Ukraine troops with a launcher of a Patriot air defense system in anundisclosed location, August 4, 2024 (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)
EA-Ukraine VideoCasts: Why Kremlin Won’t Re-Enter Meaningful Talks to End Invasion
Friday’s Coverage: Russia Murders 15 Civilians on a Train Platform in Dnipro
UPDATE 0818 GMT:
Ukrainian drones attacked one of three oil refineries in an industrial zone in the Bashkortostan Republic overnight.
The drones reportedly struck the Bashneft-Novoil refinery. The complex, with a capacity of 7.3 million tons per year, produces high-quality Euro-6 gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, and industrial oils.
Ukraine has resumed attacks refineries, despite Donald Trump’s pressure to halt. Early Friday, the Novokuibyshevsk Oil Refinery in the Samara region, with a capacity of 8.3 million tons per year, was attacked and set on fire.
UPDATE 0809 GMT:
The Kremlin has forced the closure of the independent Russian outlet Novaya Gazeta.
The newspaper announced on Friday that it will cease operations on November 9. Staff said Russian authorities and intelligence services “killed” the publication.
The outlet’s editor Dmitry Muratov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for “efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace”.
In recent year, Russian authorities have blocked Novaya Gazeta from receiving donations; seized its printing press; declared the publication, its editors, and its journalists foreign agents; raided the publication‘s office and the editor-in-chief’s home; and evicted the editorial staff from its Moscow City office.
UPDATE 0806 GMT:
Ukraine’s air defenses downed 105 of 134 drones, including 72 jet-powered UAVs, launched by Russia overnight. Strikes were recorded at 20 locations.
UPDATE 0736 GMT:
The “family photo” to open the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting, being held in Atlanta, Georgia, was abruptly cancelled on Friday when the UK, Australia, and European representatives refused to appear beside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio scrapped the traditional photo opportunity when colleagues said they would boycott or walk out of the snapshot.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said, “In no case will there be a family photo with European partners and Mr. Lavrov together because…there is no normality with Russia.”
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband echoed, “We do not engage in that way with the Russians and have not for a number of years.
In the opening session, Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as brutal and unjustified. She noted Moscow had affected international markets and worsened global food security.
European officials pushed Russia to secure a ceasefire in the Black Sea, but Lavrov conceded no ground and criticized Europeans for their “arrogant boycott” while praising the Trump Administration’s engagement with Moscow.
The European Union’s foreign policy head Kaja Kallas summarized:
We were talking about the big geopolitical crisis, including Ukraine, and we were able to address Sergey Lavrov head-on with this.
Of course, he put forward a lot of lies, a lot of false narratives that we were also able to then rebuke.
Kallas noted that Russia does not appear ready to move ahead in talks to end its invasion:
Even if they would have said this in words, their deeds tell something else. July, August, and September have been the deadliest months for civilians in Ukraine.
They should show with their deeds that they are ready to negotiate, but they are clearly, clearly not.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: The US has approved the sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 missiles to Ukraine for an estimated $2.1 billion. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned deliveries could take years and stocks are needed now to counter Russia’s ballistic missile attacks.
The US State Department posted on Friday, “The proposed sale will improve Ukraine’s capability to meet current and future threats by improving its integrated air and missile defense capabilities.”
The Department did not give a timeline for delivery. “Two people briefed on the US decision” said completion is not expected until a couple of years into the 2030s.
Zelensky hailed the “strong decision by the US State Department” but added:
It has been stipulated that deliveries may begin ONLY IN A FEW YEARS. We are asking our American partners to find a solution for the time when there is a real danger and a real need to use PAC-3 interceptors.
Right now, the Russians are attacking our energy infrastructure every single day.
The President noted that, in the past two weeks, “there have already been more than 30 Russian strikes on critical parts of our power grid”.
US Defense Department Pete Hegseth is reportedly holding up the delivery of Patriots from NATO countries to Ukraine. Any transfer requires American permission.
Zelensky said US and European allies have sufficient stocks to provide Patriots now, replenishing them in coming years through contracts already fulfilled by Ukraine and its partners. This would “be the right approach” and is “entirely feasible”.
Ukraine is paying for the missiles with contributions from Canada, Germany and Norway, routed through the US Jumpstart program, as well as national funds financed by the European Union’s Ukraine Support Loan.
