OT subject but worth a main-stream read- OT News Feeds...

lousubcap

Saturday Russia-Ukraine update:

"In his annual “results of the year” speech in Moscow on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for refusing to discuss giving up the Ukrainian Russia has seized, as part of truce negotiations.

“We know from statements from Zelenskyy that he’s not prepared to discuss territory issues,” Putin said.

The Russian president also attacked Europe’s handling of frozen Russian assets, labelling plans to use them to fund Ukraine as “robbery”, rather than theft, because it was being done openly.  “Whatever they stole, they’ll have to give it back someday,” Putin said, pledging to pursue legal action in courts that he described as “independent of political decisions”.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that progress has been made to end Russia’s war on Ukraine in a year-end address in Washington, DC.

“I think we’ve made progress, but we have a ways to go, and obviously, the hardest issues are always the last issues,” Rubio told reporters.  “We don’t see surrender any time in the near future, and only a negotiated settlement can end this war,” Rubio said, adding that any decision about ending the war will be up to Ukraine and Russia, and not the US.

Top Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov, who is in the US for ceasefire discussions, said the US and Kyiv had agreed to continue their joint efforts to reach a ceasefire."

lousubcap

Sunday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Zelenskyy said the United States proposed a new format for talks with Russia, comprised of three-way talks at the level of national security advisers from Ukraine, Russia, and the US.  The Ukrainian leader expressed scepticism that the talks would result in “anything new”, but added that he believes that US-led talks have the best chance of success.

He added that he would support trilateral discussions if they led to progress in areas such as prisoner swaps or a meeting of national leaders. “If such a ‍meeting could be ⁠held now to allow for swaps of prisoners of war, or if a meeting of national security advisers achieves agreement on a leaders’ meeting… I cannot be opposed. We would support such a US proposal. Let’s see how things go,” he said.

Zelenskyy also pushed back against calls for Ukraine to hold elections as the war drags on, stating that voting cannot take place in Russian-occupied areas and that security conditions must first improve. “It is not [Russian President Vladimir] Putin who decides when and in what format the elections in Ukraine will take place,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy urged European leaders to approve a measure to seize frozen Russian assets and use them to fund Ukraine’s war effort, saying that doing so will strengthen Ukraine’s leverage at the negotiating table. The International Monetary Fund has estimated that Ukraine will need about 137 billion euros ($161bn) in 2026 and 2027, as the demands of the war continue to strain the country’s economy.

Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev held talks with his US counterpart, Steve Witkoff, and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in the city of Miami.  “The ‌discussions are proceeding constructively. They began earlier and ‌will continue ⁠today, and will also continue tomorrow,” ‌Dmitriev said."

lousubcap

Monday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Overall, Russian forces have launched about 1,300 drones, nearly 1,200 guided aerial bombs, and nine missiles towards Ukraine over the past week, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces shot down 29 Ukrainian drones in the past 24-hour period.

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed that Russian forces shot down 252 drones over the Russian-occupied Donbas region, using the “Donbas Dome electronic warfare system” over the past week, the TASS news agency reported.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with a Ukrainian delegation, led by senior official Rustem Umerov and European officials, as the US continued to host talks in Miami, Florida, on a prospective peace deal for Russia’s war on Ukraine for a third day on Sunday.

Witkoff said in a post on X late on Sunday that the talks with the Ukrainians and Europeans had been “productive and constructive” and focused on a “shared strategic approach between Ukraine, the United States and Europe”.

In a second post about two hours later, Witkoff said that the US had also had “productive and constructive meetings” with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev over the past two days.

“Russia remains fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine [and] highly values the efforts and support of the United States to resolve the Ukrainian conflict and re-establish global security,” Witkoff said."

lousubcap

Tuesday Russia-Ukraine daily key events update:

"President Donald Trump said that talks to end the war in Ukraine are going “OK”, amid questions about their progress, with Moscow and Kyiv still far apart on some key matters.

Zelenskyy, meanwhile, described the negotiations in Miami as “very close to a real result”. He also told a gathering of Ukrainian diplomats that the peace process “all looks quite worthy”, even as he conceded that “not everything is ideal with this, but the plan is there”.

Separately, in his nightly video address to the nation, Zelenskyy said the key issue in the talks was to determine whether the US was able to “get a response from Russia; real readiness on the part of that country to focus on something other than aggression”. He said that continued pressure on the Kremlin was vital to reduce Moscow’s capacity to wage war.

The Kremlin said talks between Russia and the US in Miami on ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine should not be seen as a breakthrough. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Izvestia news outlet that the discussions were expected to continue in a “meticulous” expert-level format.

Peskov also questioned the reliability of the sources cited in a Reuters news agency report, which said that the US intelligence community believes Putin wants to seize all of Ukraine and reclaim parts of Europe that belonged to the former Soviet bloc. Peskov told reporters in Moscow that if the report was accurate, then the US’s intelligence conclusions were wrong.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov declared that Moscow is ready to confirm in a legal agreement that it has no intention of attacking either the European Union or the US-led NATO military alliance, the state RIA news agency reported."

lousubcap

Wednesday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilots shot down 621 of 673 Russian “aerial targets” on Tuesday night, including 34 of 35 cruise missiles.

