Russia, a sovereign power : President Vladimir Putin promised to make Russia a “sovereign power” in a speech to the ruling party on Sunday. This was his first campaign speech with a view to the presidential election in March 2024. Addressing senior officials of the United Russia party who gathered in Congress to support his candidacy, the Kremlin leader also assured that Russia would be “self-sufficient.” , “Otherwise it will no longer exist at all.” “Russia cannot, like other countries, give up its sovereignty for a few sausages and become someone’s satellite,” he said, apparently referring to Ukraine.
A vote “neither free nor fair”: In its daily update on the social network “On December 11, 2023, the Central Election Commission of Russia announced that voting for the March 2024 presidential election will be expanded to the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions of Ukraine. This follows their inclusion in the Russian regional elections in September 2023,” the ministry reminds, emphasizing: “As for the regional elections, it is almost certain that voting for the presidential elections in the Russian-controlled regions will be neither free nor fair. “
Zelensky's multiple meetings: About his Vice President Kamala Harris, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Norwegian King Harald V and Icelandic Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir. “Supporting Ukraine means protecting the rules-based international order. I am grateful to all the leaders and countries who are helping us save lives. I thank them for their vital support to our defense,” he said.
Towards new American aid? An influential centrist American Democratic senator, Joe Manchin, said this Sunday that he is “very optimistic” about the possibility of an agreement in the upper house on a new important aid package for Ukraine. “They are moving in a very positive direction,” Joe Manchin added of his colleagues on both sides, in a context in which President Joe Biden sharply attacked elected Republicans who are currently supporting his request for an additional $61 billion envelope for Block Kiev. For his part, the very conservative American Senator Lindsey Graham was significantly less optimistic than his colleague. “We are not close to an agreement at all,” he said on NBC, estimating that negotiations should continue “next year.” “I will not help Ukraine, Taiwan or Israel until we secure our border,” he stressed.
A listening device on a Ukrainian commander: A listening device was discovered in one of the future offices of Ukrainian army commander-in-chief Valery Zalouzhny, Kiev security services said on Sunday, saying the device was “not operational.” “The equipment was not found directly in Valery Zaluzhny's office, but in one of the rooms that he could use for his work in the future,” it said. An investigation has been launched into “illegal use of special technical means to obtain information,” they added, without providing any information about the origin of this listening device. As a reminder, as Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valery Zalouzhny decides the entire course of operations at the front under the authority of President Volodymyr Zelensky.