Russia has addressed any notion of European troops in Ukraine and again warned NATO. While Moscow rattles sabres in the diplomatic sphere, analysts say victory on the battlefield is not a foregone conclusion. Get questions in for our military analyst Michael Clarke and follow the latest.
Thursday 27 November 2025 13:36, UK
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Our military analyst Michael Clarke is back for another instalment of his weekly Q&A tomorrow afternoon.
He’ll join our presenter Kamali Melbourne at 1pm, giving you plenty of time to send us any of your questions.
Since last week’s session, there have been more developments in the diplomatic sphere, with back and forth talks over a peace deal.
Whatever your question, get in touch using the box above and we’ll get through as many as we can.
Vladimir Putin has been asked about the discussion over the US-brokered peace plan for the first time.
“There was a line of questions put forward for discussion,” he says.
Putin says Russia is ready for “serious” talks and adds that a US delegation will visit Moscow next week.
He says Russia agrees that Donald Trump’s plan can be used as a basis for future agreements, but adds that European security needs discussing.
He says Russia acknowledges the US is taking its position into account, but insists some aspects need discussing.
Putin goes on to say Russia “doesn’t have any aggressive plans towards Europe” and calls such an idea ridiculous.
We’re now hearing from Vladimir Putin, who is speaking at the security council of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation in Kyrgyzstan.
The Russian president arrived in the capital of the central Asian country on Tuesday and is on a three-day state visit.
He hasn’t yet spoken publicly about the US-brokered peace deal as discussions over the plan continue. We’ll listen across and bring you anything he says about it.
You can also watch along in the live stream at the top of this page.
We told you earlier about NATO allies being urged to prioritise their defence, with fears Russian aggression could spill over elsewhere in Europe (see 8.09 post).
Over in France, Emmanuel Macron has unveiled a new national military service as the country seeks to bolster its armed forces.
He announced that volunteers aged 18 and 19 will start serving next year as part of a new 10-month military service programme.
Macron said young volunteers will serve in France’s mainland and oversea territories only, and not in military operations abroad.
He added that Russia’s war in Ukraine puts the European continent at “great risk”.
“The day that you send a signal of weakness to Russia – which for 10 years has made a strategic choice to become an imperial power again, that’s to say advance wherever we are weak – well, it will continue to advance,” he said.
Russia has reiterated its stance that NATO membership would be unacceptable for Moscow amid discussions over the US-brokered peace plan.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said NATO’s attempts to draw Ukraine into its structure posed a threat.
The country’s deputy foreign minister also said that the presence of the coalition of the willing in Ukraine is “absolutely out of question”.
Led by the UK and France, there had been suggestion that the initiative could see troops from a number of European and NATO countries deployed to Ukraine as peacekeepers in order to deter Vladimir Putin from rearming and attacking again in the future.
Ukraine’s defence minister has announced a new agreement with the UK to produce Octopus interceptor drones.
The drones are based on a domestically-developed technology called Octopus which intercepts Russian Shahed drones.
The technology has been tested in combat and worked “at night, under jamming and at low altitudes”, Ukraine’s defence ministry said.
Watch: How night-time team takes down deadly drones
“This is a historical precedent and the next important step that will allow the production of Ukrainian interceptors in the United Kingdom,” Denys Shmyhal said in a post on Telegram.
He added that “mass production” is planned, with potential for several thousand per month – something Shmyhal said would “strengthen the protection of our skies”.
Earlier this month, we reported that Russian Shahed and Shahed-type drone launches have increased by more than 300% from 2024 – read more below.
Donald Trump is dispatching officials to Moscow and Kyiv to try to finalise negotiations over a potential peace deal (see previous post).
It comes as representatives from the US, Russia and Ukraine all met in Abu Dhabi earlier this week – for what were dubbed “secret” talks.
But who is representing the sides in these discussions? Watch the video below…
We’ve heard more details from Ukraine about its plans for upcoming peace talks with the US.
It comes after Donald Trump said he directed his special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Russia and army secretary Dan Driscoll to hold talks with Ukraine.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said that negotiating teams from Kyiv and Washington will meet soon.
“Our expectations are concrete results,” he said.
“Concrete results so that progress can be made. It is extremely important for us, and Ukraine has demonstrated this repeatedly, to achieve a truce.”
A Russian court has handed life sentences to eight men over a bomb attack on the bridge linking Crimea to Russia’s Krasnodar region, according to the TASS news agency.
The explosion on 8 October 2022 killed five people and damaged what was a key supply route for Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency later claimed responsibility for the attack.
Kerch Bridge – which is also known as the Crimean Bridge – spans 12 miles.
The bridge was built by Russia after it annexed Crimea in 2014.
We’ve been telling you about the importance of Pokrovsk as Russian forces continue to advance in the Ukrainian city.
Russia’s defence ministry has now said its forces have captured the village of Vasiukivka in the Donetsk region.
Yesterday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy convened a Stavka – the high command of the armed forces.
Sharing a statement about the meeting afterwards, Zelenskyy outlined “several key areas”.
These were:
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