Live: US plan allows for Ukraine to join EU in 2027, official says
· France 24
12/12/2025 - 18:05
Turkish ferry damaged in Russian strike on Ukraine's Odesa port
A Turkish ferry has been damaged in a Russian air strike on Ukraine's Black Sea port city of Odesa, a Ukrainian minister.
"Russia launched a missile strike on civilian port infrastructure in the Odesa region," Ukraine's Restoration Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram, adding: "A ferry flying the Turkish flag was damaged in the Black Sea port, with no casualties reported."
12/12/2025 - 18:01
How Russia is shipping liquefied natural gas to China
A cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia's Portovaya plant was delivered to the Beihai terminal in China on December 8. This marks the first delivery since the facility was placed under US sanctions in January 2025. The development highlights deepening China-Russia energy ties as Moscow seeks to increase its LNG exports and secure revenue to fund its war in Ukraine.
12/12/2025 - 17:36
Zelensky to meet European leaders in Berlin Monday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to Berlin on Monday and meet European leaders as well as the heads of the EU and NATO, German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said.
Zelensky will attend a German-Ukrainian business forum and discuss "the status of peace negotiations in Ukraine" with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Kornelius said.
"In the evening, numerous European heads of state and government, as well as the leaders of the EU and NATO, will join the talks."
12/12/2025 - 17:35
Ukraine and US hold new talks on reconstruction, Ukraine's PM says
Ukraine and the U.S. held a new round of talks on reconstruction, Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on social media on Friday.
Svyrydenko said the meeting was attended from the US side by Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, as well as World Bank chief Ajay Banga and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.
Svyrydenko said a working group had been created to formulate a "plan of action" in the near future.
12/12/2025 - 17:35
Zelensky says Russian strike damaged a civilian vessel in Ukraine's Chornomorsk port
Russian strike damaged a civilian vessel in Ukraine's Chornomorsk port on Friday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a statement on Telegram.
Zelenskiy said that the attack showed that Moscow does not take diplomatic efforts to end the nearly four-year war seriously.
12/12/2025 - 17:02
Turkish-owned cargo ship hit by missile at Ukrainian port, no casualties reported
A Turkish-owned cargo vessel was damaged by a suspected missile attack at Ukraine's Chornomorsk port on Friday, its operator Cenk Denizcilik said in a statement.
The company said the roll-on/roll-off vessel M/V CENK T, which operates between Turkey’s Karasu and Ukraine’s Odesa, was hit shortly after docking, igniting a fire that tugboats and port firefighting teams later worked to contain.
12/12/2025 - 16:32
Zelensky speaks from the frontline town of Kupiansk
"I visited our troops and congratulated them. Thank you to each and every warrior! I am proud of you!", said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on a video posted on X near the frontline town of Kupiansk.
12/12/2025 - 16:22
Russia says seven wounded northwest of Moscow after Ukrainian attack
Ukrainian drone debris triggered a fire in an apartment block northwest of Moscow, wounding seven people, Russian authorities said.
The nighttime attack at Tver, a city some 180 kilometres (110 miles) from the Russian capital, came amid a heightened drone campaign by Ukraine as peace efforts drag on.
12/12/2025 - 16:21
Drones hit primary processing unit at Russia's Yaroslavl oil refinery
Ukrainian drones damaged a primary processing unit and a loading rack at Russia's
fourth-largest oil refinery, Slavneft-YANOS, in the city of Yaroslavl, three industry sources said on Friday, adding that the refinery suspended output.
12/12/2025 - 16:15
Bulk carrier Cenk T damaged in Russian attack on Ukraine's south
The Cenk T civilian bulk carrier was damaged on Friday during a Russian attack while it was visiting the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk in the southern Odesa region, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
12/12/2025 - 15:39
'No time for legal niceties', says analyst regarding Russian frozen assets
Russian frozen assets will have to be used for Ukraine at some point, Belgium's deputy prime minister Vincent Van Peteghem said on Thursday, adding however Belgium "would not take any reckless compromises" before it agreed to any deal over this.
Peter Zalmayev, Director of the Eurasia Democracy Initiative, says Belgium has been pushing a "defeatist rhetoric", "repeating [the] Kremlin's lines about how Russia is pre-destined to win this war".
