Ukraine, Russian raid against Odessa region: seven dead

President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will join Special Envoy Steve Witkoff for Ukraine-Gaza peace talks in Miami today. Cnn reports this, citing a White House official.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters today that there is a possibility that he will attend talks between US and Ukrainian officials. "I may be present tomorrow for a part," Rubio said at a year-end press conference at the State Department.

London will not unilaterally use Russian assets frozen in the UK to help Kiev after a similar initiative failed at the EU summit. This was reported by the Financial Times, citing government sources.

The British government has ruled out the use of some £8 billion ($10.7 billion) of frozen Russian assets held in the country to assist Kiev, after the failure of a similar proposal in the EU, the article says.

- President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will join Special Envoy Steve Witkoff for peace talks on Ukraine and Gaza in Miami. A White House official told CNN, explaining that Witkoff and Kushner will meet with Ukrainian and European national security advisers for the first time. "Special Envoy Witkoff and Jared Kushner will meet with Secretary (Rustem) Umerov, as well as national security advisers from the UK, France and Germany," the official said. "This afternoon they will meet with officials from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey," the official added, referring to the Gaza talks. Cnn had previously reported that Witkoff was to meet with senior officials from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey to discuss the next phase of the peace plan for Gaza. The meeting aimed to address obstacles to reaching the second phase of the ceasefire agreement.

The EUR 90 billion loan that the EU will make available to Ukraine for 2026-2027 will be financed by bonds issued on the markets and secured by the space in the EU budget that exists between the own resources ceiling and the expenditure ceilings (the margin of manoeuvre or 'headroom'). Ukraine would only repay the principal by collecting war reparations from Russia. In the meantime, the interest on the Eurobonds would be covered by the European budget. This is the technical estimate of a European official. Procedurally, two tracks will be needed: a revision of the multiannual financial framework, which requires unanimity of the 27, and the activation of 'enhanced cooperation' for the operational regulation of the loan, with 24 participating countries (Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic remain outside). The Commission will soon present the proposal to authorise the enhanced cooperation: a qualified majority in the Council and the consent of the European Parliament will be needed for approval. The interest bill will depend on the timing and market conditions: it is assumed to be in the order of magnitude of about 1 billion in 2027 (when the cost would begin to materialise) and then a possible cost when fully implemented of about 3 billion per year, for a total, over the next EU budget, in the order of about 20 billion. The impact on the EU aggregate deficit would be limited: an order of magnitude around 0.02% of GDP was cited, considering 3 billion out of an EU GDP worth 18 thousand. The debt would not burden the public accounts of individual states. The only channel of impact on countries is indirect, via contributions to the EU budget to pay interest.

Vladimir Putin disclaims responsibility for the victims of the war in Ucraine. "We do not hold ourselves responsible because we did not start this war. It started with an unconstitutional armed coup," he said, tracing the origin of the conflict to the Maidan, a protest movement against the pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovich and its decision to block Kiev's rapprochement with the European Union. Putin also said he valued Donald Trump's peace initiatives very positively and had "practically accepted" the US President's proposals at the summit in Alaska last August, even though they would have required "difficult decisions". "The ball is entirely on the side of the leader of the Kiev regime and his European sponsors," he added, also shifting the responsibility for any failure of the negotiations onto Europe, which Moscow has well and truly framed as a new enemy.

"The deployment of the Oreshnik missiles on the territory of Belarus is almost complete. We know where it will be deployed. We are sharing this information with our partners. The partners themselves can assess this threat and understand how to respond'. Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky writes this on X. "We previously warned our European and American partners that Russia would deploy Oreshnik on the territory of Belarus. We showed the operational scope of Oreshnik. This poses a threat to many European countries, including Poland, Germany and others,' he explains. 'To date, Oreshnik cannot be intercepted by drones. They have already used it against Ukraine. We know how to counter this threat. We have asked our partners to impose sanctions on companies located in Europe and other continents that supply suitable components for Oreshnik via third countries. I do not see these sanctions being imposed. For now, we believe that Russia will continue to produce Oreshnik. We also know how many,' he continues. 'They are not doing it for no reason. If our partners - the US and others - are making significant diplomatic efforts to end the war, can they also put pressure on Russia to prevent it from deploying Oreshnik closer to Europe, closer to the Polish border? I think this is something that needs to be addressed,' he concludes.