Russian forces shot down 56 Ukrainian drones in a day, as well as a guided bomb, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said, according to the state news agency TASS.

Zelenskyy said in his nightly address, “We sense that America wants to reach a final agreement” to end the war in Ukraine, and that “there is full cooperation” from the Ukrainian side.

In an earlier post on X, Zelenskyy said that “several draft documents have now been prepared”, following talks in Miami. “In particular, these include documents on security guarantees for Ukraine, on recovery, and on a basic framework for ending this war,” he said.

Pope ‍Leo said that Russia’s apparent refusal to agree to a ceasefire on December 25 is “among the things that cause me much sadness”.

“I will make ​an appeal one ‌more time to people of goodwill to respect at least Christmas ‌Day as a day of ‌peace,” Leo told reporters outside his residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy."

lousubcap

Thursday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Russian air ‍defence units downed 16 Ukrainian drones en route to Moscow throughout Wednesday, the capital’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

Sobyanin said the drones were repelled ​over a period of about 17 hours, and emergency ‍crews were examining fragments where the drones hit the ground, but no damage was reported.

Two of four major airports ‍servicing Moscow were forced to limit operations for a time due to the drone attacks, Russia’s civil aviation authority said on Telegram.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its aerial defence units destroyed 172 Ukrainian drones overnight, nearly half of them over regions bordering Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed for the first time details of an agreement between the United States and Ukrainian negotiators on ending the war with Russia. The 20-point plan, agreed on by US and Ukrainian negotiators after marathon talks, is now being reviewed by Moscow.

As part of the plan, President Zelenskyy said Ukraine would be willing to withdraw troops from the country’s eastern industrial heartland if Moscow also pulled back and the area becomes a demilitarised zone monitored by international forces.

A similar arrangement could be possible for the area around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently under Russian control, Zelenskyy said. The Ukrainian leader said that any peace plan would need to be put to a referendum in Ukraine.

Asked about the latest development in ceasefire talks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would decide its position based on information received by Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who met with US envoys in Florida over the weekend.

Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized in Ukraine. Moscow has also insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70 percent of Donetsk – the two areas that make up the Donbas."

lousubcap

Friday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke with Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, for about an hour on how to end the war with Russia and “how to bring the real peace closer”.

“Of course, there is still work to be done on sensitive issues,” the Ukrainian leader said. “But together with the American team, we understand how to put all of this in place. The weeks ahead may also be intensive. Thank you, America!”

Russia believes negotiations with the US to end the war in Ukraine are making gradual progress, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. She described the talks as slow-moving but advancing steadily.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin had sent the US president a Christmas greeting along with a congratulatory message."

lousubcap

Saturday Russia-Ukraine update:

"President Zelenskyy said he wants to discuss territorial issues, the main stumbling block in talks to end the war, with US President Donald Trump in Florida, as negotiations on a 20-point peace framework and a security guarantee deal near completion.

Zelenskyy said in a WhatsApp chat with reporters that a security guarantee agreement between Ukraine and the US is “almost ready” and that a draft of the 20-point plan was 90 percent complete.

In a separate interview with the Axios news site, Zelenskyy said that the US offered a 15-year deal on security guarantees that could be renewed, and Kyiv wanted a longer-term agreement.

Zelenskyy was also cited by Axios as saying that if he is not able to push the US to back Ukraine’s “strong” position on the land issue in the peace proposal, he is willing to put the 20-point plan to a referendum – as long as Russia agrees to a 60-day ceasefire to allow Ukraine to prepare for and hold the vote.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Kyiv’s version of the 20-point plan was radically different from what Russia has been discussing with the US, according to Interfax-Russia.

Ryabkov also accused Ukraine of trying to “torpedo” the talks, adding that Moscow’s ability to make the “final push” and reach a deal will depend “on our own work and the political will of the other party”.

Russia’s Kommersant newspaper reported that President Vladimir Putin told some of Russia’s top businessmen that he might be open to swapping some territory controlled by Russian forces elsewhere in Ukraine, but that in exchange, he wanted the whole of the Donbas.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke with Zelenskyy and discussed the latest developments in the ongoing peace talks, Carney’s office said in a statement. During the call, Carney “emphasised the need to maintain pressure on Russia to negotiate”, the statement added.

Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev participated in talks with members of the US administration along with the Kremlin’s foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov, Reuters reported, citing a source close to the talks."

lousubcap

Sunday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Zelenskyy announced in a Telegram message that he would hold talks with European leaders after his meeting with Trump on Sunday, as Kyiv pushes for a stronger position in the ongoing ceasefire negotiations to prevent Russia from prolonging the war in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said he wants to discuss with Trump territorial issues, the main stumbling block in talks to end the war, as a 20-point peace framework and a security guarantee deal near completion.

On the way to the meeting in Florida, Zelenskyy stopped in Canada’s Halifax to meet Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister said in a statement after the meeting.

Carney denounced the latest Russian attack as “barbarism”, stressing that it is important for allies to “stand with Ukraine in this difficult time”. He also announced $1.83bn in additional economic aid to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy spoke to European leaders following the meeting with Carney. In a statement posted on X, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “We welcome all efforts leading to our shared objective – a just and lasting peace that preserves Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. And that strengthens the country’s security and defence capabilities.”

