Category Archives: Russia

Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday said there will be no more joint projects with the European Union and said Moscow will instead turn to "like-minded" allies for future diplomatic partnerships.

"Thank God, the world is not just the European Union for us and we have lots of friends and like-minded nations elsewhere," he told Russia state-owned media outlet TASS.

The ministers comments come as Russian President Vladimir Putin has increasingly looked to bolster ties with China and Iran in recent months, turning to the latter for arms as its looks to shore up economic ties with Beijing.

Lavrov accused the EU of waging a "hybrid war" against Moscow since Russias deadly invasion of Ukraine in February.

RUSSIA REJECTS UKRAINE 'PEACE SUMMIT' PROPOSAL: 'DIPLOMACY 404'

In this photo released by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pauses during his and Brazilian Foreign Minister Carlos Franca's joint news conference following their talks in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)

"Naturally, there will be no more business as usual with such counter-parties. We do not intend either to knock on closed doors or initiate any joint projects," he added.

The Russian foreign minister accused the EU of following in the footsteps of the U.S. and NATO and said, "They have been following the anti-Russian lead of the hegemon across the ocean almost in full obedience."

Lavrov has repeatedly accused the U.S. and its Western allies of waging war against Russia by providing Ukraine with defensive and humanitarian aid including financial support to help Kyiv restore its energy infrastructure which Russia began targeting ahead of winter.

Putin made headlines on Christmas day when he suggested that Moscow was open to negotiating with Ukraine, telling Russian media "We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved about acceptable solutions, but that is up to them - we are not the ones refusing to negotiate, they are."

PUTIN CLAIMS RUSSIA IS READY TO NEGOTIATE; UKRAINE ACCUSES KREMLIN OF TRYING TO AVOID RESPONSIBILITY

But Kyiv rejected these comments noting that Russia was only open to discussing "ultimatums" that would include allowing it to keep the nearly 20 percent of Ukrainian territory that Russia currently occupies, including Crimea.

These accusations were supported by Lavrov Tuesday when he said Kyiv must accept Moscows demands or face a continued war, reported Reuters.

"Our proposals for the demilitarization and denazification of the territories controlled by the regime, the elimination of threats to Russia's security emanating from there, including our new lands, are well known to the enemy," he said citing Moscow's top propagandist claims.

FILE - A Ukrainian soldier fires a mortar at Russian positions in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022. A top adviser to Ukraine's president has cited military chiefs as saying 10,000 to 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the country's nine-month struggle against Russia's invasion. (AP Photo/Libkos, File)

"The point is simple: Fulfill them for your own good. Otherwise, the issue will be decided by the Russian army," Lavrov added.

Despite the foreign ministers threat Russia has made little advancements in Ukraine and has lost territory over the last few months.

The UK defense ministry has assessed that the most intense fighting remains around the Donetsk town of Bakhmut where Russia has made little headway.

The defense officials noted that its dwindling supply of missiles has prompted its troops to increasingly lay mines along the front lines in a defensive posture.

A Ukrainian BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher fires a rocket, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, during intense shelling on Christmas Day at the frontline in Bakhmut, Ukraine, December 25, 2022. (Reuters Photo)

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Russian President Vladimir Putin told his forces last week that it was their duty to hold the territory they have occupied, though Crimea remains the only region fully occupied.

While Russia is assessed to have control over Luhansk, Ukrainian forces have begun to push the front lines eastward into the region where areas are now contested.

Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk are not fully occupied.

Caitlin McFall is a Reporter at Fox News Digital covering Politics, U.S. and World news.

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Russias Lavrov closes door on EU and turns to 'like-minded' allies

Dec 27 (Reuters) - Moscow's proposals for settlement in Ukraine are well known to Kyiv and either Ukraine fulfils them for their own good or the Russian army will decide the issue, TASS agency quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying.

"Our proposals for the demilitarization and denazification of the territories controlled by the regime, the elimination of threats to Russia's security emanating from there, including our new lands, are well known to the enemy," the state news agency quoted Lavrov as saying late on Monday.

"The point is simple: Fulfil them for your own good. Otherwise, the issue will be decided by the Russian army."

Moscow has been calling its invasion in Ukraine a "special military operation" to "demilitarise" and "denazify" its neighbour. Kyiv and its Western allies call it an imperial-style aggression to grab land.

In September, Moscow proclaimed it had annexed four provinces of Ukraine - Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson - after holding so-called referendums that were rejected as bogus and illegal by Kyiv and its allies.

On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was open to negotiations and blamed Kyiv and its Western backers for a lack of talks, a stance Washington has previously dismissed as posturing amid persistent Russian attacks.

Lavrov told TASS that when it comes to how long the conflict will last, "the ball is in the regime's court and Washington behind it."

There is no end in sight to the war, which has entered its 11th month and which has killed thousands, displaced millions and turned cities into rubble.

