By This was CNBC’s live blog tracking developments on the war in Ukraine.
European Union leaders met Friday in an attempt to address complex questions about the bloc’s laws and what they would mean for a potential Ukrainian membership.
EU Council President Charles Michel, in his invitation letter for the summit taking place in Granada, Spain, stressed the need to address “critical questions, such as: What do we do together? How do we decide? How do we match our means with our ambitions?”
Meanwhile, Ukrainians are reeling from a Russian missile attack on a cafe and grocery store in the Kharkiv region that killed 52 people, and one that Western leaders vocally condemned as “horrific.”
It was one of the worst Russian attacks of the war in terms of civilian death count.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Friday that the process through which countries can access the European Union is “merit based.”
The comments come as European leaders met in Spain to discuss EU enlargement. Von der Leyen said last month that Ukraine had made “great strides” toward joining the union.
“Both the candidate countries and the EU must work hard to keep up the momentum on the enlargement process to a larger Union,” she said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
— Karen Gilchrist
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called for more Su-34 fighter jets to be produced, according to AFP reports Friday.
Sukhoi Su-34s are a type of Soviet-origin twin-engine, supersonic medium-range fighter-bomber.
“These planes are real workhorses. They can make four to five flights a day,” Shoigu said during a visit to an aeronautical manufacturing base in Novosibirsk, Siberia.
“That’s why we need to step up, accelerate [their manufacture],” he added.
— Karen Gilchrist
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday that it had scrambled a MiG-31 fighter jet to escort a U.S. patrol plane approaching its airspace over the Norwegian Sea.
“The crew of the Russian fighter identified the aerial target as a US Navy P-8A Poseidon base patrol aircraft,” the ministry said in a post on Telegram.
It added that the scrambling was carried out in “strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace over neutral waters.”
— Karen Gilchrist
A briefing by the Russian Ministry of Defense on Friday stated that the Black Sea Fleet’s naval aviation unit destroyed “two Ukraine Armed Forces’ watercraft” and “13 saboteurs” in waters off the Crimea coast.
The incident on Oct. 4 happened as they were “attempting to land on the Crimean coast,” according to a NBC News translation.
The ministry did not provide further details.
-Matt Clinch
A Ukrainian court has frozen the Ukrainian assets of three Russian businessmen over their alleged support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, prosecutors and the security service said on Friday.
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said assets owned by Mikhail Fridman, Pyotr Aven and Andrey Kosogov had been frozen. They were considered part of President Vladimir Putin’s close circle and contributed to “large-scale financing of the Russian Federation’s armed aggression”, it said.
The three businessmen did not immediately comment on the moves and comments by the SBU and prosecutors.
“At the request of prosecutors… assets of 20 Ukrainian companies totaling over 17 billion hryvnias ($464.48 million)were frozen,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said on the Telegram messaging app.
It said the frozen assets included securities and corporate rights of mobile phone operators, a mineral water producer, financial and insurance companies.
“The beneficial owners of the companies are three Russian oligarchs who own one of the largest Russian financial and investment consortia,” it said.
Since the beginning of Russia’s military invasion in February 202, Ukraine has repeatedly seized and nationalized property belonging to Russian businessmen involved in financing the aggression.
-Reuters
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia had successfully tested a potent new strategic missile and declined to rule out the possibility it could carry out weapons tests involving nuclear explosions for the first time in more than three decades.
Putin said for the first time that Moscow had successfully tested the Burevestnik, a nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable cruise missile with a potential range of many thousands of miles.
He also told an annual gathering of analysts and journalists that Russia had almost completed work on its Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile system, another key element of its new generation of nuclear weapons.
Putin, who has repeatedly reminded the world of Russia’s nuclear might since launching his invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, said no one in their right mind would use nuclear weapons against Russia.
Read the full story here.
— Reuters
Russia’s state Duma, the lower house of the country’s parliament, plans to discuss revoking the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) during its next meeting, said the speaker of the Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin.
“At the next meeting of the State Duma Council, we will definitely discuss the issue of revoking the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. This correlates with the national interests of our country. And it will be a reciprocal response to the US which has not yet ratified the treaty,” Volodin wrote on his Telegram account, according to an English translation by Russian state media agency Tass.
The treaty, which was opened for signatures in 1996, prohibits “any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion” anywhere in the world. It was signed by 187 nations and ratified by 178, but cannot officially come into force until 44 specific countries ratify it, including China, the United States, North Korea, India, Israel and Iran. Still, no country has carried out nuclear testing since the CTBT opened for signatures, except North Korea.
The CTBT established a network of monitoring facilities and enables on-site inspections to allow verification that signatory countries are in compliance with its parameters.