Antonio Costa, the president of the European Council, which represents the bloc’s 27 member states, echoed von der Leyen’s promise to continue backing Ukraine, saying on X: “The EU’s support for Ukraine will not falter. In war, in peace, in reconstruction.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Zelenskyy had “the full support” of European leaders ahead of his talks with Trump. The leaders of NATO and the European Union said they would work “in close coordination” with the US “for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine”, Merz added in a statement.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in a call with Zelenskyy that the latest Russian strikes on Kyiv showed that Moscow was not interested in ending the war, the AFP news agency reported, citing officials from Macron’s office. During the call, Macron highlighted what he called the “contrast” between “the willingness of Ukraine to build a lasting peace and Russia’s determination to prolong the war that it started”, the report said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia could see Kyiv was in no hurry to end the war by peaceful means, according to the Interfax news agency. Putin said that if Ukraine did not want to resolve the conflict peacefully, then Russia would accomplish all goals of its “special military operation” by force, Russian state news agency TASS reported."

lousubcap

Monday Russia-Ukraine update:

"President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for talks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and said the two leaders were “getting a lot closer, maybe very close” to a deal to end the war in Ukraine.

Trump and Zelenskyy reported progress on two of the most contentious issues in the peace talks: security guarantees for Ukraine and the division of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region that Russia has sought to capture.

On security guarantees, Zelenskyy said that a deal had been reached, while Trump said they were 95 percent of the way to such an agreement.

Both Trump and Zelenskyy said that the future of the mostly Russian-occupied Donbas had not been settled, though the US president said discussions were “moving in the right direction”. “It’s unresolved, but it’s getting a lot closer. That’s a very tough issue,” Trump said.

The two leaders did not offer further details or a deadline for completing the deal, but Zelenskyy said any peace agreement would have to be approved by Ukraine’s parliament or by a referendum.

Shortly after the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, wrote on X that the “whole world appreciates” Trump and his team’s peace efforts.

Ahead of the meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump and Putin spoke for more than two hours on the telephone. The US president described the call as “excellent” and “productive”.

Trump said he would call Putin again after the meeting with Zelenskyy.

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said the initial call was “friendly” and that Putin had told Trump that a 60-day ceasefire, proposed by the European Union and Ukraine, would simply prolong the war.

Ushakov said that a “bold, responsible, political decision is needed from Kyiv” on the Donbas region and other disputed matters for there to be a “complete cessation” of hostilities.

European leaders, including those from Finland, France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom, joined at least part of the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting by phone.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement that Europe was ready to keep working with Ukraine and the US, and that having ironclad security guarantees would be of “paramount” importance.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that progress had been made on security guarantees at the meeting. Macron said that countries in the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” would meet in Paris in early January to finalise their “concrete contributions”.

Zelenskyy said that Trump had agreed to host European leaders again, possibly at the White House, sometime in January. Trump said the meeting could be in Washington, DC, or “someplace”.

Earlier on Sunday, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov warned that any European troop contingents deployed to Ukraine would become legitimate targets for Russia’s forces. Lavrov also accused European politicians of being driven by “ambitions” in their relations with Kyiv, and disregarding the people of Ukraine and of their own nations."

lousubcap

Tuesday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said that an attack took place on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence in northwestern Russia’s Novgorod on Sunday, “practically immediately after” talks in Florida between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The strike “will not go unanswered”, Ushakov said in remarks reported by Russian media, following a call between Trump and Putin.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russian air defence systems shot down 91 long-range strike drones used in the attack and that no one was injured.

Zelenskyy denied the claim, accusing Russia of trying to derail peace talks.

However, Trump expressed anger over the alleged attack, telling reporters: “I was very angry about it.” When asked if the United States had evidence of the attack, Trump said, “We’ll find out.”

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that “the response to Kyiv’s attacks will not be diplomatic” and that Russia would be revising its negotiating position in the attack’s wake.

The United Arab Emirates’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that it “strongly condemned” the “deplorable attack” and “the threat it poses to security and stability”.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that a phone call between Putin and Trump on the issue of Ukraine on Monday was “positive”, without elaborating.

Zelenskyy said he spoke by phone with the leaders of Germany, Latvia and Finland to update them on the outcomes of his meeting with Trump and where peace negotiations stood.

Lavrov said in an interview with Russian news agency RIA Novosti that “Kyiv and its Western backers must recognise the new territorial realities that have emerged following the incorporation of Crimea, Sevastopol, the Donetsk People’s Republic, the  Luhansk People’s Republic, and the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions into the Russian Federation.” He was referring to the Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims to have annexed, which include Donetsk and Luhansk, renamed by Russian-backed separatists as the DPR and LPR.

A survey published by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation (DIF), a Ukrainian think tank, on Monday showed that recognising occupied Ukrainian territories “as part of the Russian Federation” remained deeply unpopular in Ukraine, with 76 percent of Ukrainians saying they considered it “unacceptable”."

Gulfcoastguy

Sign a binding ceasefire or peace treaty if you don’t want military, political, and economic targets to be attacked. Otherwise put on your big boy pants.

lousubcap

Wednesday Russia-Ukraine update: (He said, she said regarding the attack on Vlad the Impaler's residence).

"Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia will “toughen” its negotiating position in talks on a deal to end the war in Ukraine as a “diplomatic consequence” of an alleged attempted drone attack on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence in northwestern Russia’s Novgorod on Sunday.

Peskov said the attack, which Ukraine denies, was aimed at collapsing the peace talks and accused Western media of playing along with Kyiv’s denial.

Ukraine has dismissed the Russian claim as lies aimed at justifying additional attacks against Kyiv and prolonging the war.

Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said Russia had not provided any plausible evidence of its accusations. “And they won’t. Because there’s none. No such attack happened,” Sybiha said on X.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy slammed countries, including India and the United Arab Emirates, that have condemned the alleged attack, which he said “didn’t even happen”. He called the moves “confusing and unpleasant”.

China said “dialogue and negotiation” remain the only “viable way out of the Ukraine crisis”, when asked for a comment on the alleged attack on Putin’s residence.

Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also called on “relevant parties to follow the principles of no expansion of the battlefield, no escalation of fighting and no provocation by any party”, to work towards the de-escalation of the situation, and to “accumulate conditions for the political settlement of the crisis”.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, DC-based think tank, said that its analysts found that the “circumstances” of the alleged attack did not fit the “pattern of observed evidence” usually seen “when Ukrainian forces conduct strikes into Russia”.

The US ‌ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, cast doubt on Russia’s accusation, saying he wants to see US intelligence on the incident. “It is unclear whether it actually happened,” Whitaker told Fox Business’s Varney & Co.

The ‍German ‍government also said it shares Ukraine’s concern that Russian ⁠allegations of the attack could be used as a pretext for ‍further ⁠escalation of Moscow’s war."

lousubcap

Thursday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that while he wanted the war to end, he would never sign a “weak” peace agreement that would “only fuel the war”, in a televised address on New Year’s Eve.

The Ukrainian leader said that a peace agreement was “90 percent ready” but that a critical 10 percent remains undecided. “That 10 percent contains everything; it is the 10 percent that will determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe and how people will live,” he said.

Putin said he believes Moscow will win the war, nearly four years since Russian forces invaded Ukraine, in his televised New Year’s Eve address. He called on Russians to “support our heroes” during the speech.

Russian Major-General Alexander Romanenkov described an alleged Ukrainian drone assault over the weekend on one of Putin’s residences as a “terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime” in a Telegram post.

Romanenkov said the low-flying drones had passed through Bryansk, Smolensk and Tver en route to the residence in Russia’s Novgorod region.

Russian forces shot down 91 drones while en route between Sunday and Monday using various “anti-aircraft missile systems, mobile fire teams, and electronic warfare systems”, Romanenkov said.

The Ministry of Defence also shared a photo of an alleged Ukrainian drone shot down during the attack on Telegram.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the CIA does not believe the attempted attack on Putin’s residence occurred, citing an unnamed United States official. Ukrainian drones were in the region, the official said, but they were striking military targets far from the home."

lousubcap

Friday Russia-Ukraine update:

"A senior Russian military chief, Admiral Igor Kostyukov, said he had given a United States military attache what he claimed to be part of a Ukrainian drone. He said data from the drone proved that the Ukrainian military targeted a residence of President Vladimir Putin in Russia’s northern Novgorod region this week.

Ukraine has denied Russia’s claim. US intelligence sources told reporters on Wednesday Kyiv was not behind the attack.

Ukraine staged the death of an anti-Kremlin Russian fighter, Denis Kapustin, to prevent his killing ordered by Moscow’s special forces, Ukrainian military intelligence announced. Kapustin’s Russian Volunteer Corps claimed that he was killed on the front line, but he later appeared in a video briefing with the head of Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR), Kyrylo Budanov.

Ukraine’s top negotiator in US-brokered peace talks, Rustem Umerov, said he met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara. Umerov said he discussed with Fidan the negotiation process and next steps, with particular attention to humanitarian issues and the return of Ukrainians held by Russia.

In his New Year’s address to the nation, Ukraine’s Zelenskyy said he wanted the war to end, but not at any cost. He added he would not sign a “weak” peace agreement that would only prolong the war."

lousubcap

Worth a read-a short assessment-

Insights, analysis and must reads from CNN's Fareed Zakaria and the Global Public Square team, compiled by Global Briefing editor Chris Good   Seeing this newsletter as a forward? Sign up here.   January 2, 2026

Fareed: Ukraine’s Fate Will Shape the World Order “January inevitably spawns a cottage industry of forecasts,” Fareed writes in his latest Washington Post column, but one question really is “likely to be resolved this year: the fate of Ukraine. And depending on which way things go, the consequences will not be incremental but rather seismic for the international system.”   Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Ukraine war has threatened to upend a key feature of the post-World War II order: a consensus against seizing territory by force. As President Donald Trump presses on with his push for peace, Fareed writes, the outcome will determine whether this important component of the world order remains intact.    “The Ukraine war … is a referendum on whether conquest is back—openly, unapologetically—in 21st-century geopolitics,” Fareed writes. If Russia is allowed to seize territory and have its gains solidified amid Western pressure on Ukraine, the victim of Russia’s aggression, the norm against territorial conquest will erode significantly around the world. On the other hand, Fareed writes, if the West is able to steer this conflict toward a defensible settlement that does not merely incentivize Russia to attack again years later, that will be a victory for the Western-led world order that now looks so shaky.    “Ukraine will be the big story of 2026,” Fareed writes. “It will tell us whether the Western alliance that largely sustained international stability for 80 years can persist into a harsher century—or whether we are watching the unraveling of a historic arrangement in real time. The tragedy is that the choice is not between peace and war. It is between a peace that prevents the next war and a peace that schedules it.”"

lousubcap

Sunday Russia-Ukraine update:

"The Russian military repelled two attacks by the Ukrainian army attempting to break through to Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, where Moscow made recent gains, the Russian Defence Ministry reported.

