Ukraine-Russia war live: Russian army ‘overextended’ as Kyiv warns any peace talks are a ‘trap’ to help Putin

The European Parliament has called for stronger oversight and more effective efforts to limit Russia’s ability to bypass EU sanctions.

In a resolution adopted on Thursday, the parliament voiced its alarm over “loopholes” in the EU’s sanctions regime, with MEPs concerned “about the lack of proper enforcement and attempts to undermine the effort to strategically weaken the Russian economic and industrial base”.

A statement on the European Parliament website said: “MEPs call on the EU and its member states to reinforce and centralise EU-level oversight of sanctions implementation and to develop a mechanism for circumvention prevention and monitoring.”

The soldiers piloting Ukraine’s fleet of small, cheap assault drones are voicing concerns that, despite pioneering their use, they are now being leapfrogged by their adversary as Moscow pumps money and resources into its drone sector.

The use of agile First Person View (FPV) drones in battle has been one of the most successful of the various low-cost strategies Ukraine has used to defend itself from Russia’s invasio. However, Moscow has also gradually mirrored and increased its use of these drones, which were originally made for racing by hobbyists and enthusiasts but are modified to carry explosives, to devastating effect.

Every week, both countries publish onboard camera footage from FPVs – which cost just hundreds of pounds – destroying enemy tanks and radar systems worth millions.

Speaking to Reuters in a field in Donetsk where they had come to perform a test flight, drone pilots from the 80th Airborne Assault Brigade fighting near Bakhmut warned Russia was gaining the upper hand through more organised supplies and greater spending.

“Their drones are always in the air, day and night. We can see they’ve implemented serial production of drones for reconnaissance, surveillance and for strikes,” said a 34-year-old drone platoon commander, who introduced himself by the callsign “Komrad”.

Ukraine’s first lady visited Paris on Thursday and met with her French counterpart Brigitte Macron, ahead of a Peace Forum on Friday.

Ukraine has seen 55 combat engagements with Russia over the past 24 hours, Kyiv’s armed forces have claimed in a daily update.

Russia has launched 13 airstrikes on Ukrainian troops, Kyiv’s military said, accusing Moscow’s forces of causing civilian casualties and damaging private buildings.

It also claimed to have shot down a Russian cruise missile.

Here is more analysis on fears of a “stalemate” from Askold Krushelnycky:

Ukraine knows that a long war could favour Vladimir Putin, who believes Kyiv’s western allies will become less supportive if they perceive a deadlocked conflict.

Russia does not care about the scale of its losses and also has a far larger arsenal of weapons and the manufacturing and economic potential to replenish lost supplies. As winter rolls in, and battlefield conditions become ever more difficult, the chance of significant movement reduces further.

Volodymyr Zelensky is clear that victory over Russia’s forces is the only objective, but that will mean making sure Western support does not flag – not least in the US, where the issue of funding for Ukraine is increasingly becoming a political football.

America’s NBC news channel said that US and European officials had broached a peace deal with Russia in “delicate” talks last month with the Ukrainian administration during a meeting of the 50-strong Contact Group of countries supporting Ukraine.

While Russia has plenty of problems over its invasion – many of them caused by the tenacity of Ukrainian forces – a stalemate on the frontline certainly has greater consequences for Ukraine.

A top Ukrainian official has told Reuters that a global peace summit aimed at setting in motion president Volodymyr Zelensky’s 10-point peace plan could finally take place in February. So what does the plan call for?

1. Radiation and nuclear safety, focusing on restoring safety around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

2. Food security, including protecting and ensuring Ukraine’s grain exports to the world’s poorest nations.

3. Energy security, with focus on price restrictions on Russian energy resources, as well as aiding Ukraine with restoring its devastated power infrastructure.

4. Release of all prisoners and deportees, including war prisoners and children deported to Russia.

5. Restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity and Russia reaffirming it according to the UN Charter.

6. Withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, and restoration of Ukraine’s state borders with Russia.

7. Justice, including the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes.

8. Prevention of ecocide, and protection of the environment, with a focus on demining and restoring water treatment facilities.

9. Prevention of escalation of conflict, and building security architecture in the Euro-Atlantic space, including guarantees for Ukraine.

10. Confirmation of the war’s end, including a document signed by the involved parties.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said that his troops can still deliver results on the frontline and says that country has a battlefield plan for 2024, without revealing details.

“We have a plan. We have very concrete cities, very [concrete] directions where we go. I can’t share all the details but we have some slow steps forward on the south, also we have steps on the east,” he said. “And some, I think good steps … near Kherson region. I am sure we’ll have success. It’s difficult.”

Ukrainian forces have been trying to establish a bridgehead on the eastern, Russian-occupied, bank of the vast Dnipro river in Kherson region. A rapid counteroffensive liberated the region west of the Dnipro and its capital, Kherson City, almost exactly a year ago.

The issue for Zelensky is that it is clear that there is little movement along a frontline that stretches for hundreds of miles.

Read Askold Krushelnycky’s full analysis here:

A global peace summit for Ukraine – touted to take place in February, without Russia – will mark the symbolic beginning of Kyiv’s peace formula, a senior aide to president Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

“The summit will definitely take place, as it will mark both the symbolic beginning of the practical implementation of the Ukrainian ‘peace formula’ and summarise all the results that have already been achieved on this track,” Mr Zelensky’s top diplomatic adviser, Ihor Zhovkva, told Reuters.

The 10-point plan includes calls for the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, withdrawal of Russian troops, protection of food and energy supplies, nuclear safety and the release of all prisoners.

Ukraine has sought for months to build up relations with governments in Africa, Asia and Latin America. But privately Western officials are reportedly concerned the war in Gaza will deal a setback to Ukraine’s push to broaden its support.

Mr Zhovkva acknowledged the events in the Middle East were affecting agenda priorities for countries in the region, but noted that last month’s talks in Malta were still attended by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar.

“We don’t need the summit for the sake of summit. We are talking about the widest possible involvement of the leaders of the Global South. Therefore, we must carefully consider the time and place of the Summit,” he said.

A global “peace summit” for Ukraine may now take place in February, a top Kyiv official has said, amid concerns in the West that the war in Gaza is making it harder to win over diplomatic support for Kyiv’s blueprint for peace.

Ukraine had aimed to hold a summit of world leaders this year as it tries to build a global coalition of support to endorse a 10-point “formula” for peace drafted by president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Kyiv has organised a series of talks attended by dozens of countries without Russia, most recently in Malta at the level of national security advisers, to work towards the summit.

Mr Zelensky’s top diplomatic adviser, Ihor Zhovkva, told Reuters that Ukraine would arrange a fourth meeting of national security advisers in late November or early December, adding: “And the Global Summit might take place in February 2024.”