Ukraine, talks on 'three-way summit', but Kremlin holds back. Ft: 'Russian assets, Macron betrayed Merz'

"The Kremlin will examine the information provided by Dmitriev", Moscow's envoy to the Miami talks on Ukraine, who "will return to Moscow tomorrow and report to President Putin and after that we will define our position". This was stated by Kremlin advisor Yury Ushakov, Interfax writes, adding that "Russia is sticking to what was agreed with the US in Anchorage and in other meetings".

"We are concluding this historic week for Ukraine, a significant diplomatic week. The main thing is that we have provided Ukraine with 90 billion euros for two years. This is a key achievement of December, in many ways an important achievement of the whole year. There is a positive decision from Europe, we fought for a long time for this decision, I want to thank everyone who helped us'. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote this on Telegram. "It is important that Russian assets remain in Europe, remain locked up. Ukraine will receive at least EUR 45 billion a year, over the next two years. And these funds can only be returned at the expense of Russian funds: Russia has to pay for its war,' he added, explaining that 'EUR 90 billion is a guarantee of financial security for everyone in Ukraine, absolutely real. Thanks to the European leaders: Antonio Costa, Ursula von der Leyen, to all the leaders of the states that supported us'.

"We continue to work so that all Russian assets are earmarked for real protection from the Russian war and the reconstruction of our state. There are such funds not only in Europe, we are in contact with every government. This is one of the most difficult tasks, no less difficult than providing weapons to Ukraine. But we will solve this too. There will be funds for restoration,' Zelensky concluded.

A defeat of Ukraine would have serious consequences for Hungary. This was stated on X by the Prime Minister of Budapest, Viktor Orban, who is known for his pro-Russian positions.

"Make no mistake, the collapse of Ukraine would be a catastrophe for Hungary," he said, "The stability of its neighbour is important. Hungary supplies 44 per cent of electricity and 58 per cent of gas to Ukraine. Meanwhile, the war weakens Ukraine day by day. Only peace can strengthen it. Those who truly support Ukraine must want peace, and want it now'.

Interviewed by the German newspaper Bild in an interview published today about why it is so difficult to end the war in Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte replied: "The reason is (Vladimir) Putin!"

"It is willing to sacrifice 1.1 million of its own citizens," he added, "And this year its progress is minimal: negligible territorial gains, less than 1 per cent of Ukrainian territory compared to the beginning of the year. As a result, according to our estimates, up to 1.1 million people have been killed or wounded on the Russian front'.

Ukrainian chief negotiator Rustem Umerov announced that he will meet his US counterpart in Miami today, on the third day of talks aimed at ending the war. "Third day of work in the United States. Today, together with General Andriy Gnatov, we will have another meeting with the American side," Umerov wrote on social media.

Russia and the US can have many mutually beneficial projects together. This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. "Russia believes that there can be many mutually beneficial projects on the agenda," Peskov told broadcaster Channel One, commenting on Russia-US relations. (Continued)

The Ukrainian army announced on Facebook that it is trying to repel an attempted breakthrough by Russian troops in a border area of the Sumy region (north-east), from where Kiev accuses Moscow of illegally deporting civilians to Russia. This morning, Ukrainian media had already reported this news.

"Fighting is ongoing in the village of Hrabovske," Ukrainian forces stated, adding that "the Ukrainian defenders are committed to pushing the occupiers back towards Russian territory" and denying the presence of Russian soldiers in the neighbouring village of Riasne. This border area east of the town of Sumy was so far relatively spared, after a Ukrainian counter-offensive at the end of which Russian units were pushed back in 2022.

Russia expects the US and other participants in the negotiation process on the conflict in Ukraine to respect the agreements reached, including those in Anchorage. This was stated by the Russian president's advisor for international affairs, Yuri Ushakov.

"We expect the Americans and everyone else to abide by the agreements reached, particularly in Anchorage, as well as in other negotiations," Ushakov told reporters in response to a question about what Moscow expects from the Miami talks in order to continue the productive work.

Kirill Dmitriev, Russia's Special Representative for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries, began the second day of talks in Miami on Ukraine with US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and the son-in-law of the US President, Jared Kushner. Ria Novosti reports. Dmitriev is then expected to leave the US tonight.

Russia believes that bilateral relations with the US should not be linked with the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine even if Washington 'points' them in this direction. This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Ria Novosti reports.

French President Emmanuel Macron allegedly betrayed German Chancellor Friedrich Merz by refusing to support a plan that would have allowed the EU to use frozen Russian sovereign assets to finance Ukraine. The Financial Times reported this, citing a senior EU diplomat.

Two days ago the newspaper claimed, citing people familiar with the matter, that Italy and France had played a crucial role in scuppering the plan to support a 'reparations' loan to Kiev. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni eventually 'scuttled' - according to the Financial Times - the proposal.

