Updated

Ukraine's UN envoy Andriy Melnyk said President Volodymyr Zelensky is ready to meet Vladimir Putin anywhere except Moscow, including Antarctica. Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting in New York on Monday, November 9, Melnyk said Putin's Russia was exploiting diplomacy to prolong the war and urged European allies and all UN members to immediately transfer available air defense systems, especially Patriot interceptor missiles, to Ukraine. Melnyk cited Institute for the Study of War figures that Russia captured 139 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory in October but lost 167, a net loss of 28 square kilometers, and argued Russian forces had lost their strategic initiative. He said Moscow was pursuing parallel strategies of attacking civilians, sabotage and psychological operations, and using talks to buy time, and suggested Russia would seek a ceasefire only after maximum damage. Kyiv Post reported that Melnyk named Florida during the December G20 summit as one possible venue, and that Zelensky separately said he was ready to meet Putin in Turkey, which he said would be Erdogan-assisted, while ruling out ceding the Donbas or recognizing Crimea as Russian.