The Russian air defence systems shot down 90 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions overnight, the ministry said.

One of two high-voltage lines supplying electricity to the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, which Moscow captured in the early days of the invasion, has been disconnected, the Russian management of the station said.

Security advisers from Ukraine’s top allies met in Kyiv for talks on a United States-brokered plan to end the war with Russia, including the United Kingdom, France and Germany, as well as representatives from NATO and the European Union.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv hopes for a leaders’ summit in the US by the end of January to discuss proposals on how to end the war with Russia, following a separate European leaders’ meeting in Paris next week.

President Donald Trump said he was frustrated with Russian leader Vladimir Putin over the continued war in Ukraine, repeating that he had initially believed that ending the war would have been easy."

lousubcap

Monday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Trump said yesterday that U.S officials have determined that Ukraine did not target a residence belonging to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a drone attack last week. Darlene Superville and Aamer Madhani report for AP News."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Russia has launched more than 2,000 air attacks on his country during the first week of the New Year.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence also said that Ukraine has targeted the country’s capital, ‌Moscow, with drones every day of 2026 so far, in what appeared to mark an escalation from the earlier, more sporadic attacks on the Russian capital.

By midnight on Sunday alone, Russian air defence systems had destroyed 57 drones ⁠over the Moscow region out of 437 downed over Russia, the Defence Ministry ​said on its Telegram messaging app.

Three out of four of Moscow’s airports shut to air traffic on Sunday after Ukraine launched dozens of drones at the Russian capital, authorities said.

United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer said 2026 could be the year of “significant progress” towards peace in Ukraine, telling the BBC One broadcaster that the issue of whether the US will stand ready to give security guarantees to Ukraine was “much further advanced” than it was “ever before”."

lousubcap

Southern Command update:

"U.S. forces killed at least 80 people, including civilians, during the military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on Saturday, according to a senior Venezuelan official. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said yesterday that 32 Cuban military and intelligence personnel were killed in the U.S. attacks. According to two U.S. officials, around 6 U.S. soldiers were injured. Isabela Espadas Barros Leal and Genevieve Glatsky report for the New York Times; Jack Nicas reports for the New York Times.

President Trump yesterday evening reiterated that the United States was now “in charge” of Venezuela, following the capture of Maduro on Saturday morning. When asked by reporters what he needed from the current acting leader of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, Trump said, “We need total access. We need access to the oil and to other things in their country that allow us to rebuild their country.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier on Sunday that the Trump administration would keep a military quarantine in place on the country’s oil exports to exert leverage on the new leadership there. Rubio said in an interview that people were “fixating” on Trump’s declaration on Saturday that the U.S government would run Venezuela, adding “it’s not running - it’s running policy, policy with regards to this.” Edward Wong reports for the New York Times.

“We invite the US government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development,” Rodríguez said yesterday on social media, having earlier condemned the U.S. attack on Saturday as an illegal grab for the country’s national resources. Rodríguez added, “President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war.” Trump told The Atlantic Sunday, “If [Rodríguez] doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” as he raised the possibility of another strike. Reuters reports; Rebecca Falconer reports for Axios.

Trump said on Saturday morning that he fully expects U.S. oil companies to be “very strongly involved” in Venezuela’s oil industry. Administration officials have told oil executives in recent weeks that if they want compensation for their seized property, then they must be prepared to go back into Venezuela and invest heavily in its petroleum industry, two sources told POLITICO. “They’re saying, ‘you gotta go in if you want to play and get reimbursed,’” said one industry official familiar with the conversations, adding that the offer has been on the table for the last 10 days. Ben Lefebvre, Zack Colman, and James Bikales report; Ben Geman reports for Axios

Trump administration officials are set to provide a briefing this afternoon on the military operation to capture Maduro to the Gang of Eight, as well as Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senate Armed Services Committee, House Foreign Affairs Committee and House Armed Services Committee, according to an official briefed on the plans. When asked why he had not sought Congressional authorization for the attack, Trump said on Saturday that he did not trust its members to keep the plans confidential. Annie Karni reports for the New York Times.

The United Nations Security Council is due to meet today following the U.S. attack on Venezuela. Colombia, backed by Russia and China, requested the meeting of the 15-member council, diplomats said. Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters."

lousubcap

Tuesday Russia-Ukraine update:

"U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner will attend a summit today in Paris focused on security guarantees to Ukraine in a future peace deal, a White House official said. The meeting will include leaders from roughly 30 countries who want to be part of the security guarantees and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.

