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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg poses with foreign ministers of member countries during the family photo at their meeting in Bucharest, Romania November 29, 2022 [Stoyan Nenov/Reuters]
By Edna Mohamed and Shyema Sajjad
Published On 29 Nov 2022

This blog is now closed, thank you for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Tuesday, November 29.

29 Nov 2022 - 19:57
 (19:57 GMT)

Germany to provide Ukraine with more than 350 generators

Germany has said that it will be providing Ukraine with more than 350 generators, after Russian missile strikes severely damaged Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and said Germany would dispatch the generators, as well as provide financial assistance to repair energy infrastructure worth 56 million euros ($58m), government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said.

People sit in a pub lit with candles during a power outage after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, in Lviv, Ukraine on November 24, 2022 [Roman Baluk/Reuters]
29 Nov 2022 - 19:25
 (19:25 GMT)

Biden, Macron ready to discuss Ukraine during state visit

French President Emmanuel Macron is heading to Washington for the first state visit of Joe Biden’s presidency this week.

Included in the long agenda for their Thursday meeting at the White House is Russia’s war in Ukraine, as both Biden and Macron work to maintain economic and military support for Kyiv as it tries to battle Russian forces.

Biden has so far steered clear of embracing Macron’s calls on Ukraine to resume peace talks with Russia, something Biden has repeatedly said is a decision solely in the hands of Ukraine’s leadership.

29 Nov 2022 - 18:55
 (18:55 GMT)

US and NATO are failing Ukraine: Former US envoy

Former US Ambassador to NATO Robert Hunter has expressed his concern at the amount of military aid coming to Ukraine from NATO countries.

“It’s surprising that the alliance led by the US has not done more so far in terms of anti-drone and anti-missile defences,” Hunter said while speaking to Al Jazeera from Washington, DC.

Hunter said that it had been obvious throughout autumn that when winter came, even though the Ukrainians would continue to fight a “valiant fight”, Russia would try to gain an advantage by targeting the sources of power and heat in Ukraine.

In response to Ukraine’s foreign minister’s earlier appeal at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest, Hunter said, “Faster, faster, faster, has to mean immediately, not something to be talked about and maybe done in a few months.”

The former US envoy said that steps could have been taken to counter the destruction Russia was doing in Ukraine instead of just repairing the damage.

“The US and the NATO, quite frankly, are failing Ukraine.”

People wait in line to collect water, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, November 24, 2022. Residents of Ukraine’s capital clutched empty bottles in search of water and crowded into cafés for power and warmth, switching defiantly into survival mode after new Russian missile attacks a day earlier plunged the city and much of the country into the dark [Evgeniy Maloletka/AP]
29 Nov 2022 - 18:14
 (18:14 GMT)

Ukraine’s foreign minister calls for faster deliveries of weapons, aid

Ukraine has urged NATO members to speed up their weapons deliveries and help restore its shattered power grid as it faces Russian attacks while winter sets in.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for supplies of weapons, especially advanced air defence systems, to come “faster, faster, faster” as he joined a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest.

“When we have transformers and generators, we can restore our system, our energy grid, and provide people with decent living conditions,” Kuleba said.

“When we have air defence systems, we will be able to protect this infrastructure from the next Russian missile strikes,” he argued.

He made the appeal after NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg accused Putin of targeting infrastructure in a bid to use the winter as “a weapon of war” against Ukraine.

29 Nov 2022 - 16:58
 (16:58 GMT)

Poland plans to charge Ukrainian refugees for food and housing

The Polish government plans to charge Ukrainian refugees for food and housing after four months of staying in state accommodation.

More than a million Ukrainian refugees made a temporary home in Poland, Ukraine’s western neighbour, after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, relying on the kindness of strangers who opened up their homes and government aid.

But resources are drying up, and refugees are having a harder time finding flats and getting support, with Poland facing a cost of living crisis and budget strains.

“Citizens of Ukraine who stay in Poland in collective accommodation centres will participate in the costs of housing and meals,” the government said in a statement.

Those staying in such accommodation, for example, government-funded hotel rooms or school dormitories, longer than 120 days will have to cover 50 percent of the cost up to 40 zlotys ($8.87) per day, per person.

After 180 days, it would be 75 percent of the cost up to 60 zlotys ($13.27). Those unable to work because of their age or disability would be excluded, as would pregnant women, according to the plan.

The government wants the new rules to apply from March 1, 2023. The bill will go to parliament, where it is expected to pass.

29 Nov 2022 - 16:38
 (16:38 GMT)

Russia accuses Washington of ‘hostility’

Moscow accused the United States of toxic anti-Russian behaviour and said this prompted it to postpone nuclear arms talks with US officials in Cairo this week.

“In all areas, we note the highest level of toxicity and hostility from Washington,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram.

“As part of the all-out hybrid war unleashed against us, almost every US step towards Russia is subject to a pathological desire to harm our country wherever possible.”