Kyiv has ruled out conceding any land to Russia in return for peace, and publicly demands Russia relinquish all territory. Moscow has insisted it is pursing "demilitarisation" and "denazification" but in reality its aims have not been fully defined.

Additional reporting by Oleksandr Kozhukhar in Kyiv; Writing by Lidia Kelly and Ron Popeski; Editing by Sandra Maler

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Russia's Lavrov: Either Ukraine fulfils Moscow's proposals or our army ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has a new saber to rattle a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile designed to update the Kremlins nuclear quiver, and reportedly almost ready for deployment.

The missile called the RS-28 Sarmat by Russia and ominously dubbed the Satan II by NATO is designed to carry up to 15 nuclear warheads, five more than the outgoing Soviet-era R-36M Satan.

The missile is liquid-fueled, and categorized as a super-heavy ICBM one with enough lifting capacity to deliver multiple warheads arranged in a so-called multiple independently targeted re-entry vehicle. In other words, one missile can theoretically hit as many as 15 nearby targets.

The missile is designed to be fired from the existing R-36M silos with minimal modification.

When the missile was put through its paces during a test in April striking mock targets at a range of 3,000 miles Dmitry Rogozin, head of the state Roscosmos agency overseeing the missiles construction, called the Sarmat a superweapon.

The Kremlin claims its design which includes a shorter boost phase during the rockets launch and supposedly novel trajectories will make it harder for US missile defenses to intercept the Sarmat in the event of a thermonuclear war.

The missile is also equipped to carry hypersonic munitions in its warhead, according to Russian reports effectively making the ICBM a cruise-missile launch platform.

Putin claimed in April that the Sarmat is capable of overcoming all modern means of anti-missile defense, and that Russias enemies should think twice before issuing threats.

But the Sarmat, which Putin claims is coming soon, is already years behind schedule.

The missile was first announced in 2014 with a planned deployment date of 2020. But problems with the missiles engines delayed proper testing, Russian news agency Interfax reported.

Testing began in earnest in 2018, and by 2020, the Kremlin announced the weapon would be deployed by 2022. After Aprils test launch, Roscosmos claimed the missile would see service no later than the fall of 2022, according to Interfax.

As of last month, however, the missile was still in testing.

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What is 'Satan II,' Russia's new nuclear missile?

But for anyone involved in fending off Russia's cyberattacks on Ukraine over the past eight years, Russia's preference for civilian over military targets has long been apparent, says Viktor Zhora, a senior cybersecurity-focused official in Ukraine's State Services for Special Communications and Information Protection, or SSSCIP. Zhora, whose cybersecurity firm worked on incident response for Russia's breach of Ukraine's Central Election Commission in 2014 before he joined the government, lists the Kremlin's biggest cyberattacks on his country over the past eight years: that election-focused intrusion, designed to both cripple Ukraine's electoral body and spoof its results; cyberattacks on electric utilities that caused blackouts in late 2015 and 2016; data-destroying attacks that hit the country's treasury, railways, and Ministry of Finance; and finally, the NotPetya worm that carpet-bombed Ukrainian networks in 2017 before spreading globally to cause more than $10 billion in damage.

Given that every one of those attacks targeted civilian institutions, it was all too predictable that Russia's physical war would fall back to the same pattern, Zhora argues. Without any significant successes on the battlefield, we see that Russia switched to purely terroristic tactics, says Zhora. They continue to attack our civilian infrastructure, and in this way, its more or less similar to their trends in cyberwarfare.

Zhora notes that those cyberattacks on civilians haven't stoppedthey've only fallen off the radar as vastly more destructive, lethal physical attacks have eclipsed them. The Ukrainian government, he says, has counted hundreds of breaches this year of the countrys energy, telecom and finance sectors.

The purpose of all of that civilian targeting, both cyber and physical, is in part an attempt to weaken Ukrainians' resolve as a country, says Oleh Derevianko, founder of the Ukrainian cybersecurity firm ISSP. They want to create a situation where people are not satisfied with what's going on and exert pressure on the government to engage into negotiations, says Dereviankoadding that the strategy has badly backfired, instead unifying Ukrainians against the Russian threat more strongly than ever. But he argues that on some level, too, Russian forces may also be responding to pressure to simply do something to contribute to the war effort. "They need to report some success to their chain of their command," says Derevianko. They're frustrated on the battlefield, so they attack civilians.

SSSCIP's Zhora, on the other hand, goes further: He believes that Russia's attacks on civilians may not be a means to an end, but rather Russia's true goal. He says Russia isn't merely trying to defeat the Ukrainian military, win a war, or conquer the Donbas, but instead to defeat and destroy the Ukrainian people.

The intention is to wipe out the whole nation, says Zhora. He says that motivation to directly attack Ukraine's population can be seen in the history of the two countries' relations far earlier than any recent war or cyberwar, stretching back as far as the Holodomor, the man-made famine that starved to death millions of Ukrainians in the early 1930s as Soviet officials ordered Ukrainian grain to be confiscated or locked in warehouses to rot.

Its a continuation of genocide, Zhora says. Its one more chance to try to wipe out the Ukrainian people, to restore the Soviet Union, to change the global order.

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Russias Cyberwar Foreshadowed Deadly Attacks on Civilians

Second sudden death of top official reported in Russia's military supply chain in less than a week  Fox News

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Second sudden death of top official reported in Russia's military supply chain in less than a week - Fox News

Overview of the demographics of Russia

Russia, the largest country in the world by area, had a population of 147.2 million according to the 2021 census,[1] or 144.7 million when excluding Crimea and Sevastopol,[a] up from 142.8 million in the 2010 census.[9] It is the most populous country in Europe, and the ninth-most populous country in the world; with a population density of 8.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (22 per square mile).[10] As of 2020, the overall life expectancy in Russia at birth is 71.54 years (66.49 years for males and 76.43 years for females).[2]

From 1992 to 2012 and again since 2016, Russia's death rate has exceeded its birth rate, which has been called a demographic crisis by analysts.[11] Subsequently, the nation has an ageing population, with the median age of the country being 40.3 years.[12] In 2009, Russia recorded annual population growth for the first time in fifteen years; and during the mid-2010s, Russia had seen increased population growth due to declining death rates, increased birth rates and increased immigration.[13] However, since 2020, due to excess deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's population has undergone its largest peacetime decline in recorded history.[14] In 2020, the total fertility rate across Russia was estimated to be 1.5 children born per woman,[15] which is below the replacement rate of 2.1 and about equal to the European average.[13]

Russia is a multinational state,[16] home to over 193 ethnic groups nationwide. In the 2010 Census, roughly 81% of the population were ethnic Russians, and the remaining 19% of the population were ethnic minorities;[17] and over four-fifths of Russia's population was of European descent, of which the vast majority were East Slavs,[18] with a substantial minority of Finnic and Germanic peoples.[19][20] According to the United Nations, Russia's immigrant population is the world's third-largest, numbering over 11.6 million; most of whom are from other post-Soviet states.[21]

Demographic statistics according to the latest Rosstat vital statistics[22] and the World Population Review in 2019.[23]

Note: Crude migration change (per 1000) is a trend analysis, an extrapolation [24]

The total fertility rate is the number of children born to each woman. It is based on fairly good data for the entire period. Sources: Our World In Data and Gapminder Foundation.[25]

In many of the following years, Russia had the highest total fertility rate in the world.[25] These elevated fertility rates did not lead to population growth due to the casualties of the Russian Revolution, the two world wars and political killings.

Population pyramid in 1927

Population pyramid in 1941

Population pyramid in 1946

Population pyramid in 2015

Infant mortality rate

All numbers for the Russian Federation in this section do not include the Ukrainian regions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk, which Russia annexed in September 2022 and which are currently partly under Russian military control. The annexation is internationally recognized only by North Korea.

In 2006, in a bid to compensate for the country's demographic decline, the Russian government started simplifying immigration laws and launched a state program "for providing assistance to voluntary immigration of ethnic Russians from former Soviet republics".[37] In August 2012, as the country saw its first demographic growth since the 1990s, President Putin declared that Russia's population could reach 146 million by 2025, mainly as a result of immigration.[38] New citizenship rules introduced in April 2014 allowing eligible citizens from former Soviet republics to obtain Russian citizenship, have gained strong interest among Russian-speaking residents of those countries (i.e. Russians, Germans, Belarusians and Ukrainians).[39][40]

There are an estimated four million undocumented immigrants from the ex-Soviet states in Russia.[41] In 2012, the Russian Federal Security Service's Border Service stated there had been an increase in undocumented migration from the Middle East and Southeast Asia (Note that these were Temporary Contract Migrants)[42] Under legal changes made in 2012, undocumented immigrants who are caught will be banned from reentering the country for 10 years.[43][44]

Since the collapse of the USSR, most immigrants have come from Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Belarus, from poor areas of China, and from Vietnam and Laos[45]

Temporary migrant workers in Russia consists of about 7 million people, most of the temporary workers come from Central Asia (mostly from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan), South Caucasus (mostly from Armenia and Azerbaijan), East Asia (mostly from poor areas of China, from Vietnam and Laos). Most of them work in the construction, cleaning and in the household industries. They primarily live in cities such as Moscow, Sochi and Blagoveshchensk. The mayor of Moscow said that Moscow cannot do without worker migrants. New laws are in place that require worker migrants to be fluent in Russian, know Russian history and laws. The Russian Opposition and most of the Russian population opposes worker migration. The hate of worker migration has become so severe it has caused a rise in Russian nationalism, and spawned groups like Movement Against Illegal Immigration.[46][47]

The fourth wave of Russian emigration took place after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 when people began migrating from Russia in large numbers. This wave continues into the present, with the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine leading to considerable Russian emigration associated with the invasion.

