War between Ukraine and Russia: Trump proposes to “settle” the war while Biden calls Putin a “war criminal” during the presidential debate

Russian forces have taken control of the settlement of Rozdolivka in eastern Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

The ministry said in a statement that Russia's “Southern” military group had adopted what it called more favorable positions after pushing Ukrainian forces out of the settlement in the Donetsk region.

Reuters could not verify the battlefield report and there was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar visit the Wall of Memory of Fallen Defenders in Ukraine today.

Ukraine's prime minister said on Friday that military commitments outlined in 20 security agreements signed by kyiv with its partners total $60 billion a year for the next four years.

“According to these agreements, over the next four years our partners plan to provide Ukraine with total military support worth $60 billion per year,” Denys Shmyhal said at a government meeting.

Russia's defense minister has ordered authorities to prepare a “response” to U.S. drone flights over the Black Sea, the ministry said Friday, in an apparent warning that Moscow could take strong action to repel the American reconnaissance planes.

The Russian Defense Ministry noted a recent “increased intensity” of US drones over the Black Sea, saying they “carry out intelligence and targeting operations on precision weapons supplied to the Ukrainian military by the Western countries for strikes on Russian installations.

“This shows increased involvement of the United States and other NATO countries in the conflict in Ukraine on the side of the Kiev regime,” the ministry said in a statement.

The Kremlin said on Friday the outlook for EU-Russia relations was poor after European leaders nominated Ursula von der Leyen for a new term as European Commission president and chose Estonian Kaja Kallas as the next head of the Commission. EU foreign policy.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the bloc's decision to nominate Germany's von der Leyen for a second five-year term would not change anything.

“Ms von der Leyen is not in favour of normalising relations between the EU and Russia. This is how we know her, this is how we remember her. Nothing changes in this regard,” Peskov said.

Commenting on the choice of Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as EU foreign policy chief, Peskov said she was known for her anti-Russian rhetoric.

“Ms. Kallas has so far not shown diplomatic inclinations and is well known in our country for her absolutely uncompromising and sometimes even openly anti-Russian statements,” he said.

“We therefore do not believe that European diplomacy will contribute in one way or another to the normalization of relations. The outlook is poor in terms of relations between Moscow and Brussels.”

Russia has no comment on the US presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump as it is an internal US matter, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

Biden often stumbled during his meeting with Trump, reigniting discussions about his age. Russia loomed large in the debate as both men tried to show who was tougher on foreign policy.

Trump said that if the United States had a “real president” respected by Putin, it would never have invaded Ukraine under Biden.

Biden responded: “Go ahead, let Putin come in and control Ukraine, then move on to Poland and other places. We’ll see what happens next. He has no idea what he’s talking about.”

Putin said earlier this month that he did not believe the election outcome would make much difference to Russia.

The Belarusian Border Service and the country's Defense Ministry are taking steps to further strengthen the Belarusian border with Ukraine after a security incident, the Belarusian Border Service said in a statement.

Border services said their employees shot down a quadcopter on Wednesday after it illegally crossed the border from Ukraine to collect information on Belarusian border infrastructure.

Earlier this week, he said materials for a homemade bomb had been found hidden in the same area and that he knew a unit of pro-Ukrainian Russian fighters was present in a Ukrainian region bordering Belarus.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signaled Wednesday that he would take tougher action on officials he suspects of shirking their duties in the war with Russia now in its third year.

Zelensky and Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi visited troops in the eastern Donetsk region who have withstood fierce Russian ground and air attacks in recent months. They also discussed with local authorities the supply of drinking water, social issues, evacuation plans and the reconstruction of local homes, Zelenskyy said.

He added that upon his return to kyiv he would speak to “officials who need to be here and in other areas close to the front line, in difficult communities where people need immediate solutions.”

The United States will confront Russia at the United Nations Security Council on Friday over its violation of an arms embargo on North Korea, and will press China to adopt the position of strengthening ties between Moscow and Pyongyang, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said.

The meeting of the 15-member council comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Pyongyang last week to sign a pact with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in which they agreed to provide military assistance if either faces armed aggression.

“This should be of great concern to the entire global community,” Wood told Reuters ahead of the meeting, accusing Russia of “siding with a rogue state in violation of countless U.N. Security Council resolutions.”

“This is an unprecedented situation and we must denounce it,” he said. “We also want to know China's opinion on this growing military cooperation between the DPRK and Russia. It cannot regard this as a positive development.”