President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday delivered Russia's long-awaited response to a Western price cap, signing a decree that bans the supply of crude oil and oil products from February 1 for five months to nations that impose the cap. Read our live blog to see how all the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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10:11pm: In devastated Ukraine, the race to repair vital infrastructure
Months of intense Russian bombardment has crippled Ukraine's energy infrastructure. In the region of Kharkiv, close to the Russian border, it is only now that electrical engineers have been able to work on reconnecting villages to the power grid. FRANCE 24's team on the ground visited a village that straddled the front line at the beginning of the war.
7:00pm: Ukraine anticipates more black-outs and attacks on its energy infrastructure
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said as a result of attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure nearly nine million people were currently without power – equal to about a quarter of Ukraine's population. Ukraine's energy minister said Tuesday that his big fear was that Russia would intensify its bombardments of critical energy infrastructure around key festive dates like the New Year. FRANCE 24's correspondent in Kyiv, Ukraine, Andrew Hilliar reports.
5:29pm: Italy's Meloni reaffirms full support for Ukraine in call with Zelensky
Italy's government on Tuesday pledged its support for Kyiv and reiterated its commitment to achieving a "just peace" for Ukraine, it said in a statement following a phone call between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"(Prime Minister) Meloni renewed the Italian government's full support for Kyiv in the political, military, economic and humanitarian fields, to repair energy infrastructure and (to work) for the future reconstruction of Ukraine," the statement said.
5:27pm: Russia to ban oil exports to countries that comply with price cap
Russia issued a decree Tuesday to ban oil sales to countries and companies that comply with a price cap agreed by Western countries in response to Moscow's war in Ukraine.
"The supply of Russian oil and oil products to foreign legal entities and individuals is prohibited if the contracts for these supplies directly or indirectly" are using a price cap, the presidential decree said.
The decree will be in effect from February 1 until July 1.
It added that the ban may be lifted in individual cases on the basis of a "special decision" from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The price ceiling of $60 per barrel agreed by the European Union, G7 and Australia came into force in early December and seeks to restrict Russia's revenue while making sure Moscow keeps supplying the global market.
5:00pm: Star rising in Kremlin, Russia's Medvedev predicts war in West
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, an arch loyalist of Vladimir Putin given a new job this week, predicted war between Germany and France next year and a civil war in the United States that would lead to Elon Musk becoming president.
Medvedev, deputy head of Putin's advisory security council, served as president during a four-year spell when Putin held the office of prime minister. He appears to have seen his fortune rise in the Kremlin, which said on Monday he would now serve as Putin's deputy on a body overseeing the military industry.
In his list of predictions for 2023, published on his personal Telegram and Twitter accounts, he also foresaw Britain rejoining the EU, which would in turn collapse. Reporting from Tbilisi, Georgia, FRANCE 24 correspondent Nick Holdsworth comments on Medvedev's predictions below.
2:30pm: Ukraine must demilitarize or Russia will ‘solve the issue’, says Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday warned that Ukraine must meet Moscow’s demand for “demilitarization” and “denazification”, as well as the removal of “threats to Russia’s security emanating from” Ukraine, otherwise “the Russian army (will) solve the issue”.
Lavrov also accused the West of fuelling the war in Ukraine to weaken Russia, and said that it depends on Kyiv and Washington how long the current conflict, which began on February 24 when Russia invaded Ukraine, will last.
“As for the duration of the conflict, the ball is on the side of the (Kyiv) regime and Washington that stands behind its back,” Lavrov told the state TASS news agency. “They may stop senseless resistance at any moment.”
In an apparent reaction, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted that “Russia needs to face the reality”.
2:23pm: Russian shelling around Bakhmut and Svatove
Russian forces on Tuesday shelled several localities in eastern and southern Ukraine, particularly around the Bakhmut sector of the Donetsk region and near Svatove in the Luhansk region, according to British military intelligence.
"Over the last 48 hours, fighting has remained focused around the Bakhmut sector of Donetsk Oblast, and near Svatove in Luhansk. Russia continues to initiate frequent small-scale assaults in these areas, although little territory has changed hands," reported the British Ministry of Defence on Twitter.
9:39am: Lack of electricity 'becoming a routine' in Ukraine
"It's becoming a routine here. People are starting to be used to it," FRANCE 24's Astrig Agopian reports from the Ukrainian capital. "When you walk around in Kyiv, you can hear the sound of generators, and every time there's electricity for a few hours, people just rush to charge whatever they need to charge."
Ukraine's energy ministry expects more attacks on Ukraine's energy grid, Agopian reports, as well as more power outages, "including on New Year's Eve".
9:17am: Rouble weakens against dollar as sanctions exert toll
The Russian rouble weakened on Tuesday, struggling to consolidate a slight recovery from last week's slide as the market comes to terms with the prospect of lower export revenue in the wake of restrictions on Russian oil.
The rouble lost about 8 percent against the dollar last week and is on course for a monthly decline after an oil embargo and price cap came into force. The finance ministry has said the recent slump was related to recovering imports.
At 0742 GMT the rouble was 1.2 percent weaker against the dollar at 70.10, but still some way off the almost eight-month low of 72.6325 struck last week.
"At the end of December, the rouble is likely to remain extremely volatile as the market will need to find a new equilibrium under changed trade flows and increased sanctions pressure," BCS World of Investments said in a note.
9:22am: Russia will not propose new initiatives on strategic weapons
Russia does not intend to propose any new initiatives on strategic arms or security guarantees, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published by the TASS news agency on Tuesday.
Lavrov also called on the West to exercise maximum restraint in the "highly sensitive" nuclear sphere.
5:43am: West and Ukraine want to destroy Russia, Moscow says
The US and its NATO allies together with Ukraine want to defeat Russia "on the battlefield" in order to destroy it, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the state TASS news agency in remarks published Monday.
"The actions of the countries of the collective West and (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky under their control confirm the global nature of the Ukrainian crisis," Lavrov said.
"It is no secret to anyone that the strategic goal of the United States and its NATO allies is to defeat Russia on the battlefield as a mechanism for significantly weakening or even destroying our country."
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AFP and AP)
