Ukraine updates: Musk reportedly joined Trump-Zelenskyy call

Musk was physically present with Trump when the Ukrainian leader called to congratulate him. Meanwhile, the Pentagon will reportedly allow private US defense contractors to deploy to Ukraine.

When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called US President-elect Donald Trump to congratulate him on his election victory earlier this week, he briefly spoke to billionaire Elon Musk.

News website Axios reported that Musk was physically with Trump during the phone call, with the president-elect handing it over to him. Several other media outlets later also reported the same news, citing Ukrainian forces.

The Pentagon, meanwhile, will allow a select number of private US defense contractors to deploy into Ukraine, US officials said on Friday.

In other news, Germany's ambassador to Russia, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, has called on Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.

Speaking at a ceremony in Moscow marking the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Lambsdorff praised Soviet Union's role in the reunification of Germany, while calling on Russia to end the invasion of its neighbor. 

This blog is now closed, these were the developments regarding Russia's war on Ukraine for Saturday, November 9: