The situation at a glance: Zelensky is talking to NATO about further aid to Ukraine

Top representatives of leading European NATO states want to talk to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj today about further support options for his country. According to information from the German Press Agency from alliance circles, the evening meeting organized by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will also be about possible security guarantees in the event of a ceasefire with Russia.

In addition to Zelenskyj, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), the heads of state and government of France, Poland and Italy as well as British Foreign Minister David Lammy were expected to take part in the talks. Top representatives of the European Union such as EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will also be there. There was no official confirmation of the date or the guest list until recently. Only a meeting between Rutte and Zelensky in the Brussels residence of the NATO Secretary General was confirmed by NATO on Tuesday evening.

Who could control a ceasefire?

According to dpa information, one topic in the talks could be how a possible future ceasefire in Ukraine could be monitored. One option is to station an international peacekeeping force in the country that is aspiring to join NATO and has been resisting the Russian war of aggression with Western help for almost three years.

The background to the considerations on security guarantees is the assumption that Donald Trump, as US President, could try to pressure Ukraine and Russia to negotiate. To do this, he could threaten to stop Ukraine’s military aid if it refused. In turn, he could threaten Russian President Vladimir Putin to further expand military aid to Kiev if the Kremlin chief refuses to negotiate.

New NATO-Ukraine command in Hesse begins work

Meanwhile, NATO announced the start of work for the new Ukraine command in Wiesbaden. It is called NSATU (NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine) and is intended to take over responsibility from US and international organizational units that were set up to support Ukraine shortly after the start of the war in February 2022, according to the top headquarters of the Allied Forces in Europe .

The establishment of the new NATO-Ukraine command was decided in the summer at the alliance summit in Washington. It will be responsible for coordinating arms deliveries and training activities for the Ukrainian armed forces.

Until recently, these tasks were primarily carried out by the US armed forces. At the end of 2022, they set up a unit of around 300 soldiers called the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine (SAG-U) at the European headquarters of the US armed forces in Wiesbaden. There are now supposed to be around 700 employees working for NATO, of which Germany provides around 40, including Major General Hartmut Renk, also the deputy commander. Renk explained on Tuesday that in addition to the tasks of the SAG-U, those of the international donor coordination center (IDCC) would also be taken over.

Russia wants to make the murder of a general an issue in the UN

Russia, which, according to Defense Minister Andrei Beloussov, must prepare for a direct confrontation with NATO and should be ready for this in the next ten years, is repeatedly warning of a further escalation in the war that the Kremlin itself started. The Russian troops are receiving support from soldiers from North Korea, some of whom have already been killed, according to the US State Department. According to a senior military officer quoted by US media, casualties are believed to be in the hundreds.

Moscow also wants to raise the bombing of the prominent Russian general Igor Kirillov in Moscow this Friday (December 20) in the United Nations Security Council. “Those responsible for this crime must be deservedly punished and face the unequivocal condemnation of the entire international community,” said Russian Deputy Ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyansky. The UN meeting will focus on Western arms deliveries to Ukraine and their consequences for a peaceful solution to the war.

The Ukrainian secret service SBU unofficially claimed the assassination attempt as its work. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also blames the West, which supports Ukraine in its defensive war, for the murder of Kirillov and an aide. The West has been helping Ukraine with its “criminal acts” for years, she said.

The explosion occurred on Tuesday morning when Kirillov was leaving his home and an explosive device planted in a parked electric scooter detonated. There have already been several bomb attacks against military personnel and propagandists in Russia.

Ukrainian soldiers are said to have spied for Russia

Meanwhile, a case of espionage is shaking Ukraine. On behalf of Russia, Ukrainian soldiers are said to have spied out the movements of the F-16 fighter jets and other military secrets. Four army personnel were arrested in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office in Kiev said.

The main suspect is a soldier who is sympathetic to Russia. He recruited three comrades to collect information and told them he was working for Ukrainian secret services. The SBU secret service even spoke of a network of twelve people. Some of them deserted from army service. There were no independent confirmations of the information.

Where the few US-made F-16 jets provided by Western countries are based and deployed is one of Ukraine’s most important military secrets. Russia repeatedly hunts down the machines with missile attacks on air bases like Starokostiantyniv in western Ukraine.