Trump says Zelenskyy is ready for ‘deal’ with Russia following meeting in Paris
Kyiv issued a warning to the world after the fall of Syria’s Russian-backed dictator, as Donald Trump applied pressure to a ‘weakened’ Vladimir Putin for a ceasefire now. Follow updates.
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US President-elect Donald Trump urged Russia to negotiate a halt to the fighting in Ukraine following to fall of the Assad regime in Syria — saying the Kremlin was in a “weakened state” as a result of the war and the “bad economy.”
“There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse,” Mr Trump, 78, posted on Truth Social.
“I know Vladimir [Putin] well. This is his time to act. China can help. The World is waiting!”
It comes as Ukraine welcomed the ouster of dictator Bashar al-Assad in Syria, saying that authoritarians who rely on Moscow are destined to fall, while noting Kyiv’s support for Syria’s people.
Kyiv, fighting a Russian invasion for almost three years, said it hoped to restore diplomatic relations with Damascus and called for an end to Moscow’s military presence in the country.
“Assad had fallen. This is how it has always been and will always be for dictators who bet on (Russia leader Vladimir) Putin. He always betrays those who rely on him,” foreign minister Andriy Sybiga said on social media, reaffirming Kyiv’s “support for the Syrian people”.
In later comments, the foreign ministry of Ukraine, which overthrew a Moscow-backed regime in a 2014 revolution, said Assad’s fall could mean that the “courageous Syrian people can turn the page on the black history of the Assad clan’s rule”.
It alledged that Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine has forced it to weaken support for Assad and other allies as it is “unable to fight on two fronts” and hoped recent events will lead to an end of Russia’s military presence in Syria.
“We are convinced that the long-term security of Syria depends on the end of the Russian presence in that country,” it said.
Assad was one of the few leaders who recognised Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s four eastern and southern regions in 2022 and Kyiv had responded by breaking off its diplomatic relations with Damascus.
The foreign ministry said it hoped for a restorations of ties in the future.bur
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TRUMP SAYS UKRAINE ‘READY FOR DEAL’ WITH RUSSIA
US president-elect Donald Trump says that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is keen on a “deal” to end the war with Russia, after the pair met in Paris to discuss the future of the conflict.
French President Emmanuel Macron hosted three-way talks with Mr Zelenskyy and Mr Trump at the Elysee Palace, as fears grow in Kyiv about the position of the incoming US administration.
Mr Trump has openly scoffed at the billions of dollars in military assistance being sent to Ukraine and once boasted he could end the conflict in 24 hours.
“Zelenskyy (sic) and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse.”
Hours after the trio’s meeting, the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden announced a new $988-million military assistance package for Ukraine.
The package features drones, ammunition for precision HIMARS rocket launchers, and equipment and spare parts for artillery systems, tanks and armoured vehicles, the Pentagon said.
In Ukraine there is concern that Mr Trump may urge domestically unpopular concessions to bring about peace.
Mr Zelenskyy insisted any settlement with Russia had to be equitable.
“We all want peace. But it is very important for us … that the peace is just for all of us and that Russia, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin or any other aggressor has no possibility of ever returning,” Mr Zelenskyy said according to the presidential website.
“And this is the most important thing — a just peace and security guarantees, strong security guarantees for Ukraine,” he added.
But Mr Zelenskyy also thanked Mr Trump for his “unwavering resolve” describing the talks as “good and productive”.
Mr Zelenskyy’s meeting with Mr Trump, just before both attended the re-opening ceremony of the Notre Dame cathedral, was his first face-to-face encounter with the tycoon-turned-politician since his US election victory in November.
Throughout his election campaign Mr Trump promised to broker a swift end to the war with Russia.
RUSSIAN AERIAL ATTACKS KILL 12
Mr Zelenskyy slammed Russia and its President Vladimir Putin over two aerial attacks that killed at least 12 people.
Moscow has ramped up its strikes on Ukraine as winter sets in, and Mr Zelenskyy said the attacks showed Russia has no interest in a deal to end its nearly three-year invasion.
