Ukraine-Russia newest: Musk ‘joins Trump’s Zelensky name’ as Putin hails ‘courageous’ US election win

Russia’s foreign ministry sees no grounds for talking about resuming dialogue on strategic stability and arms control with the United States at the moment, Interfax reported Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Saturday.

Ryabkov said that Moscow and Washington “are exchanging signals on Ukraine“ through closed channels at the military and political levels, according to Interfax.

Russian air defences intercepted and destroyed 15 Ukrainian drones over the southern Bryansk region, the regional governor said early on Saturday.

Bryansk Regional Governor Alexander Bogomaz issued a series of statements on the Telegram app, saying air defence units had downed a total of 15 drones. He said there was no damage or injuries in connection with the incidents.

Ukraine has downed 32 out of a total 51 Russian attack drones launched overnight, its air force said in an update this morning.

Out of these, 18 drones disappeared from radar in various regions across Ukraine, it said.

The Ukrainian military said the attack involved Russian “Shahed-type” attack drones and that “the epicentre of the strike is Odesa”.

The Pentagon has responded to claims that North Korean troops sent to Russia to bolster Vladimir Putin’s forces are consuming online pornography as they now have less restricted internet access.

US department of defence spokesperson Major Charlie Dietz said he couldn’t verify “any North Korean internet habits or virtual ‘extracurriculars’” taking place in Russia.

He continued: “As for internet access, that’s a question best directed to Moscow. Right now, our attention remains on supporting Ukraine and addressing the more significant regional security concerns”.

A senior Ukrainian official has described the first phone call between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky since Trump won the election as “very good”.

“It was a very good call. Our work continues,” the Ukrainian official told Fox News. Tesla founder Elon Musk’s unexpected appearance may point to his growing standing in the upcoming Trump administration.

As Zelensky spoke about the importance of Musk’s Starlink satellites for providing internet to his frontlines, Trump reportedly invited Elon Musk on to the call, according to reports. “I had an excellent call with President Trump and congratulated him on his historic landslide victory — his tremendous campaign made this result possible,” Zelensky posted on X.

Musk reportedly also joined a call between Trump and Turkish President Erdoğan, per reporting from Axios.

India has defended its controversial purchases of oil from Russia in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Global oil prices “would have hit the roof” if India had not stepped in to import large volumes from Moscow, India’s oil minister said.

“While they remain fixated on India’s oil purchases from Russia, what many around the world don’t seem to realise is that the global oil prices would have hit the roof if India had not bought oil from Russia,” India’s union minister for petroleum and natural gas said.

“We owe it to our citizens – India will buy oil from wherever our companies get the best rates,” he said.

India, the world’s third largest oil importer and consumer, has become the top buyer of discounted Russian sea-borne oil shunned by Western countries since Ukraine’s invasion began in early 2022. Before that, India bought little oil from its long-running defence partner, Russia.

New Delhi has repeatedly defended its purchases from Russia as necessary to keep prices in check in the developing country of 1.42 billion people.

India says oil prices would have rocketed worldwide without its Russian imports.

Donald Trump’s biggest European fan, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, has predicted that a new US administration under Trump will cease providing support to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion.

“The situation on the front is obvious, there’s been a military defeat. The Americans are going to pull out of this war,” Mr Orban said.

Mr Trump’s reelection, he said, had created a “new situation” for Europe, and that the continent “cannot finance this war alone.”

Orban’s comments were a signal that Trump’s recent election could drive a wedge among European Union leaders on the question of the war.