Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 11-24-2024

Mike Waltz, a noted foreign policy hawk and former US special forces officer, has been critical of Russia but has, like Trump, opposed increasing aid to Ukraine.

US President-elect Donald Trump’s top security advisor called on Sunday for an end to the escalation of the war between Ukraine and Russia, and for both parties to come to the negotiating table. 

“We need to bring this to a responsible end. We need to restore deterrence, restore peace, and get ahead of this escalation ladder, rather than responding to it,” said Mike Waltz, Trump’s pick for the influential role of US national security advisor (NSA).

Ukraine is not a burden to the West but a valuable investment

Ukraine has offered America a deal that Donald Trump can’t refuse.

President Volodymyr Zelensky wants American businesses to invest in his country’s natural resources, worth $26 trillion, equivalent to Canada’s or Australia’s mineral wealth. Zelensky also pledges that Ukraine’s military will help protect Europe’s security after the war.

Russian hackers “won’t think twice” about striking British businesses, McFadden is set to say

Russia is “exceptionally aggressive and reckless in the cyber realm” and “no one should underestimate” the threat to NATO, a senior UK minister will warn in a speech Monday.

Pat McFadden, whose portfolio includes national security, will tell a NATO cyber security conference in London that Moscow “won’t think twice about targeting British businesses,” according to excerpts of his address released Sunday by his ministry.

The S-400 surface-to-air missile system is considered roughly equivalent to the American-made Patriot air-defense system

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) reported that they struck an advanced air-defense system in the Kursk region in a Saturday-Sunday overnight attack on Nov. 23-24.

According to a statement by the AFU General Staff, an S-400, or “Triumf” radar station was struck.

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

Negotiators at a global climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, struck a last-minute deal for wealthy countries to help their poorer neighbors deal with global warming, saving the annual meeting as it verged on collapse. From the outset, the focus of the United Nations' COP29 climate conference was raising money to help developing nations cut their climate pollution and prepare for threats they face from extreme weather. Developing nations have contributed far less of the pollution heating the planet, but suffer the harms of extreme weather disproportionately. Those countries had pushed for climate funding of $1.3 trillion a year. But the final agreement set a goal of $300 billion annually. Some representatives of developing countries were furious at the outcome, saying $300 billion a year from industrialized countries is far short of what vulnerable nations need. "It's a paltry sum," said Chandni Raina, a member of India's delegation, during the conference's closing meeting. "It is not something that will enable conducive climate action that is necessary for the survival of our country and for the growth of our people, their livelihoods." Announced more than a day after the talks were scheduled to end, the funding deal was brokered after world leaders and climate activists leveled sharp criticism at industrialized nations, as well as the Azerbaijani officials who hosted the two-week meeting - NPR

Hundreds of Palestinian citizens of Israel, since the start of the war in Gaza, have been investigated by police for “incitement to terrorism” or “incitement to violence,” according to Adalah, a legal rights group for minorities. More than half of those investigated were also criminally charged or detained, Adalah said. Israel has roughly 2 million Palestinian citizens, whose families remained within the borders of what became Israel in 1948. Among them are Muslims and Christians, and they maintain family and cultural ties to Gaza and the West Bank, which Israel captured in 1967. Israel says its Palestinian citizens enjoy equal rights, including the right to vote, and they are well-represented in many professions. However, Palestinians are widely discriminated against in areas like housing and the job market. Israeli authorities have opened more incitement cases against Palestinian citizens during the war in Gaza than in the previous five years combined, Adalah’s records show. - AP

In expletive-laden comments, the podcaster said Ukraine’s use of American-made missiles on military sites in Russia used for firing at civilian and military targets in Ukraine will lead to WWIII.

American podcaster Joe Rogan slammed outgoing President Joe Biden for greenlighting Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons on military targets in Russia and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for using them.

“Zelensky says Putin is terrified,” Rogan said. “F--k you, man. F--k you people. You people are about to start World War III.”

When a controversial initiative to “decolonize” the monuments of Odesa got underway, citizens of the port city appealed to UNESCO to postpone any decisions until after the war.

UNESCO has officially responded to the letter written on Oct. 21 and signed by 150 figures from all over the world, to inhibit an order of the Odesa Regional Administration to remove 19 historical monuments from the city to apply the "decolonization" law, as it was already written here.

UNESCO’s reply, signed by the Ernesto Ottone Ramirez, Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO, acknowledges receipt of the appeal, mentioning “the threat to the architectural ensemble of Odesa posed by a decision to remove monuments and rename streets, including within the boundaries of the World Heritage property ‘The Historic Center of Odesa.’”

Richard Grenell – Former Acting Director of National Intelligence advocates barring Ukraine from the NATO defensive alliance for the foreseeable future.

US President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly considering tapping Richard Grenell – who’s advocated for breaking Ukraine into “autonomous zones” and barring it from the security umbrella offered by the NATO defensive alliance for the foreseeable future – as a special Ukraine peace “envoy.”

While Grenell has advocated for making parts of Ukraine into “autonomous regions,” he hasn’t disclosed what this would mean in detail.

This new book tells how two Americans living in Ukraine not only survived the full-scale invasion but inspired them to feel that they were no longer “foreigners,” but would be forever part of Ukraine.

