Ukraine: government doubts Russian asset freeze. Witkoff-Zelensky meeting in Berlin

More than one million households were left without electricity after a series of overnight Russian attacks hit energy and industrial infrastructure. This was stated by the Ukrainian authorities, reported by the BBC. The Ukrainian Interior Minister, Ihor Klymenko, said that five regions were hit and at least five people were injured. Work is ongoing to extinguish the fires and restore power.

Estonia has started building the first concrete bunkers on its south-eastern border with Russia as part of the Baltic Defence Line. This is written in Defense News . According to Krismar Rozin, representative of the Estonian Defence Investment Centre, the first phase will involve the installation of 28 bunkers. The bunkers, each about 35 square metres, are designed to withstand 152 mm artillery shells. Should the situation at the border deteriorate, they will be equipped with barbed wire and 'dragon's teeth', which are already stored in warehouses.

According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, peace between Russia and Ukraine 'is not far away'. He said this after his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday, and looked forward to discussing the issue with US President Donald Trump.

Erdogan also warned: 'The Black Sea should not be seen as a confrontation zone,' he said speaking to journalists on board his plane, writes Turkish news agency Anadolu. 'This would not benefit either Russia or Ukraine. Everyone needs safe navigation in the Black Sea'.

According to a statement from Erdogan's office, the Turkish leader told Putin that efforts to end the war remain valuable and that 'the implementation of a limited ceasefire targeting in particular energy facilities and ports could be helpful'.

The meeting between Erdogan and Putin took place on Friday on the sidelines of a summit in Turkmenistan and followed a series of attacks against Russian-linked oil tankers in the Black Sea, some of which, according to Ukraine, were carried out using naval drones.

Lincontro tra Putin ed Erdogan a margine del Forum internazionale dedicato all’Anno internazionale della pace e della fiducia, alla Giornata internazionale della neutralità e al 30° anniversario dello status di neutralità del Turkmenistan, presso il Centro congressi di Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, 12 dicembre 2025. EPA/KRISTINA KORMILITSYNA / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL MANDATORY CREDIT

Russia said it struck Ukrainian industrial and energy facilities overnight with hypersonic missiles in what it called a retaliatory strike for Ukrainian attacks against 'civilian targets' in Russia. Moscow's Defence Ministry said it had carried out a 'massive attack' against Ukrainian army and energy facilities using weapons including Kinzhal hypersonic missiles as a 'response to Ukraine's terrorist attacks against civilian targets in Russia'.

Negotiations on the security guarantees Ukraine would receive from the US and Europe have made significant progress, Axios writes, claiming that a senior US official has said that the Trump administration is willing to provide Ukraine with a guarantee based on NATO Article 5, which would be approved by Congress and would be legally binding. "We want to give the Ukrainians a security guarantee that is not a blank cheque on the one hand, but is sufficiently robust on the other. We are willing to put it to a vote in Congress,' the US official told Axios.

A White House official noted that Zelensky's openness that Ukraine could hold a referendum on a peace agreement that includes ceding territory is considered 'progress' by the US. Of course, organising such a vote under the current circumstances would be extremely challenging. But a US official said that the Europeans, during Friday's virtual meeting, said that if Zelensky proposed a referendum on territory, they would support it. At the same meeting Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner discussed the plan for a demilitarised zone with national security advisers from Ukraine, Germany, France and the UK. A White House official said those discussions and the latest round of talks between the US and Ukraine on Thursday showed enough progress to convince Trump to send Witkoff and Kushner to Europe. "They believe there can be a chance for peace and the president trusts them," a second White House official said.

"Talks on a possible truce in Ukraine will be held in Berlin over the weekend between foreign policy advisers from, among others, the US and Ukraine". A German government source told Ansa. "A meeting of European heads of government with the Ukrainian president will be held on Monday at the invitation of Chancellor Friedrich Merz," the source confirms, among other things.