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, more than 300,000 Russian citizens and residents are estimated to have left Russia by mid-March 2022, at least 500,000 by the end of August 2022, and an additional 400,000 by early October,[citation needed] as political refugees, economic migrants, and conscientious objectors,[48][49][50][51][52] making a total of approximately 900,000. Aside from a desire to evade criminal prosecution for opposing the invasion and fear of being conscripted after president Vladimir Putin's 21 September announcement of partial mobilization, those fleeing voiced reasons such as disagreement with the war, the uselessness and cruelty of the war, sympathy for Ukraine, disagreement with the political roots of the war with Ukraine, the rejection of killing, and an assessment that Russia is no longer the place for their family.[53]

Russia, by constitution, guarantees free, universal health care for all Russian citizens, through a compulsory state health insurance program.[55] The Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation oversees the Russian public healthcare system, and the sector employs more than two million people. Federal regions also have their own departments of health that oversee local administration. A separate private health insurance plan is needed to access private healthcare in Russia.[56]

Russia spent 5.32% of its GDP on healthcare in 2018.[57] Its healthcare expenditure is notably lower than other developed nations.[58] Russia has one of the world's most female-biased sex ratios, with 0.859 males to every female,[12] due to its high male mortality rate.[59] In 2019, the overall life expectancy in Russia at birth was 73.2 years (68.2 years for males and 78.0 years for females),[60] and it had a very low infant mortality rate (5 per 1,000 live births).[61]

The principal cause of death in Russia are cardiovascular diseases.[62] Obesity is a prevalent health issue in Russia; 61.1% of Russian adults were overweight or obese in 2016.[63] However, Russia's historically high alcohol consumption rate is the biggest health issue in the country,[64][65] as it remains one of the world's highest, despite a stark decrease in the last decade.[66] Smoking is another health issue in the country.[67] The country's high suicide rate, although on the decline,[68] remains a significant social issue.[69]

Russia had one of the highest number of confirmed cases in the world. Analysis of excess deaths from official government demographic statistics, based on births and deaths and excluding migration, showed that Russia had its biggest ever annual population drop in peacetime, with the population declining by 997,000 between October 2020 and September 2021, which demographer Alexei Raksha interpreted as being primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[70]

Ethnic groups in Russia of more than 1 million people in 2010

Percentage of ethnic Russians by region in 2010

Russia is a multinational state, with many subnational entities associated with different minorities.[16] There are over 193 ethnic groups nationwide. In the 2010 census, roughly 81% of the population were ethnic Russians, and the remaining 19% of the population were ethnic minorities;[17] while over four-fifths of Russia's population was of European descentof which the vast majority were Slavs,[18] with a substantial minority of Finnic and Germanic peoples.[19][20] Turkic peoples form a large minority, and are spread around pockets across the vast nation.[71] Various distinct ethnic groups also inhabit the North Caucasus.[72] Other minorities include Mongolian peoples (Buryats and Kalmyks),[73][74] the Indigenous peoples of Siberia,[75] a historical Jewish population,[76] and the Koryo-saram (including Sakhalin Koreans).[77]

According to the United Nations, Russia's immigrant population is the third-largest in the world, numbering over 11.6 million;[21] most of which are from post-Soviet states, mainly Ukrainians.[78] There are 22 republics in Russia, who have their own ethnicities, cultures, and languages. In 13 of them, ethnic Russians constitute a minority:

Russian is the official and the predominantly spoken language in Russia. It is the most spoken native language in Europe, the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, as well as the world's most widely spoken Slavic language.[81] Russian is the second-most used language on the Internet after English,[82] and is one of two official languages aboard the International Space Station,[83] as well as one of the six official languages of the United Nations.[81]

Russia is a multilingual nation; approximately 100150 minority languages are spoken across the country.[84][85] According to the Russian Census of 2002, 142.6million across the country spoke Russian, 5.3million spoke Tatar, and 1.8million spoke Ukrainian.[86] The constitution allows the country's individual republics the right to establish their own state languages in addition to Russian, as well as guarantee its citizens the right to preserve their native language and to create conditions for its study and development.[87] However, various experts have claimed Russia's linguistic diversity is rapidly declining.[88][89]

Religion in Russia (2012)[90]

Undeclared (5.5%)

Russia is a secular state by constitution, and its largest religion is Christianity. It has the world's largest Orthodox population.[91][92] As of a different sociological surveys on religious adherence; between 41% to over 80% of the total population of Russia adhere to the Russian Orthodox Church.[93][94][95] Other branches of Christianity present in Russia include Catholicism (approx. 1%), Baptists, Pentecostals, Lutherans and other Protestant churches (together totalling about 0.5% of the population) and Old Believers.[96][97] There is some presence of Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism; pagan beliefs are also present to some extent in remote areas, sometimes syncretized with one of the mainstream religions.

