Vladimir Putin wants talks to find a solution to the Ukraine war. But Kyiv has had other plans for a long time. The news ticker.
- Willingness to talk in the Kremlin: Russia’s President Wladimir Putin to negotiate with Ukraine ready
- Summit in Moscow: Russia calls for an informal summit in Ukraine war
- Editor’s note: Read the latest news and developments from the Ukraine conflict. Some of the information from the Ukraine war processed here comes from Russia or the Ukraine and thus from the warring parties themselves. This information can therefore not be independently verified.
Update from Monday, December 26, 7:52 a.m.: A large majority of people in Germany do not believe that the war in Ukraine will end anytime soon. This is the result of a survey by YouGov on behalf of the German Press Agency, via which the dpa reported in the morning. 57 percent of respondents believe that the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine will last at least until the end of 2023. Only 27 percent expect it to end later this year. 19 percent do not provide any information.
The survey also asked about attitudes towards possible negotiations between the warring parties. A large majority of 55 percent are in favor of Ukraine immediately negotiating with Russia to end the war. Only 27 percent of respondents say it is not the right time for peace talks. The desire for negotiations prevails among the voters of all parties represented in the Bundestag. However, it is least pronounced among supporters of the Greens (46 percent), the SPD (52 percent) and the FDP (53 percent). In contrast, 80 percent of AfD voters would like representatives of Ukraine and Russia to sit down at one table.
Putin ready for negotiations with Ukraine – Kyiv calls for tribunal
+++ 8.36 p.m.: Russia’s offers of talks on negotiations in the Ukraine war have sparked skepticism in Kyiv. “Russia does not want negotiations and is trying to avoid responsibility (for the war),” tweeted Sunday Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to Podoljak, the government of Ukraine is demanding “a tribunal” of an international court of justice before which the Russian leadership must answer.
+++ 7.38 p.m.: In his Christmas speech, the Pope called for an end to hostilities in Ukraine. He condemned the senseless violence and called on both sides to negotiate.
War in Ukraine: Russia calls for summit in Moscow
+++ 5.48 p.m: An informal summit of the “Commonwealth of Independent States” (CIS) is to take place in Moscow on December 26th and 27th. Among other things, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko invited. When it was founded, Ukraine was also a member. In 2018, two years after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula, the country left the Union.
Update, 3:35 p.m.: In a video address, President Volodymyr Selenskyj addressed to the people of Ukraine. He wished people a Merry Christmas. Referring to the ongoing attacks from Russia, Zelenskyy said: “We will not wait for a miracle. We will do one thing ourselves.” The Ukrainian President did not respond to Vladimir Putin’s indirect offers of talks.
Negotiations in the Ukraine war? Putin seems ready
First report from December 25, 2022: Moscow – The fighting in the Ukraine war did not take a break at Christmas either. Troops from took the on the night of Sunday (12/24/2022). Ukrainian city of Kherson under fire. Ukraine, in turn, reported that its own armed forces had managed to destroy several Russian combat vehicles.
However, Sunday morning struck Moscow other tones. President of Russia Vladimir Putin personally said in an interview with the state-controlled TV channel Russia 1 on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine: “We are ready to negotiate acceptable solutions with all parties involved, but that’s up to them – it’s not us who are refusing negotiations, but them.” Putin also emphasized in the interview that the Russian army is committed to its operation in Ukraine was “on the right track”.
Ukraine war: Putin sees no great danger in the conflict with the West
He again blamed the West. It is the target of a foreign alliance led by the USAto tear Russia apart. It was also the West that started the Ukraine conflict in the first place in 2014 – by driving the then pro-Russian President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, out of office during the Maidan protests in Kyiv.
But in the interview, in which Putin addressed negotiations with Ukraine for the first time in a long time, the Russian president tried to downplay the conflict with the West. This has not reached a dangerous level. Putin again called the invasion of the troops he commanded a “military special operation”. The word “war” that the President first used days before had, he saved this time again.
Negotiations in the Ukraine war: No results so far
Even after more than 300 days of war in Ukraine, there have been no serious negotiations on a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government in Kyiv has always emphasized that it will only consider negotiations once all Russian troops have left Ukrainian soil. According to Zelenskyy, these would not only include the areas conquered in the war that has been going on since February last year. Russia would also have to annex itself from the 2014 Crimean Peninsula withdraw. In the past few days, Moscow has again emphasized that it will be ready to negotiate once the goals of the military special operation have been achieved. What these goals are remains the Kremlin’s secret. (Daniel Dillman)