French President Emmanuel Macron is set to host a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” in Paris on Tuesday to discuss security guarantees as part of the US proposal to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. The talks will also focus on the role of the coalition, which consists of 30 countries that have pledged to strengthen support for Ukraine, in implementing the deal.

A European Commission spokesperson said that work on security guarantees for Ukraine is progressing within the framework of the coalition.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will take part in the meeting, according to a spokesperson.

Turkiye’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, will stress the “strategic priority” of maintaining security in the Black Sea at a summit on Ukraine in Paris this week, a Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs source said.

Any security guarantees offered to Ukraine as part of a deal to end the war with Russia must be real, Lithuania’s foreign minister, Kestutis Budrys, said. “We can’t be bluffing… Russia wouldn’t buy our bluffs,” Budrys told a joint news conference in Vilnius with his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul."

lousubcap

Some insight on the Greenland issue from Politico:

"Trump has insisted that the U.S. needs Greenland for its national security. But the White House hasn’t followed up on an offer from the Danish prime minister for the U.S. to increase its military presence on the island, our own Eli Stokols reports.

“The option of more U.S. military presence has been on the table,” a European defense official told Eli. “The White House is not interested.”

Another person who maintains frequent contact with both the Trump administration and European officials told Eli that Trump could secure much of what he says he wants from Greenland — including access to resources like critical minerals, more troops and military bases, and increased intelligence sharing — by negotiating with Denmark directly.

The real issue? Trump’s fixation with flexing U.S. power in the Western Hemisphere.

“The problem is that Trump has gotten into his head that the ‘Donroe Doctrine’ is his thing,” the person said. “He’s now very focused on this. And it’s hard to come to an agreement with the Danes when Trump thinks he can just take it.”

But a senior administration official maintained that Trump hasn’t written off negotiating with Denmark directly, saying that “we are working closely with the government of Denmark and the government of Greenland on closer security and economic cooperation.”

The White House has stressed that Trump’s comments about seizing Greenland aren’t just rhetoric, pointing to the Venezuela operation as evidence that the administration follows through on its promises."

lousubcap

Wednesday Russia-Ukraine update:

"A broad coalition of Ukraine’s allies yesterday agreed to provide key aspects of post war security to Ukraine, including a declaration from French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer that they would establish military hubs across Ukraine after a ceasefire and build protected facilities for weapons. Macron told reporters, “We’ve expressed our availability to be deployed in this multinational force… That’s potentially thousands of men.” The agreement also said that the United States would lead an effort to monitor any eventual ceasefire, and that a special commission would be set up to “address any breaches, attribute responsibility, and determine remedies.” “This is a huge step forward because one year ago, we couldn’t even think about it,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters. Catherine Porter reports for the New York Times; Reuters reports."We think we're largely finished with security protocols, which are important so that the people of Ukraine know that when this ends, it ends forever,” U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff said following the meeting in Paris, adding that “the president strongly stands behind security protocols.” However, the nature of U.S. participation in the security guarantees is still very much unclear, according to a source close to the negotiations. John Irish reports for Reuters; Daniella Cheslow and Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewin report for POLITICO.

Describing the two agreements, Zelenskyy said they included “concrete content”, adding that the main sticking point remains “the territorial question”, referring to Russian demands that Kyiv give up the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

US envoy Steve Witkoff said that US President Donald Trump “strongly stands behind security protocols” to “deter… any further attacks in Ukraine”, adding to what the Reuters news agency said was the first time the US had publicly backed Ukraine’s allies’ promise to provide the guarantees.

However, a promise that Washington would commit to “support” the European-led multinational force “in case of a new attack” by Russia, which was present in an earlier draft statement, was not in the communique released on Tuesday evening.

Witkoff, who was at the talks in Paris, also said that “a lot of progress” had been made, and added that “land options” will be the most “critical issue”, and “hopefully, we will be able to come up with certain compromises with regard to that”."

lousubcap

Wednesday Southern Command update:

“I am pleased to announce that [Venezuela] will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America,” President Trump said yesterday on social media. “This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump added. Marianna Parraga and Erin Banco report for Reuters.

Trump, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum will meet with oil company chief executives on Friday at the White House to discuss plans for them to enter Venezuela and drill, according to four sources. The meeting is expected to include representatives from Chevron, Exxon, and ConocoPhillips, Ben Lefebvre, Zack Colman, and Sophia Cai report for POLITICO; Collin Eaton and Benoît Morenne report for the Wall Street Journal.

Russia has sent a submarine and other naval assets to escort the Marinera, an empty oil tanker which the U.S. Coast Guard has pursued into the Atlantic, according to a U.S. official. The vessel failed to dock in Venezuela and load with oil last month. The vessel’s crew repelled an effort by the United States to board the vessel, rerouted into the Atlantic, and painted a Russian flag on its side. In the same week, a second tanker, the Hyperion, made a similar change, and at least three additional oil tankers that operated in Venezuelan waters in recent weeks have switched to Russian flags in recent days, according to an official Russian vessel registry. All five vessels are subject to U.S. sanctions for shipping. Shelby Holliday, Costas Paris, and Georgi Kantchev report for the Wall Street Journal; Adam Sella, Nicholas Nehamas, and Christiaan Triebert report for the New York Times.

