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⚡️⚡️ Key updates on Russia and #UkraineCrisis as on December 23

⚔Different goals
Russia said that supplies of Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine by the United States, announced during President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's visit to Washington, would not help settle the conflict or prevent Moscow from achieving its goals.

President Vladimir Putin dismissed it as "quite old", telling reporters Moscow would find a way to counter it. At the same time, he said Russia wants an end to the war in Ukraine and that this would inevitably involve a diplomatic solution.

"Our goal is not to spin the flywheel of military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war," Putin said. "We will strive for an end to this, and the sooner the better, of course."

🥷Training troops
The Pentagon is considering training the Ukrainian armed forces to operate the Patriot missile defense system at a military base in the United States, according to two Defense Department officials, Politico learnt.

It noted this would be the first time when Ukrainian armed forces could be trained in the U.S. — before it only happened at NATO bases in Eastern Europe, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The report states no final decision has been made, despite the news comes just a day after the Biden administration announced that it would provide one Patriot battery which Kyiv has asked for months.

One thing holding up a U.S. decision was the complexity of the system and the lengthy training process required to operate it, Politico notes. Operating the Patriot takes at least 90 troops, the Pentagon has said, so training Ukrainian servicemen will require a lot of people and time. For this and other reasons, as many Russian and even Western analysts pointed out, getting Patriots on Ukrainian soil will not happen in the near future.

💰Paying for the war
The Senate unanimously backed a plan to use confiscated Russian assets to aid Ukraine in its war with Russia. The amendment is attached to the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill that passed the Senate 68-29 on Thursday.

The House is expected to pass the spending package, which will include the amendment, ahead of a Friday deadline to keep the government funded. President Biden supported using proceeds from seized Russian assets to help Ukraine and is expected to sign the spending package into law.

The United States and its allies targeted Russia and its oligarchs with a host of diplomatic and economic sanctions after the start of invasion (some of them after the 2014 Crimea takeover). The head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen proposed to create a special fund from the frozen €300 billion of Russian assets and €19 billion of private assets of Russians. EU estimated the damage to Ukraine from the conflict with Russia at €600 billion.

🇺🇸🇰🇵Dragging North Korea
The White House said Thursday that the Wagner Group, a private Russian military company, has taken delivery of an arms shipment from North Korea to help bolster its forces as it fights side-by-side with Russian troops in Ukraine. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said U.S. intelligence officials determined that North Korea completed an initial arms shipment that included rockets and missiles last month.

According to Washington's estimates, 50000 Wagner fighters are involved in the military operation in Ukraine, and the monthly expenses of the PMCs reach $100 million.

The World Organization stated that they have no information about the sending of weapons by North Korea to the PMCs. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner PMC, denied allegations.

👉Follow t.me/russiawire for daily updates, analytics, and ground reportage from Russia, Donbass, and the neighbourhood.

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