Russia announced its readiness to negotiate with Ukraine and stop the war according to difficult conditions it set, while US President Joe Biden warned of the danger of the nuclear threat, considering that it had reached its highest level in half a century.

The President of the Russian Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, said on Thursday that the West has no tools left to harm Russia's reputation but to promote what she described as lies about the possibility of Russia's use of nuclear weapons.

Valentina Matvienko expressed her country's readiness to stop its military operations and negotiate with Ukraine, but according to Russian conditions.

The President of the Russian Federation Council stressed that the regions of Crimea, Donbass, Zaporozhye and Kherson are not negotiable, because they have become part of the Russian territory, as she put it.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed laws to annex the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye to Russia, which were rejected by Kyiv, its Western allies and the United Nations.

top threat

In the opposite camp, US President Joe Biden said the threat of the nuclear threat had reached its highest level since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.

Biden added that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not joking when he talked about the use of tactical, biological or chemical nuclear weapons.

In a speech at a fundraising event in New York, Biden indicated that President Putin's threat is real because the performance of his army is largely weak, as he put it.

Biden (left) before heading to New York yesterday (Reuters)

The US president warned that the use of a low-yield tactical weapon could quickly spiral out of control and cause global devastation.

It is noteworthy that the Cuban missile crisis lasted from 14 to 28 October 1962, and raised fears of a nuclear war.

At that time, photographs taken by a US spy plane revealed the presence of Soviet missile launchers in Cuba, an ally of Moscow, with a range of American shores.

Ukrainian progress

This comes at a time when the Ukrainian forces continue to make progress on the eastern and southern fronts, as the Ukrainian army announced the advance of its forces to a depth of twenty kilometers in Kherson Province.

The governor of Zaporozhye confirmed to the island that the Ukrainian forces now control 60% of the province.

On the other hand, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that its forces had thwarted a Ukrainian attack on the Kobyansk axis, south of Kharkiv, and that Ukrainian forces had been removed from its line of defense in Kherson.

A Ukrainian military source told Al-Jazeera correspondent in Kherson that his country's forces had regained control of the town of Trifonivka.

The Ukrainian General Staff had announced earlier the recapture of 29 villages and towns in the north of Kherson Province during the month of October.


Military sources in Kherson also reported that the Ukrainian forces destroyed a number of Russian vehicles and tanks during the battles.

In Lugansk, the Ukrainian army announced the start of what it called the battle to liberate the region.

This comes in conjunction with the mobilization of the Ukrainian army towards the province, after it had previously announced the crossing of the administrative border from the "Lisechansk" axis.

In turn, the Russian forces said that they had rearranged their ranks in the east and strengthened their defensive lines in the town of "Liman" Donetsk, which the Ukrainian forces regained control over a few days ago.

The situation in Zaporozhye

In a related matter, the governor of Zaporozhye Province Oleksandr Staruch said in an interview with Al Jazeera that Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to annex regions to his country has no value.

Starukh added that Ukrainian forces control about 60% of the territory of Zaporozhye province, including the city of Zaporozhye, while the positions occupied by Russia are located on the outskirts and constitute about 20% of the total area of ​​the province.

Zaporozhye nuclear power plant has been controlled by Russian forces since March 1, 2022 (Getty Images)

On the other hand, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the pro-Russian district council of Zaporozhye, said on Thursday that British military experts are training Ukraine's elite forces to control the Zaporozhye nuclear plant.

Rogoff emphasized that the British oversee all movements and actions of Ukrainian forces in the province;

He stated that Ukraine is mobilizing its forces in greater numbers on the front line in Zaporozhye than has been mobilized since the beginning of the war.

Ukrainian fears

Meanwhile, the American newspaper, Politico, said that the Ukrainian authorities are re-reviewing their priority list of imports of advanced Western weapons, especially the anti-missile class.

The newspaper attributed the Ukrainian trend to fears of Russia's escalation of missile attacks on civilian targets and infrastructure facilities in Ukraine.

Politico quoted a Ukrainian military adviser, who refused to reveal himself, that the "NASAMS" system is not enough to defend the Ukrainian airspace, and that Kyiv needs medium and long-range missiles to intercept Russian planes and missiles.


French support

In this regard, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the recall of the French ambassador to Russia, Pierre Levy, against the background of France's provision of military and technical support to Ukraine.

In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russian Assistant Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko gave a preliminary assessment of the support provided by France and other Western countries to Ukraine.

The statement added that the Russian official referred to the threats arising from the increase in military aid to Kiev and the increase in training and preparation programs for the Ukrainian military.

He pointed out that this approach contradicts the assurances of officials in Paris about their interest in reaching a peaceful settlement in Ukraine.

For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that European financial, humanitarian and military support for Ukraine will continue according to the same approach that has been followed for many months.

Macron said during a press conference in the Czech capital Prague after the launch of the first summit of the leaders of the so-called "European Political Group" that this will be done in coordination between the members of the European Union and countries outside the Union, noting that his country is considering sending additional Caesar cannons to Ukraine.

And the French press agency quoted a source it described as an insider as saying that Paris is considering supplying Kyiv with an additional six to 12 Caesar cannons deducted from an order for Denmark.

France is also studying the possibility of giving Kyiv 20 Bastion armored vehicles.

It is noteworthy that France has provided Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict with 18 155 mm Caesar cannons with a range of up to 40 km, anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, armored vehicles, fuel, individual equipment and about fifteen 155 mm TRF1 cannons.