The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel produced a signed memo declaring it lawful for Trump to order the military operation that seized Maduro over the weekend, according to officials. Attorney General Pam Bondi promised members of Congress in briefings this week that the administration would share the memo with lawmakers. The specifics of the memo remain unclear. Charlie Savage reports for the New York Times.

The Trump administration is pressing Venezuela’s interim government to dismiss all suspected spies and intelligence agents from China, Russia, Cuba, and Iran from the country, a U.S. official told Axios. Julianna Bragg and Marc Caputo report.

The Trump administration is pressuring Venezuelan Interior Minister and Nicolas Maduro loyalist, Diosdado Cabello, to cooperate with interim President Delcy Rodriguez following the capture of Maduro, according to three sources. U.S. officials are looking for ways to eventually push Cabello out of power and into exile, one source said, adding that officials have communicated to Cabello that if he is defiant, he could face a similar fate to Maduro or see his life in danger. Matt Spetalnick, Sarah Kinosian, Jana Winter, and Humeyra Pamuk report for Reuters.

A 90-day emergency order from the Venezuelan government appears to order the police to “immediately search and capture” anyone who supports “the armed attack by the United States,” according to the document obtained by the New York Times. The document appears to be the emergency decree first mentioned by Rodriguez on Saturday. It is unclear if the document has been formally published into law in Venezuela, but it has been widely circulated to local media outlets and nonprofit organizations. Maria Abi-Habib and Emiliano Rodriguez Mega report."

lousubcap

Thursday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday told reporters that he wants a new meeting with Trump to gauge his openness to a proposal that Washington ensure security for Kyiv for more than 15 years in the event of a ceasefire. Dan Peleschuk and Yuliia Dysa report for Reuters.

The US seized two Venezuela-linked oil tankers in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday, including the Marinera crude oil tanker sailing under Russia’s flag.

Vice President JD Vance said that the tanker “was a fake Russian oil tanker,” in an interview set to air on Fox News, excerpts of which were provided in advance. “They basically tried to pretend to be a Russian oil tanker in an effort to avoid the sanctions regime,” Vance said, referring to sanctions imposed by the Trump administration on Venezuelan oil. The Trump administration has separately imposed sanctions on some Russian oil companies.

Ukraine’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that Kyiv welcomed the move. “The apprehension of a Russian-flagged ship in the North Atlantic underscores the United States’ and President Trump’s resolute leadership,” Andrii Sybiha wrote on X. “We welcome such an approach to dealing with Russia: act, not fear. This is also relevant to the peace process and bringing a lasting peace closer.”

Russia’s Ministry of Transport protested the seizure, saying in a statement that “in accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, freedom of navigation applies in the high seas, and no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered in the jurisdictions of other states”.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said that President Trump has “greenlit” a long-awaited bipartisan bill imposing sanctions on Russia after the pair met on Wednesday. “I look forward to a strong bipartisan vote, hopefully as early as next week,” Graham said in a statement."

lousubcap

Thursday Southern Command update:

"Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said yesterday that 100 people died in the U.S. attack, which removed President Nicolas Maduro from power on Saturday. Reuters reports.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday that the United States has a three-step plan for Venezuela: stabilizing Venezuela, ensuring U.S oil companies have access to the country during a recovery phase, and overseeing a transition. "The bottom line is that there is a process now in place where we have tremendous control and leverage over what those interim authorities are doing and are able to do," Rubio said. Simon Lewis and Patricia Zengerle report for Reuters.

Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth yesterday told lawmakers, in a closed-door briefing to the Senate, that the Trump administration does not plan to use ground troops in Venezuela, but U.S. military forces will remain deployed around Venezuela indefinitely to provide “leverage” in stabilizing the region, according to more than a dozen lawmakers. Leo Shane III, Connor O’Brien, and Joe Gould report for POLITICO.

President Trump said yesterday in an interview that he expected the United States would be running Venezuela and extracting oil for its reserves for years, adding that the interim government in Venezuela is “giving us everything that we feel is necessary.” A plan under consideration envisions the United States exerting some control over Venezuela’s state-run oil company, PdVSA, including acquiring and marketing the bulk of the company’s oil production, sources told the Wall Street Journal. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said yesterday “We’re going to market the crude coming out of Venezuela, first this backed-up stored oil, and then indefinitely, going forward, we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela into the marketplace.” David E. Sanger, Tyler Pager, Katie Rogers, and Zolan Kanno-Youngs report for the New York Times; James Bikales reports for POLITICO; Brian Schwartz, Benoit Morenne, and Josh Dawsey report."

lousubcap

Thursday Middle East update:

"Trump is expected to announce the Gaza Board of Peace next week as part of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, two U.S. officials and two other sources told Axios. Among the countries expected to join the board are the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey. The Board of Peace representative on the ground will be former U.N. envoy to the Middle East Nikolay Mladenov. Mladenov is visiting Israel this week for a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Trump's planned announcement. Barak Ravid reports.'

lousubcap

Friday Southern Command update:

"The Senate yesterday voted 52-47 to advance a bipartisan war powers resolution aimed at restricting President Trump’s ability to conduct further military action in Venezuela without Congress's approval.  Five Republicans voted to take up the resolution. In response, Trump declared that they should lose their seats in Congress. The vote paves the way for a debate and vote next week on the measure. Robert Jimison and Megan Minero report for the New York Times; Robert Jimison reports for the New York Times.

