Ukraine latest updates: Moscow warns against NATO enlargement

Russia’s central bank has said it plans to cancel from January 1 a number of support measures for Russian banks introduced following the imposition of Western sanctions after Moscow sent its troops into Ukraine in February.

In a statement, the regulator said it will extend some measures, including on reserve requirements, but will force banks to resume disclosing their financial statements and will not extend a relaxation in the rules on open foreign currency positions.

The export arm of Russia’s Gazprom has denied it was in breach of contract regarding gas supplies to Germany’s Uniper, after Uniper launched arbitration proceedings in a bid to claim back some 11.6 billion euros ($12.02bn) in extra costs over undelivered gas supplies.

Gazprom said it intended to defend itself and did not recognise the legality of Uniper’s claims.

Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) officials found weapons and Russian cash after searching properties around Kyiv linked to a pro-Russian former politician, the agency has said.

In a statement, the SBU said its searches of homes and offices belonging to Yevhen Murayev, who it said was “hiding from justice abroad”, and his associates were part of a criminal investigation into treason.

Murayev’s political party and a television channel under his control were seen as vehicles for Kremlin interests in Ukraine before Moscow’s February 24 invasion. The party, Nashi, was banned after Russian forces swept into Ukraine.

Murayev had promoted views that aligned with Russian narratives on Ukraine, including that the 2014 Maidan protests in Kyiv were a Western-backed coup and the Kremlin-fuelled war in eastern Ukraine that followed was an internal conflict.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that Russia could no longer win the war in Ukraine on the battlefield.

Speaking at the Berlin Security Conference, Scholz also said that Germany took Russia’s nuclear rhetoric seriously, but would not be cowed by it.

The United States is “deeply concerned” about detained American Paul Whelan in Russia, and has not been able to get information from Moscow on his whereabouts or condition, White House national security spokesman John Kirby has said.

“We have been trying to get more information about Mr Whelan’s condition and his whereabouts … Regrettably, we do not have an update specifically about where he is or what condition he’s in,” Kirby told reporters.

“That deeply concerns us and we certainly share the anxiety and the concern of the Whelan family.”

US diplomats in Moscow were working to get details on what was going on with Whelan, Kirby said.

“But yes, we are deeply concerned about the lack of information and the lack of contact from Paul,” he added.

Russia’s central bank says it is extending restrictions on trading some foreign shares that have been blocked by international settlement depositories until April 1, 2023.

The Bank of Russia imposed the restrictions in May after the West targeted Moscow with sweeping sanctions over its actions in Ukraine.

Britain unveiled a new round of sanctions on Russian officials, imposed on those accused of spearheading recent mobilisation efforts and the recruitment of “criminal mercenaries”.

The new package of 22 sanctions hit Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, who London said is responsible for overseeing the country’s weapons industry and equipping newly mobilised troops.

It also covered 10 governors and regional heads in places including Dagestan, Ingushetia and Kalmykia, from where it noted: “a significant number” of conscripts have been drawn.

Russia’s central bank says, from January 1, it plans to cancel several support measures for Russian banks that were introduced following the imposition of Western sanctions after Moscow sent its troops into Ukraine in February.

In a statement, the regulator said it will extend some measures, including on reserve requirements, but will force banks to resume disclosing their financial statements and will not extend a relaxation in the open foreign currency position rules.

Russia’s defence minister says the armed forces should use new advanced weapons systems in the conflict in Ukraine.

“It is necessary to continue the modernisation and creation of promising systems with their subsequent use during the special military operation,” Sergei Shoigu said at a defence ministry meeting of senior generals.

Shoigu, one of President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, did not specify which advanced weapons should be used, though he said he wanted to discuss with the general new ways of improving artillery and missile attacks.

“New ways of using them in combat are being tested,” Shoigu said, without giving specifics.

Shoigu said that counter-battery fire was being improved in Ukraine by using long-range rocket systems, such as Tornado-S and high-power “Malka” artillery systems.

“This makes it possible to effectively hit foreign rocket and artillery systems,” Shoigu said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says it is vital to avoid any military confrontation between nuclear powers, even if it only involves conventional weapons, the TASS news agency reported.

Lavrov also said the West was pushing Ukraine to continue fighting against Russia.

“It is necessary to avoid any military clash between nuclear powers, even with the use of conventional weapons. The escalation may become uncontrollable,” Lavrov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a series of thinly veiled nuclear threats during the war in Ukraine.