In 2017, a survey made by the Pew Research Center showed that 73% of Russians declared themselves as Christiansout of which 71% were Orthodox, 1% were Catholic, and 2% were Other Christians, while 15% were unaffiliated, 10% were Muslims, and 1% followed other religions.[98] According to various reports, the proportion of Atheists in Russia is between 16% and 48% of the population.[99]

Islam is the second-largest religion in Russia, and it is the traditional religion amongst most peoples of the North Caucasus, and amongst some Turkic peoples scattered along the Volga-Ural region.[100] Buddhists are home to a sizeable population in three Siberian republics: Buryatia, Tuva, Zabaykalsky Krai, and in Kalmykia; the only region in Europe where Buddhism is the most practised religion.[101]

Russia has an adult literacy rate of 100%.[103] It grants free education to its citizens under its constitution.[104] The Ministry of Education of Russia is responsible for primary and secondary education, as well as vocational education; while the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia is responsible for science and higher education.[105] Regional authorities regulate education within their jurisdictions within the prevailing framework of federal laws. Russia is among the world's most educated countries, and has the third-highest proportion of tertiary-level graduates in terms of percentage of population, at 62%.[106] It spent roughly 4.7% of its GDP on education in 2018.[107]

Russia has compulsory education for a duration of 11 years, exclusively for children aged 7 to 1718.[105] Its pre-school education system is highly developed and optional,[108] some four-fifths of children aged 3 to 6 attend day nurseries or kindergartens. Primary school is compulsory for 11 year-olds, starting from age 6 to 7, and leads to a basic general education certificate.[105] An additional two or three years of schooling are required for the secondary-level certificate, and some seven-eighths of Russians continue their education past this level. Admission to an institute of higher education is selective and highly competitive:[104] first-degree courses usually take five years.[109] The oldest and largest universities in Russia are Moscow State University and Saint Petersburg State University.[110] There are ten highly prestigious federal universities across the country. Russia was the world's fifth-leading destination for international students in 2019, hosting roughly 300,000.[111]

Russia is one of the world's most urbanized countries, with roughly 75% of its total population living in urban areas.[12] Moscow, the capital and largest city, has a population estimated at 12.4 million residents within the city limits,[112] while over 17 million residents in the urban area,[113] and over 20 million residents in the metropolitan area.[114] Moscow is among the world's largest cities, being the most populous city entirely within Europe, the most populous urban area in Europe,[113] the most populous metropolitan area in Europe,[114] and also the largest city by land area on the European continent.[115] Saint Petersburg, the cultural capital, is the second-largest city, with a population of roughly 5.4 million inhabitants.[116] Other major urban areas are Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, and Chelyabinsk.

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Demographics of Russia - Wikipedia

MOSCOW, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Russia is ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war in Ukraine but Kyiv and its Western backers have refused to engage in talks, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview aired on Sunday.

Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine has triggered the most deadly European conflict since World War Two and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

There is, thus far, little end in sight to the war.

The Kremlin says it will fight until all its aims are achieved while Kyiv says it will not rest until every Russian soldier is ejected from all of its territory.

"We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved about acceptable solutions, but that is up to them - we are not the ones refusing to negotiate, they are," Putin told Rossiya 1 state television.

An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Putin needed to return to reality and acknowledge it was Russia which did not want talks.

"Russia single-handedly attacked Ukraine and is killing citizens," the adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, tweeted. "Russia doesn't want negotiations, but tries to avoid responsibility."

Russian attacks on power stations have left millions without electricity, and Zelenskiy said Moscow would aim to make the last few days of 2022 dark and difficult.

"Russia has lost everything it could this year. ... I know darkness will not prevent us from leading the occupiers to new defeats. But we have to be ready for any scenario," he said in an evening video address.

The Ukrainian armed forces' general staff said there was still a threat of air and missile strikes on critical infrastructure across the country.

Russian troops had shelled dozens of towns and positions along the front line, it said in a Facebook post.

Zelenskiy, referring to a strike on the southern city of Kherson on Saturday that officials say killed at least 10 people, vowed, "We will find every Russian murderer".

Putin accused the West of trying to cleave Russia apart.

"I believe that we are acting in the right direction, we are defending our national interests, the interests of our citizens, our people. And we have no other choice but to protect our citizens," Putin said.

Asked if the geopolitical conflict with the West was approaching a dangerous level, Putin said: "I don't think it's so dangerous."

Putin said the West had begun the conflict in 2014 by toppling a pro-Russian Ukrainian president in the Maidan Revolution protests.

Soon after, Russia annexed Crimea and Russian-backed separatist forces began fighting in eastern Ukraine.

