Photo: AP
Wednesday’s Coverage: US Backs Security Guarantees as UK and France Commit Troops
UPDATE 1225 GMT:
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky says the document setting out US security guarantees for Ukraine “is now essentially ready for finalization at the highest level with the president”.
It is important that Ukraine is successfully uniting the efforts of the European and American teams, and together, we discussed, in particular, documents on recovery and economic development.
Complex issues from the basic framework for ending the war were also addressed, and the Ukrainian side presented possible options for finalising this document.
Zelensky said, “We understand that the American side will engage with Russia, and we expect feedback on whether the aggressor is genuinely willing to end the war.”
Citing Russia’s overnight strikes, he emphasized, “It is necessary that pressure on Russia continues to increase at the same intensity as the work of our negotiating teams. The feasibility of future security guarantees must be proven by our partners’ ability to exert effective pressure on the aggressor at this very stage.
UPDATE 0757 GMT:
Air defenses downed 70 of 97 drones launched by Russia overnight. The other 27 struck 13 locations.
At least 800,000 people are without water and heat in the Dnipropetrovsk region in south-central Ukraine.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky posted:
There is absolutely no military rationale in such strikes on the energy sector and infrastructure that leave people without electricity and heating in wintertime. This is Russia’s war specifically against our people, against life in Ukraine – an attempt to break Ukraine. That is why support for our resilience and all forms of assistance to our state must function at full capacity.
UPDATE 0733 GMT:
Russia earned an estimated €7.2 billion ($8.4 billion) in 2025 from exports of liquefied natural gas to the European Union.
The EU has pledged to ban imports of LNG by 2027.
More than 15 million tons of Yamal LNG from Siberia were transported through Arctic ice to reach EU terminals last year, according to the human rights NGO Urgewald.
Europe has cut supplies of pipeline gas from Russia since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022; however, the EU’s share of global shipments from Yamal increased in the last year to 76.1% from 75.4% in 2024.
UK-based and US-owned Seapeak transported 37.3% of Yamal LNG on its ships, while Greece’s Dynagas transported 34.3%.
Eleven of the 14 specialist ice-breaking Arc7 tankers that transport the LNG are owned by Seapeak and Dynagas.
The Russians are still benefitting from access to EU ports, avodiding longer transport routes via Aisa.
In 2025, total of 87 ships delivered 6.3 million tons of LNG to the French ports of Dunkirk and Montoir. Another 58 ships reached the Belgian terminal of Zeebrugge, delivering 4.2 million tonnes.
In comparison, only 51 ships reached Chinese ports, delivering 3.6 million tons.
UPDATE 0648 GMT:
One civilian was murdered and eight injured by Russian attacks on two ports in the Odesa region in southern Ukraine on Wednesday.
Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said of the strikes on Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi, “This is yet another attack by a terrorist country on port infrastructure that is involved in ensuring global food security.”
The Russians also knocked out power supplies “almost completely” in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, said Ukraine’s Energy Minister. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko noted that impending snowfalls and temperatures plunging overnight to -20 C were likely to compound disruptions to power and heating.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky says Kyiv is awaiting details of security guarantees despite a joint statement with European partners setting out the proposal to end Russia’s 47 1/2-month full-scale invasion.
The statement was issued after two days of discussions in Paris among Ukrainian and European delegations, including their leaders. The Ukrainians also met Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in three sessions.
The UK and France have indicated they will deploy troops in a multinational force inside Ukraine for “long-term support to Ukrainian armed forces who are and will remain in the frontline of defense”. Monitoring of the ceasefire will include US-led airpower.
Zelensky told journalists:
I personally very much want to get a very simple answer: yes, if there is aggression again, all partners will give a strong response to the Russians. And that’s the exact question I put to all our partners.
And so far I haven’t received a clear, unequivocal answer.
He said there was “political will” from partners to “give us strong security guarantees”: “But until we have such security guarantees – legal ones, backed by parliaments, backed by the United States Congress – we cannot answer this question.”
