+++ News in the Ukraine war +++: Trump offers NATO membership if he renounces territory

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj, the United States has offered Ukraine NATO membership in return for relinquishing territory. "The Americans raised a question: 'What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbass?' This was the first time this question was asked," Zelensky told reporters on Friday.

The Ukrainian president added that Kyiv was discussing “specific security guarantees from NATO and the EU.” If these were agreed as part of an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, he would let the Ukrainians vote on it. “I don’t have the right to make this decision alone,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky called the change in the security architecture in Europe sought by Russian President Vladimir Putin “dangerous.” He continues to reject neutral status and thus one of Russia's main demands to end the war. "If (Russian President Vladimir) Putin assumes that Ukraine's neutrality will be enshrined, then this will not happen," Zelensky said, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. He rejected a necessary constitutional amendment.

"Real security in Europe means the EU and NATO. That's all. There is no other security in Europe," said Zelensky.

Since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has seized a large part of the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine and claims the entire area. Putin strictly rejects the country's NATO membership.

“They are betting everything on this winter,” Zelenskyj continued about the Russian leadership’s war strategy. If the US Congress passes a legislative package on “sanctions and weapons,” then that would be “the kind of motivation Putin needs” to de-escalate. (afp/dpa)

According to their own statements, Russian troops have taken over the town of Tersyanka in the southeastern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia. This was reported by the Russian news agency Interfax, citing the Defense Ministry in Moscow. (rtr)

Democratic US senators have called on Elon Musk to preserve all records relating to the ‌restricted use of the ‌Starlink and Starshield satellite services in Ukraine. In a letter, they requested, among other things, records of communications between Musk and executives at his company SpaceX as well as the White House and the Pentagon. The restrictions raise "serious questions" about SpaceX's control over communications systems critical to national security, the politicians said. According to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the military Starlink version Starshield is ‌essential for communication on the ⁠front and for drone operations to ‌defend Russian air attacks. (rtr)

Former IOC President Thomas Bach has spoken out in favor of Russia returning to the Ice Hockey World Championships in Germany next May. “My opinion is clear and it has always been clear: It cannot be up to states, it cannot be up to governments who can take part in sports competitions, when, where and why,” Bach told the Sport1 broadcaster. As head of the International Olympic Committee, the 72-year-old was accused of being close to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.

Bach justified his view by saying that the “autonomy and neutrality of sport must be preserved”. “It is the sporting qualifications that count and not the political attitudes,” emphasized the 1976 Olympic fencing champion.

A heated debate has broken out about Russia's possible participation in the World Cup. The International Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) ruled that Russian ice hockey teams were readmitted. This was followed by several countries threatening to boycott world champions Finland for games against Russia. The German Ice Hockey Federation as host is pushing for a quick solution from the world association IIHF - without Russia as a participating nation.

Ukraine, of all places, could make way for Russia as a sporting newcomer at the A World Cup. “Well, that would be more than problematic because, as I said, the sporting qualifications have to count and I think that depriving someone of their sporting qualifications afterwards is highly questionable,” explained Bach.

Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022, and the Russian ice hockey team previously reached the final at the Winter Olympics in Beijing and lost 2-1 to Finland. (dpa)

According to official reports, a family of three has been killed in the western Russian region of Belgorod as a result of a Ukrainian drone attack. According to the region's operational staff, the drone directly attacked a residential building in the Proletarsky settlement of Rakitnoye district. Another person was injured. Proletarski is only about 20 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. At least nine people were injured in Ukrainian drone attacks in the region, it said.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, 29 Ukrainian drones were intercepted on Saturday night. Part of it over the region around the capital Moscow. (dpa)

According to a statement from the Ukrainian Air Force, the Russian military used 96 drones against targets in Ukraine. Of these, 81 were intercepted. There were impacts in eight locations. According to the local electricity supplier, there were power outages in parts of the northeastern Ukrainian region of Sumy due to Russian attacks.

Without giving any reason, the road over the dam of the Dnipro hydroelectric power plant in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia was completely closed to traffic on Saturday morning. For security reasons, there have been repeated short-term restrictions. The city only has two other bridges connecting Khortytsia Island to the eastern bank of the Dnipro River. Zaporizhia is just over 20 kilometers from the Russian-Ukrainian front line. (dpa)

‌Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has complained about ongoing speed restrictions on the US Starshield satellite communications system. This throttling has impaired the operational capability of the Ukrainian military in the country, Zelensky said in his evening video address. “Unfortunately, speed restrictions remain in place along the entire front line and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine,” he said. He expected that the Defense and Foreign Ministries would clarify this problem together with the relevant authorities in the USA. (rtr)

According to regional authorities, three people were killed and more than 50 injured in Russian attacks on two Ukrainian cities. In the southeastern city of Zaporizhia, a bullet hit a five-story residential building. A rescue worker was killed when a concrete slab collapsed during the rescue work, as the region's governor, Mykhailo Semikin, announced on Telegram. Six children were among the injured. According to the head of the military administration, Serhiy Lyssak, two people died in an attack on a private house in the port city of Odessa. Five other people suffered injuries. The information could not initially be independently verified by the Reuters news agency. (rtr)