US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday said Washington would not force Ukraine into any agreement to end Russia's invasion as Kyiv's European allies joined a new round of talks in Miami. Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier hailed his army's territorial gains in Ukraine, saying that the ball was in Kyiv and its allies' court to end the war in Ukraine. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
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A Russian ballistic missile strike killed seven and wounded 15 in Ukraine's Black Sea Odesa region, a local governor has said, adding that the attack targeted port infrastructure.
"The enemy struck the port infrastructure of Odesa region -- seven dead, fifteen wounded," Odesa regional governor Oleg Kiper said on social media.
In recent weeks, Russia has pummelled Odesa's logistics and energy infrastructure, hitting a bridge on the border with Moldova and cutting electricity and heating to hundreds of thousands of people in freezing temperatures.
The attacks also damaged foreign-flagged civil vessels in regional ports.
US intelligence indicates Putin's war aims unchanged, contradicting Trump claims
US intelligence reports continue to warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to capture all of Ukraine and reclaim parts of Europe that belonged to the former Soviet empire, six sources familiar with US intelligence said.
The reports present a starkly different picture from that painted by US President Donald Trump and his Ukraine peace negotiators, who have said Putin wants to end the conflict.
The intelligence also contradicts the Russian leader’s denials that he is a threat to Europe.
US won't 'force' a deal on Ukraine, says Rubio
More from the US secretary of state, who says the US won't force Ukraine to accept a peace deal with Russia.
"This whole narrative that we're trying to force something on Ukraine is silly," Rubio told journalists, adding: "We can't force Ukraine to make a deal. We can't force Russia to make a deal. They have to want to make a deal."
The top US diplomat said he may join part of the Ukraine talks in Miami on Saturday.
Rubio says progress made in Ukraine talks, but still a way to go
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has kicked off his news conference with an update on talks to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
He says progress has been made but there is still a way to go.
Credit: Kevin Mohatt, Reuters
The last issues are always the hardest, Rubio tells reporters.
€90 billion EU loan a boost to Ukraine's drone production
Ukraine’s Zelensky said a new €90 billion loan agreed by EU countries would help his country invest in ramping up the production of innovative drones.
FRANCE 24's Kyiv correspondent Gulliver Cragg tells us more.
Rubio will field questions on Russia-Ukraine at news conference
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is poised to take questions later today in a rare, formal State Department news conference, with the main topics expected to surround Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas peace efforts as well as the Trump administration’s increasing military pressure on Venezuela.
Rubio’s year-end appearance in the State Department briefing room comes as key meetings on Gaza and Russia-Ukraine are set to be held in Miami on Friday.
Ukraine to start new round of talks with US, Kyiv negotiator says
Ukrainian peace negotiators will start a new round of talks on Friday with the US team on proposals on how to end the war with Russia, the head of Kyiv's delegation, Rustem Umerov, has said.
Umerov, who is the United States for the talks, also said on the Telegram messaging app that Kyiv's European partners would be involved in the talks.
No drop in military aid to Kyiv since US policy shift, NATO official says
Arms supplies to Ukraine have not dropped following a decision by Trump to stop direct donations to Ukraine, a senior NATO military official has told Reuters.
After coming to office in January, the Trump administration only sold weapons or shipped donations to Ukraine that had already been authorized by Biden.
Then from the autumn, under a mechanism developed by the US and its allies, called the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL, Ukraine has been supplied with weapons from US stocks using funds from NATO countries.
Asked if there had been a drop in military supplies since Trump stopped donations, Major General Maik Keller, deputy commander of NATO's Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), said: "No, nothing."
Keller said the mission had channelled some 220,000 tons of military aid to Kyiv in 2025, amounting to around 9,000 trucks, 1,800 railway wagons and 500 aircraft packed with weapons, ammunition and other material.
"It's never enough. But at least it's enough to keep Ukraine in the fight," he said.
Turkey finds Russian reconnaissance drone in northwestern city
Turkey says it has found a Russian-origin Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicle in the northwestern city of Kocaeli.
The interior ministry said initial assessments indicated the drone had been used for reconnaissance and surveillance purposes, adding that an investigation into the incident was ongoing.
Turkish media reported that the device had been damaged in the crash.
The incident came after Turkey shot down a drone on Monday that had "lost control" as it approached its airspace from the Black Sea.
Polish president accuses Ukraine of not appreciating war support
Poland's nationalist President Karol Nawrocki has told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that Ukrainians failed to appreciate his country's help for them as they fight off Russia's invasion.
