Ukraine updates: Price cap ‘comfortable’ for Moscow – Zelenskyy
Moscow says it will continue to find buyers for its oil despite Western governments’ attempts to put a price cap on it.
This blog is now closed, thank you for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Saturday, December 3.
This blog is now closed, thank you for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Saturday, December 3.
- All European Union governments have completed the written approval of the $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne oil, the European Commission has said.
- Russia “will not accept” a price cap after G7 nations, Australia and the EU agreed to cap the price of Russian seaborne oil at $60 a barrel.
- Russia says it will continue to find buyers for its oil despite “dangerous” price caps.
- The price cap should be $30 per barrel “to destroy the enemy’s economy quicker”, a senior Ukraine official said.
- Officials in the southern region of Kherson announced they would help citizens evacuate from parts of Russian-occupied territory on the east bank of the Dnieper river during intensified fighting.
Ukraine issues sanctions on senior clerics in pro-Moscow church
Ukraine is slapping sanctions on 10 senior clerics linked to a pro-Moscow church on the grounds they agreed to work with Russian occupation authorities or justified Moscow’s invasion, the security service has said.
In a statement, the security service said the 10 clerics had variously agreed to cooperate with occupation authorities, promoted pro-Russian narratives and justified Russian military aggression in Ukraine.
“The Security Service of Ukraine continues to carry out comprehensive work on the protection of Ukrainian statehood and will continue to expose persons who threaten the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” it said.
The sanctions will last for five years, freezing the assets of those on the list, blocking them from exporting capital from Ukraine and preventing them from owning land.
Russia intentionally targeting civilians in Ukraine, US defence chief says
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has accused Russia of “deliberate cruelty” in its war in Ukraine, saying Moscow is intentionally targeting civilians.
“With deliberate cruelty, Russia is putting civilians and civilian targets in its gunsights,” Austin told the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California.
“Russian attacks have left children dead, schools shattered and hospitals smashed,” he said.
Putin not sincere about peace talks now, says US diplomat
Russian President Vladimir Putin is not sincere about peace talks with Ukraine at this time, a top US diplomat has said after meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other senior Ukrainian officials in Kyiv.
“Diplomacy is obviously everyone’s objective but you have to have a willing partner,” US Undersecretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said while visiting Ukraine.
“And it’s very clear, whether it’s the energy attacks, whether it’s the rhetoric out of the Kremlin and the general attitude, that Putin is not sincere or ready for that.”
Price cap level on Russian oil ‘not serious’: Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that the $60 price cap set on Russian oil agreed by the EU, G7 and Australia is not “serious” because it is “quite comfortable” for Moscow.
It is “only a matter of time when stronger tools will have to be used anyway”, Zelenskyy argued, adding, “It is a pity that this time will be lost.”
Zelenskyy said the world had shown weakness by setting the cap at $60, which he said would swell Russia’s budget by $100bn a year.
“This money will … go towards further destabilisation of precisely those countries that are now trying to avoid serious decisions,” he said.
Russia pledges to sell oil despite ‘dangerous’ price cap
Calling the price cap plan “a dangerous attempt by Western governments”, Russia says that it will not affect the demand for Russian oil.
Moscow has added that it will continue to find alternative buyers.
Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands in Kyiv has more on the latest developments:
EU governments complete approval of Russian oil price cap
All European Union governments have completed the written approval of a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne oil, the European Commission has said, paving the way for its publication in the EU’s Official Journal and entry into force on December 5.
“The G7 and all EU Member States have taken a decision that will hit Russia’s revenues even harder and reduce its ability to wage war in Ukraine,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.
“It will also help us to stabilise global energy prices, benefiting countries across the world who are currently confronted with high oil prices,” she said.
Russia, Belarus defence ministers discuss bilateral military cooperation
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has held talks with his Belarusian counterpart, Viktor Khrenin, the state-run Belta news agency said.
The news agency reported that both sides discussed bilateral military cooperation and amended an agreement on the “joint provision of regional security”.
Russia and Belarus are formally part of a “union state” and are closely allied economically and militarily, with Moscow using Belarus as a staging post for its invasion of Ukraine.
Although Belarus has said it will not enter the war in Ukraine, President Alexander Lukashenko has in the past ordered troops to deploy with Russian forces near the Ukrainian border citing threats to Belarus from Kyiv and the West.
Europe must address Putin’s ‘fear’ over security for peace talks: Macron
French President Emmanuel Macron has suggested that the West should consider how to address Russia’s security concerns if President Putin agrees to negotiations over the war in Ukraine.
In an interview with French TV station TF1, recorded during Macron’s state visit to the US last week, he said Europe needs to prepare its future security architecture.
