Ukraine war live updates: Kyiv pushes for fighter jets despite U.S., German refusal; Russia gains in 'concerted assault’ on Donetsk - CNBC

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looks connected during a property league with US President Joe Biden astatine the East Room of the White House, successful Washington, DC, connected December 21, 2022.

Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images

Ukraine's overseas ministry criticised Croatian President Zoran Milanovic connected Tuesday for saying Crimea would ne'er instrumentality to Ukrainian control, describing his remark arsenic "unacceptable."

Russia seized the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine successful 2014. In remarks connected Monday detailing his objection to Zagreb providing subject assistance to Kyiv, Milanovic said it was "clear that Crimea volition ne'er again beryllium portion of Ukraine".

"We see arsenic unacceptable the statements of the president of Croatia, who efficaciously formed uncertainty connected the territorial integrity of Ukraine," Ukrainian overseas ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko wrote connected Facebook.

— Reuters

Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov volition beryllium gathering French President Emmanuel Macron and his French defence counterpart Sebastien Lecornu successful Paris Tuesday, with the thorny contented of combatant jets precocious connected the agenda.

Ukraine has acceptable its sights connected receiving combatant jets, specified arsenic U.S. F-16s, from its allies, but the U.S. and Germany person already ruled retired specified weaponry, peculiarly fixed the information they lone greenlighted the sending of Western tanks to Ukraine past week.

For his part, President Joe Biden answered with an emphatic "no" erstwhile asked by reporters Monday if the U.S. would beryllium sending jets to Ukraine.

There appears to beryllium a softer cognition among immoderate of Ukraine's allies, however. with Poland and France signaling that the proviso of combatant jets is not retired of the question. On Monday, Macron said immoderate connection would beryllium connected respective factors.

"Nothing is excluded successful principle," Macron said aft talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte erstwhile asked astir the anticipation of sending jets to Kyiv arsenic it battles Russia's invasion, France 24 reported.

The conditions are that Ukraine indispensable archetypal marque the request; that immoderate arms would "not beryllium escalatory"; and that they would "not beryllium apt to deed Russian ungraded but purely to assistance the absorption effort." Macron added that immoderate arms transportation "must not weaken the capableness of the French equipped forces."

— Holly Ellyatt

Russian forces are reportedly commandeering civilian aesculapian facilities and turning them into "field hospitals" successful bid to dainty wounded soldiers arsenic casualties mount, Ukraine said Tuesday.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine posted connected Facebook claiming that Russian forces successful Luhansk proceed to "suffer dense losses" and that they person "begun utilizing further civilian aesculapian facilities to location wounded Russian invaders."

Two hospitals successful the metropolis of Luhansk, including a maternity hospital, person go tract hospitals wherever soldiers are being treated, Ukraine said. Because of that, the General Staff said maternity services tin present lone beryllium offered astatine the Luhansk Regional Perinatal Center "where determination is simply a catastrophic deficiency of abstraction and risks and adverse conditions for childbirth."

— Holly Ellyatt

In the past 3 days, Russia apt developed its probing attacks astir the Donetsk towns of Pavlivka and Vuhledar into a "more concerted assault," Britain's Ministry of Defense said Tuesday.

The settlements prevarication astir 30 miles southwest of the metropolis of Donetsk, and Russia antecedently utilized the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade successful an unsuccessful battle connected the aforesaid country successful November 2022, the Ministry noted connected Twitter.

"Elements of the 155th are again progressive arsenic portion of an astatine slightest brigade sized unit which has apt precocious respective 100 metres beyond the tiny Kashlahach River which marked the beforehand enactment for respective months."

The ministry noted that Russian commanders are apt aiming "to make a caller axis of advance" into the Ukrainian-held portion of the Donetsk portion "and to divert Ukrainian forces from the heavy contested Bakhmut sector."

"There is simply a realistic anticipation that Russia volition proceed to marque section gains successful the sector," the U.K. said, but it added that "it is improbable that Russia has capable uncommitted troops successful the country to execute an operationally important breakthrough."

— Holly Ellyatt

U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters Monday day that the U.S. would not nonstop F-16 combatant jets to Ukraine.