— Natasha Turak
European Union leaders are meeting in Grenada, Spain, to discuss EU enlargement and the questions it will have to address concerning the potential membership of Ukraine.
EU Council President Charles Michel, in his invitation letter for the summit taking place in Grenada, Spain, stressed the need to address “critical questions, such as: What do we do together? How do we decide? How do we match our means with our ambitions?”
The question of Ukrainian membership to the EU long precedes Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, but the country’s rampant corruption and economic problems stood in the way. EU leaders have expressed greater optimism and support for Ukraine’s bid since then, but the bloc — increasingly fractured with the rise of populist parties — is far from being in full agreement.
Beyond Ukraine, several Balkan states and countries like Georgia and Moldova, all much poorer than most of the current members, have also been pushing for membership for years — presenting a tricky dilemma for the EU’s leaders.
— Natasha Turak
The Biden administration condemned a Russian attack on a Ukrainian grocery store and cafe in the Kharkiv region’s Hroza village that killed 52 people, calling it “horrifying.”
In a press briefing after the missile strike, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “Let’s stop and think about what we’re seeing: 49 innocent people who were killed by a Russian airstrike while they were shopping for food at a supermarket.” The death toll later rose to 52.
“Can you imagine just walking to the grocery store with your kids, trying to figure out what is it that you’re going to make for dinner, and you see an explosion happen where bodies are everywhere. And it’s horrifying,” she said.
“This is why we’re doing everything that we can to help Ukraine,” she added, “to help the brave people of Ukraine to fight for their freedom … to fight for their democracy.”
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also condemned the attack along with other Western leaders, saying that it “demonstrated the depths of depravity Russian forces are willing to sink to,” according to a spokesperson.
— Natasha Turak
Russia’s government on Friday said it had withdrawn a ban on diesel exports delivered to sea ports via pipelines, removing a large chunk of restrictions it put in place last month.
The Kremlin said in a statement that it had “lifted restrictions on the export of diesel fuel delivered to seaports by pipeline, provided that the manufacturer supplies at least 50% of the diesel fuel produced to the domestic market,” according to a Google translation.
The announcement comes shortly after Russia imposed an indefinite ban on the export of diesel and gasoline to most countries, sending shockwaves through global markets. The restrictions for gasoline exports currently remain in place.
Read the full story here.
— Sam Meredith
Ukraine said that at least 49 people were killed in a Russian strike on a grocery store in the Kharkiv region in the east of the country. The attack was reported to be one of the worst attacks on civilians since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion last year.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack as “demonstrably brutal” and said “Russian terror must be stopped.”
“A missile attack on an ordinary grocery store, a completely deliberate act of terrorism,” Zelenskyy said via Telegram, according to an NBC translation. “My condolences to all those who have lost loved ones! Assistance is provided to the wounded,” he added.
Russia did not immediately comment on the accusations from Ukraine.
— Sam Meredith
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Thursday that he’s “absolutely convinced” the U.S. will continue supporting Ukraine’s war effort.
“Not at all,” Rutte said when asked whether he was concerned about the prospect of President Joe Biden’s administration reducing its long-term support for Kyiv amid Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Rutte said senior Democrat and Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives had recently visited the Hague and they were “in total agreement on the need to continue the support for Ukraine because this about our common values [and] it is about our common security.”
“We cannot accept one country in 2022, 2023 invading another nation so I am absolutely convinced that they will solve this issue,” he added.
Asked whether the EU could step in if the U.S. does not resume its support for Ukraine, Rutte said, “It is not necessary. The EU will do what is necessary [and] the Netherlands is among the top countries in terms of contribution for Ukraine … but I am absolutely convinced that the U.S. will stay on board.”
— Sam Meredith
The European Union’s foreign policy chief said Europe would not be able to replace U.S. support for Ukraine amid Russia’s full-scale invasion.
“Well, I was in Kyiv some days ago just at the moment when we knew that the U.S. Congress had not included support to Ukraine on the big deal about the budget in order to avoid the shutdown,” Josep Borrell told reporters Thursday in Granada, Spain, for a summit of the European Political Community.
“That was certainly not expected, and it is certainly not good news, but I hope it is not going to be a definite position of the U.S.” he continued. “Ukraine needs the support of the European Union, which is sure, they will have it and we will increase it. But also, the support of the U.S.”
Asked whether Europe can fill the gap left by the U.S. amid concerns about Washington’s long-term support for Kyiv’s war effort, Borrell replied “Certainly Europe cannot replace the U.S.”
— Sam Meredith
Ukraine says Russian missile strike on village grocery store kills at least 49 civilians