The accusation, made during a joint press conference, recalled Zelensky's dramatic White House visit in February, when US Vice President JD Vance accused the Ukrainian leader of lacking respect and being ungrateful for US support.
Poland has taken in more than a million refugees from Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale assault on the country in February 2022, and is among Kyiv's main arms suppliers.
"Poles feel... that our effort, our multifaceted assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion has not been duly appreciated or understood," Nawrocki said at a press conference during a visit to Warsaw by Zelensky.
Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky meets his Polish counterpart Karol Nawrocki in Warsaw. Credit: Kacper Pempel, Reuters
Zelensky responded by insisting that "Ukraine has always been grateful to Poland and will remain so."
He said Ukraine was "defending Europe" against Russia at a very high human cost.
"Russia wants discord, wants to destroy such a strong alliance -- the alliance of two nations, through many generations of Ukraine and Poland. We will not let them do it.
EU loan to Ukraine 'not what most EU member states wanted'
EU countries have announced they will raise a joint €90 billion loan on the capital markets to financially help Ukraine.
But the announcement is not the deal that most EU member states hoped for, which initially meant using frozen Russian assets.
The loan will be guaranteed by the common EU budget but as the block says it will only have to be paid back once Russia pays for reparations in Ukraine, questions remain.
FRANCE 24's Armen Georgian tells us more from Brussels.
Trump envoy Witkoff to meet national security advisers of Ukraine, Germany, France and UK
White House envoy Steve Witkoff is set to hold talks later today in Miami with the national security advisers of Ukraine, Germany, France and the United Kingdom, Axios reported, citing two sources.
Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also planned to meet a Russian delegation in Miami this weekend, a White House official told Reuters, as they continue trying to hammer out an agreement to end Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Zelensky says Russia will 'inevitably come' for Poland if it defeats Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday urged unity between Ukraine and its ally Warsaw and warned that Moscow would attack Poland if Russia's invasion was not stopped.
"Without our independence, Moscow will inevitably come for Poland. That's why it's important that we exist, it's important that you exist, it's very important that Ukraine and Poland exist, and it's important that we stand together," Zelensky said at a press conference with Polish counterpart Karol Nawrocki.
Putin says Russia has no intention of attacking Europe
President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Russia would be ready to stop the war in Ukraine immediately if it received guarantees of its security and that Moscow had no intention of attacking Europe.
Putin told his annual end-of-year press conference that Russia was open for cooperation "on equal terms" with the West.
Putin says Russia won't attack anyone if treated 'with respect'
President Vladimir Putin said Friday Russia would not attack other countries on the condition it was treated "with respect", dismissing concerns that Moscow poses a security threat to NATO's eastern flank states.
"You said: Will there be new special military operations? There will be no operations if you treat us with respect, if you observe our interests, just as we have constantly tried to observe yours," Putin said during his televised annual press conference.
"Special military operation" is the term Putin uses for Russia's offensive in Ukraine.
Putin warns of 'severe' consequences if frozen Russian assets used for Ukraine
Russia's President Vladimir Putin warned Friday that "severe consequences" would have followed for the EU if it had approved using frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine after the bloc failed to approve the plan.
Asked about the assets during his annual press conference, Putin said to follow through with the plan would have been a "robbery" and added: "But why can't they carry out this robbery? Because the consequences could be severe for the robbers."
Ukraine's Zelensky meets Poland's Trump-backed president at key moment in war
Volodymyr Zelensky met Poland's MAGA-aligned President Karol Nawrocki in Warsaw on Friday as the Ukrainian leader tries to shore up relations with a key ally at a crucial moment for Kyiv's war effort.
Ukraine says received 1,003 bodies from Russia
Kyiv said that it had received from Russia more than 1,000 remains of people that Moscow said were Ukrainian soldiers killed fighting the Kremlin's army.
"Today, repatriation activities took place. 1,003 bodies, which the Russian side claims belong to Ukrainian servicemen, have been returned to Ukraine," Kyiv's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, said in a statement on social media.
US President Donald Trump has urged Ukraine to move "quickly" on a deal to end Russia's war.
A Kremlin envoy will travel to Florida to discuss a US-proposed plan to end the war in Ukraine, a US official has said.
Two pro-Russian groups carried out cyberattacks on a Danish water treatment plant in 2024 and on local elections in the Scandinavian country last month, the Danish defence minister has said.
