Saturday, December 9, 2023

1438 GMT — Ukraine strongly condemned Russia’s plans to hold presidential elections on 'occupied Ukrainian territory' in the spring.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry called the planned elections “null and void” and pledged that any international observers sent to monitor them would “face criminal responsibility.”

Lawmakers in Russia on Thursday set the country’s 2024 presidential election for March 17. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday moved to prolong his grip on Russia for at least another six years, announcing his candidacy in the election. He is all but certain to win.

Russian authorities plan to arrange voting in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — territories Moscow occupied in September last year but does not fully control — together with the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.

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1137 GMT — German chancellor says Ukraine war won’t end anytime soon

Germany will continue to support Ukraine in its war with Russia as the military conflict, which began in February 2022, will not end anytime soon, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said .

“No, this war won’t be over anytime soon – we would all wish that it were – and this is why we have to be able to keep up the pressure,” Scholz said at the Social Democratic Party (SPD) conference in Berlin.

1111 GMT — Russia tries to unfreeze gold reserves for climate funds at COP28

Russia said it was looking into whether its frozen gold reserves, taken after Russia started its offensive against Ukraine, could be used to fund the climate damage fund to help developing countries.

In what looked like an attempt to try to fulfil Moscow's aim of doing "everything possible" to stop the West from seizing its frozen reserves, Russia's climate envoy said at the COP28 summit the move would help to close the gap between developed and developing countries in dealing with climate crisis.

It is unlikely to be agreed upon. The West froze around half - or more than $300 billion - of Russia's international reserves after Moscow sent its armed forces into Ukraine in February last year.

0922 GMT — One killed in Russian drone attack on Ukraine's Kherson region

One civilian was killed and another wounded after Russian forces dropped an explosive from a drone on a town in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, authorities said.

Prosecutors opened a war crimes investigation into the incident, which occurred around 10 AM (0800 GMT) in the town of Beryslav. Both victims had been walking on the street at the time of the attack, authorities said.

Russian forces have regularly attacked the western part of the Kherson region, particularly its eponymous capital, since retreating across the Dnipro River late last year.

0535 GMT —Ukraine aid in jeopardy as Republicans double down on demands

A deal to provide further US assistance to Ukraine by year-end appears to be increasingly out of reach for President Joe Biden.

The impasse is deepening in Congress despite dire warnings from the White House about the consequences of inaction as Republicans insist on pairing the funding with changes to America's immigration and border policies.

After the Democratic president said this week that he was willing to "make significant compromises on the border," Republicans swiftly revived demands that they had earlier set aside, hardening their positions and attempting to shift the negotiations to the right, according to a person familiar with the talks and granted anonymity to discuss them.

The latest proposal, offered by lead GOP negotiator Sen James Lankford, R-Okla, during a meeting with a core group of senators before they departed Washington on Thursday afternoon, could force the White House to consider proposals that many Democrats will seriously oppose, creating new obstacles in the already fraught negotiation.

0529 GMT — Polish truck drivers block border with Ukraine

Pickup trucks and tourniquets bound for Ukraine's battlefield are stuck in a mileslong line at the border with Poland. Components to build drones to fight off Russian forces are facing weeks of delays.

Ukrainian charities and companies supplying the war-stricken country's military warn that problems are growing as Polish truck drivers show no sign of ending a border blockade that has stretched past a month.

The Polish protesters argue that their livelihoods are at stake after the European Union relaxed some transport rules and Ukrainian truckers undercut their business.

0425 GMT — US, South Korea, Japan had extended discussion on Russia-North Korea ties: Sullivan

National security advisers of the United States, South Korea and Japan held an extended discussion on growing cooperation between Russia and North Korea, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.

Sullivan told reporters in Seoul that Washington, Seoul and Tokyo were confident North Korea was supplying weapons to Russia to be used in Moscow's war against Ukraine.

Earlier in September, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit in Russia at which they discussed military matters, the war in Ukraine and possible Russian help for Pyongyang's satellite programme.

For our live updates from Friday (December 8), click here.