Trump said yesterday that the world’s largest oil companies had pledged to spend at least $100 billion to rebuild Venezuela’s oil infrastructure.Trump’s remarks come ahead of a White House meeting this afternoon with a group of oil executives that Trump called “the biggest oil people in the world.” A source said that the leading oil majors remained skeptical about the plans, adding “the White House is moving down their list of oil and gas companies to call because the larger companies just aren’t interested.” James Bikales reports for POLITICO. "

lousubcap

Friday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Ukraine yesterday awarded a bid to mine a major state-owned lithium deposit to investors, including Trump’s billionaire friend, Ronald S. Lauder. The other investor is TechMet, an energy firm partly owned by a U.S. government investment agency created during Trump’s first term. While it still requires formal approval from Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers, the officials said the deal was essentially sealed. Constant Méheut reports for the New York Times.

Zelenskyy announced progress with the US on a security deal. “The bilateral document on security guarantees for Ukraine is now essentially ready for finalization at the highest level with the President of the United States,” Zelenskyy wrote on the social media platform X. “It is important that Ukraine is successfully uniting the efforts of the European and American teams.”

Zelenskyy acknowledged that the US would continue to negotiate with Russia on peace talks, writing, “We understand that the American side will engage with Russia, and we expect feedback on whether the aggressor is genuinely willing to end the war.”

A spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said on Thursday that any European troops in Ukraine would be “considered legitimate military targets”. She called Ukraine and its allies an “axis of war”.

In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, US President Donald Trump positioned his country’s military might as the primary bulwark standing in the way of Russia’s expansionist goals. He also described himself as a good ally to Europe. “I’ve been very loyal to Europe. I’ve done a good job. If it weren’t for me, Russia would have all of Ukraine right now,” he told the Times. “If you look at NATO, Russia I can tell you is not at all concerned with any other country but us.”"

lousubcap

Big Oil and some interesting issues regarding Venezuela:

Trump’s Venezuelan oil plan may take years to unfold American oil executives are to gather at the White House Friday as President Trump looks to develop his plans to extract Venezuela’s oil resources and a U.S. armada continues to stage off the country’s shores. That meeting comes roughly a day after Venezuelan officials said the death toll from the Pentagon’s Saturday assault in Caracas had risen to at least 100, including Cuban bodyguards for abducted Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro and dozens of civilians across the capital city.    “I have cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks [on Caracas],which looks like it will not be needed, however, all ships will stay in place for safety and security purposes,” the president announced on social media at 4:19 am ET on Friday.    “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” the president said.

However, the New York Times reported Friday, “oil giants like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips that have deep pockets, vast expertise and, crucially, experience in that country have privately expressed reservations about committing the kind of money it would take to meaningfully boost Venezuelan oil production.”   And: “Political uncertainty in the United States and Venezuela is another major obstacle, as oil investments often are measured in decades, and companies would need to be confident that any deal would last long enough for them to make a decent profit,” the Times writes.    That’s a point reiterated separately on Wednesday by veteran journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro of the Times, who noted, “for context, I am Cuban-American (my family fled Castro). I am also part Panamanian (yes I remember the US invasion of Panama). I have a degree in Latin American studies. I covered Latin America as a journalist since 2000 when I lived in Colombia, then Mexico and Brazil. I’ve been to Venezuela many many times. oh yeah, I also lived in and covered Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.”   “And for people saying Venezuela isn’t Iraq because it doesn’t have sectarian conflict, please understand the history of Latin America, armed conflict and transnational criminal groups,” Garcia-Navarro said. “It’s a different problem but not an easier one. You have heavily armed paramilitary forces, cartels, corrupt military all with unlimited funds, big guns and reasons to cause havoc.”    Which is to say the future of Venezuela has great potential for catastrophe, as Army veteran Monica Toft of Tufts University explained in a column this week in The Conversation.    That all may be why “Trump and his advisers are planning a sweeping initiative to dominate the Venezuelan oil industry for years to come,” as the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. But exactly how this may play out is anyone’s guess. “The only major oil company operating there is Chevron, and new entrants lack the relationships, staff and logistical capabilities to hit the ground running. Analysts say it would take years to significantly boost production there,” the Journal writes.    Another problem: The U.S. already pumps more oil than any other country, and “oil prices are already low, with the U.S. benchmark hovering around $56 a barrel,” the Journal reports. Relatedly, “Many companies see $50 a barrel as a threshold below which it becomes unprofitable to drill, and a sustained period of low oil prices could decimate the U.S. shale industry, which has been a key backer of the president.”   This is all partly why Trump has tapped billionaire oil magnate and Republican donor Harry Sargeant to help hone his extraction plans, Reuters reported Thursday. “Sargeant's business interests in Venezuela are relatively small in comparison to the oil giant Chevron, the only U.S. oil company with federal authorization to export oil from the country, but he has been doing business there since the 1980s.” What’s more, “During the Iraq war, Sargeant contracted with the Pentagon to transport fuel to U.S. troops.” "