NATO chief Mark Rutte said on Monday that Ukraine was not in a strong enough position to negotiate peace with Russia. “At the moment Ukraine is clearly not participating, because at the moment it is not possible to negotiate from a strong position,” Rutte told EU lawmakers. “We must do more to help them reach a position of strength by changing the trajectory of the conflict.”
Donald Trump will be sworn in as president of the United States next Monday after vowing during his campaign to quickly end President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. “We all want this war to end, but above all we want peace to last,” Rutte said. If President Putin gets his way in Ukraine, peace will not last, because then he will push on. …I am convinced that peace can last only if Ukraine comes to the negotiating table from a position of strength. ”
The United States and its allies “cannot walk away” from Ukraine, outgoing US President Joe Biden said on Monday. He is preparing to step down next week and hand over power to Donald Trump. Biden on Monday marveled that at the start of the war, President Putin thought Russian forces could easily defeat Ukraine in a matter of days. This was an assessment shared by U.S. and European intelligence officials.
Rather, he said, the Biden administration and its allies have “laid the groundwork” to help the Trump administration reach a moment when Ukraine can finally negotiate a just end to the nearly three-year-old conflict.
“Today, Ukraine is still a free and independent country with the potential for a bright future,” Biden said. Biden praised U.S. and international support for Kiev since the 2022 invasion of Moscow, saying Russian ruler Vladimir Putin “has failed to achieve any of his strategic goals” but that “more work remains to be done.” Yes, we can't leave.”
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has hit back after Slovakian Prime Minister Roberto Fico invited the Ukrainian president to Slovakia on Monday, saying it is possible for him to “come to Kiev on Friday.” Fico had called for negotiations “as soon as possible” after Ukraine decided to cut off supplies of cheap Russian gas flowing through the two countries to Western Europe. The move comes after Fico's pre-Christmas visit to Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin angered EU countries and sparked protests against his government in the country. Thousands of Slovaks took to the streets on Friday to protest Fico's trip and friendly relations with the Kremlin in a rally called “Slovakia is Europe.”
The Kremlin has accused Kiev of “energy terrorism” over what the Russian government said was an attempted attack on its infrastructure. TurkStream gas pipeline transporting Russian gas to Europe via Türkiyereported Russian News Agency. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the drone attack was “a continuation of the energy-terrorism line that Kiev has been pursuing for many years under the supervision of its friends abroad,” state news agencies reported.
Ukrainian officials said they were bypassing the logistics hub of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, which Russian forces have been fighting for months to capture, and were instead focused on cutting off supply lines to it. Ukrainian military spokesman Major Viktor Trekhubov told The Associated Press on Monday that Russian troops were patrolling the area around Pokrovsk, which is being held back by Ukrainian defenses. He said Russian forces were targeting a highway leading from there to the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro. This route is important for supplying supplies to Ukrainian forces throughout the region. Reducing highway traffic would also significantly weaken Pokrovsk.
Italy plans to sign agreement with Ukraine and UNESCO for reconstruction of Odesa city and its cathedral Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the country had suffered significant damage from the Russian attack. Ukraine has announced that an Orthodox cathedral was damaged during a Russian missile attack on the country's southern port city in July last year. Russia denied responsibility. Tajani expressed his support to the parliamentarians, saying, “As the G7 Presidency, we will continue to strive for a just peace.'' ukraineThe energy system has also been a priority for Italy, which holds the rotating Presidency of the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy nations until the end of this year.
