- Former British Prime Minister David Cameron, now the country's foreign minister, said that Ukraine "absolutely has the right" to launch missile strikes into Russian territory with British weapons on Thursday. Independent (LR: 2 CP: 3)
- Lord Cameron made the remarks as he made his second visit to the Ukrainian capital as foreign secretary and as Britain promised Ukraine that it would provide it with £3B ($3.8B) in military aid every year "for as long as it takes." Guardian (LR: 2 CP: 5)
- Earlier in the year, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to provide Ukraine with $2.5B ($3.1B) in military aid for 2024-25, but made no commitment on spending beyond that time frame. Guardian (LR: 2 CP: 5)
- Separately, Cameron announced two separate packages valued at £36M ($45.2M) and £20M ($25.1M) to support Ukraine's energy infrastructure following Russian attacks. Independent (LR: 2 CP: 3)
- Elsewhere, in an interview with the Economist, French Pres. Emmanuel Macron doubled down on earlier comments that he would not rule out sending ground troops to Ukraine. "If the Russians were to break through the front lines, if there were a Ukrainian request, which is not the case today, we would legitimately have to ask ourselves this question," Macron said. Al Jazeera (LR: 2 CP: 1)
- This comes as Ukrainian officials continued to report a deteriorating situation on the frontlines. Nazar Voloshyn, spokesperson for Ukrainian forces in the east, told national television: "The enemy is actively attacking along the entire front line, and in several directions they have achieved certain tactical advances. The situation is changing dynamically." Associated Press (LR: 3 CP: 5)
Pro-establishment narrative:
- Just as Russia has been launching strikes inside Ukraine, if Ukrainians feel that they are better able to defend themselves by striking troop concentrations and logistics nodes inside Russian territory, they are justified in doing that to achieve their war objectives.
POLITICO
Pro-Russia narrative:
- Aside from the avoidable loss of Ukrainian territory and men throughout this conflict, Ukraine's counteroffensive has failed and Kyiv is now losing the war. More money for arms will simply bring about more death and destruction. Ukraine would never have fought this war against Russia without US and EU weapons.
TASS
Nerd narrative:
- There is a 3% chance there will be a bilateral cease-fire or peace agreement in the Russo-Ukraine conflict in 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
METACULUS (LR: 3 CP: 3)