Accidental Ukrainians is a firsthand account of the buildup to and the subsequent full-scale invasion by Russia through the lens of a married couple living in Kyiv.  The first of a four-book series that the couple has signed up for with a publisher, details not only the events that transpired but their own impressions of the period in which they took place.

While the book is very human and conversational at times, it also gives deeper insight into Ukraine from those who have made it their home.  It also captures the infectious resilience and humor of the Ukrainian people while also being blunt as to the challenges faced.

As the West considers ceding Ukrainian territory to Russia, we risk repeating the very mistakes that have scarred history for generations.

Ukraine has long been a crossroads of empires, a nation whose sovereignty has been repeatedly undermined by colonial ambitions. From the days of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita) to the Muscovite Tsardom, the Russian Empire, and the Soviet Union, Ukraine has been a battleground for imperial designs. Today, as the West contemplates negotiations with Russia that could result in the ceding of Ukrainian territory, it risks perpetuating this historical pattern of colonialism.

Ukraine’s history is a tapestry of struggles against external domination. Regions like Kuban and Slobozhanshchyna, now part of Russia’s Rostov and Kursk regions, are home to ethnically Ukrainian and Ukrainian-speaking populations. These lands, rich in cultural heritage, were absorbed into Russia due to imperial maneuverings, further diluting Ukraine’s territorial integrity. A settlement that ignores this historical context risks endorsing the very colonial practices the modern world purports to condemn.

What European media are saying about Russian firing an ICBM at a Ukrainian city.

Russia says it has fired a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. President Putin explained in a video address that the Oreshnik missile was launched from the Russian region of Astrakhan on the Caspian Sea in response to attacks against Russia with Western missiles. It was not carrying nuclear warheads although these missiles are nuclear-capable, he added. Commentators take stock.

Another threshold crossed

Romanians voting to elect a new president with potentially dire implications.

Romanians were voting Sunday in the first round of a presidential election amid a surge in inflation and fears over the war in neighboring Ukraine that could favor far-right leader George Simion.

The vote kicks off two weeks of elections in the poor NATO member country, including a parliamentary vote and a December 8 presidential run-off.

The official said that Ukraine will hold Kursk territory for as long as “militarily appropriate.”

A senior source in the Ukrainian military told Reuters that Ukraine has lost 40% of the territory that it gained in a surprise counter-invasion of Russia’s Kursk region in August.

“At most, we controlled about 1,376 square kilometers (531 square miles), now of course this territory is smaller. The enemy is increasing its counterattacks,” the source said. “Now we control approximately 800 square kilometers (309 square miles). We will hold this territory for as long as is militarily appropriate.”

Former President Tsai Ing-wen’s comments came in response to the US Indo-Pacific Command chief saying that US aid to Ukraine was starting to impact its ability to fight in Asia.

Former Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said Saturday that the best way to help Taiwan right now would be to support Ukraine.

“A Ukrainian victory will serve as the most effective deterrent to future aggression globally,”  Tsai said at the Halifax International Security Forum.

In a single paragraph on Russia’s war in Ukraine, the G20 fail to even mention that Russia is the aggressor

President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized the Group of 20 (G20)’s weak position on Russia’s invasion.

The 2024 summit ended with a statement that included just one paragraph mentioning only “human suffering” with regard to Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine – which recently passed 1,000 days.

Trump’s pick for Director of National Intelligence has stood out for endorsing Kremlin justifications about its invasion of Ukraine

US President-elect Donald Trump is handing top roles in his future administration to a mix of loyalists, provocateurs and a few relatively conventional figures.

Most positions will require confirmation by the US Senate.

The international community has been emboldening Russia’s dictator

Most recent Putin rants including a revised threshold for the use of nuclear weapons by Russia as well as the total elimination of Ukraine as a country and in tandem the use of ICBMs on Ukrainian territory should be alarming for the global community. The world cannot simply stand by and do little if nothing. Clearly the message here is that negotiations with Putin are not an option. One way or another Putin has to be taken out before any negotiations can begin.

Three recent events have been highly instrumental in emboldening the Russian strongman. The BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia was bad enough with the participation of more than thirty countries and an expansion of membership. The worst part was that United Nations’ Secretary General Antonio Gutierres attended.

While some observers are writing off Ukraine as a lost cause after Trump takes office, those who know Ukrainians understand that it would be foolish to underestimate them.

The debate about the war on Ukraine is focused on the ascendancy of Donald J. Trump and its implications. There is currently much speculation about scenarios for Ukraine.

That Trump, who has refused to commit to Ukraine’s victory, will somehow cut a ceasefire deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in which some amount of Ukrainian territory is ceded to Russia.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) likely attempted to cover up the recent removal of the acting commander of the Southern Military District (SMD) Colonel General Gennady Anashkin following widespread accusations within the Russian information space that Anashkin's subordinates submitted false frontline progress reports to superiors.
• Ukrainian military officials denied claims of North Korean personnel's presence in Kharkiv Oblast amid new unconfirmed reports that North Korean "technical advisers" are operating in occupied Mariupol.
• Russian forces recently advanced in Kursk Oblast and near Velyka Novosilka.
• Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia does not currently need to conduct another partial involuntary reserve callup as Russian authorities continue leaning into crypto-mobilization efforts.