U.S., Germany Join France in Sending Armored Combat Vehicles to Ukraine
U.S. President Joe Biden announced the commitments after a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (The Guardian)
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia’s forces will begin a thirty-six-hour cease-fire in Ukraine in observance of Orthodox Christmas (NYT)
France to Send Armored Vehicles to Ukraine, U.S. Could Follow
France’s defense ministry said it will soon deliver armed combat tanks to Ukraine, while U.S. President Joe Biden said Washington is considering doing the same (AP)
Ukraine has requested the vehicles for months, but its Western allies have declined; the shift comes as Ukraine plans a major military offensive for the spring (WaPo)
Meanwhile, CNN obtained a Ukrainian intelligence assessment that found that an Iranian-made drone used by Russia in Ukraine contained parts from more than a dozen U.S. companies; a White House spokesperson said Washington is looking at sanctions, export controls, and other methods to prevent Iranian drone makers from obtaining materials (CNN)
Erdoğan to Hold Calls With Putin, Zelenskyy
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will hold separate calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today, Erdoğan’s spokesperson said (WaPo)
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry blamed its soldiers’ cell phone use for yesterday’s strike in occupied Makiivka; Moscow revised the death toll to eighty-nine Russian soldiers (Reuters)
EU Adds Russian Diamond Giant to Sanctions List
Assets of Russian state-controlled mining company Alrosa and its CEO Pavel Marinychev in the European Union (EU) will be frozen (FT) and Marinychev will be banned from traveling to Europe in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine; the United States took similar measures against the company in April 2022 (FT)
Ukrainian Strike Kills Dozens of Russian Fighters
Moscow said the strike killed sixty-three troops in a Russia-occupied suburb east of Donetsk, Ukraine, while Kyiv said the death toll could be in the hundreds (NPR)
Russia Rejects Ukraine’s Peace Conditions, Bombards Its Power Grid
Russia fired nearly seventy missiles at Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities today in what appeared to be one of its biggest strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid; Ukraine’s military said it shot down fifty-four of the missiles (WaPo)
The attack came hours after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated Moscow’s rejection of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s conditions for peace; in recent weeks, Zelenskyy has promoted a peace plan in which Russia would face a war crimes tribunal and give up occupied territories in eastern Ukraine (Al Jazeera)
A Kremlin spokesperson yesterday rejected the possibility of ceding the territories, while Lavrov said today that Kyiv’s plans to drive Russia out of eastern Ukraine were an “illusion” (NYT)
Russia Bans Oil Sales to Countries With Price Caps
Starting February 1, Russia is banning oil exports to countries that have imposed a price ceiling on Russian oil; the price cap of $60 per barrel was adopted earlier this month by Group of Seven (G7) countries, the European Union, and Australia in an effort to deny Russia of revenue amid its war in Ukraine (FT)
Moscow said it might grant exemptions to the ban, a less stringent response than others that were reportedly considered (CNN)
Russia’s main crude oil product is currently selling on international markets for below the cap (Bloomberg)
In its war in Ukraine, Russia has recently focused missile attacks on the city of Kherson, which Ukrainian forces retook last month; at least ten people were killed in attacks on the city on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said (NYT)
Ukraine Reportedly Strikes Air Base Deep Within Russia
Ukraine did not publicly acknowledge the missile attack, which the Russian Defense Ministry said killed three Russian fighters (NYT)
White House: Wagner Group Bought Arms From North Korea
The White House stated that the private Russian military company accepted a North Korean arms shipment for use in the war in Ukraine, in which the Wagner Group fights alongside Russian troops (PBS)
Zelenskyy Appeals to U.S. Congress for Sustained Aid to Ukraine
In an address to the U.S. Congress, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called U.S. military aid to Ukraine an investment in global security and democracy and appealed for continued support as the war sparked by Russia’s invasion enters its eleventh month; it was Zelenskyy’s first international trip since the war began (WSJ)
Earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden pledged to send Ukraine a Patriot air defense system in a new $1.8 billion military aid package; Biden told reporters that Washington supports Ukraine “pursuing a just peace” in the war (White House)
Zelenskyy said a “just peace” would mean “no compromises,” and that the war would end once Ukraine’s territorial integrity is restored and Russia pays back Ukraine for damages (AP)
Zelenskyy Visits Washington in First Foreign Trip Since Russia’s Invasion
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden and address Congress today in his first trip outside of Ukraine since Russia invaded in February; during the meeting, Biden is expected to announce a $2 billion military aid package for Ukraine that will reportedly include the Patriot missile system, the most advanced air defense system in the U.S. arsenal (WaPo)
Zelenskyy’s visit comes as U.S. lawmakers consider a spending package that includes $45 billion in emergency and economic aid to Ukraine; if approved, it would bring the total U.S. aid to Ukraine to more than $100 billion (NYT)
