abdujalil abdurasulov, bbc news, donetsk region in eastern ukraine.jess parker is there. a call this week for more money and weapons for kyiv, not quite answered as ukraine had hoped, but presumably very pleased with developments today around eu membership. absolutely, the decision to open membership talks will be hugely welcomed here in ukraine. remember, they applied tojoin welcomed here in ukraine. remember, they applied to join the eu right after russia's full scale invasion, but for many, the move towards europe is a long held ambition rooted in values they feel they are fighting for right now. for president zelensky, the decision is something that he desperately wanted and frankly desperately needed. he has, as you say, been trying to reenergise western support but left the us earlier this week having failed to secure some crucial defence funds from washington, dc, and ten i's decision in brussels was hanging in the balance, eu leaders pushed it through in a pretty bizarre fashion, and the only one to oppose the plans, hungry�*s viktor orban, le

abdujalil abdurasulov, bbc news, donetsk region, in eastern ukraine.resident putin says there will be no peace in ukraine until russia has achieved its goals. at his first major news conference since the start of the invasion, mr putin insisted that the war was going well and suggested that western support for ukraine was drying up. mr putin spent more than four hours answering questions at the choreographed event. our russia editor steve rosenberg there. there haven't been many — actually, any — opportunities for western media to get anywhere near vladimir putin since his full—scale invasion of ukraine. but today, the kremlin invited us and otherforeign media to the president's end—of—year tv extravaganza — half press conference, half phone—in. on the war in ukraine, he sounded confident. translation: there will be peace when we achieve our goals. they haven't changed. practically along the entire line of contact, our armed forces are, to put it modestly, improving their position. they are in an active stage of operation. there was a definite military

abdujalil abdurasulov, bbc news, donetsk region, in eastern ukraine.dent putin has insisted that russian troops are improving their positions across the entire frontline in ukraine. he spoke in a marathon four—hour press conference, during which our russia editor steve rosenberg tried to pose some questions. there haven't been many — actually, any — opportunities for western media to get anywhere near vladimir putin since his full—scale invasion of ukraine. but today, the kremlin invited us and otherforeign media to the president's end—of—year tv extravaganza — half press conference, half phone—in. on the war in ukraine, he sounded confident. translation: there will be peace when we achieve our goals. they haven't changed. practically along the entire line of contact, our armed forces are, to put it modestly, improving their position. they are in an active stage of operation. there was a definite military theme to the show, which was broadcast by every main tv channel in russia and went on for hours. the public had plenty of questions about what the kr

ukraine, troops are under pressure because of a dwindling military supplies. 0ur correspondent abdujalil abdurasulov deadly war grinds on,

but first, our correspondent abdujalil abdurasulov

abdujalil abdurasulov, bbc news, donetsk region, in eastern ukraine.ntinued fighting in gaza, the us national security advisor, jake sullivan, will visit the occupied west bank city of ramallah later on friday for talks with palestinian authority leaders. he's already met with israeli prime minister netanyahu to talk about protecting civilians and a possible timetable for ending the war. the us says it wants the conflict over "as soon "as possible" but is not "dictating terms "to "as possible" but is not "dictating terms to the "israelis". prime minister netanyahu has vowed "absolute victory", and the israeli defence minister has warned the war could last "several" more months. this is the aftermath of a strike in rafah in the south of the gaza strip. the hamas—run health ministry says, at least 2a people were killed in air strikes on two houses. here's our middle east correspondent hugo bachega with the latest. we had two messages, following those talks with jake sullivan in israel, first from the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, who again s

confident that our partners will continue to assist ukraine live now to kyiv and our correspondent abdujalil abdurasulovim in that clip. just talk us through a little bit more of what he was saying to you.— us through a little bit more of what he was saying to you. well, he says that he is confident _ he was saying to you. well, he says that he is confident that _ he was saying to you. well, he says that he is confident that ukraine's l that he is confident that ukraine's western partners, the uk and the united states, will continue providing military assistance, despite the fact that major financial and military packages have currently stalled. uk relies not just on the fact that the eu provides support on a bilateral level, notjust as a block. ukraine is receiving aid from individual states of the european union, such as germany, the netherlands and other countries. but these tines are quite concerning for ukraine, because the situation regarding the military aid and financial assistance, when they stall, it sends a signal to russia that international support for ukraine is declining and that embolden