Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kremlin warns of Russia-Nato clash while stepping up attacks on key Ukrainian region

The latest dialogue between Russian and the US officials in Miami on the war in Ukraine should not be seen as a breakthrough, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

Calling it a “working process”, Vladimir Putin’s close aide said the discussions were expected to continue in a “meticulous” expert-level format and that Russia’s priority was to obtain from the United States details of Washington’s work with Europeans and Ukrainians on a possible settlement.

He said Moscow would then judge how far those ideas matched what he called the “spirit of Anchorage”.

Earlier, Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said the talks were “productive and constructive”.

Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is amping up its intelligence and air defence work ahead of Christmas as Russian forces are expected to carry out massive air strikes.

“When the Germans and the Americans proposed a Christmas ceasefire, there was nothing new in the fact that the Russians immediately jumped in and said: no, we do not want anything like that. The problem is that when Russia says there will be no Christmas ceasefire, that is, in principle, always what they say – they deliberately underscore such statements,” he said in a post on X.

“After these signals from them, I instructed our intelligence services to significantly step up their work and get a clear picture of where we stand,” he said.

“We understand that precisely on these days they may – this is in their nature – carry out massive strikes on Christmas. And today we had a Staff meeting on this, and the number one issue was air defense: the protection of our cities, villages, and communities, especially on the 23rd, 24th, and 25th. This needs to be paid attention to,” Zelensky said.

The Ukrainian president said the military “must pay attention directly, ensure protection as much as they can”.

“Everything is very difficult, because there is, unfortunately, a shortage of air defence systems,” Zelensky said as he urged people to be careful as nothing is “sacred” for Russians.

An industrial facility is on fire in Russia’s southern Stavropol region after an overnight Ukrainian drone attack, officials said.

Regional governor Vladimir Vladimirov confirmed the attack but did not specify the details of the facility set ablaze in the attack. He said no injuries were reported.

Russian oil major Lukoil runs the Stavrolen petrochemical complex at Budyonnovsk in Stavropol and the region also hosts gas pipeline infrastructure and fuel storage sites that make it part of Russia’s broader energy and chemicals system.

Ukraine has previously carried out attacks on the Stavrolen plant before and said its attacks inside Russia are aimed at weakening Russia’s military effort in the ongoing war.

Russia launched an early morning air attack on Kyiv, the head of the military administration of the Ukrainian capital, Timur Tkachenko, said this morning.

“Please stay in shelters until the all-clear is given!” Tkachenko said on his Telegram channel.

A senior Kremlin official has said Europe stands on the “edge of an abyss” with the prospect of an uncontrollable conflict between Russia and Nato looming.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov made the comments at a Moscow-based think tank, where he blamed Western countries for threatening the stability of the continent – despite it being Russia who invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Ryabkov said Russia did not intend to attack Europe and “pursue the aggressive goals attributed to our country”, but that it could not ignore the risk of a head-on military conflict between nuclear powers, warning of potentially catastrophic consequences.

Even with what he said was a more “balanced” US policy since Donald Trump entered office, Ryabkov said the risk of a Russia–Nato clash remains due to “hostile actions” by European countries.

Russian forces have increased their attacks on Ukraine’s Black Sea port in Odesa, causing major power outages and threatening maritime infrastructure in the region.

Late on Monday night, Russian forces struck the port, and damaged port facilities and a ship, the regional governor said, confirming the second attack on the region in less than 24 hours.

Governor Oleh Kiper said emergency crews were tackling the aftermath of the latest attack but provided no further details. He said no casualties were reported.

An earlier overnight attack hit port and energy infrastructure in the region, causing a fire at a major port and disrupting electricity supplies to tens of thousands of people.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Oleksiy Kuleba said Russia was carrying out “systematic” attacks on Odesa.

“Russia is attempting to disrupt maritime logistics by launching systematic attacks on port and energy infrastructure,” he said.

In the past few weeks, Russia has increased attacks on Odesa port and the surrounding region, trying to limit Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea and disrupt critical logistics routes to the border with Moldova, Ukrainian officials said.

The current draft of a US proposal for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia meets many of Kyiv’s demands, Volodymyr Zelensky said, calling it “quite solid”.

“Overall, it looks quite solid at this stage,” the Ukrainian leader said after the latest round of talks with US officials, who are trying to steer the neighbouring countries toward compromises.

Zelensky suggested that neither side in the almost four-year war is likely to get everything it wants in talks on reaching a settlement.

“There are some things we are probably not ready for, and I’m sure there are things the Russians are not ready for either,” Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv yesterday.

US president Donald Trump has for months been pushing for a peace agreement, but the negotiations have run into sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv.

Initial drafts of US proposals for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia meet many of Kyiv’s demands, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

But he suggested that neither side in the almost four-year war is likely to get everything it wants in talks on reaching a settlement.

“Overall, it looks quite solid at this stage,” the Ukrainian leader said of recent talks with US officials who are trying to steer the neighbouring countries toward compromises.

“There are some things we are probably not ready for, and I’m sure there are things the Russians are not ready for either,” Mr Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv.