Trump’s call to freeze Ukraine conflict at current frontlines is ‘good compromise’, says Zelenskyy – as it happened

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has voiced support for Donald Trump’s proposal for Ukraine and Russia to freeze the war at the current frontlines, calling it “a good compromise” even as he acknowledged Moscow has made clear it will not accept the arrangement.

“I think that was a good compromise, but I’m not sure that Putin will support it, and I said it to the president,” Zelenskyy said on a visit to Oslo, part of a tour of Scandinavia to seek additional military support.

The US president had earlier this week told reporters on Air Force One “they can negotiate something later on down the line. But I said cut and stop at the battle line”. He was speaking shortly before a planned summit with Vladimir Putin was put on hold after Russia said its goal of seeking the whole of the eastern Donbas region, including areas held by Ukraine, had not changed.

Trump’s latest remarks were seen as a modest win for Zelenskyy. The US leader has repeatedly wavered on key aspects of the war, including whether a ceasefire should come before broader peace talks, and at times appearing to consider Putin’s demands for Ukraine to give up more land.

Most recently, Trump had dashed Ukraine’s hope he would send Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv after a phone call with Putin.

Zelenskyy and his senior officials have previously acknowledged that Ukraine is unlikely to regain all of its occupied territory through military means, and have privately told Washington and European partners they would be open to freezing the frontlines. Still, Zelenskyy’s public endorsement of such a plan marks a notable shift from his earlier stance, when Kyiv vowed to reclaim all land lost to Russia.

Russia, meanwhile, has made clear its maximalist position hasn’t changed, appearing to reject Trump’s fresh proposal to freeze battle lines.

Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s longtime foreign minister, said on Tuesday: “Washington now starts to say that we must stop [the conflict] immediately, that we should no longer discuss anything, that we should stop, and let history judge.”

Moscow has consistently rejected extended ceasefire proposals, arguing they would give Ukraine time to rearm and regroup at a time when Russian forces are making battlefield advances.

“You see, simply stopping would mean forgetting the root causes of this conflict,” Lavrov said.

Those “root causes”, according to Moscow, refer to its sweeping demands that would undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty – including full control over the Donbas region, limits on Kyiv’s armed forces, and a say in its domestic affairs.

Shots were fired outside Serbia’s parliament building in Belgrade and one person was injured, local media reported.

Eyewitness footage shared with Reuters showed armed security officers approaching a tent outside parliament, one of several erected this year by supporters of President Aleksandar Vučić during anti-government protests.

A fire broke out inside a tent and officers were seen detaining a person. The identity of the shooter or how the fire started were not immediately clear

Russia is implementing a methodical campaign to destroy Ukraine’s energy system and is targeting repair teams working at energy facilities after the initial strikes, energy minister Sviltana Hrynchuk said on Wednesday.

Russia launched 405 drones and 28 missiles in its second major round of attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities so far this month, killing six people in Kyiv and the surrounding region and cutting off electricity across the country, officials said.

Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers conducted a scheduled flight over neutral waters in the Baltic Sea, Russian state-run news agency RIA reported, citing the defence ministry.

At various stages of the mission the bombers were escorted by fighter jets from foreign countries, the ministry was cited as saying.

The British prime minister Keir Starmer described the western Balkans as Europe’s “crucible” as he opened talks with leaders in London.

“The region has been described as the crossroads of Europe, but so often it has also been Europe’s crucible - the place where the security of our continent is put to the test,” he said.

He said talks would focus on security, migration and economic growth. Leaders would talk about how to tackle Russia’s “malign influence”, as well as rooting out corruption and shared issues of migration, he said.

“The Western Balkans has long been a vital transit route for the criminal smuggling gangs.

“You don’t want to see those gangs operating in your territory, and we all suffer the consequences of their action,” he said.

In other news, Slovakia has reported an outbreak of bird flu on a poultry farm in the northern part of the country, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Wednesday, as Europe faces a seasonal upturn in the deadly disease.

The H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, killed 27 birds on a farm with chickens, geese and ducks near the border with Poland, the Paris-based WOAH said, citing the Slovakian authorities. The rest of the 197-strong flock was slaughtered.

The spread of bird flu has raised concerns among governments and the poultry industry after it killed or led to the culling of hundreds of millions of poultry in recent years, disrupting supply, fuelling higher food prices and raising the risk of a new pandemic.

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.

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.

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”.

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.

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.

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).

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.

Russia said on Wednesday that preparation for a presidential summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump was still continuing, despite the latter announcing it had been shelved (see 10.30am BST).

