristersson said on Wednesday.
Kristersson said Sweden could sell 100-150 Saab-made JAS Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine.
The two leaders met for talks in Linkoping in southern Sweden and visited Saab, which is the maker of the JAS 39 Gripen fighter, the GlobalEye surveillance aircraft, missile systems, anti-tank infantry weapons and other equipment
Kristersson told a news conference the two countries had signed a long-term cooperation agreement over air defences that included the possibility of exporting between 100 and 150 Saab-made JAS Gripen fighter jets.
“We fully realise it’s a long road ahead of us,” Kristersson said with a Gripen in Swedish livery in the background. He added:
But from today we are committed to exploring all the possibilities in providing Ukraine with a large amount of Gripen fighters in the future.
The world must now increase pressure on the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, for the war in Ukraine to end, Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson has told a press conference.
Standing next to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Kristersson said that Sweden “stands very united behind you and the Ukrainian people”. He said that the meeting today with Zelenskyy in Sweden and tomorrow’s summit in Brussels “says something about the intensity of the coopearation between Ukraine and Sweden”.
Sweden and Ukraine sign letter of intent to supply up to 150 Gripen fighter jets
Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson said, in a press conference with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, that Sweden and Ukraine had signed a letter of intent.
He said it was “not aimed at any new donations at the moment”, but was focused on a “longer term” connection. He said it would “us closer to an export deal with Saab and Ukraine”.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy will give a press conference shortly, alongside Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson. You can watch it live via the video embed below:
Ukraine is urging European countries not to limit its use of a proposed $163 billion loan based on frozen Russian state assets, arguing that it needs to be able to buy non-European arms, repair war damage from Russian attacks and compensate victims.
With EU leaders to discuss the ‘Reparations Loan’ to Kyiv on Thursday at talks attended by Ukraine’s president, some states suggest the funds be spent mainly on European-made weapons to boost their defence industries as threats from Russia grow.
A senior official in president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s administration told Reuters Ukraine needed the funds by the end of the year and autonomy over how to spend them, in some of the first public comments laying out Kyiv’s stance in detail.
“Ukraine’s position is that any conditionality undermines the principle of justice. So the victim, not the donors or partners, must determine how to address its most urgent defence, recovery and compensation needs,” Iryna Mudra, a top legal adviser in Zelenskyy’s administration, said in an interview.
Several people were killed and many more wounded as Russia launched more than 400 air attacks across Ukraine between Tuesday and Wednesday.
A drone hit a kindergarten in Kharkiv, killing at least one person.
Emergency services said they had evacuated 48 children and that many were suffering “acute stress reactions”.
Russia said on Wednesday it had carried out a major training exercise involving nuclear weapons, a day after the United States announced a delay in plans for a second summit between presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
The Kremlin released video showing general Valery Gerasimov, head of the general staff, reporting to Putin on the drills. They included practice launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are capable of striking the United States.
At key moments in the war in Ukraine, Putin has frequently issued reminders of Russia’s nuclear might as a warning signal to Kyiv and its allies in the West. Nato has also been conducting nuclear deterrence exercises this month.
Paris’ Louvre reopens after heist, as backlash grows over security flaws
The Louvre in Paris reopened on Wednesday, three days after thieves made off with jewellery worth an estimated €88m ($102m) in a spectacular heist that has raised urgent questions over security lapses at the museum.
Reuters reports that visitors queued to enter through the Louvre’s glass pyramid for the first time since Sunday’s brazen robbery, in which hooded assailants broke through a second-floor window using a stolen movers’ lift before making off with jewels from the royal collection.
Later on Wednesday the museum’s director will appear before the French Senate to answer lawmakers’ questions.
The Galerie d’Apollon, the ornate gilded hall that was robbed, remains closed.
Amid rising frustration in France that no senior official has taken responsibility, French interior minister Laurent Nuñez said there had clearly been security failures and culture minister Rachida Dati had launched an administrative inquiry. Nuñez told Europe 1 radio:
There was a burglary at the Louvre, some of the most precious jewels in France were stolen. So obviously it’s a failure, there is nothing else I can say.
But he added:
The alarm system worked perfectly, as soon as the window was attacked, it was activated. Police were notified, and within three minutes they were on the scene. The whole system worked, it didn’t fail, but what happened has happened.
He declined to comment on the police manhunt, but said he was confident the perpetrators would be found.
Dati came under fire after saying in parliament on Tuesday there had not been any security lapses.
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy will have two police officers stationed in nearby cells while he is in prison to ensure he comes to no harm, France’s interior minister said on Wednesday.
Sarkozy on Tuesday began a five-year sentence after being convicted of conspiring to raise campaign funds from Libya, arriving at La Sante prison in Paris – a stunning downfall for a man who led the country between 2007 and 2012.
Interior minister Laurent Nunez told Europe 1 radio that two police officers who are part of the security detail protecting former presidents will be stationed permanently in neighbouring cells throughout Sarkozy’s incarceration, Reuters reported.
“The former president of the republic is entitled to protection because of his status. There is obviously a threat against him, and this protection is being maintained while he is in detention,” Nunez said.
He added that the officers would remain at Sarkozy’s side throughout his incarceration “as long as it is necessary”. The officers will be members of a team doing rotating shifts in the prison, French media reported.
Sarkozy will be held in La Sante’s isolation unit, where inmates are housed in single cells and kept apart during outdoor activities, meaning he should not be in contact with other inmates.
