Ukraine-Russia battle newest: Putin says he needs he had invaded earlier as blasts heard in Kyiv

Turkey has received an exemption for gas payments to Russia from sanctions imposed on Gazprombank by the United States, Turkish energy minister Alparslan Bayraktar said.

In November, the US imposed new sanctions on Russia’s Gazprombank as president Joe Biden stepped up actions to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine before he leaves office in January.

Russian gas producer Gazprom said it would send 42.4 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine today, the same volume as yesterday.

Ukraine posts picture of British missiles heading towards Russian forces

The Ukrainian defence ministry has posted a photo purporting to show a British-made Storm Shadow missile being fired towards Russian forces.

Restrictions on the use of missiles to strike inside of Russia were lifted recently, prompting the Kremlin to accuse Ukraine’s western backers of trying to escalate the war. Those concerns were dismissed on the basis that the move was still defensive in nature, intended to blunt Russia’s ability to attack Ukraine.

One person has been killed in a Russian missile attack on Kyiv, according to the head of city’s military administration.

The morning attack sparked fires across the city, in addition to damaging an office building, Serhiy Popko said this morning, citing preliminary information.

European leaders are voicing their support for Ukraine as Russia continues to gain ground on the battlefield.

“We need to stand with Ukraine, and every step … needs to be taken with Ukraine and in the presence of the European Union,” said Luxembourg prime minister Luc Frieden. “The future of Ukraine is decided in Europe and not elsewhere,” he said.

Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof underlined that only Ukraine can determine the conditions for talks, “and it is not for us to talk about that. At the moment, Ukraine has not yet indicated that they are prepared to do so.”

The message of support for Ukraine has strengthened amid Ukraine’s weakened position in the war as president-elect Donald Trump is set to assume office next month.

Volodymr Zelensky has also doubled down on his diplomatic efforts, calling on the EU and the US to stay united next year, saying that “only together the United States and Europe can stop Putin and save Ukraine.” He said that the only effective security guarantee remains Nato membership.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz said it’s important to “ensure long-term aid to Ukraine – it must be clear that we are prepared to enable support as long as it is needed.”

Air defence, artillery and ammunition are high on the list, he told reporters.

On 20 January, Donald Trump returns to the White House, having promised to end the war in Ukraine quickly and talked up his relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Many Europeans are concerned that it might result in a poor deal for Ukraine.

Asked about Mr Trump, Mr Scholz said that his impression from talking to the president-elect “is that good cooperation between Europe and the US is possible”. He said that “the principle is always: no decisions over Ukrainians’ heads, and that of course means over those of the European states.”

There were no agreements reached in Istanbul between Ukraine and Russia, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

Speaking during a press conference at the European Council meeting in Brussels, Mr Zelensky said: “Ukraine did not agree to the ultimatum from the Russian Federation. Ukraine did not sign anything, no agreements existed. There was a response to the ultimatum from the Russian Federation.”

Putin had earlier claimed a preliminary agreement had been reached between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators during the early weeks of the war at talks in Istanbul, adding that it had not been implemented but could be a basis for future discussions.

European Union leaders insisted yesterday that no decisions can be taken about the future of war-ravaged Ukraine without its consent — or behind the backs of its partners in Europe, barely a month before president-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Ukraine’s position is precarious, more than 1,000 days into the war. Russia continues to make gains on the battlefield, pushing the front line gradually westward despite suffering heavy casualties. Ukraine’s energy network is in tatters and military recruits are hard to find.

In a show of solidarity at a summit in Brussels with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, many EU leaders repeated a variation of what has become a common mantra — nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, nothing about security in Europe without Europeans.

“Only Ukraine as the aggressed country can legitimately define what peace means —and if and when the conditions are met for credible negotiations,” summit host António Costa said at the end of the daylong meeting of the 27-nation bloc.

“So now is not the time to speculate about different scenarios. Now is the time to strengthen Ukraine for all scenarios,” said Mr Costa, the president of the European Council.

President Volodymyr Zelensky made a fresh appeal to European allies to coordinate work to reach lasting peace in Ukraine which is battling Russia’s almost three-year full-scale invasion.

“We need coordinated work for lasting peace, not just the suspension of hostilities that Putin seeks to buy time. We must push Moscow towards genuine, sustainable and guaranteed peace,” Mr Zelensky said in his address to the European Council.

Russia should have invaded Ukraine earlier, said Russian president Vladimir Putin as he claimed the war had strengthened Russia’s military and economic power.

Mr Putin made the comments during his annual press conference, a tightly choreographed event which lasted about four and half hours and spanned everything from consumer prices to military hardware.

A number of questioned covered the invasion of Ukraine, and Mr Putin said that if he could do it over, “such a decision should have been made earlier” and Russia could have “prepared for it in advance and more thoroughly”.

“Russia has become much stronger over the past two or three years because it has become a truly sovereign country,” he said. “We are standing firm in terms of economy, we are strengthening our defence potential and our military capability now is the strongest in the world.”