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met in Beijing today; Chinese state media reported that Xi called for talks to “resolve mutual concerns on security” in Ukraine (Bloomberg)
Putin Claims To Create “Unified Defensive Space” With Belarus
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko discussed creating a “unified defensive space” when Putin visited Belarus yesterday; Ukrainian officials have warned in recent days that Russia could be preparing to attack Ukraine from Belarus (NYT)
Russia Launches Drone Attack on Kyiv, Hitting Critical Infrastructure
Ahead of Vladimir Putin’s visit to Belarus, Russia launched a ‘kamikaze’ drone attack targeting critical energy infrastructure in and around Kyiv; the Ukrainian military said it shot down twenty-three of the twenty-eight drones (Reuters)
Putin’s meeting with Alexander Lukashenko comes amidst fears that Belarus will partner with Russia to open a new front in the war in Ukraine (Reuters)
Russia Launches Extensive Missile Assault on Ukraine
Russia fired more than seventy missiles across Ukraine in one of its largest Russian offensives since the start of the war, forcing the government to implement emergency power cuts nationwide; the attacks came after the Ukrainian government warned of a wave of fresh offensives from Russia as they near the one year anniversary of the invasion (Reuters)
Pentagon to Expand Training of Ukrainian Troops
A U.S. program that trains Ukrainian troops in Germany will instruct at least five hundred troops per month, up from three hundred, and teach them advanced skills, the U.S. Department of Defense said (NYT)
Ukraine Shoots Down Russian Drones Over Kyiv
Ukrainian officials said they shot down over a dozen drones believed to be targeting Ukraine’s energy grid; the drones appeared to be Iranian-made (BBC)
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said that Patriot missile batteries would be a target as the United States finalizes plans to send the advanced systems to Ukraine (Al Jazeera)
International Backers Plan New Infrastructure, Military Aid for Ukraine
At a conference in Paris, donor nations pledged to provide Ukraine more than $1 billion worth of financial aid and donations of health, food, and other supplies; the support aims to meet Ukraine’s humanitarian needs and help repair infrastructure damaged by Russia’s ongoing bombardment (AP)
The conference was attended by representatives of multinational organizations and some fifty countries (NYT)
In a video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told attendees that power outages are affecting around twelve million Ukrainians as winter arrives (France24)
Separately, U.S. officials said Washington is preparing to send Ukraine a Patriot missile defense system, while European Union (EU) finance ministers are set to approve around $19 billion in loans to Ukraine today (Reuters; FT)
Putin Cancels Annual News Conference for First Time in a Decade
The conference is usually an opportunity for domestic and foreign journalists to question Russian President Vladimir Putin; the Kremlin did not provide a reason for the cancellation, which comes as it faces growing domestic criticism for the war in Ukraine (FT)
Ukraine Strikes Russian-Controlled Melitopol
Ukrainian forces struck the Russia-occupied city of Melitopol in southern Ukraine; Russian state media said the strike used a U.S.-provided weapons system that can fire long-range guided rockets (NYT)
Bloomberg: Modi Won’t Hold Annual Putin Summit
A senior Indian official told Bloomberg that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not hold the in-person meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, usually held in December, due to Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine (Bloomberg)
Putin Says Russia Would Not Deploy Nuclear Weapons First
Speaking to his human rights council, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the country would not deploy nuclear weapons first in any conflict and that the war in Ukraine could become a “long-term process” (The Guardian)
Belarus Announces Troop Movement
Belarus announced it was moving troops and military hardware in response to a threat of terrorism; the move suggests Russia is pressuring its ally into opening a new front in the war in Ukraine (Reuters)
Drone Strike Reportedly Hits Oil Depot in Russia
Russian officials said the strike today occurred in a region that borders Ukraine, though they did not immediately blame Ukraine; a Ukrainian official told the New York Times that Ukrainian special forces assisted with at least one of two air strikes that struck military installations hundreds of miles inside Russia yesterday (NYT)
EU, G7 Countries Roll Out Price Cap on Russian Oil
To limit Russia’s ability to finance its war in Ukraine, Group of Seven (G7) countries, the European Union (EU), and Australia began implementing a price cap on seaborne Russian oil today; their tankers, credit institutions, and insurance companies will only support the shipping of Russian oil sold for $60 per barrel or less (Reuters)
Moscow said it would not accept the cap; an EU embargo on most Russian crude also begins today (NYT)
Meanwhile, explosions occurred at two Russian air bases far from the war’s front line; no one claimed responsibility (WSJ)
Ukrainian officials reported that a new round of Russian missile attacks hit homes in Ukraine’s south and knocked out power in its north (Reuters)
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ukraine announced that they will begin trade talks; officials aim to boost trade that has been lost due to the war in Ukraine (FT)
Biden Lays Out Conditions for Talks With Putin
During a visit from French President Emmanuel Macron, U.S. President Joe Biden said he is willing to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine if Putin seeks to end the war (FT)
A Kremlin spokesperson said Putin would participate in talks if Washington accepts certain demands (Reuters)