Still, several top officials have repeatedly denied Moscow’s plans to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Al Jazeera has four maps, which it updates daily, charting the latest war developments.

As the snow begins to envelop Ukraine, Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, reporting from Kyiv, says people are cooking with camping stoves by candlelight after Russian air attacks target the power supply.

In Kyiv’s suburbs, Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands has met families who sleep in the same bed to keep warm.

Read more here.

Russia must withdraw its heavy weapons and military personnel from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant if the United Nations atomic watchdog’s efforts to create a protection zone are to succeed, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

Kuleba met Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in Bucharest on Tuesday on the sidelines of a NATO ministerial meeting just days after meeting a Russian delegation in Istanbul.

“We both agreed that Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has to be protected, and to achieve that Russia has to withdraw its heavy weapons and military personnel from the station,” Kuleba said.

“We will be considering ways on how to achieve this goal and Rafael will be doing shuttle diplomacy between Kyiv and Moscow on this.”

Spanish police said an employee at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid was injured in an explosion that occurred while he was handling a letter.

The staff member suffered light injuries and went to hospital, the police added.

Ukraine’s embassy in Madrid was not immediately reachable for comment.

A presidential aide said that a teenager was killed after the shelling of a hospital in the northern Ukrainian region of Sumy.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, said on Telegram that Russian forces had targeted the region with artillery and mortar bombs during the past 24 hours.

Another person was killed and one wounded in Russian shelling of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, regional governor Yaroslav Yanushevych added.

Russia’s foreign ministry said that Sweden and Finland joining NATO could lead to an increase in militarisation in the Arctic region.

Speaking at a briefing, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the two countries’ accession to the alliance would mean “a significant increase in tensions” in the region.

Ukraine needs US-made Patriot missile defence systems to protect its civilian infrastructure, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said, adding he would be working with the German government on this issue.

On Tuesday, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned NATO against providing Ukraine with Patriot systems.

Kuleba also said Ukraine would eventually become a member of NATO, saying that in the interim, its defence should be bolstered.

did not mean that nothing could be done now in that respect.

“The discussions on Ukraine’s NATO application should begin,” he said during a news conference following a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest.

Turkey says Sweden and Finland have made progress towards NATO membership but still needed to do more to satisfy Ankara’s requests on tackling “terrorism”.

Sweden and Finland applied in May to join NATO in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Still, they encountered objections from Turkey, which accused the two Nordic countries of harbouring fighters from the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and other groups.

Stockholm and Helsinki deny harbouring fighters but have pledged to cooperate with Ankara to address its security concerns fully and lift arms embargoes.

“The two countries took some steps, we recognise them. But there have not been any steps on extradition requests and freezing terror assets,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters at a NATO gathering in Bucharest.

But Cavusoglu also praised Sweden’s new government for what he called “a more decisive, tougher stance on terrorism”.

Russian foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin has said he discussed nuclear issues and Ukraine in a meeting with United States Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns earlier this month.

Elizabeth Rood, charge d’affaires at the US embassy in Moscow, told Russia’s RIA news agency this week that Burns “did not negotiate anything, and he did not discuss a settlement of the conflict in Ukraine”.

Naryshkin told RIA: “For my part, I confirm Ms Rood’s statement. Additionally, I can note that the most frequently used words at this meeting were ‘strategic stability’, ‘nuclear security’, ‘Ukraine’ and ‘Kyiv regime’.”

He also confirmed Rood’s comments that the two countries had a channel to manage risks and that it could happen if there were a need for another such conversation.

Ukraine’s foreign minister says NATO diplomats have given him a “number of new commitments” but declined to say whether that included Patriot missile batteries.

Equipping Ukraine with arms and equipment to rebuild its damaged electrical grid to survive winter under Russian bombardment has been a top issue at the NATO meeting of foreign ministers.

At the gathering, “we heard a number of commitments, new commitments, from various NATO members with regard to providing Ukraine with more defensive weapons and energy equipment,” Dmytro Kuleba told reporters.

Ukraine wants US-made Patriot missile batteries or other air defence systems that are more advanced than those it has gotten so far from the United States and other allies.

Kuleba did not respond to repeated questions from a reporter ahead of a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken about whether he had received any commitments on Patriots.