When asked by reporters whether helium would nonstop combatant jets to Kyiv, Biden replied with 1 word: "No."

The U.S. and Germany only past week gave the greenlight to sending modern conflict tanks to Ukraine aft months of pleas from Kyiv for the tanks.

Within hours of receiving quality that it would beryllium receiving Western tanks, Kyiv renewed its calls for combatant jets, specified arsenic the U.S.' F-16s, saying it needs each the firepower it tin get sooner alternatively than later.

Biden's comments travel a time aft his German counterpart, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, besides ruled retired sending jets to Ukraine, saying it seems "frivolous" to sermon the contented erstwhile allies had conscionable approved the sending of tanks.

Ukraine's defence curate is expected successful Paris connected Tuesday to conscionable French President Emmanuel Macron, with differences appearing to look betwixt allies implicit F-16s.

News outlet Politico reported Monday that France is considering Ukraine's petition for fighter-jet aviator training, citing an adjutant to the country's defence minister, portion Poland has signaled its willingness to nonstop specified weaponry but said it would enactment successful "full coordination" with its allies.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv and its Western partners volition bash everything indispensable to marque definite "Russia's intentions to determination to a caller signifier of violative for the involvement of revenge fail."

"I americium assured successful our army. We volition halt them each small by little, destruct them and hole our large counteroffensive," Zelenskyy said successful an code alongside his Danish counterpart successful Odesa.

Zelenskyy thanked Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen for providing fiscal and information assistance to Ukraine.

"I americium grateful to the Danish conjugation authorities for creating a abstracted money to assistance our country. Reconstruction should go 1 of the cardinal directions of the fund's work," Zelenskyy added.

— Amanda Macias

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said connected Facebook that the impermanent typical of Ukraine was summoned to a gathering astatine Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs successful Tehran.

Nikolenko did not elaborate connected the details of the gathering but added that Kyiv is not liable for the drawstring of explosions astatine Iranian facilities, according to an NBC News translation.

Over the play Iran said that bomb-carrying drones struck a defence manufacturing works successful the cardinal metropolis of Isfahan. The Iranian Defense Ministry did not stock accusation connected who it suspected of carrying retired the strike.

— Amanda Macias

The European Union allocated 114 cardinal euros to Poland's caller "rescEU vigor hub" for Ukraine.

The hub volition fundamentally beryllium a logistics halfway for supplying exigency vigor assistance to Ukrainians amid Russian shelling connected captious infrastructure. The funds volition acquisition astir 1,000 generators to beryllium distributed to Ukrainians done the hub.

The European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism has antecedently provided 1,400 generators to Ukrainians successful need.

— Amanda Macias

EDITOR'S NOTE- Graphic Content- This station contains the representation of a dormant Ukrainian servicemen successful Sloviansk.

Friends stitchery to hide Ukrainian serviceman, 28-year-old orphan Oleksandr Korovniy, astatine a cemetery successful Sloviansk. Koroniy was a subordinate of the Azov battalion, killed successful enactment successful Bakhmut, Donetsk region.

The Kremlin dismissed Boris Johnson's assertion that Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened him with a rocket strike.

The erstwhile U.K. premier curate claimed successful a BBC documentary that he'd had a telephone telephone with Putin earlier Russia's penetration of Ukraine. Johnson said successful the amusement that Putin "threatened maine astatine 1 point, and helium said, 'Boris, I don't privation to wounded you but, with a missile, it would lone instrumentality a minute' oregon thing similar that."

"But I deliberation from the precise relaxed code that helium was taking, the benignant of aerial of detachment that helium seemed to have, helium was conscionable playing on with my attempts to get him to negotiate," Johnson said.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the assertion arsenic a "lie" Monday, telling reporters "What Mr. Johnson said is not true. More precisely, it is simply a lie," helium said according to an NBC News translation of the comments.

"This whitethorn either beryllium a deliberate prevarication by Mr. Johnson, and past the question arises arsenic to the reasons for his presumption of specified a mentation of events. Or helium really did not recognize what President Putin was talking astir with him. And successful this lawsuit it becomes a small worrying for the interlocutors of our President," Peskov said.

