November 29, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The United States will provide $53 million to support Ukraine’s electrical system as it faces a barrage of attacks from Russia.

The funding will go toward “the acquisition of critical electricity grid equipment,” which “will be rapidly delivered to Ukraine on an emergency basis to help Ukrainians persevere through the winter,” according to a media note from the US State Department.

“This supply package will include distribution transformers, circuit breakers, surge arresters, disconnectors, vehicles and other key equipment,” the note said.

The funding adds to the United States' existing $55 million in emergency energy sector support. It was announced by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a meeting of the G7+ Tuesday, which took place on the margins of the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting in Bucharest, according to the media note.

US and European officials have strongly condemned Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian civilian populations and infrastructure, accusing Moscow of deliberately targeting Ukraine’s energy grid in an effort to leave people without electricity and heat – an act that they say would amount to a war crime.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has said Russia and the United States do not hold dialogue on Ukraine because of what he called "different approaches,” according to Russian state media RIA Novosti.

"I am not aware about any de-escalating channel in relation to what is happening in Ukraine. I don’t know about it at all. We don’t have a dialogue with the United States on the Ukrainian topic, because our approaches are radically different,” said Ryabkov, as quoted by TASS.

Ryabkov also said that there is a "chance" to resume a strategic dialogue with the United States, but only if Washington realizes that "there should be no one-sided imposition of certain positions."

According to Ryabkov, the situation in Ukraine does not affect Russia's approach on nuclear deterrence, despite "continuous speculation" from the US " on Russia's "irresponsible nuclear rhetoric."

The G7 ministers of justice condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s use of “winter as a weapon,” the German justice minister said Tuesday at a meeting with his counterparts in Berlin. 

Minister Marco Buschmann told a news conference that Ukrainian civilians had been living in freezing temperatures as a result of Russia’s strikes on civilian infrastructure, adding the ministers had agreed this was “a terrible war crime that is aimed at ensuring that many people fall victim to winter.”

The group vowed to coordinate criminal investigations into war crimes, which they agreed was “of the highest priority,” Buschmann said, adding Ukrainian authorities had so far documented nearly 50,000 instances of war crimes and listed around 600 suspected war criminals. 

It is a shared goal of the G7 countries “to achieve maximum accountability and to deliver justice for victims and survivors,” according to a statement published after the meeting. “There can be no impunity for war crimes and other atrocities.”

The “entire Russian leadership” should be investigated in the International Criminal Court for “crimes against humanity” Buschmann told the press conference. 

CNN's Allegra Goodwin contributed to this post.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Tuesday that there is "always a chance" for an exchange of prisoners with the United States, and he did not rule out the possibility of a prisoner swap before the end of the year, according to state media RIA Novosti.

“There is always a chance. Unfortunately, there were several situations before when it seemed that a decision in favor of this was about to take place. This did not happen. But I'm just talking about previous experiences — we, as a department, do not conduct such dialogue, so we do not fully feel the dynamics," Ryabkov said, as quoted by RIA.

Ryabkov said an agreement on the exchange of prisoners with the United States "would show that quiet diplomacy is bearing fruit." He added that recent methods of "megaphone diplomacy" from the United States "did not help the case."

Some background: In July, CNN reported that the Biden administration offered to exchange a convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout as part of a potential deal to secure the release of two Americans held by Russia, basketball star Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. But Russian officials have requested that Vadim Krasikov, a former colonel from the country’s domestic spy agency, be included in the US’ proposed swap of Bout for Griner and Whelan, multiple sources familiar with the discussions have previously told CNN.

Earlier this month, Ryabkov said that Russia hoped for a “positive outcome” on the issue of exchanging Bout, according to state media TASS.The possibility of a prisoner swap is not only possible but is getting stronger, he said, adding that “and the time will come when the prospect will become a concrete agreement,” according to TASS.