29 Nov 2022 - 16:14
 (16:14 GMT)

Lithuania says NATO powers must send modern tanks to Ukraine

NATO powers must send modern battle tanks to Ukraine to give it a military edge against Russian forces during the winter, Lithuania’s foreign minister says

Kyiv has repeatedly asked NATO to supply it with state-of-the-art tanks as it seeks to consolidate gains it has made in counteroffensives in recent months.

But Western powers have been reluctant to go down that road for fear it could raise the risk of direct conflict with Russia.

“I’ve talked to a number of military experts, and the answer I’m hearing is that if we provided tanks by this winter, let’s say January, it could make a difference,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told reporters during a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Bucharest.

29 Nov 2022 - 15:59
 (15:59 GMT)

‘We need air defence’, says Ukraine’s foreign minister

Ukraine urged its Western partners to supply it with air defence systems and transformers to brace Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure.

“We need air defence, IRIS, Hawks, Patriots, and we need transformers,” Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Bucharest, singling out various Western air defence systems.

“If we have transformers and generators, we can restore our energy needs. If we have air defence systems, we can protect from the next Russian missile strikes. In a nutshell: Patriots and transformers is what Ukraine needs the most.”

29 Nov 2022 - 15:43
 (15:43 GMT)

NATO members call Russia’s attacks ‘unconscionable’

NATO foreign ministers pledged to support Ukraine and help repair its energy infrastructure amid a wave of Russian attacks that have knocked out power supplies and heating for millions of Ukrainians.

“Russia’s aggression, including its persistent and unconscionable attacks on Ukrainian civilian and energy infrastructure, is depriving millions of Ukrainians of basic human services,” the foreign ministers said in a statement after the first day of talks in Bucharest.

They condemned Russia’s cruelty against Ukraine’s civilians and promised to assist the country as it repairs its energy infrastructure.

“We will continue and further step up political and practical support to Ukraine as it continues to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity…and will maintain our support for as long as necessary,” the statement noted.

Foreign ministers also confirmed a 2008 NATO summit decision that Ukraine would eventually become a member of the alliance.

29 Nov 2022 - 15:32
 (15:32 GMT)

The US grants $53m to Ukraine for power grid equipment

The United States grants $53m to support the purchase of power grid equipment to Ukraine to help Kyiv fight Russian attacks targeting its energy infrastructure.

“This equipment will be rapidly delivered to Ukraine on an emergency basis to help Ukrainians persevere through the winter,” a Department of State statement said, adding that the package would include distribution transformers, circuit breakers, and surge arresters, among other equipment.

Russia has been carrying out massive attacks on Ukraine’s electricity transmission and heating infrastructure roughly weekly since October, in what Kyiv and its allies say is a deliberate campaign to harm civilians and a war crime.

29 Nov 2022 - 15:21
 (15:21 GMT)

First Russian fertiliser shipment leaves the Netherlands for Malawi

The first shipment of Russian-produced fertiliser left the Netherlands to Malawi under a previously brokered United Nations export deal, a spokesperson for the UN secretary-general said in a statement.

The spokesperson said that the shipment of 20,000 tonnes of fertiliser is the first of a series of exports destined for Africa in the coming months, adding that Tuesday’s delivery will be sent to Malawi via Mozambique.

Exports of 260,000 tonnes of Russian fertiliser products stored in Europe will be exported and “serve to alleviate humanitarian needs and prevent catastrophic crop loss in Africa, where it is currently planting season,” a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

“The United Nations is continuing intense diplomatic efforts with all parties to ensure the unimpeded exports of critical food and fertilisers from Ukraine and the Russian Federation, exempt from sanction regimes, to the world markets,” the spokesperson added.

29 Nov 2022 - 15:07
 (15:07 GMT)

Ukraine detains Kherson city council deputy

Ukraine has arrested a deputy head of Kherson’s city council on suspicion of aiding and abetting Russian occupation forces, Ukraine’s state prosecutor said.

The prosecutor said the Kherson official, who was not named in the statement, cooperated with the occupation authorities and helped with the functioning of public services under the Russians.

The official faces up to 12 years in prison under the allegations if prosecuted and found guilty.

Ukraine has legislation criminalising the act of collaboration, but the Kherson city council official is suspected of the slightly different crime of “assisting an aggressor state”.

Russian forces pulled out of the city in early November and crossed to the other side of the Dnieper River.

29 Nov 2022 - 14:44
 (14:44 GMT)

Russia has lost Europe as a client ‘forever’: IEA Chief

The International Energy Agency expects Russian crude production to be curtailed by about 2 million barrels of oil per day by the end of the first quarter of next year, its chief, Fatih Birol, told Reuters news agency on the sidelines of an energy conference.

Birol added that Russia has lost Europe as its largest energy client “forever”.

29 Nov 2022 - 14:19
 (14:19 GMT)

US involvement in conflict brings growing risks: TASS

Russia is signalling to the United States that increasing involvement in the Ukrainian conflict brings growing risks, state news agency TASS quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying.

The Interfax news agency also quoted Ryabkov as saying, “We are sending signals to the Americans that their line of escalation and ever more profound involvement in this conflict is fraught with dire consequences. The risks are growing.”

A US official told Reuters news agency that a special “deconfliction” line between the Russian and US militaries had been used once since the start of the war. Still, Ryabkov said he was not “aware” of any channels.

“We do not have any dialogue with the United States on the Ukraine topic because our positions are radically different,” he said.

29 Nov 2022 - 14:06
 (14:06 GMT)

Finland to purchase more weapons from US

The US Department of State has approved a second arms sale to Finland within a month, helping Russia’s Nordic neighbour in its bid to strengthen its defences due to the war in Ukraine, Finland and the United States said.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Finland’s government decided to grant an additional 1.7 billion euros ($1.77bn) to arms and other defence material purchases this year alone.

“A very significant share of it will go to [purchases] from the US,” Governmental Counsellor Iikka Marttila from Finland’s Defence Ministry said.

The State Department said the proposed sale of AIM 9X Block II tactical missiles, AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapons and related equipment for an estimated $323.3m would improve Finland’s air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons capabilities.

Finland has been building its own defence capabilities for decades, but after Russia initiated its “special military operation” in Ukraine, Finland applied to join the Western military alliance NATO in a security policy U-turn together with neighbouring Sweden.

“Of course we stress our own position as Russia’s neighbour and seek to influence in the way that we could purchase these as quickly as possible,” Marttila told Reuters, adding the latest purchases would be approved by the ministry early next year.

29 Nov 2022 - 13:48
 (13:48 GMT)

Zambian student was fighting as part of the Wagner group, says Prigozhin

Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin says a Zambian student who died in Ukraine had been fighting for his Wagner private military group.

Russia previously notified Zambia that Lemekhani Nyirenda had been killed on the battlefield in Ukraine in September, prompting Zambia to ask Moscow for more details and an explanation of how he had ended up fighting in the war.

Nyirenda’s father said he had been serving a nine-year jail sentence on the outskirts of Moscow for a drug offence when he was “conscripted” to fight.

In a written response to a question from a reporter about whether the Zambian had been fighting for Wagner, Prigozhin said, “Yes, I remember this guy well.”

He added that Nyirenda had died a “hero” and that he was “one of the first to break into the enemy trenches on September 22”.

Al Jazeera could not verify the circumstances of Nyirenda’s death or that he had joined Wagner voluntarily.

29 Nov 2022 - 13:21
 (13:21 GMT)

Who controls what?

Al Jazeera has four maps, which it updates daily, charting the latest war developments.

29 Nov 2022 - 13:18
 (13:18 GMT)

‘Russians will be so happy if we start to fight inside the country’: Klitschko

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, has said it was not “smart” of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accuse him of failing the capital’s residents.

Old tensions between the pair were reignited recently when Zelenskyy said Klitschko was not doing enough to restart power and water supplies in the city after a barrage of Russian bombs targeted energy facilities and plunged the nation into darkness.

“We have a lot of problems with our infrastructure,” Klitschko said. It was not smart to try to “find someone guilty inside” Ukraine, he added.

“We have to defend the country. … The Russians will be so happy if we start to fight inside the country.

“We need to fix the problems we have now to deliver services to our citizens.”

 

29 Nov 2022 - 12:50
 (12:50 GMT)

NATO chief: Ukraine can one day join the alliance

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has reaffirmed the alliance’s commitment to Ukraine, saying they will one day become a NATO member.

Stoltenberg’s remarks came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his NATO counterparts gathered in Romania to discuss increased support for Ukraine as Moscow continues to bombard energy infrastructure.

“NATO’s door is open,” Stoltenberg said.

“Russia does not have a veto” on countries joining, he said about the recent entry of North Macedonia and Montenegro into the security alliance. He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin “will get Finland and Sweden as NATO members” soon.

The Nordic neighbours applied for membership in April, concerned that Russia might target them next.

“We stand by that, too, on membership for Ukraine,” the former Norwegian prime minister said.

29 Nov 2022 - 12:34
 (12:34 GMT)

Moscow had ‘no other choice’ but to cancel talks with Washington

Moscow says it had “no other choice” but to cancel talks with the United States over inspections under the “New START” nuclear weapons control treaty, Russian state-run news agencies reported.

Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said Washington had wanted to discuss resuming inspections while Moscow had other priorities.

The situation in Ukraine also played a part in Russia’s last-minute decision to scrap the meeting of the bilateral commission, which had been due to begin in Cairo on Tuesday.

Ryabkov said it was unlikely any meeting between the two sides would occur this year, news agencies reported.