Right here is the place issues stand on Sunday, December 21:
Preventing
- The dying toll from a Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s port metropolis of Odesa rose from seven to eight, with not less than 30 others wounded, in line with Ukrainian authorities.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the state of affairs in Odesa as “harsh” and accused Russia of making an attempt to dam Kyiv’s entry to the Black Sea.
- The Ukrainian chief additionally stated that he’s seeking to exchange the pinnacle of the Southern Air Command, Dmytro Karpenko, over the Russian strikes on Odesa.
- Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba stated Russian forces additionally attacked the close by port of Pivdennyi on Saturday, hitting a number of reservoirs.
- Ukraine’s navy stated its particular forces carried out a drone assault on a Lukoil oil rig within the Caspian Sea on Friday, together with the Russian navy patrol ship Okhotnik. The navy additionally stated that the Filanovsky oil rig, which had been focused twice this month, was broken within the strike.
- Russia’s Ministry of Defence stated its forces took management of the villages of Svitle and Vysoke, situated in Ukraine’s jap Donetsk area and the northeastern Luhansk area, respectively.
Diplomacy and ceasefire talks
- Zelenskyy stated america proposed a brand new format for talks with Russia, comprised of three-way talks on the stage of nationwide safety advisers from Ukraine, Russia, and the US.
- The Ukrainian chief expressed scepticism that the talks would end in “something new”, however added that he believes that US-led talks have the perfect likelihood of success.
- He added that he would help trilateral discussions in the event that they led to progress in areas corresponding to prisoner swaps or a gathering of nationwide leaders. “If such a assembly could possibly be held now to permit for swaps of prisoners of conflict, or if a gathering of nationwide safety advisers achieves settlement on a leaders’ assembly… I can’t be opposed. We might help such a US proposal. Let’s see how issues go,” he stated.
- Zelenskyy additionally pushed again in opposition to requires Ukraine to hold elections because the conflict drags on, stating that voting can’t happen in Russian-occupied areas and that safety circumstances should first enhance. “It isn’t [Russian President Vladimir] Putin who decides when and in what format the elections in Ukraine will happen,” Zelenskyy stated.
- Zelenskyy urged European leaders to approve a measure to grab frozen Russian assets and use them to fund Ukraine’s conflict effort, saying that doing so will strengthen Ukraine’s leverage on the negotiating desk. The Worldwide Financial Fund has estimated that Ukraine will want about 137 billion euros ($161bn) in 2026 and 2027, because the calls for of the conflict proceed to pressure the country’s economy.
- Russian particular envoy Kirill Dmitriev held talks together with his US counterpart, Steve Witkoff, and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, within the metropolis of Miami.
- “The discussions are continuing constructively. They started earlier and will proceed right now, and also will proceed tomorrow,” Dmitriev stated
- Russian Minister of International Affairs Sergey Lavrov attended a summit in Cairo, held to advance nearer cooperation between Russia and African nations, and attended by greater than 50 international locations. Lavrov pitched Russia as a “dependable associate” to African international locations in areas corresponding to safety and nationwide sovereignty.
Weapons
- Ukrainian presidential aide Oleksandr Kamyshin introduced a cope with Portugal on the joint manufacturing of maritime drones, saying it will assist “defend Europe from the ocean”.
