(Reuters) – Moscow said no “Christmas ceasefire” was on the cards after nearly 10 months of devastating war in Ukraine, even as the release of dozens more prisoners including an American showed that some contacts between the two sides remain.
DIPLOMACY/ECONOMY/AID
* An announcement on U.S. plans to provide the Patriot missile defence system to Ukraine could be made as soon as this week, three U.S. officials told Reuters.
* The Kremlin said that U.S. Patriot missile defence systems would be a legitimate target for Russian strikes against Ukraine, and warned that Washington was getting “deeper and deeper into the conflict in the post-Soviet republic”.
* In Paris, about 70 countries and institutions pledged just over 1 billion euros ($1.05 billion) to help maintain Ukraine’s water, food, energy, health and transportation in face of Russia’s attacks, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said.
* A U.S. citizen was among dozens of detainees handed over to Ukraine by Russia as apart of a prisoner swap, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office said.
* Arms supplies from Italy to Ukraine would stop as soon as peace talks on ending the Russian invasion began, the Italian defence minister told parliament, as lawmakers endorsed a government decision to extend military aid throughout 2023.
CONFLICT
* Violence returned to Kyiv, with the first major drone attack on Ukraine’s capital in weeks. Two administrative buildings were hit, but air defences largely repelled the attack. Zelenskiy said 13 drones had been shot down.
Reuters was not able to independently verify battlefield reports.
* Russia’s close ally Belarus announced a snap military inspection including increased combat readiness in the south of the country, the latest in a burst of exercises that have prompted concern from neighbouring Ukraine.
