These are important developments since day 1,395 of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Published December 20, 2025
The situation on Saturday, December 20th is as follows.
finding
Seven people were killed and 15 others injured in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian port of Odesa, Governor Ole Kipel said in a Telegram post. Kuiper described the attack as “massive” and said it involved a Russian ballistic missile that targeted the burning truck. Kyiv Independent News Agency reported that the city of Odessa has been suffering from chronic power outages since December 13th due to the recent Russian attack. Russian forces have attacked Ukraine’s Dnipro region with artillery fire and drones, damaging houses, power lines and gas pipelines, Vladislav Khaybanenko, deputy head of the state administration of the Dnipropetrovsk region, wrote on Facebook. Ukraine has regained control of most of the northern city of Kupiansk, with Russia claiming it has isolated Russian forces and captured key urban centres.
assistance
European Union (EU) leaders have agreed to provide Ukraine with a $105.5 billion interest-free loan to meet its military and economic needs over the next two years. Diplomats said EU leaders decided to borrow cash from capital markets to finance defense against Russia rather than use frozen Russian assets.
diplomacy
In his annual “Achievements of the Year” speech in Moscow on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for refusing to discuss relinquishing Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory as part of ceasefire negotiations. “We know from Mr. Zelensky’s statements that he is not ready to discuss territorial issues,” Putin said. The Russian president also attacked Europe’s handling of Russian assets, labeling it “robbery” rather than theft because of open plans to use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine. “Whatever they stole, they will have to return someday,” Putin said, pledging to bring the case to court “independent of political decisions.”
ceasefire negotiations
In his year-end speech in Washington, D.C., Secretary of State Marco Rubio said progress has been made toward ending Russia’s war with Ukraine. “I think we’ve made progress, but we still have a ways to go. Obviously, the hardest problem is always the last problem,” Rubio told reporters. “Surrender is not conceivable in the near future and only a negotiated settlement can end this war,” Rubio said, adding that the decision on ending the war would rest with Ukraine and Russia, not the United States. Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s top negotiator who is in the United States for ceasefire talks, said the United States and Kiev had agreed to continue joint efforts toward a ceasefire. “We have agreed with our American partners to take further steps and continue joint work in the near future,” Umerov wrote on Telegram, without providing further details. He added that he had informed Zelensky of the outcome of the meeting. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev is heading to Miami for talks with President Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and the US president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Russian intelligence sources told Reuters. This weekend’s meeting in Miami comes after Witkoff and Kushner met with Ukrainian and European officials in Berlin earlier this week to reach a deal to end the war. Russian sources said talks between Dmitriev and Ukrainian negotiators currently in the United States have been ruled out.
regional security
The Turkiye Interior Ministry announced that it had discovered a Russian-made reconnaissance drone in the Izmit district of Kocaeli, northwestern Turkiye, based on “initial findings” of an ongoing investigation. “An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), believed to be a Russian Orlan 10 type used for reconnaissance and surveillance, has been discovered,” the ministry said in a post on X. Turkiye’s Defense Ministry said on Monday that it had shot down an unmanned aircraft over the Black Sea as it approached Turkish airspace, without providing further details, according to local reports. Ukrainian news website Ukrinform reported on Friday that President Turkiye told both Kiev and Moscow that after the downing of the drone, they “need to act carefully” to avoid “adversely affecting the security of the Black Sea.”