Russian forces raided across the border in the Sumy region, near the settlement of Hrabovske. The military abducted about fifty civilians, the majority of them elderly and women, a defence spokesman reported to Ukrainskaya Pravda. One of the abducted women is 89 years old.

Any discussions with Moscow will be conducted "in total transparency" with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Europeans, the goal remaining to achieve a "solid and lasting peace" for the Ukrainian people. This was stated by the Elysée Palace, quoted by French media, regarding the possibility of President Emmanuel Macron's talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

The EU and NATO are ready to bring the world to the brink of World War III. Yuri Pilipson, Director of the Second European Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said this in an interview with Tass, commenting on Romania's National Defence Strategy.

"The threat to Romania's national security is not Russia," said Pilipson, "but Bucharest's adherence to the aggressive and reckless strategy of the EU and NATO, whose leadership, in turn, is ready to bring the world to the brink of World War III for its own selfish interests. Pilipson called Romania's National Defence Strategy, adopted in November, 'yet another example of the short-sighted policies of the current Bucharest elite, which admits it does not want to look at things objectively and is in fact planning a long-term confrontation' with Russia.

A meeting between Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin is in sight. "In the coming days" the Elysée Palace will make known the modalities. The Russian president expressed his readiness for dialogue with his French counterpart, making "a mutual political will" a condition, spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained after Macron had spoken about it at the EU summit on Thursday. The Elysée 'welcomed this readiness for such a step'.

In the Ukraine decree 'there will be mainly civil aid, of course. But also weapons,' said deputy prime minister and foreign minister Antonio Tajani in an interview with La Stampa, where he had been to show his solidarity after the assault on the via Lugaro 15 newsroom, which he called a 'Nazi action'. "Now we will see what the text will be, but we are talking mainly about civil aid, which will serve the population so that it does not become a victim of the 'general winter', which threatens to weaken Ukraine more than Russian weapons. Putin has hit the hydroelectric power plants, where the energy also comes from for the population, and we want to work on that. Then we can also send weapons, but the first concern is this, because the Russians want to weaken the resistance of the Ukrainian people, more than that of the Ukrainian armed forces, since they have had no great successes. "We have always expressed a lot of doubts about the legal basis for the use of Russian frozen assets, ed), the European Central Bank has spoken out against it, and I don't think it feels pressure from Trump. We just want to avoid the risk of being condemned by the Court of Justice in the event of a challenge: it would be a slap in the face from Russia to the defenders of the rule of law. A very bad figure, politically unacceptable." "To help Ukraine then yes, let's use the European budget, let's make debt: it's a positive choice from a legal, political and pro-European point of view," he added, pointing out that by rejecting the possibility of using Russian assets "we wanted above all to protect the coffers of states". "In recent years Russia has conquered, including Crimea which it already had, 19.3% of the total Ukrainian territory, with hundreds of thousands of dead, so it was not a great military success," the minister recalled, pointing out that the weapons in the decree would be there "by necessity". "We are discussing it and we should not get angry either. If the League wants us to insist a lot on the civil aid aspect fine, we agree. 'Predominantly', however, does not exclude sending military aid as well, which can also mean equipment."

New Russian raids on the Ukrainian region of Odessa hit for the second consecutive day. A warehouse of sunflower oil, a product of which Ukraine is one of the world's leading exporters, was hit. One employee was killed and two injured. Tonnes of oil were lost. 'Russia is again trying to restrict Ukraine's access to the sea and block our coastal regions,' denounced President Volodymir Zelensky.

The hypothesis of holding a trilateral meeting between representatives of Moscow, Washington and Kiev on the conflict in Ukraine 'has not been discussed seriously so far and is not being considered at the moment', Russian presidential advisor Yuri Ushakov told reporters, quoted by Tass.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is "ready for dialogue" with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov to Russia's Ria Novosti news agency on Saturday night. "He (Macron) said he was ready to talk to Putin. It is probably very important to remember what the president said during his annual press conference last Friday: he expressed his readiness to talk with Macron," Peskov explained. Ukrainian, European and American negotiators are in Miami, Florida, this weekend for talks led by Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump's special envoy, and Jared Kushner, the US president's son-in-law. Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev is also in Miami.

The Ukrainian Air Defence Forces neutralised 75 out of 97 drones launched by Russia in a night attack that began last night. Ukrinform writes this, citing the Ukrainian Armed Forces Air Force on Telegram. Starting at 6pm on Saturday 20 December, Russian forces attacked Ukraine with 97 attack drones of the Shahed, Gerbera and other types, launched from directions of Millerovo, Kursk, Primorsko-Akhtarsk (Russian Federation), Hvardiiske and Chauda (temporarily occupied Crimea). About 60 of these were Shahed-type drones. It says The air attack was repelled by aircraft, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare units and unmanned systems units, as well as mobile fire groups of the Ukrainian Defence Forces. According to preliminary data, as of 8:30 this morning, air defences had in total shot down or blocked 75 drones over northern, southern, western and eastern Ukraine.