“We are saying that preparations for a summit are continuing,” Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by the state TASS news agency.

One of two Ukrainians detained for drug possession had shared photographs and coordinates of critical Polish army infrastructure with a Russian speaker, Polish prosecutors said on Wednesday, reports Reuters.

Poland says it has been targeted with tactics such as arson and cyber-attacks in a “hybrid war” waged by Russia to destabilise nations that support Kyiv in the Russian war in Ukraine. Moscow has denied such accusations.

Two Ukrainians, identified only as Bohdan K and Kyrylo T under Polish privacy law, were detained in Biala Podlaska, eastern Poland, for possessing 30 grams of illegal drugs. Prosecutors said:

Correspondence was revealed on a secured telephone belonging to Bohdan K, which shows that he had been providing a Russian-speaking person with photographs and geographical coordinates of critical infrastructure at the disposal of the armed forces of the Republic of Poland.

The man was charged with acting for the benefit of foreign intelligence and providing intelligence with information harmful to state security. A court detained him for three months pending further investigation, reports Reuters.

The statement read:

The suspect pleaded not guilty and expressed pro-Russian views and questioned Ukraine’s sovereignty.

The other man, Kyrylo T, was charged with possession of illegal drugs and was released.

Away from Ukraine for a moment. Spain’s leftist government will publish next month a list of symbols of Gen Francisco Franco’s dictatorship to be removed from public spaces, prime minister Pedro Sánchez said on Wednesday.

The move will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the death of Franco, who ruled Spain between 1939 and 1975.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to discuss a possible export deal at Swedish defence industry group Saab on Wednesday, said Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson, who will join him at the factory.

Saab is the maker of the JAS 39 Gripen fighter jet, the GlobalEye surveillance aircraft, missile systems, anti-tank infantry weapons and other equipment.

According to Reuters, Kristersson told Swedish Radio:

The entire meeting takes place at Saab in Linkoping. We will discuss a major possible Swedish export deal.

Linkoping is a key manufacturing hub of Saab, where it produces the Gripen. Kristersson declined to specify if Gripen would be discussed, reports Reuters.

However, he told public broadcaster Swedish Radio:

When it comes to flying capability in the midst of the ongoing war, it is radar reconnaissance aircraft that are the major contribution.

Sweden said last year it was donating two radar surveillance and command aircraft to Ukraine.

The Swedish government said in a statement ZelenskYy and Kristersson would present news regarding defence exports at a joint press conference. A spokesperson for the prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to Reuter’s request for further comment.

Kristersson said this month that he and Zelenskyy had discussed Kyiv’s interest in Gripen at a meeting of European leaders in Copenhagen. He said at the time donations of the fighter jet were not on the cards.

The possibility of supplying Gripens 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 US-made F-16 fighters that it began deploying last August. Still, Ukrainian pilots have been in Sweden to test the Gripen and help smooth any eventual export of the jets, reports Reuters.

On Wednesday, a Saab spokesperson referred all questions about the event to the government, according to Reuters.

The first explosions could be heard across Kyiv shortly after 1am and then more about half an hour later. Blasts were also reported in Zaporizhzhia, Poltava and Dnipro with strikes and air raid alerts continuing into the morning.

Emergency services rescued 10 people after a fire caused by drone wreckage hit the sixth floor of a 16-storey residential building, while the strikes also blew out windows of a medical facility and debris was found at another residential building, Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, reported on his Telegram channel.

In the Darnytskyi district of the capital emergency services were responding after drone debris hit a 17-storey residential building causing a fire on five floors.

In the Desnianskyi district, 20 people were rescued after the facade of a 10-storey building was damaged and a gas pipe caught fire.

Strikes in Ukraine’s eastern Poltava region damaged oil and gas facilities, said the local governor, Volodymyr Kohut, while the city of Dnipro reported heavy strikes.

An apartment building in Zaporizhzhia was also damaged overnight, where at least 13 civilians were reported injured.

Storm Shadow missiles struck a Russian chemical plant making gunpowder, explosives and rocket fuel in the Bryansk region, Ukraine’s military said late on Tuesday.

The French-British missiles are also known as Scalp. Ukraine’s armed forces general staff said:

A massive combined missile and airstrike was carried out, including with air-launched Storm Shadow missiles that penetrated Russia’s air defence system.

Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of Bryansk region, said on Tuesday afternoon that Ukraine attacked the region with drones and missiles. The Russian defence ministry also confirmed an attack.