"Actually, the fundamental thing here is the policy of our geopolitical opponents which is aimed at pulling apart Russia, historical Russia," Putin said.

Putin casts the conflict in Ukraine, which he calls a "special military operation," as a watershed moment when Moscow finally stood up to a Western bloc that he says has been seeking to destroy Russia since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

Ukraine and the West say Putin has no justification for what they cast as an imperial-style war of occupation.

Putin described Russia as a "unique country" and said the vast majority of its people were united in wanting to defend it.

"As for the main part - the 99.9% of our citizens, our people who are ready to give everything for the interests of the Motherland there is nothing unusual for me here," Putin said.

"This just once again convinces me that Russia is a unique country and that we have an exceptional people. This has been confirmed throughout the history of Russia's existence."

Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv and David Ljunggren in Ottawa;Editing by Gareth Jones, Diane Craft and Leslie Adler

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Putin says Russia ready to negotiate over Ukraine | Reuters

As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was preparing to address Congress, Russia warned that increasing military aid to the beleaguered country would only aggravate the 10-month conflict.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at an earlier press briefing in Moscow that the expansion of Western weapon supplies to Ukraine "leads to an aggravation of the conflict and, in fact, does not bode well for Ukraine."

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, speaks as Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, and Chief of the General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov attend a meeting with senior military officers in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. (Sergey Fadeichev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Asked whether Zelenskyys visit to Washington would possibly lead to possible peace talks with Russia, Peskov said: "I dont think so."

His comments were the first official Russian reaction to news that Zelenskyy was heading to Washington the presidents first known foreign trip since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion triggered a war that has killed thousands and laid waste to towns and cities across Ukraine.

ZELENSKYY VISIT IS A MESSAGE TO PUTIN THAT US WILL BACK UKRAINE FOR AS LONG AS IT TAKES: WHITE HOUSE

Zelenskyy met with President Joe Biden in Washington Wednesday, where U.S. officials announced a huge new military aid package for Kyiv. He later addressed Congress, where he thanked U.S. leaders and "ordinary Americans" for their support in fighting off the invaders and pressed for additional aid.

Biden said the U.S. and Ukraine would continue to project a "united defense" as Russia wages a "brutal assault on Ukraine's right to exist as a nation."

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a joint news conference with U.S. President Joe Biden (not pictured) in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

The massive $1.8 billion package includes for the first time a Patriot missile battery and precision guided bombs for fighter jets, U.S. officials said.

Speaking during a meeting with his top military brass, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would take lessons learned in the conflict to "develop our armed forces and strengthen the capability of our troops."

ZELENSKYY'S MESSAGE TO AMERICANS: I REALLY WANT TO WIN TOGETHER

He said special emphasis would go to developing nuclear forces, which he described as "the main guarantee of Russia's sovereignty."

Putin also said the Russian military's new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile will enter service shortly. The Sarmat is intended to replace aging Soviet-built ballistic missiles and form the core of Russia's nuclear forces.

A local resident walks next to a house destroyed in a Russian shelling in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the beefed-up Russian military will include 695,000 volunteer contract soldiers, 521,000 of whom should be recruited by the end of 2023. The Russian military had about 400,000 contract soldiers as part of its 1-million-member military before the fighting in Ukraine began.

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He also said Russia would form new units in the country's west in view of ambitions by Finland and Sweden to join NATO.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more.

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Russia warns US military aid to Ukraine will escalate conflict as ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference after a meeting of the State Council on youth policy in Moscow, Russia, December 22, 2022.

Sergey Guneev | Sputnik | Reuters

Russia is ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war in Ukraine but Kyiv and its Western backers have refused to engage in talks, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview aired on Sunday.

Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine has triggered the most deadly European conflict since World War Two and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

There is, thus far, little end in sight to the war.

The Kremlin says it will fight until all its aims are achieved while Kyiv says it will not rest until every Russian soldier is ejected from all of its territory, including Crimea which Russia annexed in 2014.

"We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved about acceptable solutions, but that is up to them - we are not the ones refusing to negotiate, they are," Putin told Rossiya 1 state television.

CIA Director William Burns said this month that while most conflicts end in negotiation, the CIA's assessment was that Russia was not yet serious about real talks.

An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Putin needed to return to reality and acknowledge it was Russia that did not want talks.

"Russia single-handedly attacked Ukraine and is killing citizens," Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted. "Russia doesn't want negotiations, but tries to avoid responsibility."

Relentless Russian attacks on power-generating facilities since October have regularly left millions of Ukrainians without heat and water.

"The threat of enemy air and missile strikes on critical infrastructure facilities remains throughout the territory of Ukraine," the Ukrainian armed forces' general staff said in an update on Facebook.

Russian troops had shelled dozens of towns and positions along the front line, it said, causing civilian casualties in the southern Kherson region. Moscow denies it targets civilians.