However, the US State Department has cautioned against optimism based on Ryabkov’s comments, noting that Russia still has yet to engage in good faith. “Ultimately here, actions speak louder than words,” said State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel.

Moscow had "no choice" but to postpone the meeting on the START nuclear arms reduction treaty in Cairo, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russian journalists on Tuesday, according to state media TASS.

"The situation developed in such a way that we had no other choice. The decision was made at the political level," Ryabkov told journalists, as quoted by TASS.

"We were faced with a situation where our American colleagues in a number of areas demonstrated not just an unwillingness to perceive our signals and take into account our priorities but acted in the opposite direction," Ryabkov said. "Of course, there is an effect of what is happening in Ukraine and around it."

US President Joe Biden's administration is blaming Russia for postponing the meetings that were scheduled to begin on Tuesday, with a State Department spokesperson saying the decision was made “unilaterally” by Russia. Russia did not provide a reason to the US for postponing the talks, a senior State Department official told CNN.

According to Ryabkov, the United States tried to concentrate on the topic of inspections, while for Moscow, "the priority was and remains the solution of other issues." Ryabkov said Moscow will offer Washington new dates for a meeting on the START treaty, but it is "unlikely" that it will take place before the end of the year. 

“The major issues that dominate our agenda with the United States today are more important than some technique and mechanics of work under the new START,” Ryabkov added.

NATO is "not running out" of tanks, Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said, refuting claims that the alliance is low on stock.  

Speaking to reporters ahead of a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Bucharest, Romania, on Tuesday, Landsbergis said Ukraine needs "air defense, missile defense."

"Everything that we have needs to be shipped right away," he said. 

Acknowledging that there may be "difficulties" with the supply of other ammunition, Landsbergis said that NATO countries "basically have almost unlimited amount of ammunition for main battle tanks." 

Relentless Russian airstrikes have sapped much of Ukraine's heat and power supply, with freezing temperatures and less daylight compounding the hardship for people.

Meanwhile, Moscow has said it will start installing federal courts in four regions of Ukraine that it annexed in violation of international law.

Here are the latest developments:

The head of the notorious private military company Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, confirmed that a Zambian national killed on Sept. 22 died fighting for Wagner in Ukraine. Prigozhin also confirmed that the Zambian was recruited out of a Russian prison.

Prigozhin, known by the moniker “Putin’s chef,” confirmed the name of the Zambian was Nathan Lemekhani Nyirenda. 

Via a Telegram account where his responses to journalists are posted, Prigozhin said that he met Nyirenda on his recruitment drive across Russia’s prisons. The two allegedly met in a prison in Tver, Russia.

Prigozhin said he recalled an alleged exchange that he had with Nyirenda in which he asked about his motivation for fighting in the war.

CNN has previously reported about the death, age, prison and circumstances of Nyirenda in November. 

A statement from the Zambian Foreign Ministry said that he was a 23-year-old student who was studying in Russia at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute and that he had been arrested in April 2020 and sentenced to 9 years and 6 months in prison in Tver. 

At the end of Prigozhin’s statement on Telegram, he described Nyirenda as “showing courage, bravery and he died as a hero.”

France has dispatched 100 generators to Romania for onward transport to Ukraine, the French embassy in Romania tweeted on Tuesday.

The 100 units will be handed over to Ukraine "very soon," the embassy tweeted.

The European Union has sent 500 generators to Ukraine, from 17 EU countries, EU Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid — the bloc’s humanitarian arm — said on Twitter. These range from small generators suitable for running small households to much more powerful ones with higher capacities.

France’s delivery is part of these 500 units, the ministry confirmed to CNN and follows 85 such generators that France has already sent to Ukraine and Moldova.

"Given the immense energy needs in Ukraine, much more equipment is needed," EU Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid said on Twitter.

Millions of Ukrainians have been left with reduced access to heat and power this winter, following a recent barrage of Russian strikes targeting critical energy infrastructure.