"But erstwhile again I officially repeat: this is simply a lie, determination were nary threats with missiles."

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Kyiv wants to articulation the European Union wrong 2 years, mounting a precise ambitious timetable for joining the bloc.

Speaking to Politico, Shmyhal said "we person a precise ambitious program to articulation the European Union wrong the adjacent 2 years ... So we expect that this year, successful 2023, we tin already person this pre-entry signifier of negotiations," helium said.

Ukraine has made nary concealed of its privation to articulation the EU and has already applied to articulation the bloc. It is not the lone campaigner country. Others, specified arsenic North Macedonia and Montenegro person waited implicit 10 years for immoderate advancement successful their ain respective rank applications. French President Emmanuel Macron has said EU rank for Ukraine is apt to beryllium a process that volition instrumentality "decades."

EU commissioners are heading to Kyiv connected Friday to conscionable Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Politco noted that their task volition apt beryllium "managing expectations" regarding specified a choky timetable for introduction into the EU.

— Holly Ellyatt

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Russian President Vladimir Putin seemed to endanger him with a rocket onslaught successful what helium described arsenic an "extraordinary" telephone telephone earlier Russia's penetration of Ukraine.

In an excerpt of a BBC documentary called "Putin vs the West," Johnson says helium spoke to Putin successful February 2022, soon earlier Russia's penetration of Ukraine. During that call, helium said helium told Putin that warfare would beryllium an "utter catastrophe" and would entail sanctions connected Moscow and apt much NATO troops connected Russia's borders.

Johnson said that aft making those points during the call, successful which helium said Putin had been "very familiar," Putin appeared to endanger him.

"He threatened maine astatine 1 point, and helium said, 'Boris, I don't privation to wounded you but, with a missile, it would lone instrumentality a minute' oregon thing similar that," Johnson said successful the documentary, the BBC reported.

"But I deliberation from the precise relaxed code that helium was taking, the benignant of aerial of detachment that helium seemed to have, helium was conscionable playing on with my attempts to get him to negotiate."

It's intolerable to ascertain whether Putin was superior successful his remark but relations betwixt the U.K. and Russia were already strained earlier the war, peculiarly aft a Russian nervus cause onslaught carried retired successful the U.K. successful 2018. The U.K.'s staunch enactment of Kyiv has heightened tensions.

— Holly Ellyatt

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz insisted astatine the play that combatant jets would not beryllium provided to Ukraine, telling a German paper that determination should not beryllium a "bidding war" implicit weaponry and that Germany "will not let a warfare betwixt Russia and NATO."

Scholz reiterated Germany's objections to sending combatant jets to Ukraine, telling the Tagesspiegel paper Sunday that determination is nary question of doing so.

"The question of combat craft does not originate astatine all," Scholz said, according to Politico's translation of the archetypal story.

"I tin lone counsel against entering into a changeless contention to outbid each different erstwhile it comes to weapons systems," helium added.

Germany past week agreed to nonstop 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine aft months of resisting unit to bash so. Berlin besides said it would let different allies to nonstop their ain German-made tanks to Kyiv. The U.S. besides agreed to nonstop a fig of M1 Abrams tanks.

Ukraine expressed gratitude for the determination to nonstop tanks but instantly said it needed much firepower to antagonistic Russia's invasion, asking for combatant jets from its allies. One defence ministry advisor told CNBC helium was definite Kyiv would person F-16 combatant jets from its allies and that determination should beryllium nary hold implicit the decision, arsenic determination was implicit tanks.

Over the weekend, different Ukrainian authoritative said negotiations implicit the imaginable sending of onslaught craft to Ukraine were "ongoing."

"Our partners recognize however the warfare develops. They recognize that onslaught craft are perfectly indispensable to screen the manpower and armoured vehicles that they springiness us," advisor to the caput of the Office of the President Mykhailo Podolyak told the Freedom TV transmission Saturday.

"In the aforesaid way, successful bid to drastically trim the cardinal instrumentality of the Russian service - artillery, we request missiles. That's wherefore negotiations are already underway, negotiations are accelerating," Podolyak said successful comments translated by NBC News.

— Holly Ellyatt