Ukraine–Russia latest: Zelensky says Nato invite is ‘only way’ to end Putin’s war

A formal invitation to Ukraine to join Nato is “the only way” Kyiv can end Russia’s invasion, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

“We cannot be very strong without having an invitation [which] strengthens our diplomatic ways to end the war,” he told the Financial Times. “This war will finish when Putin will be isolated, and pushed by other partners to diplomacy.”

Zelensky presented his five-point victory plan to Ukraine’s parliament on Wednesday, and listed key points that included an invitation for Ukraine to join Nato along with permission to use Western-supplied long-range missiles to hit Russia.

He told the FT: “The invitation to Nato will raise up the morale of our people and our soldiers. Invitation means one more step to Nato, which means their children will not die. Never, because we will be a member of Nato. If we will not get a Nato invitation, morale will decrease.

“The war will not finish until Putin feels like he has to finish. And he only understands power,” Mr Zelensky said.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has insisted that Belarus should be present at talks on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Tass news agency reported.

Nato members will not lose their shared will to support Ukraine and Russian president Vladimir Putin would be wrong to think otherwise, the alliance’s chief Mark Rutte said.

“Ukraine will be member of Nato, there is no doubt about and until that happens we will make sure that Ukraine has everything it needs to prevail,” he said during a press conference alongside Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russian forces have turned the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station into a military base, endangering global safety, Ukraine has warned.

The Zaporizhzhia facility, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, is located in southern Ukraine and was captured by Russia in the early stages of the war.

Andriy Yermak, a senior Ukrainian official, spoke virtually at a meeting in France on nuclear safety. “[Russia’s] seizing of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station… has become an unprecedented violation of international law and the norms of nuclear safety,” Mr Yermak said in remarks posted to the Ukrainian presidential website.

The capture of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear station, which no longer produces power, underscored Moscow’s “large-scale militarisation of nuclear power”, he warned.

“The station has been transformed into a military base and its personnel work under constant pressure and threats.”

His concerns were echoed by the French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot, who said the talks were important to deal with continuing security risks at the plant, made up of six reactors.

“There is a risk and that is the reason why, with the Ukrainians, we wanted to convene this conference in Paris, in order to discuss the situation in terms of nuclear security and safety today in Ukraine,” he told LCI television.

Joe Biden will seek to cement cooperation with key European partners on issues from the Ukraine war to conflict in the Middle East during a swift swansong trip to Berlin today.

Biden, who sought to improve ties with Europe after the 2017-2021 presidency of Donald Trump, will be greeted with military honours before receiving Germany’s highest order of merit from president Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

The distinction honors the 81-year-old’s “contributions to both the German-American friendship and the transatlantic bond” in all the offices he has held over the last five decades, according to the German presidential office.

Russian forces have taken control of the village of Maksymilianivka, less than 10 km (6 miles) from the key city of Kurakhove in Donetsk.

The Kurakhove sector, west of the Russian-held regional centre of Donetsk, is one of the focal points of Russia’s steady advance through the region. Russia has been pressing to reach the logistical hub of Pokrovsk, about 50 km to the north.

Ukrainian forces had repelled 36 of 45 battles near Kurakhove over 24 hours and nine clashes were still going on, Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces said.

Popular Ukrainian military blog DeepState showed control of Maksymilianivka to be contested. The report said 35 of 45 attempted Russian advances had been repelled in the Pokrovsk sector.

Volodymyr Zelensky said his spy agency has information that 10,000 troops from North Korea are being prepared to join Russian forces fighting against his country

A third nation wading into the hostilities would turn the conflict into a “world war,” Mr Zelensky said.

“From our intelligence we’ve got information that North Korea sent tactical personnel and officers to Ukraine,” he told reporters at Nato headquarters. “They are preparing on their land 10,000 soldiers, but they didn’t move them already to Ukraine or to Russia.”

He did not go into detail about the claim that came a day after US deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell said that Washington and its allies are alarmed by North Korea’s military support for Russia’s war in Ukraine but couldn’t confirm Ukrainian claims that soldiers were sent to fight for Moscow.

Earlier, he warned that any North Korean involvement would be “the first step to a world war.”

When nightfall descends on a suburban area northwest of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, the Witches of Bucha come alive.

By day, the women work as doctors and teachers, but by night, they safeguard Ukraine from the Russian drones that surge above them.

The women – who go by the moniker of the Witches of Bucha – are volunteers in air defence units.

As increasing numbers of men are deployed to the frontlines, the volunteers have undergone training to wield machine guns and assault rifles to shoot down drones filled with explosives sent from Russia.

“My role is to listen for them,” Valentyna, a veterinarian, tells the BBC. “It’s nervous work. But we have to stay focused, to [listen out] for the slightest sound.”

Our women’s correspondent Maya Oppenheim reports: