Russia-Ukraine war updates: 3 killed in Kharkiv; Zelenskyy meets Macron

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We will be closing this live page shortly, but before we do, here’s a recap of the day’s major developments:

• Russian attacks have killed four people and wounded more than a dozen in Balakliya and Velykyi Burluk in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. Two people have also been killed and many wounded in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
• Ukraine and France have signed an agreement for Kyiv to buy up to 100 Rafale fighter jets over the next 10 years during a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris.
• Macron says the EU should continue to provide financial support for Ukraine, he remains confident in Zelenskyy’s ability to improve his country’s track record against corruption and Kyiv’s path to EU membership would require rule of law reforms.
• Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says an explosion on a Polish railway line that is a key route for aid deliveries to Ukraine, including weapons transfers, is an “unprecedented act of sabotage” and has pledged to catch those responsible.
• Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accused EU leaders of deliberately prolonging the war, which he claims Ukraine has “no chance” of winning, and has described ongoing EU support for Kyiv in the conflict as “just crazy”.
• Oil prices have fallen as loadings resumed at the key Russian export hub of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea after being suspended for two days in the wake of a Ukrainian attack.

Here are some other major talking points from Macron and Zelenskyy’s joint news conference in Paris:

• When asked about France’s presidential election in 2027, Macron said he hoped that peace would have been achieved in Ukraine by then.
• Zelenskyy said Ukraine may consider co-production of Rafale fighter jets at some point in the future, after announcing a deal to buy up to 100 of the aircraft with full equipment.
• Macron said French train maker Alstom signed a contract worth around 475 million euros ($551m) to supply locomotives to the Ukrainian railways operator.

Former CIA Director and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has joined the advisory board of Ukraine’s leading defence company, Fire Point, as it looks to boost its international reputation and expand operations during a corruption investigation.

Pompeo, who served as the CIA chief and secretary of state during US President Donald Trump’s first term, was appointed to the company’s new advisory board on Wednesday, executives told The Associated Press.

The company, which produces long-range cruise missiles known as the Flamingo, or FP-5, is under investigation by Kyiv’s anticorruption agency. The company has faced scrutiny for its monopoly on Ukraine Defence Ministry contracts and alleged links to a Zelenskyy associate, Tymur Mindich, who is implicated in a corruption scandal.

In September, the company announced it was opening a factory producing rocket fuel in Denmark, becoming the first company to start production under a Danish scheme to support Ukraine’s defence industry.

The European Commission president has called on member states for an agreement on how they will fund Ukraine’s 135 billion euros ($157bn) budget hole for the next two years.

“It will now be key to rapidly reach a clear commitment on how to ensure that the necessary funding for Ukraine will be agreed at the next European Council meeting in December,” Ursula von der Leyen wrote to the 27 nations in a letter, Euronews is reporting. “Clearly, there are no easy options.

“Europe cannot afford paralysis, either by hesitation or by the search for perfect or simple solutions which do not exist.”

EU leaders are meeting for a summit next month.

will meet for a make-or-break summit in December.

Poland’s military is inspecting a 120km (74.6 mile) section of railway running to a town on the Ukrainian border, a day after another stretch of track was damaged in an act of sabotage.

Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said that his ministry was coordinating efforts to investigate Sunday’s act of sabotage on the tracks near Garwolin, which lies between Warsaw and the eastern city of Lublin.

Troops were inspecting a stretch of rail line running to the town of Hrubieszow, on the border with Ukraine, he said.

The Warsaw-Lublin rail line was a crucial transport route for delivering aid, including weapons transfers, into Ukraine, Poland’s Prime Minister Tusk said.

Macron says the EU should continue to provide financial support for Ukraine.

He added that:

• France’s deal with Ukraine includes up to 100 Rafale jets with full equipment.
• He remains confident in Zelenskyy’s ability to improve Ukraine’s track record regarding fighting corruption.
• Ukraine’s path to full EU membership will require rule of law reforms.

Some say the corruption scandal currently gripping Kyiv is the worst since Zelenskyy took office.

It’s not directly linked to the Ukrainian president at this stage. What we know is that investigators in Ukraine say some $100m has been embezzled from the state’s energy companies, potentially by ministers and aides very close to the president.

Zelenskyy has been adamant that he is going to clean up the energy sector. He has already asked some ministers to resign. He is going to be very aware of how that plays out on this tour of Europe.

He was in Greece yesterday; he is going to Spain tomorrow. He is going to want to reassure his European allies that he’s serious about cleaning up corruption in Ukraine, which is so essential if the country is going to become part of the EU in future.

We are expecting both leaders to arrive here at the Elysee Palace shortly.

They’ve spent the past few hours together, first at the Velizy-Villacoublay Air Base just outside of Paris, where Zelenskyy signed a letter of intent with France to buy air defence systems and hardware, including some 100 Rafale fighter jets over the next 10 years.

Both leaders said this was a historic deal.

They then went on to the headquarters of what will be a new multinational force being set up by the so-called coalition of the willing – this group of Ukraine’s allies being led by France and the UK.

The idea is they’re putting together a force that could be deployed to Ukraine in the event of an eventual ceasefire.

The two leaders are then coming here for a working lunch. They will address the press just afterwards, before going on to discuss other issues, including, of course, the situation with the war in Ukraine.

Russia’s Novorossiysk port has resumed oil loadings after a two-day suspension triggered by a Ukrainian missile and drone attack, the Reuters news agency reported, quoting two industry sources.

The Ukrainian attack has been described as the most damaging to date on Russia’s main Black Sea crude export infrastructure.

Last week, President Putin had a conversation with Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin during a visit by Kazakhstan’s president to Moscow, as United States-led sanctions continue to take a financial toll on the company.

President Zelenskyy will hold talks with Spain’s PM Sanchez and King Felipe VI on Tuesday as he tries to rally new support against Russia’s invasion.

Sanchez’s office said Zelenskyy will discuss “matters of common interest” and address the media with Sanchez in Madrid during a trip that will “reaffirm Spain’s commitment to Ukraine in all areas”.

He is also due to meet lawmakers from both chambers of the Spanish parliament on this third visit to the staunch ally of Kyiv.

The Ukrainian leader is touring Western allies in a bid to shore up his country’s depleted armed forces and winter energy security, which Russia has repeatedly targeted as the attritional conflict nears four years.

Russian forces have attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure in five regions across the country overnight, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry says, adding that repair work is under way at the damaged facilities.

The ministry said the strikes hit energy targets in the Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Odesa and Donetsk regions.

It added that scheduled power outages were in place for industrial and commercial consumers across most of the country’s regions in a bid to manage the load on energy infrastructure.

As it has done in recent years, Moscow has been targeting Ukraine’s energy facilities in a bid to sap public morale as winter sets in.