Putin said Russia was acting in the "right direction" in Ukraine because the West, led by the United States, was trying to cleave Russia apart.

"I believe that we are acting in the right direction, we are defending our national interests, the interests of our citizens, our people. And we have no other choice but to protect our citizens," Putin said.

Asked if the geopolitical conflict with the West was approaching a dangerous level, Putin said: "I don't think it's so dangerous."

Putin said the West had begun the conflict in 2014 by toppling a pro-Russian Ukrainian president in the Maidan Revolution protests.

Soon after, Russia annexed Crimea and Russian-backed separatist forces began fighting in eastern Ukraine.

"Actually, the fundamental thing here is the policy of our geopolitical opponents which is aimed at pulling apart Russia, historical Russia," Putin said.

Putin casts what he calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine as a watershed moment when Moscow finally stood up to a Western bloc he says has been seeking to destroy Russia since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

Ukraine and the West say Putin has no justification for what they cast as an imperial-style war of occupation.

Putin described Russia as a "unique country" and said the vast majority of its people were united in wanting to defend it.

"As for the main part the 99.9% of our citizens, our people who are ready to give everything for the interests of the Motherland there is nothing unusual for me here," Putin said.

"This just once again convinces me that Russia is a unique country and that we have an exceptional people. This has been confirmed throughout the history of Russia's existence."

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Putin says Russia ready to negotiate over Ukraine, Kyiv says Moscow ...

Putin: Russia ready to negotiate over Ukraine

Russia is ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has said, while accusing Kyiv and its western allies of refusing to negotiate.

Speaking in an interview with Rossiya 1 state television, Putin said:

We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved about acceptable solutions, but that is up to them we are not the ones refusing to negotiate, they are.

He added that Russia was acting in the right direction in Ukraine because the west, led by the US, was trying to cleave Russia apart. He continued:

I believe that we are acting in the right direction, we are defending our national interests, the interests of our citizens, our people. And we have no other choice but to protect our citizens.

Moscow has persistently said it is open to negotiations, but Kyiv and its allies suspect Putins claims are a ploy to buy time after a series of Russian defeats and retreats on the battlefield.

The Russian president said on Thursday that Moscow will strive for an end to the war and that this would inevitably involve some kind of negotiations on the diplomatic track. His comments came a day after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited the US.

John Kirby, the White Houses spokesperson, said Putin has shown absolutely zero indication that hes willing to negotiate an end to the war. Quite the contrary, Kirby said, adding:

Everything he is doing on the ground and in the air bespeaks a man who wants to continue to visit violence upon the Ukrainian people.

Key events

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Russia is ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has said, while accusing Kyiv and its western allies of refusing to negotiate. Moscow has persistently said it is open to negotiations, but Kyiv and its allies suspect Putins claims are a ploy to buy time after a series of Russian defeats and retreats on the battlefield.

Ukraines presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said Putin needs to come back to reality after the Russian leader claimed Moscow was ready for negotiations. It is obvious that Russia doesnt want negotiations, but tries to avoid responsibility, Podolyak tweeted.

President Putin also blamed the west for starting the conflict in Ukraine in 2014 by toppling a pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, in the Maidan revolution protests. But he told Rossiya 1 state television that the geopolitical conflict with the west was not so dangerous.

Air raid alerts blared across Kyiv and most of Ukraine twice on Sunday. Officials gave the all-clear and there were no immediate reports of Russian attacks on the country. Unconfirmed reports on Ukrainian social media suggested the sirens may have been triggered after Russian jets took to the skies in Belarus.

At least 16 people were killed and 64 injured in Russias shelling of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine on Saturday, the regions governor, Yaroslav Yanushevych, said. Russian forces opened fire on the Kherson region 71 times with artillery, multiple-launch rocket systems and mortars, Yanushevych said. Iuliia Mendel, a Ukrainian former presidential spokesperson, shared photos of people waiting to donate blood in Kherson.

Among those killed in Kherson on Saturday were three Ukrainian emergency workers, who died when a mine exploded while they were demining parts of the Kherson region. All three selflessly served and performed the task of demining territories liberated from the enemy in the Kherson region, the Zhytomyr emergency service said on its Facebook page.

Russian forces rate of advance in the Bakhmut area of eastern Ukraine has probably slowed in recent days, according to analysts. In its latest update, the US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) cited one Russian military blogger as saying that Ukrainian forces had pushed back elements of the Russian private mercenary company, the Wagner group, to positions they held days ago.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy used his latest video address to say that Ukrainians would create their Christmas miracle by remaining unbowed, despite Russian attacks that have left millions without power. Speaking 10 months to the day since Russia invaded, Zelenskiy said that while freedom came at a high price, slavery would cost more.