"We have made good progress, but there is still some way to go, and obviously the most difficult issues are always the last ones". This was stated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio when answering journalists' questions on the latest developments in the Ukraine talks. According to Rubio, the US administration has invested "an enormous amount of time and energy" to end the war and is trying to figure out "what Ukraine can accept and what Russia can accept". "We want to identify the positions of both sides and see if we can bring them closer to an agreement," he added.

The national security advisers of Germany, France and the UK will be in Miami today for talks on Ukraine with White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Ukrainian national security adviser Rustem Umerov. This was written in a post on X by Barak Ravid, a signature of the Axios news site and analyst for CNN, citing two informed sources.

The Turkish foreign minister and the prime minister of Qatar will also attend the talks on Ukraine in Miami today, Ravid adds.

The use of Russian assets stored in Europe would, according to Vladimir Putin, who nevertheless speaks of it as a 'theft', weaken confidence in the Euro. "There would be serious consequences for those who try to do this. It is not just about damage to their image. But it is a breakdown of trust in the Eurozone. The reason is that apart from Russia, many other countries keep their gold and currency reserves in Europe,' he explained, pointing primarily to the fears of oil-producing countries. "They will look at what is happening now, they are already looking and they will become suspicious and doubtful. And what happens if they then actually deploy Russian assets? It would only be the beginning and afterwards it will be possible to do it again many and many times under various pretexts,' the Russian President added.

"The scariest thing for Russia is if we stick together. Because they certainly cannot defeat both of us together'. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this when meeting Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw. The Guardian reports.

"We welcome the European Council's decision on the financing option for Ukraine and remain committed to supporting the implementation of EU measures. Euroclear will continue to work constructively with policymakers on sanctions issues and ensure that our actions are in line with the broader objectives of financial stability and rule of law." This was emphasised by a Euroclear spokesperson commenting on yesterday's agreement with the EU to provide a 90 billion loan to Ukraine.

Further reading: 90 billion support for Ukraine: why the EU chose debt and not Russian assets

Ukrainian negotiators and its European allies will hold a new meeting today with US officials in the United States on Kiev's war with Russia. This was announced by Ukraine's chief negotiator Rustem Umerov.

"Today, in the US, together with General Andriy Gnatov, we will start another round of consultations with the American side. At the invitation of the American side, the European partners are also involved in this format,' Umerov pointed out on X. We thank the United States for the coordination that allows us to maintain a shared vision and proceed in a coordinated manner. We are committed to a constructive process'.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's 'hotline', combined with the traditional year-long press conference, ended after 4 hours and 27 minutes. This was reported by Ria Novosti, specifying that Putin answered more than eighty questions.

The European Council has decided to finance Ukraine by issuing 90 billion euro 'Eurobonds' in 2026-27. Calling by their name, unwelcome to frugal, northern ears, the bonds to be issued by the European Commission to finance Kiev was French President Emmanuel Macron tonight after the summit in Brussels. "We have decided," he told a press conference, "on a 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine, for the next two years, guaranteed by the EU budget. These Eurobonds are a great step forward, which gives Ukraine visibility and consistency in our support. It is the solution that appeared most realistic and feasible, so that Ukraine will have, from 2026, what it needs'. It also introduces, he assured, 'a robust preference clause' for the European and Ukrainian defence industries,' he concluded.

Russia is ready to consider suspending attacks on Ukraine on election day in the country, should they be called. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his year-end press conference on live TV. This was reported by the Russian news agency Tass. "I can say something that may come as a surprise. We are ready to consider ways to ensure security during the elections in Ukraine. At the very least to stop attacks deep into the territory on election day," he explained.

