Closing summary
The UK Ministry of Defence said Russia’s military was being overextended by the war in Ukraine. In its latest daily intelligence update, the MoD said that the likely need for Russia to reallocate surface-to-air missile (Sam) systems from distant parts of its territory to maintain coverage over Ukraine showed the conflict was straining its military.
A Ukrainian diplomat said a global peace summit for Ukraine may take place next year. The Ukrainian president’s top diplomatic adviser, Ihor Zhovkva, said it might take place in February 2024.
Ukraine said queues were growing at its border with Poland as Polish lorry drivers continued to block crossings for a fourth day. The protests, which started on Monday, involved the drivers blocking three border crossings with Ukraine. They are protesting against competition from Ukrainian drivers.
Ukraine told its western allies that giving it the interest accrued from frozen Russian assets would not be enough to compensate for damage sustained by the war and that it hoped to receive the assets in full. Ukraine’s deputy justice minister, Iryna Mudra, said Kyiv’s partners were considering introducing a tax on income or investment of frozen Russian assets, an idea she said Kyiv welcomed but saw as insufficient.
Germany issued new defence policy guidelines for the first time in over a decade. The 19-page document details what the Zeitenwende, the major shift of policy German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, means for the workings of Germany’s military.
Hungary said the EU should not start membership talks with Ukraine. EU leaders are expected to decide next month whether to accept the European Commission’s recommendation to invite Kyiv to begin membership talks with the bloc, but Hungary prefers a form of “privileged partnership” for Ukraine, rather than full membership.
But Ukraine will be able to overcome Hungary’s political opposition to its progress on EU membership, according to Kyiv’s minister for European integration, Olga Stefanishyna. “We understand that there is a such a statement, but we also understand there is a dialogue with Budapest,” she said.
Updated
Ukraine says global 'peace summit' may take place next year
A global “peace summit” for Ukraine may take place in February 2024, according to a top Kyiv official.
Ihor Zhovkva, the Ukrainian president’s top diplomatic adviser, told Reuters that the country would arrange a fourth meeting of national security advisers in late November or early December “and the global summit might take place in February 2024,” he said in a written statement.
“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.”
The peace formula is a 10-point plan calling 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.
News of the summit comes as concerns mount in the west that the war in Gaza is making it harder to win over diplomatic support for Kyiv’s blueprint for peace.
The peace formula talks will not involve Russia, which has rejected the plan, saying it would be impossible to implement.
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