Ukraine-Russia war live: Putin hails ‘courageous’ Trump as Zelensky rejects ceasefire

Nato members have warned that the deployment of North Korean troops is a “dangerous expansion” of the country’s support for Russia’s war against Ukraine.

In a joint statement, Nato’s 32 member states warned that “the deepening military cooperation” between Russia and North Korea “deeply impacts Euro-Atlantic security, with implications also for the Indo-Pacific”.

Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Ukraine also supported the Nato statement.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has called for a “Save Ukraine Summit” in London to allow European leaders to co-ordinate before Donald Trump enters the White House.

Having labelled Mr Trump a “dangerous, destructive demagogue” following the US election result, Sir Ed said: “I think we need to pre-empt whatever decision President-elect Trump eventually takes by showing UK leadership in Europe.

“I think by having that summit of European leaders, we would send a message to President-elect Trump, and hopefully a message that encourages him.

“He’s often said other countries need to do more – well, it will be a sign that other countries are doing more, and therefore that hopefully would encourage him to stay the course and continue the policies of President Biden when it comes to Ukraine.”

The alleged deployment of North Korean soldiers to aid Russia’s war effort in Ukraine has prompted South Korea to warn that it could send military monitors as well as weapons to Kyiv.

South Korean foreign minister Cho Tae Yul said earlier this week that all options were on the table, but experts noted that Seoul was more likely to send a variety of military support short of soldiers.

The alleged presence of around 12,000 North Korean troops in Russia, reportedly under a defence treaty that Russian president Vladimir Putin signed with Korean leader Kim Jong Un earlier this year, has set off alarm bells on the Korean peninsula.

South Korea is concerned about thousands of North Korean troops gaining fighting experience in a war theatre, and potentially using the skills they acquire against South Korea on their return.

My colleague Arpan Rai reports:

Western nations supplying weapons to Israel as it pursues conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon despite evidence of violations of international law are empowering belligerents elsewhere such as Russia and China, the head of Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned.

Tirana Hassan, HRW’s Executive Director, said that countries like the UK, US and Germany could influence Israel’s actions and should do so by ending arms sales, particularly if they “know that these weapons are being used in the commission of war crimes”.

Ms Hassan warned that governments arming Israel were undermining their own credibility as defenders of international law.

“It sends a message that these rules apply differently to us and our allies as they do to others, and that has really serious consequences,” she said, adding: “They are very quick to point out double standards from the West and are trying to use that to undermine the system.”

Ukrainian forces defending the eastern region of Donetsk are heading into the “moment of maximum tension” as Russian forces rush to take territory ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration next year, war monitors have claimed.

Mr Trump’s comprehensive victory in the US election, which came off the back of his promises to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, has brought into sharp relief the difficult situation on the frontline for Kyiv.

Russian forces have continued to make gains in the eastern region of Donetsk, advancing along several fronts towards the city of Pokrovsk, a linchpin of the wider area’s defence.

Moscow has also mobilised thousands of North Korean soldiers to push back the Ukrainian incursion into the border region of Kursk, with some success.

Our foreign affairs reporter Tom Watling reports:

Italian president Sergio Mattarella has met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on an official visit to China, despite tensions between China and Nato over Beijing’s support for Russia in its war against Ukraine.

The two exchanged greetings following a ceremony with full military honors at the Great Hall of the People in the heart of Beijing. In his opening remarks, Xi referred to the 700th anniversary of Italian adventurer and trader Marco Polo’s journey to China that encouraged cultural, economic and religious links between Europe and East Asia.

Any differences on political issues were not raised in front of the media and the two leaders later oversaw the signing of a series of agreements on matters from culture to technology and trade.

Hungary’s Viktor Orban – the EU leader closest to Vladimir Putin – has sought to cast doubt on whether Ukraine’s European allies can continue their support for Kyiv in its current form without US assistance, if Donald Trump opts to halt aid from Washington.

“This is a new situation,” he said of Mr Trump’s re-election. “If this is what’s going on across the pond, then this is going to affect us Europeans too. Europe cannot finance this war alone.”

Arriving at Friday’s EU summit in Hungary, the bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, downplayed concerns that a new US administration would lead Europe to change course in its support for Ukraine.

“We cannot outsource our capacity of action. Whatever happens in the US, we have our interests, we have our values,” Mr Borrell said.

Italy’s hard-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni added: “As long is there is a war, Italy is on the side of Ukraine.”

When he takes office in January, Donald Trump will inherit a raft of national security challenges, including major wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Less discussed are the growing nuclear threats facing the United States, including from Russia, China and Iran.

In the case of Russia, Mr Trump will have to manage the gravest tensions with Moscow in more than 60 years, in part fueled by Vladimir Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons in his war against Ukraine and his development of new weapons systems.

As overseer of the world’s biggest nuclear arsenal, Mr Putin has been modernising his nuclear forces and has rejected talks with Washington on replacing New Start, the last US-Russia arms limitation pact, when it expires on 5 February 2026.

US officials say Mr Putin remains within the limits set by the treaty despite his 2023 “suspension” of the pact that holds Russia and the United States to deploying 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads on 700 intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarines and bombers.

President Joe Biden and Putin agreed to an extension in 2021 but, as written, the pact can’t be extended further. Mr Trump opposed an extension in his first term, calling instead for a new treaty that included China – which spurned the proposal.