Ukraine Russia warfare newest: EU agrees indefinite freeze on €210bn of Russian property | EUROtoday

Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko has praised the choice of European Union’s indefinite freeze on Russian central financial institution property held in Europe as a “landmark step toward justice and accountability”.

“This decision strengthens the foundation for the reparations loan mechanism and brings us closer to a future in which Russia pays for its crimes and destruction caused,” she wrote.

EU leaders – the European Council – are to meet on 18 December to finalise details of the reparations loan and resolve remaining problems, which include guarantees from all EU governments for Belgium that it would not be left alone to foot the bill should a potential Moscow lawsuit prove successful.

The European Union has agreed to indefinitely freeze Russian central bank assets held in Europe, removing a big obstacle to using the cash to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia.

A first big step, which EU governments agreed yesterday, is to immobilise €210bn ($246bn) worth of Russian sovereign assets for as long as needed instead of voting every six months on extending the asset freeze.

This removes the risk that Hungary and Slovakia, which have better relations with Moscow than other EU states, could refuse to roll over the freeze at some point, forcing the EU to return the money to Russia.

The EU wants to keep Ukraine financed and fighting as it sees Russia’s invasion as a threat to its own security. To do so, EU states aim to put to work some of the Russian sovereign assets they immobilised after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian drones have struck two Russian oil rigs in the Caspian Sea, according to a Ukrainian Security Service official.

The SBU drones reportedly hit the Filanovsky and Korchagin oil rigs, which both belong to Russia’s Lukoil.

Earlier this week, part of Russia’s largest Caspian oil field, the Filanovsky rig came under attack. This was the first attack during the war as Ukraine escalates its efforts to disrupt Russian oil and gas output.

The drones damaged critical equipment and suspended production, according to preliminary information from the source.

Kim Jong Un said nine North Korean soldiers were killed during a mission in Russia, describing their deaths as a “heartrending loss,” and announced that the regiment would be awarded the Order of Freedom and Independence.

The North Korean dictator said the unit had been dispatched in early August and carried out combat and engineering tasks in the Kursk region of Russia during Moscow’s war with Ukraine.

The nine fallen soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, along with other state honours, KCNA said.

The welcoming ceremony was held in Pyongyang yesterday and was attended by senior military officials, ruling party leaders, families of the soldiers and large crowds, according to the report.

In his speech, Kim said the regiment had cleared dangerous areas under combat conditions and demonstrated “absolute loyalty” to the party and the state. He also praised political indoctrination, discipline and unity among the troops, calling their performance a model for the armed forces.

Armed forces minister Al Carns said countries need to “increase our lethality” and cease outsourcing it to others.

His warning comes after Nato secretary general Mark Rutte called Europe “Russia’s next target” and said countries must prepare for a “scale of war our grandparents or great-grandparents endured”.

A senior Kremlin official says that the Russian police and National Guard will remain in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas to oversee the prized industrial region, even if a peace settlement ends the nearly four-year war — a possibility that is likely to be rejected by Ukrainian officials as US-led negotiations drag on.

Moscow will give its blessing to a ceasefire only after Ukraine’s forces have withdrawn from the front line, Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said in comments published Friday in Russian business daily Kommersant.

Ushakov told Kommersant “it’s entirely possible that there won’t be any troops (in the Donbas), either Russian or Ukrainian” in a postwar scenario.

Ukraine, the United States and European powers are still working to find a joint position that would outline the contours of a peace deal, including security guarantees for Kyiv, that could be taken to Russia, a French presidency official said.

“Our goal is to have a common foundation that is solid for negotiation. This common ground must unite Ukrainians, Americans and Europeans,” the official advised reporters in a briefing.

“It should allow us, together, to make a negotiating offer, a solid, lasting peace offer that respects international law and Ukraine’s sovereign interests, an offer that American negotiators are willing to bring to the Russians.

“The official stated there was no joint doc but, however all sides would stick with it negotiations within the coming days by means of varied calls and conferences. He didn’t say whether or not Washington had set a deadline.

North Korean chief Kim Jong-Un attended a welcoming ceremony for a military engineering unit that had returned house after finishing up duties in Russia, the North’s KCNA information company reported this morning.

In a speech carried by KCNA, the North Korean dictator praised officers and troopers of the 528th Regiment of Engineers of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) for “heroic” conduct and “mass heroism” in fulfilling orders issued by the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea throughout a 120-day abroad deployment.

KCNA stated the unit had been dispatched in early August and carried out fight and engineering duties within the Kursk area of Russia throughout Moscow’s warfare with Ukraine.

Last month, Russia’s defence ministry stated North Korean troops who helped Russia repel a serious Ukrainian incursion into its western Kursk area are actually enjoying an essential position in clearing the realm of mines.