Russias parliament is preparing to introduce a higher taxation rate for people who have left the country, as many have since the war in Ukraine began in February. Some local media reported that as many as 700,000 fled after the announcement of a mobilisation drive to call up new troops to join the fight in September. The government rejected that figure at the time.

Chinas foreign minister, Wang Yi, has defended his countrys position on the war in Ukraine and indicated that Beijing will deepen ties with Moscow in the coming year. China will deepen strategic mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia, Wang said in a video address, according to an official text of his remarks.

The Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope Francis have used their Christmas addresses to call for an end to the war in Ukraine. Condemning the use of food as a weapon of war, the pope said the war in Ukraine and conflict in other countries had put millions at risk of famine.

Updated at 14.18EST

Local residents in Kyiv, Ukraine, have been spotted singing Christmas carols during an air raid alarm inside a metro station.

Relentless Russian attacks on power generating facilities since October have regularly left millions of Ukrainians without heat and water.

The threat of enemy air and missile strikes on critical infrastructure facilities remains throughout the territory of Ukraine, the Ukrainian armed forces general staff said in an update on Facebook.

Russian troops had shelled dozens of towns and positions along the front line, it said, causing civilian casualties in the southern Kherson region. Moscow has denied targeting civilians.

Updated at 12.23EST

Ukraines ministry of defence has tweeted information about a blood donation centre in Kherson following yesterdays shelling, which killed at least 16 people and wounded dozens.

Updated at 11.48EST

Updated at 11.33EST

Updated at 11.36EST

Its 6pm in Kyiv. Heres where we stand:

Russia is ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has said, while accusing Kyiv and its western allies of refusing to negotiate. Moscow has persistently said it is open to negotiations, but Kyiv and its allies suspect Putins claims are a ploy to buy time after a series of Russian defeats and retreats on the battlefield.

Ukraines presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said Putin needs to come back to reality after the Russian leader claimed Moscow was ready for negotiations. It is obvious that Russia doesnt want negotiations, but tries to avoid responsibility, Podolyak tweeted.

President Putin also blamed the west for starting the conflict in Ukraine in 2014 by toppling a pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, in the Maidan revolution protests. But he told Rossiya 1 state television that the geopolitical conflict with the west was not so dangerous.

Air raid alerts blared across Kyiv and most of Ukraine twice on Sunday. Officials gave the all-clear and there were no immediate reports of Russian attacks on the country. Unconfirmed reports on Ukrainian social media suggested the sirens may have been triggered after Russian jets took to the skies in Belarus.

At least 16 people were killed and 64 injured in Russias shelling of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine on Saturday, the regions governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said. Russian forces opened fire on the Kherson region 71 times with artillery, multiple launch rocket systems and mortars, Yanushevych said. Iuliia Mendel, a Ukrainian former presidential spokesperson, shared photos of people waiting to donate blood in Kherson.

Among those killed in Kherson on Saturday were three Ukrainian emergency services workers, who died when a mine exploded while they were demining parts of the Kherson region. All three selflessly served and performed the task of demining territories liberated from the enemy in the Kherson region, the Zhytomyr emergency service said on its Facebook page.

Russian forces rate of advance in the Bakhmut area of eastern Ukraine has probably slowed in recent days, according to analysts. In its latest update, the US thinktank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) cited one Russian military blogger as saying that Ukrainian forces had pushed back elements of the Russian private mercenary company, the Wagner group, to positions they held days ago.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy used his latest video address to say that Ukrainians would create their Christmas miracle, by remaining unbowed, despite Russian attacks that have left millions without power. Speaking 10 months to the day since Russia invaded, Zelenskiy said that while freedom came at a high price, slavery would cost even more.

Russias parliament is preparing to introduce a higher taxation rate for people who have left the county, as many have since the war in Ukraine began in February. Some local media reported that as many as 700,000 fled after the announcement of a mobilisation drive to call up new troops to join the fight in September. The government rejected that figure at the time.

Chinas foreign minister, Wang Yi, has defended his countrys position on the war in Ukraine and indicated that Beijing will deepen ties with Moscow in the coming year. China will deepen strategic mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia, Wang said in a video address, according to an official text of his remarks.

The archbishop of Canterbury and Pope Francis have used their Christmas addresses to call for an end to the war in Ukraine. Condemning the use of food as a weapon of war, the pope said the war in Ukraine and conflict in other countries had put millions at risk of famine.

Updated at 11.01EST

The only church in the village of Kyselivka in Ukraines southern Kherson region has been destroyed by Russian shelling, according to its defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov.

Here are some of the latest images we have received from Ukraine.

Iuliia Mendel, a Ukrainian former presidential spokesperson, has shared photos of people waiting to donate blood in Kherson after its regional governor, Yaroslav Yanushevych, issued an appeal for donations.

At least 16 people were killed and 64 injured in Russias shelling of the Kherson region on Saturday, according to Yanushevych.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Putin said Russia ready to negotiate over ...