Ukraine Latest: Zelenskiy Warns on Russia’s Intent to Regroup

(Bloomberg) -- Russian troops kept up attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, with another seven missiles hitting Zaporizhzhia in the southeast Friday night, knocking out heat to thousands. More than 1,000 missiles and drones have hit energy targets since Russia’s invasion in February, the government said. The bulk of the hits have come since early October. Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, is experiencing long periods without power 

Two Russian fighter planes “made an unsafe and unprofessional approach toward” NATO Allied Maritime Command warships in the Baltic Sea on Thursday morning, the command said on Friday. 

Despite pledges of support from Ukraine’s allies, there have been more calls for negotiation, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying he hopes Volodymyr Zelenskiy will agree to resume peace talks. Zelenskiy said Russia may seek a “short truce” merely to regroup after recent setbacks. 

(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)

Key Developments

• Ukrainians Endure Widespread Blackouts After Russia’s Attacks
• G-7 Plans to Announce Russian Oil Price Cap Level Next Week
• Greek Crude Tanker Highlights Risk of Russia Oil-Sanctions Limbo
• Explosive Residue Confirms Nord Stream Sabotage in Swedish Probe
• Old Tankers Get a Second Life at Russian Ports as Sanctions Near

On the Ground

Russia hit the southeast city of Zaporizhzhia with seven missiles late Friday night, damaging industrial infrastructure there, according to a preliminary military report. Missile explosions damaged pipelines, cutting central heading for some 123 apartment buildings housing more than 17,000 residents. Temperatures in the region are expected to fall to near freezing Saturday night. The most severe ground fighting continues to be in the Donetsk region of Ukraine’s east, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. 

(All times CET)

Zelenskiy Says Russia Seeks Short Truce Merely to Regroup (10:20 a.m.) 

Ukraine’s president said the Kremlin may seek a pause in its war on Ukraine only to regroup after Ukraine’s forces launched successful counter-offensives, pushing back on suggestions that Kyiv should return to the negotiating table. 

“Russia is now looking for a short truce -- a respite to regain strength,” Volodymyr Zelenskiy said told an international security forum in Halifax, Canada, according to a transcript posted by his office on Saturday. “Someone may call this the war‘s end. But such a respite will only worsen the situation.”

“Any voiced ideas of our lands’ concessions or of our sovereignty cannot be called peace,” Zelenskiy said. “Immoral compromises will lead to new blood.” 

Poland Won’t Invite Russia’s Lavrov to OSCE Meeting (9:30 a.m.)

Poland won’t expect Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a foreign ministry spokesman told state news agency PAP. The gathering will be held Dec. 1-2 in Lodz, central Poland. 

The stance will be officially announced to Russia in a diplomatic note, the spokesman said late on Friday. Earlier this week, Poland blocked entry of Russian officials for the OSCE’s parliamentary assembly due to take place in Warsaw Nov. 24-26. 

Putin ‘Losing’ War in Ukraine, Says UK’s Cleverly (8 a.m.)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is increasingly losing the war in Ukraine, almost nine months into his invasion of the neighboring state, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said. 

“Despite using overwhelming and pitiless force, Putin is losing,” Cleverly told the IISS security conference in Manama, Bahrain, on Saturday. “Almost everywhere, Russian forces are in retreat and it is only a matter of time before Ukraine prevails.”  

Russian troops earlier this month pulled out of Kherson, the only regional Moscow had occupied. Recapturing the city capped a series of Ukrainian territorial advances. 

NATO Says Russian Jets Flew Close to Its Ships (12:10 a.m.)

Two Russian fighter planes “made an unsafe and unprofessional approach toward” NATO Allied Maritime Command warships in the Baltic Sea on Thursday morning, the command said in a Friday press release.

“The Russian pilots failed to respond to Allied forces’ standing query communications and overflew the force at an altitude of 300 feet and a distance of 80 yards,” according to the press release.

“The interaction increased the risk of miscalculations, mistakes, and accidents,” the Allied Maritime Command said. 

Russia Hit Energy Hubs with 1,000 Missiles, Drones: Shmyhal (5:20 p.m.)

More than 1,000 Russian missiles and single-attack drones hit Ukraine’s energy facilities since the war’s start, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said during a government meeting.

All of country’s heating and hydroelectric plants, as well as key power sub-stations which help to transport electricity to consumers, have been attacked, some of them as many as eight times. “If shelling continue, the number and length of power cutoffs may increase,” Shmyhal said.

EU Aims for Next Aid Payment in Early January (5:15 p.m.)

The European Union should be able to begin providing Ukraine the first portion of a new €18 billion aid package starting in January if the approval process goes smoothly, the bloc’s vice president Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters in Kyiv. He said that he hopes member states and the parliament will approve it in early December, which would allow the money to be delivered “just in time for Ukraine’s pressing financing needs at the start of next year.” 

Team From Ukraine Arrives to Examine Polish Blast Site (2 p.m.)

Ukrainian experts are on the site of the deadly explosion in Poland that the US and others say was the result of a Ukrainian air-defense missile trying to intercept an incoming Russian attack. Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said on Twitter he was grateful for Poland’s cooperation. 

On Thursday, Ukraine’s president appeared to soften his insistence that it was only a Russian missile that caused the blast in Poland this week.

G-7 Ministers Call for Bolstering Internal Security (1:30 p.m.)

Group of Seven nations will continue to strengthen their internal security due to the ongoing impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine, interior ministers said in a joint statement after meeting in Wiesbaden, Germany. 

The ministers also said they would continue to discuss how to help address “horrific and despicable crimes committed by Russia and its proxies in the territory of Ukraine.” G-7 justice ministers are set to meet on Nov. 28-29 to discuss how to bolster cross-border probes of such crimes.

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