Ukraine recap: with winter closing in Zelensky resists calls to negotiate – but Gaza war adds to pressure

Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine has ground on, day by day, metre by metre.

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https://theconversation.com/ukraine-recap-with-winter-closing-in-zelensky-resists-calls-to-negotiate-but-gaza-war-adds-to-pressure-217408https://theconversation.com/ukraine-recap-with-winter-closing-in-zelensky-resists-calls-to-negotiate-but-gaza-war-adds-to-pressure-217408
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Jeudi, novembre 9, 2023
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Résumé
Key Points: 
  • Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine has ground on, day by day, metre by metre.
  • Reports from the frontline are that Russia has committed significant forces to the offensive, and suffered heavy losses.
  • In the south, the progress of Ukraine’s counteroffensive remains slow, according to Ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who was speaking at Reuters NEXT conference this week.
  • Read more:
    Ukraine war: stalemate on the battlefield and shaky international support putting pressure on Zelensky
  • You can also subscribe to our fortnightly recap of expert analysis of the conflict in Ukraine.
  • This of course, won’t play well with Ukraine’s western donors who want to see concrete evidence of successes on the battlefield.
  • But Russian troops, she writes, also know a great deal about fighting in winter conditions.
  • Read more:
    Ukraine and Russia claim to be prepared for extremes of winter warfare – here's what they face

Weaponising grain

  • Since Russia pulled out of the grain deal in July it has said it regards all shipping moving in and out of Ukrainian ports as legitimate targets.
  • This poses a major threat to Ukrainian grain exports and global food security as winter approaches.

Cold war getting warmer

  • Tensions ratcheted up this week when Russia announced it was pulling out of an important cold war-era treaty which placed verifiable limits on certain types of military equipment that either side could deploy, such as tanks, aircraft and artillery pieces.
  • Read more:
    Russia's decision to ditch cold war arms limitation treaty raises tensions with Nato

The diplomatic front

  • The fact is that Moscow has warm relations with all parties to the conflict in Gaza, certainly more so than Washington, which proscribes Hamas as a terrorist organisation.
  • She also notes that Hamas officials have visited Moscow three times since the war in Ukraine.
  • Russia, she says, is probably the only country Hamas would trust to broker some sort of a peace deal.
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