Ukraine Defense Minister Says Main Troop Reserves Yet to Be Used

A Ukrainian serviceman of an air reconnaissance squad of the 45th Brigade prepares to launch a Leleka reconnaissance UAV on a position in Donetsk region on June 27, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
A Ukrainian serviceman of an air reconnaissance squad of the 45th Brigade prepares to launch a Leleka reconnaissance UAV on a position in Donetsk region on June 27, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
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Ukraine Defense Minister Says Main Troop Reserves Yet to Be Used

A Ukrainian serviceman of an air reconnaissance squad of the 45th Brigade prepares to launch a Leleka reconnaissance UAV on a position in Donetsk region on June 27, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
A Ukrainian serviceman of an air reconnaissance squad of the 45th Brigade prepares to launch a Leleka reconnaissance UAV on a position in Donetsk region on June 27, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)

The liberation of a group of villages under Russian occupation in recent weeks were "not the main event" in Kyiv's planned attack, Oleksiy Reznikov, Ukraine defense minister, told the Financial Times.

"When it happens, you will all see it... Everyone will see everything," he told FT in an interview published on Wednesday, brushing aside media coverage of slow progress against well-fortified Russian positions.

Ukraine's main troop reserves, including most brigades recently trained in the West and equipped with modern NATO tanks and armored vehicles, have yet to be used in the operation, Reznikov said.



Next Nuclear Talks between Iran and Three European Countries Due on Jan 13

FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
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Next Nuclear Talks between Iran and Three European Countries Due on Jan 13

FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo

The next round of nuclear talks between Iran and three European countries will take place on Jan. 13 in Geneva, Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency cited the country's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi as saying on Wednesday.
Iran held talks about its disputed nuclear program in November, 2024 with Britain, France and Germany.
Those discussions, the first since the US election, came after Tehran was angered by a European-backed resolution that accused Iran of poor cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.
Tehran reacted to the resolution by informing the IAEA watchdog that it plans to install more uranium-enriching centrifuges at its enrichment plants.
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told Reuters in December that Iran is "dramatically" accelerating its enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, closer to the roughly 90% level that is weapons grade. Tehran denies pursuing nuclear weapons and says its program is peaceful.
In 2018, the then administration of Donald Trump exited Iran's 2015 nuclear pact with six major powers and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to violate the pact's nuclear limits, with moves such as rebuilding stockpiles of enriched uranium, refining it to higher fissile purity and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up output.
Indirect talks between US President Joe Biden's administration and Tehran to try to revive the pact have failed, but Trump said during his election campaign in September: "We have to make a deal, because the consequences are impossible. We have to make a deal".