The 'dialogue' between Moscow and Washington 'does not need Europe's help', Russian Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov said, reported by Tass. After a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty, Lavrov told a press conference that Moscow "still has no information about what really happened" in the consultations between the EU, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Washington envoy Steve Witkoff. The Russian minister, Tass adds, also said that "Europe is now talking not about security guarantees, but about an attempt to aggressively militarise Ukraine". He added that Moscow 'feels the support of the world majority in working together with the US for a solution on the Ukrainian issue.

The EU's attempt to seize Russian assets is 'robbery'. This was said by President Vladimir Putin in the question-and-answer session on the year-end results, according to the Tass news agency. "Robbery is an inappropriate definition," he said, because "robbery means secretly stealing assets: in this case, they are trying to do it openly. It is robbery'. Russian assets abroad, he added, 'should be returned' and Moscow intends to defend itself in court. Putin went on to emphasise that the seizure of Russian assets would be 'a severe blow to the image' of the Eurozone but also 'a collapse of confidence' of investors and other countries in that area.

On the status of negotiations to reach a peace agreement in Ukraine, President Putin said that "the ball is in the court" of Kiev and European countries. "We do not see a real readiness" on the part of Ukraine to work out an agreement even though, the president said, "some signs" of openness to engage in dialogue are perceived. "We are ready and willing to end this conflict peacefully," Putin continued on the basis of the principles outlined a year ago at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and "addressing the root causes that led to this crisis."

Further reading

90 billion support for Ukraine: why the EU chose debt and not Russian assets

19 December 2025

For the first time, Ukrainian drones hit a Russian shadow fleet tanker in the Mediterranean Sea, Reuters wrote on its site quoting an official of the Ukrainian security service Sbu. The official said that the drones hit the Qendil ship in waters more than 2,000 kilometres from Ukraine, causing serious damage. The ship was empty at the time of the attack, the Ukrainian source added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his annual press conference that Moscow does not consider itself 'responsible for the loss of life'. "We did not start this war," Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "This war started after the 2014 armed, unconstitutional coup in Ukraine and then the start of hostilities by the leaders of the Kiev regime against their own citizens in south-eastern Ukraine.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is 'satisfied' with the outcome of the European summit. This was stated by spokesman Sebastin Hille at a press conference in Berlin. Asked whether one could speak in Germany today of a success, he said: 'I answer with a clear yes, it was a success. The goal was the financing for the next two years of Ukraine for and this has succeeded. So the Chancellor is happy with the result'.

Units of the Russian Armed Forces in Kupyansk will start moving westwards after liberating Kupyansk-Uzlovaya. This was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin during today's press conference.

"In the Kharkiv region, as you know, the city of Kupyansk came under our control several weeks ago. Our troops are in control of the city, but they are not yet advancing westwards, because they have a very important task: to eliminate the group on the left bank of the Oskol River and to recapture another settlement, essentially a marshalling yard, Kupyansk-Uzlovaya,' the head of state said.

Russian forces 'are advancing along the entire line of conflict'. This was stated by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in his year-end press conference on live TV. This is a statement repeatedly disputed by Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelensky will meet Polish President Karol Nawrocki in Warsaw today, as the Ukrainian president seeks to strengthen relations with a key ally at a crucial time for Kiev's war effort.

The visit comes just as EU leaders, recently described as 'weak' by US President Donald Trump, have agreed to borrow money to finance Ukraine for the next two years, ensuring it can continue its fight against the Russian invasion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow sees 'some signs, including from Kiev' that indicate Ukraine's readiness for dialogue, but the standoff over territorial issues remains.

"Russia is aware of some signals, including from Kiev, that Ukraine is ready to conduct some dialogue. But so far we do not actually see such a readiness (to discuss the territorial issue)," Putin said during the direct line with which the balance of the year that is coming to an end is traditionally taken.