At least 10 people were killed in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, while two were killed in Mr Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rig, officials said.
“Thousands of such strikes carried out by Russia during this war make it absolutely clear that Putin does not need real peace,” Mr Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram.
“Only by force can we resist this. And only through force can real peace be established,” he added.
Zaporizhzhia governor Ivan Fedorov said a Russian attack had set a car garage and service station on fire in the blast, posting images of a fire blazing with debris strewn across the street.
A total of 24 people were wounded there, including a four-month-old girl and at least two other children aged four and eleven, he said.
RUSSIA GAINS IN EAST
In an update increasing the toll from the strike to 10, Ukraine’s national emergency services said on Telegram that the petrol station blaze was extinguished along with six cars on fire.
Another 17 were wounded in the strike on Kryvyi Rig in the centre of Ukraine, Mr Zelensky said.
A six-year-old-boy was among the injured, Kryvyi Rig military administration head Oleksandr Vilkul said on Telegram.
“A three-storey building was destroyed, residential buildings and cars were damaged” in that attack, the agency said on Telegram.
The latest strikes come after weeks of sharp escalation in the conflict, with Moscow stepping up its attacks on Kyiv’s energy infrastructure at the start of the harsh Ukrainian winter.
And with Donald Trump’s return to the White House looming, the support of Kyiv’s key ally the United States has been thrown into question.
Meanwhile Ukraine’s outgunned and outmanned forces have buckled across the eastern front in the face of a grinding pre-winter offensive from Russia.
Moscow said Friday its forces had captured a village near the embattled supply hub of Pokrovsk and another near the industrial town of Kurakhove, gaining further ground in two key areas of the east Ukraine frontline.
RUSSIA’S DARK PATH TO VICTORY
Russia’s foreign minister has given an intriguing interview, alternating between extending a hand of friendship to the US and threatening to unleash hell.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke to American journalist Tucker Carlson in the interview, which was released late Thursday night.
“And in any case, this (war) is not what we want. We would like to have normal relations with all our neighbours, of course … especially with a great country like the United States,” Mr Lavrov said, explaining he believed Russian and America could “co-operate for the sake of the universe”.
Mr Lavrov described US President-elect Donald Trump as “a very strong person, a person who wants results”.
However the interview took a sinister turn when he noted western nations who continue to arm Kyiv, which includes Australia, were not respecting Russia’s “red lines”.
“The message is that you, I mean the United States and the allies of the United States, who also provide these long-range weapons to the Kyiv regime – they must understand that we would be ready to use any means not to allow them to succeed in what they call a strategic defeat of Russia,” Mr Lavrov said.
“We will be ready to do anything to defend our legitimate interests,” he said, adding this included sending “additional messages”.
The comments came on the eve of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Day on Friday when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a rousing speech to rally the nation.
He reflected on the time when Russia first invaded.
At that moment, we had no HIMARS, no Patriots, no F-16s, and so much else was missing,” he said, referring to the weapons which have since been supplied to Ukraine by allies including Australia.
“But we had you. Ukrainian warriors. Those who chose Ukraine. Chose to defend what is theirs.”
PUTIN WELCOMES FOREIGN MEDIA TO ASK HIM ANYTHING
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s office announced on Friday he will hold his annual press conference soon – and the whole world is invited.
The conference will take place on December 19, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in televised comments Friday, saying it will include foreign media.
The televised marathon event will take place a month before Mr Trump takes over at the White House and as Russian forces make advances in Ukraine.
The event, during which Putin answers journalists’ questions and takes calls from members of the public, will be called “Results of the year with Vladimir Putin”, Mr Peskov said.
He confirmed that international media will be able to participate, after Russia imposed restrictions and entry bans on foreign journalists working in Russia over the last year in what it calls reciprocal measures.
“Journalists from federal, regional and international media will be accredited,” Mr Peskov said.
Representatives of international media attending “will mainly be foreigners working under current accreditation in Russia,” Peskov said, while some other Western media will be present.
The event will start noon Moscow time, the state TASS news agency reported.
Last year’s event took more than four hours.
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