Ukraine’s military hit a weapons and ammunition plant in Russia’s region of Mordovia and an oil refinery in Russia’s Dagestan in overnight attacks on Wednesday, the Ukrainian general staff said.
“The defence forces continue to take all measures to undermine the military and economic potential of the Russian aggressor and force the Russian Federation to stop its armed aggression against Ukraine,” the military said in a statement on the Telegram app.
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy in Sweden to explore defence export deal at Saab
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was visiting Sweden on Wednesday to discuss a possible export deal with Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson at Swedish defence industry group Saab .
Saab is the maker of the JAS 39 Gripen fighter jet, the GlobalEye surveillance aircraft, missile systems, anti-tank infantry weapons and other equipment.
Zelenskiy landed in Linkoping, where Saab produces the Gripens, just before 11am GMT, having made a stop in Norway earlier in the day.
“We will discuss a major possible Swedish export deal,” Kristersson told Swedish radio.
Kristersson later told public broadcaster SVT he and Zelenskiy would be “looking at one of the world’s absolute best fighter jets”, but stopped short of saying whether a Gripen deal was on the day’s agenda.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday that its forces had captured the village of Pavlivka in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, as well as Ivanivka village in neighbouring Dnipropetrovsk region, reports Reuters.
The ministry also said, in a statement on Telegram, that it had struck Ukrainian energy infrastructure in what it said was a response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilian targets.
Ukrainian authorities earlier said that six people had been killed in Russian strikes overnight (see 8.30am BST).
Russian drone strike hits Kharkiv kindergarten, killing one, says Zelenskyy
A Russian drone strike hit a kindergarten in Kharkiv, killing one person, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
In a post on his X account, Zelenskyy said that seven people had also been injured in the strike and were receiving medical care.
He added that all the children at the kindergarten had been evacuated and were now in shelters. “Preliminary reports indicate that many are showing acute stress reactions,” he said, describing those responsible for the strike as “thugs and terrorists”.
Here is Zelenskyy’s full statement:
A Russian drone strike hit a kindergarten in Kharkiv – after a massive attack overnight.
Unfortunately, one person has been killed – my condolences to the bereaved family. As of now, seven people have been injured and are receiving medical care. All the children have been evacuated and are now in shelters. Preliminary reports indicate that many are showing acute stress reactions.
There is no justification for a drone strike on a kindergarten, nor can there ever be. Clearly, Russia is growing more brazen. These strikes are Russia’s spit in the face to everyone who insists on a peaceful resolution. Thugs and terrorists can only be put in their place by force.
Zelenskyy to visit Brussels and London this week, senior Ukrainian official says
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Brussels and London later this week after meetings held in Norway and Sweden on Wednesday, a senior Ukrainian official told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The official said multiple meetings would be held in the European capitals, including on energy amid repeated Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities.
During talks with Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre, both leaders were to “discuss energy”, the Ukrainian official told AFP as their meeting began on Wednesday.
The two leaders met in the military part of Oslo’s international airport Gardermoen, television images on public broadcaster NRK showed. Norway did not give any details about the talks.
Zelenskyy’s itinerary is “first Norway, then Sweden, then Brussels, then London,” the source told AFP, adding there will be “many meetings” with “different leaders in different capitals”.
EU leaders are expected to close ranks in support of Ukraine at a Brussels summit on Thursday – followed a day later by a “coalition of the willing” meeting of European leaders in London to discuss the next steps to help Kyiv.
Zelenskyy says Trump’s call to freeze current frontlines is a ‘good compromise’
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that US president Donald Trump’s call for Ukraine and Russia to stop at the current frontlines was “a good compromise”, reports Reuters.
But Zelenskyy, who is visiting Nordic countries, said he doubted that Russian president Vladimir Putin would support it. According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Zelenskyy told reporters:
[Trump] proposed ‘Stay where we stay and begin conversation’. I think that was a good compromise, but I’m not sure that Putin will support it, and I said it to the [US] president.
It comes as plans to hold a summit between Trump and Putin in Budapest have been put on hold as it was reported that Ukraine and its European allies had rallied in pushing for a ceasefire without territorial concessions from Kyiv.
Russia, however, said on Wednesday that preparation for a presidential summit between Putin and Trump was still continuing.
Member states of the European Union (EU) must preserve exclusive jurisdiction on national security matters, the Italian prime minister said on Wednesday, as Rome faces scrutiny from Brussels over its use of special powers to shield strategic assets.
Italy is among countries within the bloc that have made extensive use of golden power legislation to protect sectors such as banking, defence and telecommunications.
Reuters reported this month that the EU was expected to act against the government of prime minister Giorgia Meloni as part of a push against EU countries hampering bank consolidation in Europe.
Speaking about defence matters during an address to parliament before an EU leaders summit this week, Meloni stressed that it was up to member states to decide on their security, echoing similar remarks by economy minister Giancarlo Giorgetti this month.
According to Reuters, Meloni said:
It is, and must remain, the member states who are the decision-makers in this process.
The comments came after European commissioner for financial services Maria Luis Albuquerque told newspaper Corriere della Sera that she will be in Rome on Thursday and will probably hold talks with Giorgetti.
In July, Italy’s second-biggest bank, UniCredit, withdrew its offer for smaller rival Banco BPM blaming government intervention for scuppering the €15bn ($17.5bn) transaction.
The EU will order Italy to withdraw the terms set by Rome to clear UniCredit’s failed bid, while challenging the overall golden power legislation through a separate infringement procedure, sources have told Reuters.
