Alexander Lukashenko

TOPSHOT - This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on Dec. 20, 2024 shows a building damaged as a result of a missile attack in Kiev, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russian missiles targeted the Ukrainian capital Kiev at sunrise on Dec. 20, killing at least one person and cutting heating to hundreds of buildings in cold temperatures.

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko announced on Monday that his country now hosts dozens of Russian nuclear weapons, as part of a broader agreement with Moscow for the deployment of Russia's latest hypersonic missile, the Oreshnik.

Russia and Belarus will sign an agreement on mutual security guarantees in the interests of both nations, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated today, according to the state news agency RIA.

The focus of the American media is on the policy that Donald Trump will adopt regarding Ukraine, with the goal of ending the war, following the announcement of the new U.S. president’s intention to appoint Keith Kellogg as a special envoy to Ukraine.

A British diplomat has been expelled by Moscow, according to Sky news. According to the report, Moscow accuses him of spying for Ukraine.

On November 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new law aimed at supporting soldiers involved in the ongoing war in Ukraine. The law allows military personnel who have served in Ukraine to have debts of up to 10 million rubles (approximately 95,869 dollars) forgiven, as long as the debts are part of legal proceedings that begin before December 1, 2024.

French President Emmanuel Macron stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in peace and is unwilling to negotiate. His remarks followed a large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, which he described as a clear indication that Putin seeks to escalate hostilities.

MINSK - Serbian Deputy PM Aleksandar Vulin and Secretary of the State Security Council of Belarus Alexander Volfovich met in Minsk on Friday.

Vulin and Volfovich agreed that Serbia and Belarus were free and brotherly countries and that the friendship between Presidents Aleksandar Vucic and Alexander Lukashenko especially contributed to the good relations.

Russia is "surprised" that Turkey continues to supply Ukraine with weapons while trying to act as a mediator in the conflict between the two countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Hurriyet newspaper.

"Turkish weapons are used by the Ukrainian armed forces to kill Russian military personnel and civilians," Lavrov said in an interview published on Friday.