“This means that one of the essential points we must address – as President Putin has always said – is the fear that NATO comes right up to its doors and the deployment of weapons that could threaten Russia,” Macron said.
“That topic will be part of the topics for peace, so we need to prepare what we are ready to do, how we protect our allies and member states, and how to give guarantees to Russia the day it returns to the negotiating table,” Macron said.
But many in Ukraine and the West are strongly opposed to any negotiation with Putin that would reward him with concessions.
Russia’s official: ‘Europe will live without Russian oil’
Russian foreign officer Mikhail Ulyanov warned that Europe will have to live without their oil due to imposed price cap that Moscow rejects.
Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Ulyanov, wrote on Twitter that “Europe will live without Russian oil”.
“Moscow has already made it clear that it will not supply oil to those countries that support anti-market price caps. Very soon the EU will accuse Russia of using oil as a weapon.”
Starting from this year #Europe will live w/o Russian oil. #Moscow has already made it clear that it will NOT supply #oil to those countries who support anti-market price cap. Very soon the #EU will blame #Russia for using oil as a weapon.
— Mikhail Ulyanov (@Amb_Ulyanov) December 3, 2022
Putin will visit east Ukraine ‘in due time’, Kremlin spokesman says
Russian President Vladimir Putin will “in due time” visit the annexed Donbas region in east Ukraine, the Kremlin told Russian news agencies.
“In due time this will happen, of course. This is a region of the Russian Federation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, without indicating when this could happen.
In late September, Putin formally annexed Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions that were partially occupied by Russian forces in east Ukraine.
Kremlin: Russia ‘will not accept’ oil price cap
Russia “will not accept” the oil price cap of $60 a barrel imposed by the G7 and its allies on Russian oil, the state news agency quoted the Kremlin.
“We will not accept this ceiling,” TASS quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
He added that Moscow had prepared for the price cap and was quickly analysing it. Russia would then say how it would respond.
UK arrests ‘Russian businessman’ over alleged money laundering
The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has arrested a “wealthy Russian businessman” on suspicion of money laundering and other offences.
The unidentified 58-year-old was detained with two other men on Thursday by officers from the Combatting Kleptocracy Cell (CKC) at a “multimillion-pound residence” in London, the NCA said.
He was arrested on suspicion of money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the Home Office and conspiracy to commit perjury, it said.
All three have been released on police bail.
NCA Director General Graeme Biggar said the CKC was having a significant effect on oligarchs’ criminal activity, the professional service providers that supported them and those linked to the Russian government.
The UK has so far sanctioned more than 1,200 individuals and more than 120 entities since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February.
Russian forces ‘continue to attack civilian infrastructure’
Russian forces continue to attack civilian infrastructure in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions during the past day, according to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
Russia launched five missile attacks, 27 air raids and 44 rocket launcher attacks on Ukrainian towns and cities, it said in a Facebook post. The targeted settlements were Soledar, Opytne, Nevelske, Krasnohorivka, and Marinka in Donetsk Oblast, as well as Chervonopopivka in Luhansk Oblast.
The Ukrainian military repelled attacks near six towns and villages in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, it said, adding that Russian forces continue to attack Ukrainian troops in the Bakhmut and Avdiivka directions.
Russia has lost 90,600 troops, Ukraine says
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports that Russia has lost 90,600 troops since the war started in Ukraine on February 24.
They also wrote on Facebook that Russia has lost 2,917 tanks, 5,886 armored fighting vehicles, 1,906 artillery systems, 395 multiple launch rocket systems, 210 air defence systems, 280 aeroplanes, 263 helicopters, 1,572 drones, and 16 boats.
Photos: Ukrainians face hardship in recaptured Kherson
At the beginning of November, Russia withdrew from the Ukrainian city of Kherson following an eight-month occupation, but ever since it has faced multiple attacks and escalation, leaving several dozens killed and millions of people in the dark.
However, hardship for the city’s residents is far from over.
Click here to see a photo gallery of Kherson residents as they undergo almost daily power outages, water shortages and deadly shelling.
Estonia to buy rocket artillery system in $200M deal
Estonia is boosting its defence capabilities by buying an advanced US rocket artillery system in the Baltic country’s largest arms procurement project ever, defence officials said.
NATO member and Russia’s neighbour signed a deal worth more than $200m for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), including equipment such as ammunition and rockets as well as training.
“The HIMARS multiple rocket launchers are a new important step in the development of Estonia’s defence capabilities,” Lieutenant-Colonel Kaarel Maesalu, head of the capability development department at the Estonian Defence Forces. “This makes it possible to decisively influence the enemy even before coming into contact with our infantry units.”
The first deliveries are expected to come in 2024.
