Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused America of turning Ukraine into an existential threat to Russia, and accused the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of seeking to dominate the world. On the other hand, US President Joe Biden set a condition for talking with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
This comes while the Russian Ministry of Defense said that its units had fully taken control of the city of Andreevka in Donetsk Province (eastern) Ukraine, while Ukrainian officials warned that Russia was preparing to launch a new wave of strikes with missiles and drones.
The Russian Foreign Minister said in a press conference on Thursday that the United States and NATO are directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine, stressing that they are supplying weapons to Ukraine in addition to training its soldiers in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and other countries.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the Americans of leaking news of a bilateral intelligence meeting held in Turkey two weeks ago.
In a press conference held in Moscow today on European security issues, Lavrov said that the United States was the one who insisted on the confidentiality of the channel of communication between the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service in his country, Sergey Naryshkin, and his American counterpart, William Burns, but then it began leaking.
US President: There is only one way to end this war, which is Putin's withdrawal from Ukraine (Anadolu Agency)
Biden terms
In a related context, US President Joe Biden said - during a press conference with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Washington - Thursday, that he is ready to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin if he shows his desire to end the war in Ukraine.
On the other hand, he stressed that he would not negotiate with him before reaching an understanding with European partners, considering that Russia's victory in Ukraine is out of the question.
The US President stressed that the only way to end the war is Russia's withdrawal from Ukraine.
In a joint statement, the US and French presidents confirmed their intention to hold Russia responsible for what they considered war crimes in Ukraine, through the United Nations, the International Criminal Court and other means.
For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he will continue to talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin, especially about the security and safety of nuclear plants.
However, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that President Putin's agenda does not yet include a phone call with Macron.
We will not be dragged into war
On the other hand, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg pledged Thursday to continue providing support to Kiev, but indicated that the alliance will remain cautious "and we will not be dragged into Putin's war in Ukraine."
"NATO is not a party to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and we will not be dragged into (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's war in Ukraine," Stoltenberg said - in a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Schultz after their meeting in the German capital, Berlin.
The Secretary-General of NATO accused "President Putin of bombing civilian and energy infrastructure in Ukraine with the aim of freezing and starving Ukrainians into submission."
"Putin is using winter as a weapon, and we cannot allow him to win," Stoltenberg added, adding that "at this critical moment, our continued support for Ukraine has become more important than ever."
Stoltenberg also thanked the German government for its financial and military support to Ukraine.
European request
In turn, a senior European official announced Thursday that he had asked Beijing to pressure Moscow on the war in Ukraine, while Kyiv warned of a new wave of missile strikes that Russia would launch across the country.
European Council President Charles Michel said he had urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to use his influence to pressure Russia to respect the UN charter with regard to Ukraine.
So far, China is taking a mediating position regarding Russia's war on Ukraine, as it directed some criticism at it, but at the same time it did not join the list of countries that imposed sanctions on Moscow.
For his part, European Union Foreign Policy Commissioner Josep Borrell said that the Union is making great efforts to establish a new security system in Europe.
Earlier, Borrell accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine by destroying civilian infrastructure there.
In a briefing on the sidelines of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe meeting held in Poland, Borrell said that the European Union supports the establishment of a special court for what he described as war crimes in Ukraine.
Borrell stressed that Russia must pay the cost of rebuilding Ukraine, stressing that the European Union is discussing legal ways to use the frozen Russian funds for the reconstruction of this country.
Russian progress
On the ground, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that its units had fully taken control of the city of Andreevka in Donetsk Province, eastern Ukraine, and repelled attacks on the axes in the south of the province.
The ministry's spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, confirmed that the Air Force targeted the sites of what he described as foreign mercenaries in Donetsk, and destroyed more than 80 Ukrainian artillery sites.
Al-Jazeera correspondent said that the city of Donetsk was subjected to intense missile strikes on Thursday evening.
The pro-Russian local authorities said that one of the shells targeted the local administration center and led to the death of a member of the local police.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian army announced the completion of a new prisoner exchange deal with the Russian side, according to which 50 Ukrainian soldiers who were captured during the recent battles were recovered.
The Ukrainian army said that the soldiers who were recovered were fighters wounded in battles in Zaporizhia, Donetsk and Luhansk.
For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that it had recovered 50 soldiers from the territory controlled by Kyiv, after a negotiation process.
A statement by the ministry stated that military transport planes belonging to the Russian Air Force will transport the released soldiers to Moscow for treatment and rehabilitation in the medical institutions of the Russian Defense Ministry.
A comprehensive Ukrainian ultimatum
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials warned Thursday evening that Russia is preparing to launch a new wave of missile and drone strikes.
The country's border service wrote on the messaging app Telegram: "Ukraine is on full alert of air raids, go to shelters."
Prior to that, the Ukrainian army confirmed the continuation of the Russian bombing of Kherson, Zaporizhia, Mykolaiv and Dnipro provinces in the south of the country.
The Ukrainian army said that during the past hours, the Russians carried out 41 air raids and 28 shelling from a missile system on the positions of Ukrainian forces and populated areas in Kherson.
He added that his forces had monitored the withdrawal of Russian forces from certain locations in the Kherson region as well.
The Ukrainian army also confirmed the continuation of the Russian bombardment of the Ochakov region of Mykolaiv and many seam villages in Zaporizhia and Dnipro.
Ukraine losses
In turn, Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolak told a Ukrainian television network on Thursday evening that his country's armed forces have lost between 10,000 and 13,000 soldiers so far in the war with Russia.
These statements appear to be the first assessment of the death toll since the end of August, when the commander of the armed forces said that nearly 9,000 soldiers had been killed in the war.
We are frank about the death toll, Podolak told Channel 24, noting that the number of injured soldiers is greater than the dead.
Oleksiy Aristovich, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said in a televised interview on Wednesday that the death toll from Russia is about 7 times that of Ukrainians.
For his part, Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets announced that more than 14.5 million citizens have left the country since the start of the Russian attacks.
Lubinets said in a press statement on Thursday that 11.7 million of those who left the country went to the European Union.
He added that 4.7 million Ukrainians were forced into internal displacement due to the continuation of the war.