Goodbye
That’s all for our live coverage today, but we’ll be back tomorrow with further updates and analysis.
If you’re just checking in, here is a recap of the key developments over the course of the day so far:
- Vladimir Putin’s presidential plane was involved in deporting Ukrainian children to Russia, US-backed research alleges;
- Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko will sign a landmark security pact later this week that reflects global geopolitical changes, according to Russian state news agency RIA;
- Russia’s defence ministry has claimed the capture of two more villages in Ukraine, as it keeps up its quickening advances;
- The Kremlin says Joe Biden is putting fuel on the fire by throwing more aid and assurances to Ukraine in the dying days of his presidency;
- Japan’s defence ministry says it has confirmed that a Russian navy submarine sailed through waters between two of its southwestern islands.
No date for Iranian president’s visit to Russia, says Kremlin
Preparations are underway for Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to visit Russia, but there is no clarity yet on when it will take place, the Kremlin has said.
Moscow is preparing to sign a new treaty with Tehran that will include closer defence cooperation between the countries.
A similar agreement was signed between Russia and North Korea in June.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was unclear when Mr Pezeshkian would visit Moscow, but that a date could be agreed quickly if necessary.
Iran’s president met with Vladimir Putin last month at the BRICS summit in Kazan.
Ukraine speeding up production of new missiles, says Zelenskyy
Ukraine has conducted a test of new domestically produced missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
Posting on Telegram, the Ukrainian president said that he had received reports from his military on the test.
“We are speeding up the production,” he added.
Analysis: Door is being opened to peace deal
By Adam Parsons, Europe correspondent
Mark Rutte, the new secretary general of NATO, already has a reputation for being a formidable politician and a great survivor.
He knows the power of words and images, but he also knows that what you say in public isn’t always the same as what gets talked about behind closed doors.
When I asked him today about the possibility of Ukraine ceding land in return for a peace deal with Russia, Rutte spoke of the need for Ukraine to be in a position of strength – to have a rich supply of weapons and ammunition before a peace process “whenever that starts…I would say more military aid and less discussions on what a peace process could look like”.
But in reality, the shape of a potential deal is in everyone’s minds.
Almost every diplomat I have spoken to thinks it is inevitable that Ukraine will have to give up some of its territory, an admission that is even slowly seeping into the political discourse in Kyiv.
That’s why Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s comments, about “the Ukraine we have under our control” were an important nuance.
The door is slowly being opened.
Watch: Moment mine detonated on Odesa beach
This is the moment a sea mine was detonated on a beach in Odesa, Ukraine.
The Border Guard Service of Ukraine said the device had washed ashore during a storm.
The service asked citizens not to approach suspicious objects and report them to authorities instead.
NATO will not let Putin ‘weaponise winter’
Outgoing US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said he and the Biden administration will stand firmly behind Ukraine until they leave office.
Speaking at a news conference in Brussels at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, Blinken said there was a “determination” to make sure that “Ukraine has what it needs to deal with what it’s facing on the battlefield”.
“But also to deal with the ongoing onslaught on its energy infrastructure, with once again Putin weaponising winter, trying to freeze people out of their homes, turn out the lights – we’re not going to let that happen,” he said.
Ukraine detains woman on suspicion of directing Russian airstrikes
Ukraine’s security service (SBU) says it has detained a 51-year-old local woman on suspicion of directing Russian airstrikes on the Donetsk region.
“The agent tried to find out and give the Russians the locations of fortified areas and artillery positions of Ukrainian troops fighting for Chasiv Yar,” the SBU said in a statement.
It said Russia was planning to strike targets based on her intelligence, before it uncovered her plan and arrested her at her home.
After searching the property, the SBU said it found a computer and a phone with which the suspect communicated with the Russian security services.
“She faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property,” the SBU added.
Watch: NATO chief outlines what Ukraine needs
We’ve been reporting on Mark Rutte’s comments at the start of a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting this morning.
In this video, the new secretary general outlines what he thinks Ukraine needs, amid swirling reports that the West is gearing up for the prospect of a peace deal in the new year.
Putin’s plane involved in deporting Ukrainian children to Russia, research alleges
Vladimir Putin’s presidential plane was involved in deporting Ukrainian children to Russia, US-backed research alleges.
A report by Yale’s School of Public Health, which is funded by the US State Department, claims Russian presidential aircraft and funds were used in a programme that took children from occupied territories, stripped them of their previous identities and placed them with Russian families.
The report states that at least two groups of children were flown by aircraft managed by the Presidential Property Management Department in May and October 2022.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2023 issued an arrest warrant for Putin for the alleged war crime of deportation of Ukrainian children.
The report, which has been shared with the Reuters news agency, will be presented to the UN Security Council tomorrow.
The lead researcher, Nathaniel Raymond, said the research offers evidence that would support additional ICC charges of “forcible transfer” of people from one national and ethnic group to another.
He claimed the report proved “the deportation of Ukraine’s children is part of a systematic, Kremlin-led program” to make them citizens of Russia.
Russian navy sub sails between Japanese islands
Japan’s defence ministry says it has confirmed that a Russian navy submarine sailed through waters between two of its southwestern islands.
It said it had tracked a navy rescue vessel and a submarine through the waters between Yonaguni Island and Iriomote Island – which lie to Japan’s south, and just east of Taiwan – for the first time.
Russia has not commented on the claims.