Russia-Ukraine war live: Kremlin claims Kyiv pulled out of peace talks last year ‘at Britain’s insistence’ | Ukraine

Ukrainian forces are turning their attention to strengthening their defensive positions along much of the front line, according to the UK’s Ministry of Defence.

In its daily intelligence briefing, the MoD said the move follows Zelenskiy’s calls, from late November 2023, “for faster fortification in key sectors”.

The MoD said:

In recent weeks, Ukraine has mobilised a concerted effort to improve field fortifications as its forces pivot to a more defensive posture along much of the front line.

It added:

In one part of the project, Ukraine has worked to improve defences along its border with Belarus with dragon’s teeth, razor wire, and anti-tank ditches as of mid-December 2023.

Russia continues local offensive options in several sectors, but individual attacks are rarely above platoon size. A major Russian breakthrough is unlikely and overall, the front is characterised by stasis.

• The Kremlin claimed that Ukraine withdrew from peace negotiations with Russia in 2022 “at Britain’s insistence”. The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, added that the UK “forbade” negotiations with Russia.

• Russia has launched its fifth air attack this month targeting Kyiv, Ukrainian military officials have said. Ukraine’s air force said air defence systems destroyed 18 out of 19 attack drones launched at Kyiv, Odesa, Kherson and other regions of Ukraine. It was not immediately clear how many were destroyed over Kyiv.

• China’s president, Xi Jinping, met the Russian prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, in Beijing on Wednesday. Xi praised the growth of bilateral trade between the two countries, which reached a record $200bn in the first 11 months of 2023. According to the official readout, Xi said: “Developing China-Russia relations is a strategic choice made by both sides based on the fundamental interests of the two peoples.”

• The top EU court on Wednesday upheld sanctions against Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich that had been placed upon him after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “The general court dismisses the action brought by Mr Abramovich, thereby upholding the restrictive measures taken against him,” said the EU’s top court in a ruling.

The Kremlin has said there is no current basis for talks between Russia and Ukraine as none of the prerequisites are in place, Reuters reports.

The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Ukraine withdrew from the negotiation process in 2022 “at Britain’s insistence” and the UK “forbade” negotiations with Russia.

Ukraine says peace can only based on a full Russian withdrawal from all the territory it has seized since the war began in February 2022.

The top EU court on Wednesday upheld sanctions against Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich that had been placed upon him after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reports.

After Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine in February 2022, the EU sanctioned Russian officials and a host of Russian businessmen, such as Abramovich, while freezing hundreds of billions of dollars of Russian assets.

Abramovich had launched a legal challenge against this.

“The general court dismisses the action brought by Mr Abramovich, thereby upholding the restrictive measures taken against him,” said the EU’s top court in a ruling.

Abramovich, who also holds Israeli citizenship and is a former owner of Chelsea football club, became one of the world’s most powerful businessmen after the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union. Forbes estimates his net worth at $9.2bn.

China’s president, Xi Jinping, met the Russian prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, in Beijing on Wednesday. Xi praised the growth of bilateral trade between the two countries, which reached a record $200bn in the first 11 months of 2023, according to China’s official state readout.

In November, bilateral trade surpassed $21bn, the highest since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022.

According to the official readout, Xi said: “Developing China-Russia relations is a strategic choice made by both sides based on the fundamental interests of the two peoples.”

On Tuesday, Mishustin met his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang and said that ties between Moscow and Beijing had reached an “all-time high”.

Russia has launched its fifth air attack this month targeting Kyiv, Ukrainian military officials have said.

Ukraine’s air force said air defence systems destroyed 18 out of 19 attack drones launched at Kyiv, Odesa, Kherson and other regions of Ukraine. It was not immediately clear how many were destroyed over Kyiv.

“According to preliminary information, there were no casualties or destruction in the capital,” Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.

The Ukrainian air force also said Russia attacked the Kharkiv region in the east with two surface-to-air guided missiles. There were no casualites as a result of the assault, it added.

Ukraine‘s prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday morning that nine people, including four children, were injured in an overnight Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian southern city of Kherson.

• Volodymyr Zelenskiy sought to boost the domestic mood in Ukraine and maintain western support that has been stuttering in recent weeks in an end-of-year press conference. “I am certain US and European financial support will continue,” the Ukrainian president said. “I’m confident the US won’t betray us.” Asked about reported tensions with his commander-in-chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, he said they had a “working relationship”.

• Zelesnkiy insisted that on the battlefield “Russia hasn’t gotten any result from this year”. He said he would not drop his aim to restore Ukraine to pre-2014 territory, including the return of Crimea, but added that battlefield tactics could be changed after “careful consideration” of the results of military operations this year.

• The Ukrainian president said if Donald Trump were elected US president in 2024, it could significantly change how the war in Ukraine played out. “If the policy of the next president, whoever it is, is different towards Ukraine, more cold or more economical, I think these signals will have a very strong impact on the course of the war,” Zelenskiy said.

• Zelenskiy also said the military had proposed mobilising 450,000-500,000 more Ukrainians into the armed forces in what would mark a dramatic step up of Kyiv’s war. It was a “highly sensitive” issue that the military and government would discuss before deciding whether to send the proposal to parliament, Zelenskiy said.

• Meanwhile in Moscow, the Russian president Vladimir Putin told defence officials that in Ukraine he would “not give up what is ours”, while claiming the Russian military had momentum. “Our troops are holding the initiative,” Putin said, during the end-of-year meeting with his defence leadership. “We are effectively doing what we think is needed, doing what we want.”

• Defence minister Sergei Shoigu told the same meeting that Russia had increased tank production by 5.6 times since the start of what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, and had laid 7,000 sq km of minefields along the 2,000km (1,250-mile) frontline.

• The US Senate will not vote on a package to provide more aid to Ukraine and bolster US border security before early next year, as Democratic and Republican negotiators continue their work, chamber leaders said. “Our negotiators are going to be working very, very diligently over the December and January break period, and our goal is to get something done as soon as we get back,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters.

• Ukrainian officials have discussed the possibility of reopening Boryspil international airport, which was closed for war reasons, President Zelenskiy said after a Boeing 777-300 operated by local airline Skyline Express took off from the airport with no passengers or cargo onboard. The so-called “technical flight” was a sign the infrastructure remains in working condition and safety can be granted despite constant Russian air attacks.

• A Polish court convicted 14 citizens of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine for preparing acts of sabotage on behalf of Moscow as part of a spy ring. The defendants were charged last month with acts of espionage such as preparing to derail trains carrying aid to neighbouring Ukraine, and monitoring military facilities and critical infrastructure in the Nato member.

• UN human rights chief Volker Turk said there had been an “extensive failure” by Russia to take adequate measures to protect civilians in Ukraine and that there were indications that Russian forces had committed war crimes. Turk said his office’s monitoring indicated “gross violations of international human rights law, serious violations of international humanitarian law, and war crimes, primarily by the forces of the Russian Federation”.

• The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said it would maintain its level of wartime investment in Ukraine after securing a rare increase in shareholder capital. The EBRD said the additional €4bn ($4.4bn) “will be used to provide significant and sustained investment for Ukraine’s real economy, both in wartime and in reconstruction”.

• The US has issued fresh sanctions on 10 entities and four individuals based in Iran, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Indonesia that it accuses of supporting the production of Iranian drones, the Treasury Department said. Washington has long accused Tehran of supplying such weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, which Iran denies.