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Morning Headlines
Reuters: Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner will meet Putin on Tuesday for talks on a possible way to end the deadliest European conflict since World War Two.
ISW: The Kremlin is setting conditions to refrain from publicly discussing the outcomes of today's US-Russian meeting, possibly in order to obfuscate Russia’s likely rejection of the US-Ukrainian peace proposal.
Reuters: The European Central Bank has refused to backstop a 140 billion euros payment to Ukraine, undermining an EU plan to raise a “reparations loan” backed by frozen Russian assets, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
The Kyiv Independent: Putin claimed on Dec. 1 that Russian troops had captured the Ukrainian cities of Pokrovsk and Vovchansk — a claim not backed up by Ukrainian officials or battlefield monitoring groups.
Reuters: Putin starts a two-day visit to India from Thursday, pitching for more sales of Russian oil, missile systems and fighter jets in a bid to restore energy and defence ties hit by U.S. pressure on the South Asian nation.
The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine has returned 1,859 children who were abducted and taken to Russian-held territory, First Lady Olena Zelenska said during a high-level meeting in Paris on Dec. 1 held under President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative.
More News
Politico: Despite demands from Washington to reach a peace deal ending the war in Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday insisted that there's still a lot of work to do before any agreement. "Today, there isn't a finalized plan on territorial questions. These can only be finalized by President Zelenskyy," Macron said.
The Guardian: The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has said she fears talks between Putin and Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will pile pressure on Ukraine to make concessions with the two men expected to meet on Tuesday.
CNN: Belarusian incursions into Lithuania’s airspace constitute a “hybrid attack” by the Lukashenko regime, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Monday, as the Belarusian representative in Brussels was summoned.
The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine's Special Operations Forces (SSO) carried out a successful strike on a Russian site in occupied Crimea used to store and launch Shahed-type drones, the SSO reported on Dec. 1.
Reuters: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that attacks on commercial ships in the Black Sea were unacceptable, issuing a warning to "all related sides" after an unmanned vessel reportedly struck a tanker off Turkey's northern coast.
Reuters: Turkey sharply reduced its imports of Russia's flagship Urals crude oil in November, shipping data from energy consultancy Kpler showed, as Western sanctions on Russian energy suppliers tightened and Turkish refineries shifted to alternative grades.
The Kyiv Independent: Explosions on Nov. 20 and Nov. 28 damaged railway infrastructure in Russia’s Novosibirsk and Bryansk regions, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said.
Reuters: Cargo volumes handled by state-owned Russian Railways continued to fall in November, data showed on Monday, as the country's biggest commercial employer grapples with mounting financial problems.
Bloomberg: Ukraine carried out record attacks on strategic oil infrastructure in Russia last month. Ukraine’s military used drones to attack Russian refineries at least 14 times in November, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from public statements by both nations (archive).
The Moscow Times: A tanker carrying Russian oil products suffered four external explosions off the coast of Senegal, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing the vessel’s manager Besiktas Shipping.
The Kyiv Independent: The Netherlands on Dec. 1 pledged to purchase U.S. arms for Kyiv worth 250 million euros under the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL). The PURL initiative, launched earlier this year, enables NATO allies to buy advanced U.S. weaponry for Ukraine.
The Guardian: Five South Africans have appeared in court on charges relating to recruitment and fighting for Russia in its war with Ukraine, amid allegations that 17 South Africans had been tricked on to the frontlines of the conflict.
United24 Media: A Russian ballistic missile strike on the city of Dnipro killed four people and wounded 40 more, according to the acting head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Administration, Vladyslav Haivanenko.
The Kyiv Independent: Drones attacked the Russian republic of Dagestan overnight on Dec. 1, damaging buildings and cars near the Dagdizel machine-building plant, the Telegram channel Astra reported, citing local residents.
Balkan Insight: Novak Stjepanovic was sentenced to 13 years in prison in Serbia for war crimes in Bosnia in 1992, but he had already skipped the country to join Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, a BIRN investigation finds.
BBC: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to meet Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheál Martin in Dublin on Tuesday. It will be the first official visit to Ireland by a Ukrainian president and first lady.
worth mentioning
Russia and Saudi Arabia sign deal for visa-free travel
Putin grants many categories of Chinese citizens visa-free access to Russia for up to 30 days
Ukraine offers bond swap on $3.2 billion GDP warrants in bid to emerge from default
Ukraine seeks €1b more to buy US weapons by year-end
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