A Ukrainian drone attack on the city of Saratov in central Russia killed two people, local authorities reported. The governor of the Saratov region, Roman Busargin, said the drones hit a residential building in Saratov. "Two people were killed," Busargin said on Telegram. "As a result of a drone attack, several flats in a residential building were damaged," he added. He said the authorities would provide financial assistance to people whose flats were damaged.

All necessary services are working to restore electricity and water supplies in our communities affected by Russia's night-time attack. Once again, the main attack hit our energy sector, the south of the country and the Odessa region. Two people were injured in the Odessa region. More than a dozen civilian structures were damaged across the country. Thousands of families currently remain without electricity after overnight attacks in the regions of Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Odessa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson and Chernihiv. Attacks also hit the Dnipro and Cherkasy regions. In total, the enemy used over 450 attack drones and 30 missiles of various types'. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky writes this on Telegram.

Russian troops are moving additional reserves to the Pokrovsko-Myrnograd agglomeration in Donetsk. This was announced on Facebook, Ukrinform reports, by the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, General Oleksandr Syrsky. "The situation remains difficult," he said, "The enemy is trying to increase the pressure on our defensive positions, transferring additional reserves here. Based on the reports, the commander-in-chief clarified the tasks of the corps commanders and units guarding the borders in the direction of Pokrovsko. According to Syrsky, specific measures have been identified to strengthen the defence, including maintaining the operational stability of important logistical routes, increasing the effectiveness of fire, improving coordination between units and supplying everything necessary to the units. "We remain committed to the tactic of active defence. It is about improving the operational position, conducting local operations to oust the enemy from certain territories, creating conditions for the subsequent manoeuvres of our forces," Syrsky noted.

Less than a week before the Brussels European Council (18 and 19 December), the EU states have approved the indefinite freezing of frozen Russian assets. Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen had announced this, explaining that "it is very important" since until now "the assets have been frozen for six months and every six months we have had to renew this freeze unanimously".

"The problem is not the present but the future. The Russian economy has turned into a war economy. That is why we must strengthen ourselves: we have a very clear roadmap and two challenges to face'. This was stated in an interview with La Stampa by the European Commissioner for Defence and Space, Andrius Kubilius. 'There is the threat of possible Russian aggression,' he adds, 'our intelligence services state it publicly and clearly: in the next three or four years Russia could be ready to 'test' us in a real conflict. The second challenge comes from the Americans who are asking us to take more responsibility for European defence, because they have to shift more and more resources to the Indo-Pacific'. "We have to understand that if the United States moves more and more to the Indo-Pacific," he continued, "on the European continent we will have to take more and more responsibility, not only in general on security, but also within NATO as an organisation. 'Neither in NATO nor in the EU,' he goes on, 'we have combat experience, only the Ukrainians do. That is why, in addition to discussing security guarantees for Ukraine, we have to ask ourselves how to integrate Ukrainian defence capabilities, which are already field-proven, with European ones, to strengthen ourselves as well'. Speaking of Russian assets, he adds: 'In my opinion, this is the most effective way to finance both Ukraine's military and budgetary needs. It would also be a strong signal to Putin: he will achieve nothing by continuing the war. We must avoid an agreement that would put Ukraine in a weak position that would facilitate future Russian aggression'.

"International law and the Ukrainian Constitution expressly prohibit the transfer of territory, especially following aggression" and "modern interstate relations are based on territorial integrity and sovereignty. Ceding territories as a result of aggression completely contradicts the logic of the modern political process'. Moreover, 'any transfer of territories that Russia has failed to conquer in four years will encourage it to continue its expansion'. Thus speaks Mykhailo Podolyak, first advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an interview with Corriere della Sera. 'When a conflict is frozen, and when there is a demarcation line along which active fighting has taken place, a demilitarised zone is always established, from which heavy weapons are withdrawn completely or partially,' he continues, 'But for this to happen, a certain contingent must be stationed within this zone to ensure the inviolability of the parties concerned. I stress again that this is a question of security guarantees'. Kiev "is discussing security guarantees together with its European partners, because Europe is extremely interested in protecting its territory from potential Russian provocative actions," he continued, repeating that "all this must be studied and put in writing." "If we do not want to live in expectation of a new war, we must carefully establish this collective responsibility for Europe's eastern border," he concludes, speaking of "war damage estimated at $600 billion and upwards."

