16:13
Kiev accuses Nestlé of supporting the war in Ukraine
Ukraine, through its National Anti-Corruption Agency (NAZK), on Thursday added Nestlé to its list of “international supporters of war” due to its activities in Russia, accusing the Swiss agri-food giant of “feeding the aggressor.” However, this award, which the agency gives to international companies, has no legal consequences.
“Despite Russian aggression against Ukraine, Nestlé continues to operate in the aggressor country, supplying the population with products and expanding its production in the country,” the agency said in a statement. In her opinion, the group is not only “feeding the aggressor,” but is also “showing Russia itself that, despite the numerous war crimes committed in Ukraine, it remains integrated into the world market.”
10:45
Putin signs Russia’s withdrawal from the nuclear test ban treaty
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed the law repealing the ratification of the Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). The document, published on the official legal information portal, was approved by the Upper House of the Russian Parliament at the end of October.
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was opened for signature in 1996 but never entered into force because it was not ratified by a sufficient number of states – a necessary step for its entry into force – among the 44 states that had nuclear weapons installations Time of their creation.
10:43
Fewer Russian attacks around the disputed town of Avdiivka, the Ukrainian army says
The number of Russian attacks has “decreased slightly” around the city of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow’s forces have been carrying out heavy attacks for several weeks, a Russian spokesman said on Thursday. “The enemy continues to try to surround Avdiivka, but in a less active way at the moment,” Oleksandre Chtoupoune added. But in his opinion this relative calm could only be temporary. “The enemy is gathering forces, regrouping, perhaps in the near future they will try to advance with a new wave.”
06:52
Help for Ukraine: Debates begin today in the US Congress
Will the main base in Kiev decide to scale back? Starting today, the American Congress will debate its support for the Ukrainian military effort amid disagreements between the House of Representatives and the Senate – which, on the other hand, agree to pass aid measures for Israel as quickly as possible.
Washington is the largest donor of military aid to Kiev, providing tens of billions of dollars since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. But Joe Biden’s promise to continue financial support for Ukraine, which he reiterated during President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Washington in September, is in jeopardy.
On one side of the American Congress, there is the House of Representatives, which is dominated by conservatives and where a handful of right-wing elected officials are calling for an immediate end to aid to Kiev. On the other hand, there is the Senate with a Democratic majority, where the Republican opposition is overwhelmingly in favor of aid to Ukraine.
Aware of the risk of tiring part of the American political class, President Joe Biden decided to combine his request for aid to Ukraine – more than $61 billion – with that for Israel, around $14 billion.
Joe Biden also wants the funds to stand up to China militarily, by investing in submarines, and economically, by competing with large-scale Chinese projects in developing countries. The 80-year-old Democrat also estimates he would need just over $9 billion to respond to international humanitarian crises, including in the Gaza Strip. All for a total of almost $106 billion.
05:08
General Valeriy Zaluzhny admits the war is at a “dead end.”
The chief of staff of the Ukrainian army admits to The Economist magazine that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is not satisfactory five months after it was launched. Ukraine only gained 17 kilometers, estimates Valeri Zalouzhny, who remembers that the Russian army fought in Bakhmut for ten months “to take a city measuring six by six kilometers.” The general compares the battlefield in Ukraine to the “First World War.” “We have reached a technological level where we are at a dead end,” he says. “It is very likely that there will not be a deep and great breakthrough,” adds Valeri Zalouzhny, who believes that a huge leap in technology is needed to get out of this trench warfare. “The fact is that we see everything the enemy does and he sees everything we do. To get out of this impasse, we need something new,” he explains. Therefore, “we must harness the power of new technologies,” the general continues.
He also admits that he was wrong when he thought he could stop Russia by inflicting significant losses on it. “It was my mistake. Russia lost at least 150,000 men. In any other country, such losses would have ended the war. But not in Russia, where the two world conflicts claimed millions of lives.