Here is the situation as it stands on Tuesday, December 13:
Diplomacy
- Ukraine’s allies are set to meet in the French capital, Paris, as part of the “Standing with the Ukrainian people” conference where they promised to support Ukraine’s civilian resilience to get through the winter.
- Group of Seven (G7) nations said they would set up a multi-agency platform to coordinate aid to Ukraine and support its repair, recovery and reconstruction, with senior representatives to convene as soon as possible in January.
- The global economic powers also pledged to beef up Kyiv’s military capabilities “with an immediate focus” on providing air defence systems, said a White House statement.
- US officials plan to engage in talks with Moscow this week to discuss the case of Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin will not hold a year-end news conference this year, the Kremlin said, suspending an annual tradition that dates back to the early years of his presidency.
Economy
- European Union foreign ministers agreed to put another 2 billion euros ($2.1bn) into a fund used to pay for military support for Ukraine. They also tried to agree on further sanctions on Russia and Iran.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the G7, asking allies for natural gas for winter heating and long-range weapons. He also sought support for his idea of convening a special “Global Peace Summit”.
- The head of the Norwegian Refugee Council said he expected another wave of refugees from Ukraine in Europe over the winter because of “unlivable” conditions.
Fighting
- Ukraine’s General Staff said Russian artillery hammered nearly 20 front-line settlements around the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Moscow seeks to capture but which is now largely in ruins because of incessant bombardment.
- At least two people were killed and five wounded in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson after what the regional governor said was “massive shelling” by Russian forces.
- Russia is turning to decades-old ammunition with high failure rates, a senior US military official said.
- A Russian-appointed deputy governor of Ukraine’s Kherson region, Vitaly Bulyuk, was wounded when his car exploded, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.
- British defence minister Ben Wallace said he would be “open minded” about supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles to target launch sites for Russian drones if Moscow carried on targeting civilian areas.