Speaking about the European Union, in his speech at the end-of-year greetings exchange ceremony with the diplomatic corps, President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella said: 'The free sharing of principles and rules is not a cage that constrains, but a support that protects, especially the weakest. It is not surprising that they are challenged by international corporations that expand by claiming they do not have to observe any rules: this would not be freedom but arbitrariness'.

Kim Jong Un spoke for the first time about sending North Korean soldiers to Kursk, Russia, for 'demining' operations. The North Korean leader spoke about the return of an Engineer regiment, which suffered the 'heartbreaking loss of nine lives' during the '120-day' mission that began 'in August' in the 'dangerous battlefield'. And he did so, according to reports this morning from the North Korean Kcna news agency, during a speech yesterday at a ceremony in Pyongyang to mark the soldiers' return home. "All of you, officers and soldiers, have shown great heroism," Kim said, speaking of the "miracle" of the "transformation of a large area from a dangerous zone to safe territory in less than three months". Pictures released by the North Korean media show Kim smiling surrounded by soldiers, some in wheelchairs. In the speech reported by Kcna, there is a reference by the North Korean leader to "letters written" by "soldiers" during "breaks in demining operations" and sent "to their hometowns and places of origin". Only last April, North Korea confirmed that it had deployed troops to support Russian forces engaged in the conflict triggered by the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began more than three years ago. According to South Korean intelligence, thousands of North Korean troops have been deployed.

Questa foto scattata il 12 dicembre 2025 e diffusa dalla Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) ufficiale della Corea del Nord il 13 dicembre mostra il leader nordcoreano Kim Jong Un che accoglie i soldati del 528° Reggimento del Genio dell'Esercito Popolare Coreano, tornati da un dispiegamento all'estero nella regione russa di Kursk durante la guerra di Mosca con l'Ucraina, davanti alla Casa della Cultura del 25 aprile a Pyongyang. (Foto di KCNA VIA KNS / AFP) / Corea del Sud

On the night of 13 December, explosions occurred during a drone attack on an oil refinery in Russia's Saratov oblast. This was reported by the Ukrainian newspaper 'Kyiv Independent'.

The governor of the region, Roman Busargin, stated on Telegram that civilian infrastructure had been damaged and that there had been casualties, without giving details of the number. He had previously warned of the threat of a drone attack in the area.

Russian air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 41 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions overnight. This was reported by Tass, quoting a note from the Ministry of Defence. Twenty-eight unmanned drones were hit on the territory of the Saratov region, four on the territory of the Voronezh region, four on the territory of the Rostov region, two were shot down on the territory of the Belgorod region, two on the territory of the Crimean Republic and one on the territory of the Volgograd region.

"How would the free economic zone in the Donbass and the disputed territories work? I don't want to explain it now. It is a very complex situation, but it would work. And many people want to see it work." President Donald Trump said this while speaking at the White House during the ceremony to award honorary medals to the 1980 Olympic champions of the US national hockey team. 'All I want to do is stop the 25,000 deaths a month,' he added. The president also explained that "a lot of progress" had been made towards resolving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. and hinted that a possible agreement could soon be on the table. "We will know soon," he explained.

Further reading

Ukraine, EU green light for indefinite freeze on Russian assets

12 December 2025

US envoy Steve Witkoff will meet European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin this weekend in a crucial meeting as the White House pushes for an agreement to end the war with Russia by the end of the year. The Wall Street Journal writes this, citing official sources. The decision to send Witkoff, who has been leading talks with Ukraine and Russia on a US peace plan, underscores the acceleration of efforts to reduce differences between Kiev and Washington over the terms of the agreement. On Sunday and Monday Witkoff will also meet the leaders of France, Great Britain and Germany.

Further reading

Mattarella: 'Italy at Kiev's side, bilateral dynamics place the weak at the mercy of the strongest'

12 December 2025