Russia shoots down series of UAVs on its territory, states its stance on the Black Sea grain deal, Kiev praises the German Chancellor... are some notable news about the situation in Ukraine.
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| Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly claimed to have shot down many of each other's UAVs in recent days - Illustration photo. (Source: Reuters) |
On December 17, the Russian Defense Ministry wrote on its Telegram page that it had “destroyed and intercepted” 33 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Lipetsk, Rostov, and Volgograd, Russia. Volgograd Region Governor Andrey Bocharov said the UAV attack did not cause any casualties or damage in the area.
In related news, on the same day, RIA (Russia) quoted Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev as saying that Russia is not interested in extending the grain agreement in the Black Sea.
According to him, this is a political decision, but Russia will continue to export grain because it still has buyers. At the same time, the official said: "The volume of our grain exports, taking into account the end of the grain agreement - has not decreased, but even slightly increased."
In July, Russia withdrew from the agreement, which allowed Ukraine to safely export grain from Black Sea ports. Moscow said the agreement did not provide grain to the poorest countries. At the same time, despite complying with the text, Russia still faces barriers to exporting grain and fertilizer.
Also on December 17, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba praised German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's move at the European Union (EU) summit, helping Kiev negotiate joining the "common house".
According to him, during the two-day summit in Brussels (Belgium), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz asked his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban to temporarily leave the meeting room while other EU leaders voted to launch accession talks with Ukraine. Previously, Mr. Orban did not want to participate in what he considered a “bad decision” by Europe and threatened to veto the move. In that context, Prime Minister Olaf Scholz’s move allowed Mr. Orban to stand firm in the negotiations without blocking Ukraine’s accession.
The Ukrainian foreign minister said Mr Scholz's unusual intervention "will go down in history as an act of Germany in its role as EU leader".
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