Estonia’s Baltic neighbours Latvia and Lithuania either have or are currently in the process of acquiring their own HIMARS, citing security concerns amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
People attempt to steal Banksy’s mural
Police arrested a group of individuals who attempted to slice the mural by graffiti artist Banksy off a war-damaged wall in the city of Hostomel, near Kyiv, Ukraine.
The group managed to slice off a section of board and plaster bearing the image of a woman in a gas mask and dressing gown holding a fire extinguisher on the side of a scorched building.
The governor of the Kyiv region Oleksiy Kuleba said in a statement that the image was still intact and police were protecting it.
“These images are, after all, symbols of our struggle against the enemy … We’ll do everything to preserve these works of street art as a symbol of our victory,” he said.
Ukraine’s Kuleba holds conference over ‘threats’ to the diplomatic missions
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held a conference with Ukrainian ambassadors amid “threats” to the country’s diplomatic missions.
“As of today, there are 18 cases of threats in 12 countries: an attempted terrorist attack in Spain, packages with threats in the form of torn out animal eyes in Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, the Vatican, France, reports of mining in Kazakhstan, as well as a suspicious letter in the US,” Kuleba wrote on Instagram.
According to Kuleba, “terrorists are trying to intimidate Ukrainian diplomats and weaken and intimidate Ukraine” through such actions.
Ukrainian embassies and consulates in six European countries received “bloody packages” containing animals’ eyes.
In addition, the Ukrainian Embassy in the US received a letter with “an article critical of Ukraine.” While Ukraine’s embassy in Madrid received a letter bomb this week.
Germany’s Scholz: ‘It was right for us to support Ukraine’
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said it was “right” to support Ukraine during his assessmet of the first year of three-party coalition which has been overshadowed by the war in Ukraine.
“Of course, this year has been marked first and foremost by Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine,” he said in his weekly video message.
“Every day we see the destruction. Every day we follow how many people become victims of Russian bombs. And that’s why it was right for us to support Ukraine, financially, for humanitarian reasons and also with weapons.”
Sweden extradite convicted PKK member to Turkey
Sweden has extradited a convicted member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to Turkey as a step towards NATO membership amid Ankara’s pressure, state media reported.
Mahmut Tat was sentenced to six years and 10 months in jail for PKK membership in Turkey. He then fled to Sweden in 2015 but his asylum request was rejected.
After Tat’s arrival at Istanbul airport, he was taken by Turkish police and referred to court on Saturday, the private NTV broadcaster reported.
In May, Finland and Sweden announced their bids to join NATO because of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
But Turkey has hindered the process over Ankara’s “legitimate” concerns as it has accused Finland and Sweden in particular of providing a safe haven for outlawed Kurdish groups it deems “terrorists”, and held back on ratifying their NATO bids.
Russia plans to surround Bakhmut town, UK says
Russia is likely planning to encircle the Donetsk region’s town of Bakhmut with tactical advances to the north and south, Britain’s defence ministry said.
“There is a realistic possibility that Bakhmut’s capture has become primarily a symbolic, political objective for Russia,” the ministry said.
The capture of Bakhmut would have limited operational value but it can potentially allow Russia to threaten Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, it added.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 03 December 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/Agl34uAcBo
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/5Zv0s649gC
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) December 3, 2022
Evacuations to start from Russian-occupied territory in Kherson
Kherson officials announced they would help citizens evacuate from parts of Russian-occupied territory on the east bank of the Dnieper River as battles escalate.
Regional Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said officials were temporarily lifting a ban on crossings to let Ukrainians living across the river to traverse during the daytime to a designated point.
“Evacuation is necessary due to the possible intensification of hostilities in this area,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
The liberated city of Kherson is on the west bank of the Dnieper, while the rest of the region is on the east bank and still under Russia’s control.
Yanushevych said the ban on river crossings would be lifted through Monday.
Biden has ‘no intention’ to speak to Putin
US President Joe Biden does not intend to speak to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin about ending the Ukraine war as conditions for such discussions currently do not exist, the White House said.
“We’re just not at a point now where talks seem to be a fruitful avenue to approach right now,” national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.
Russia said the West must recognise Moscow’s declared annexation in September of “new territories” before any talks with Putin.
“The president of the Russian Federation has always been, is, and remains open to negotiations in order to ensure our interests,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Zelenskyy’s chief of staff: ‘Necessary to lower it to $30’ per barrel
The price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil agreed to by Western countries should be lowered to $30 per barrel to hit Russia’s economy harder, a senior Ukrainian presidential aide said.
“This was everything that was proposed by the McFaul-Yermak group, but it would be necessary to lower it to $30 to destroy the enemy’s economy quicker,” Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, wrote on Telegram, referencing an international working group on sanctions.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 283
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