Ukraine/Russia Update Day 1,374…Trump Peace Plan Falling Apart…..European Army’s Bulk Up….

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will not agree to give up land to Russia in exchange for peace, his chief of staff Andriy Yermak told US magazine the Atlantic in an interview published on Thursday. “As long as Zelenskyy is president, no one should count on us giving up territory. He will not sign away territory,” Yermak said.

• The comments were published after Vladimir Putin said Russia will fight on unless Kyiv withdraws from territory Moscow claims as its own. Referring to the outline of a draft peace plan proposed by the US, Putin said it could serve as a basis for future negotiations to end the war but insists Ukraine has to surrender territory. “In general, we agree that this can be the basis for future agreements,” Putin said, noting that the version of the plan discussed by Washington and Kyiv in Geneva had been shared with Moscow. “We see that the American side takes our position into account in some areas,” he added. “But in other points, we clearly need to sit down and talk.” The Russian president’s uncompromising remarks – in which he again described Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “illegitimate” – suggested that, despite White House optimism, there is little sign of movement on the core sticking points needed to end the war.

• Ukrainian and US delegations will meet this week, Zelenskyy has said, to work on points raised at the Geneva talks to bring peace with Russia and provide security guarantees for Ukraine.

• Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever has said the European Union’s plan to use frozen Russian state assets to fund Ukraine could endanger a potential peace deal to end the nearly four-year war, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. “Hastily moving forward on the proposed reparations loan scheme would have, as a collateral damage, that we as EU are effectively preventing reaching an eventual peace deal,” De Wever said in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, seen by the FT.

• Any peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine that includes an amnesty for war crimes could encourage other authoritarian leaders to attack their neighbours, Ukraine’s only Nobel peace prize winner has warned. Oleksandra Matviichuk said the leaked 28-point US-Russia plan did not account for “the human dimension” and she supported Zelenskyy’s efforts to rewrite it in dialogue with White House. “We need a peace, but not a pause that provides Russia a chance to retreat and regroup,” the Kyiv-based human rights lawyer said.

• Moldova’s parliament has voted to close a Russian cultural centre in a new bid to reduce Moscow’s influence in the country a day after Russia’s ambassador was summoned over drone intrusions that Moldova said were unacceptable. Fifty-seven members of the 101-seat assembly backed the measure on Thursday. The government said the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Chisinau could serve as an instrument to promote narratives posing a threat to Moldova’s security….

More…

…

French creating a voluntary military draft with Ukraine /Russia in mind….It joins other European countries…

France on Thursday announced the creation of a paid, voluntary military service for young adults, becoming the latest European country to beef up its armed forces in the face of perceived threats from Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The move sharpened a growing debate in France, which has enjoyed decades of stability since the end of World War II, about how to prepare a population no longer accustomed to war for a new era of increased military peril.

The announcement by France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, came days after the French Army chief set off a national uproar for saying that the country must accept the possible loss of its children in a potential future conflict.

“There is a generation ready to stand up for their country, and our military is the natural outlet for this desire to serve,” Mr. Macron said in a speech at a mountain infantry base in Varces-Allières-et-Risset, a small town in the French Alps, in southeastern France….

…

“In this uncertain world where force prevails over law and war is a reality, our nation cannot be afraid, ill-prepared or divided,” he added.

France, where military conscription was eliminated in 1997, is following in the footsteps of other European countries that were alarmed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and that have accused the Kremlin of waging “hybrid warfare” against them.

Croatia restored conscription this year, nearly two decades after abolishing it. In Poland, there are efforts to make a form of military training available for every adult man. Denmark has begun drafting women. In Germany, Parliament is set to debate a bill to increase military recruitment. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, former Soviet states, all have variations of a draft.

While Mr. Macron did not explicitly mention Russia in his speech, he said that “at a time when all our European allies are moving forward in the face of a threat that weighs on us all, France cannot remain immobile.”…

More…