12/12/2025 - 15:37
Russian police and National Guard to stay in Ukraine's Donbas even after peace
A senior Kremlin official says that the Russian police and National Guard will remain in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas to oversee the prized industrial region, even if a peace settlement ends the nearly four-year war — a possibility that is likely to be rejected by Ukrainian officials as US-led negotiations drag on.
Moscow will give its blessing to a ceasefire only after Ukraine’s forces have withdrawn from the front line, Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said in comments published Friday in Russian business daily Kommersant.
12/12/2025 - 15:34
Civilian vessel on fire after Russian attack on Odesa region
A civilian vessel caught fire after a Russian attack on Ukraine's southern Odesa region port hub on Friday, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
They gave no additional details. Ukraine's airforce reported missile and drone attacks on the region.
12/12/2025 - 15:26
US plan allows for Ukraine to join EU in 2027, official says
The US plan to end the war in Ukraine envisions Kyiv joining the EU in January 2027, a senior official told AFP, as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict intensify.
"It's stated there, but it's a matter for negotiation, and the Americans support it," the senior official with knowledge of the matter said, referring to the US plan.
12/12/2025 - 14:45
Erdogan pushes Putin on 'limited ceasefire' against ports, energy facilities, presidency says
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a "limited ceasefire" in Russia's war with Ukraine targeting ports and energy facilities, in face-to-face talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Erdogan told the Russian leader on the sidelines of a summit in Turkmenistan that efforts to end the war were valuable, saying "implementing a limited ceasefire targeting energy facilities and ports in particular could be beneficial," his office said.
12/12/2025 - 14:44
Turkish president Erdogan discussed EU freezing Russian assets with Putin
Turkish president Erdogan met Vladimir Putin and discussed the EU's freezing of Russian assets. Erdogan also said Turkey was ready to host meetings in all formats, it added.
12/12/2025 - 14:30
Russia's monthly oil and gas revenue to hit lowest since August 2020
Russian state oil and gas revenue in December is likely to almost halve from a year earlier to 410 billion roubles ($5.17 billion) as a result of lower crude prices and a stronger rouble, Reuters calculations showed on Friday.
Oil and gas revenue is the leading source of cash for the Kremlin, making up a quarter of federal budget proceeds that have been drained by heavy defence and security spending since Russia began its military campaign in Ukraine in February 2022.
12/12/2025 - 14:24
Germany summons Russian ambassador over alleged election interference
Germany summoned Russia's ambassador following accusations of sabotage, cyberattacks and election interference, an official said.
The German government has also accused Moscow of perpetrating disinformation campaigns.
“The goal of these Russian cyber and disinformation attacks is clear: It is to divide society, stir up mistrust, provoke rejection, and weaken confidence in democratic institutions,” German foreign ministry spokesperson Martin Giese said.
“This targeted manipulation of information is one of a wide range of activities by Russia aimed at undermining confidence in democratic institutions and processes in Germany," he said during a government news conference.
12/12/2025 - 13:50
Ukraine's Zelensky visits troops near embattled Kupiansk
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday he had visited troops fending off Russian advances near the embattled city of Kupiansk that Moscow claimed to have captured, which Kyiv denies.
"Many Russians talked about Kupiansk – we can see. I was here, I congratulated the guys. Thanks to every unit, to everyone fighting here, to everyone destroying the occupier," Zelensky, wearing a bulletproof vest, said in a video posted on Telegram.
12/12/2025 - 13:42
Ukraine would join EU by 2027 under draft peace proposal, FT reports
Ukraine would be slated to join the European Union by January 1 2027 under a peace proposal being discussed as part of US-mediated negotiations to bring an end to the years-long Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
The proposal was being negotiated by US and Ukrainian officials with the support of Brussels, the FT added, citing people briefed with the document's contents.
Yesterday's key developments:
- Ukraine has submitted a detailed counterproposal to the US peace plan, taking time to carefully review and refine their response.
- The International Olympic Committee (IOC) urged sports bodies to fully reintegrate Russian and Belarusian athletes into junior competitions and allow them to compete with their national flag and anthem.
- The US is pushing for a demilitarised "free economic zone" between Russian and Ukrainian troops in the east of the country as part of a settlement to end the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)