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Morning Headlines
Reuters: European Union leaders aim to send a "clear signal" to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at a summit on Thursday about their continued support for Ukraine and will also discuss the security and economic challenges posed by his return to the White House.
BBC News: The UK Ministry of Defence is considering the possibility of sending British troops to Ukraine to help train its armed forces. The Ministry also said it would send an additional 225 million pounds ($286 million) of military equipment to Ukraine to help it in the war against Russia.
Reuters: At least 100 North Korean troops deployed to Russia have been killed with another 1,000 injured in combat against Ukrainian forces in intense fighting in the Kursk region, a South Korean lawmaker said on Thursday citing the country's spy agency.
More News
Reuters: The World Bank said on Wednesday its executive board approved $2.05 billion in Development Policy Operation funding for Ukraine that includes the first grant from a new $20 billion U.S. loan fund for Kiev that is backed by income from frozen Russian sovereign assets.
The Kyiv Independent: Approximately one quarter of Russia's shopping centers face pre-bankruptcy conditions and risk closure by 2025, according to reports from industry leaders published by Russian media on Dec. 18.
Reuters: Finland is considering pulling out of an international agreement banning anti-personnel landmines because of Russia's use of such weapons in Ukraine, Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen said.
AFP: France on Wednesday accused Russia of seeking to manipulate French and other European social media influencers, saying Moscow was employing varied and fast-evolving digital interference tactics.
Reuters: The United States issued fresh sanctions on Wednesday on several Russia-based entities over their involvement in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, the State Department said, including new measures against the operator of the project.
Politico: Ukraine currently doesn’t have the military strength to retake all the territory Russia has occupied since 2014, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told French daily Le Parisien on Wednesday. But that doesn’t mean Kyiv is about to recognize its Moscow-controlled lands as belonging to Russia, he added.
Reuters: A new NATO command in the German city of Wiesbaden has taken up its work to coordinate Western military aid for Ukraine, the alliance's Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday.
AP News: NATO’s secretary-general said he wants to discuss ways to put Ukraine in a position of strength for any future peace talks with Russia during a meeting Wednesday with Ukraine’s president and a small number of European leaders.
The Kyiv Independent: An intercepted phone call released by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on Dec. 18 suggests North Korean troops are suffering hundreds of casualties fighting for Russia in Kursk Oblast.
BBC News: Russia is moving a large amount of military equipment in Syria, signalling preparations for a partial withdrawal, analysts say. Satellite images reveal a build-up of military vehicles at a Russian-controlled port and airbase in western Syria.
Reuters: Denmark, which oversees security in and around Greenland, on Wednesday warned of a heightened risk of military confrontation in the Arctic, driven by aggressive threatening behaviour by Russia.
Bloomberg: Denmark warned that Russia’s navy may start escorting the so-called shadow fleet tankers through Danish straits to escalate provocations against NATO countries (archive).
The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine has delivered more than 200,000 domestically-produced drones to front-line units so far in December, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Dec. 18.
Reuters: Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday to discuss his hopes to continue gas supplies via Ukraine, Fico said on Wednesday.
Reuters: Ukraine's only coking coal mine - key for its steel industry - is operating at 50% capacity as of Wednesday morning despite the proximity of advancing Russian forces.
AFP: Britain accused Moscow Wednesday of "desperate rhetoric" after Russia's ex-president threatened The Times newspaper over its coverage of the assassination of the head of the Russian army's chemical weapons division.
Reuters: European nations are discussing sending troops to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire or peace deal, as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has made clear he will not put American boots on the ground to guarantee security, officials and diplomats say.
Reuters: Ukraine on Wednesday dismissed a Russian allegation that its drones repeatedly dropped white phosphorus in September as "false and nonsensical", saying that Kyiv was fully compliant with its international arms control obligations.
AFP, Yahoo Finance: Stubborn inflation, exorbitant borrowing costs, bankruptcy risks and a growth slowdown: the Russian economy is facing a slew of negative headlines, as the costs of the Ukraine war and Western sanctions mount.
AP News: Russia’s security service said Wednesday it detained a citizen from Uzbekistan in the bombing that killed a senior general as he left his southeastern Moscow apartment — a bold assassination that was claimed by Ukraine’s security service.
worth mentioning
Germany doubles arms exports to Ukraine, halves them to Israel in 2024
Rheinmetall to supply Ukraine with 155mm propelling charge modules
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