The Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives gave final approval on Friday to a $45 billion aid package for Ukraine, as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy returned from Washington with the promise of Patriot missiles to help combat Russia's invasion. Read our live blog to see how all the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
9:35pm: US approves $45 billion aid package for Ukraine
US lawmakers gave approval to a $45 billion aid package for Ukraine and its NATO allies. This military and economic assistance, part of a huge Washington spending bill, follows US aid worth around $50 billion sent to Ukraine earlier this year, as well sanctions imposed on Russia by the West that now include a cap on Russian oil prices.
In a dramatic address to a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told lawmakers that the aid was not charity, but an investment in global security and democracy.
7:22pm: Putin tells Russian defence industry to up its game for Ukraine
President Vladimir Putin told Russia's defence industry chiefs to up their game to ensure that the Russian army quickly got all the weapons, equipment and military hardware it needed to fight in Ukraine.
"The most important key task of our military-industrial complex is to provide our units and frontline forces with everything they need: weapons, equipment, ammunition, and gear in the necessary quantities and of the right quality in the shortest possible timeframes," said Putin.
1:45pm: Russian politician files legal challenge over Putin's reference to Ukraine 'war'
A St Petersburg politician has asked prosecutors to investigate Russian President Vladimir Putin for using the word "war" to describe the conflict in Ukraine, accusing the Kremlin chief of breaking his own law, Reuters reports.
Putin has for months described his invasion as a "special military operation". He signed laws in March that prescribe steep fines and jail terms for discrediting or spreading "deliberately false information" about the armed forces, putting people at risk of prosecution if they call the war by its name.
But he departed from his usual language on Thursday when he told reporters: "Our goal is not to spin the flywheel of military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war."
Nikita Yuferev, an opposition councillor in the city where Putin was born, said he knew his legal challenge would go nowhere, but he had filed it to expose the "mendacity" of the system.
11:50am: Ukraine to receive up to €2.5 billion in aid from Netherlands in 2023
The Netherlands will provide Ukraine with up to 2.5 billion euros ($2.65 billion) in aid in 2023, the Dutch government has said.
The money is earmarked for military assistance, work to recover critical infrastructure and to help investigations into possible war crimes, the government said.
"As long as Russia continues its war against Ukraine, the Netherlands will provide assistance to Ukraine. Military, humanitarian and diplomatic," Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a tweet.
11:35am: US-Russia relations in 'ice age', says Kremlin's ambassador to Washington
Russia's ambassador to the United States has compared the state of US-Russia relations to an "ice age", describing the risk of a clash between the two countries as "high", the state-owned news agency TASS reports.
TASS cited Anatoly Antonov as saying that it was hard to say when talks on strategic dialogue between the two sides could resume, but that talks on prisoner swaps had been "effective" and would continue.
US-Russia ties have fallen to their lowest point in decades amid the fallout from Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, and the consequent imposition of Western sanctions.
Two prisoner swaps, in which US Marine veteran Trevor Reed and basketball star Brittney Griner were freed by Russia in return for convicted drug smuggler Konstantin Yaroshenko and arms dealer Viktor Bout, were rare instances of successful US-Russia diplomacy in 2022.
10:15am: Zelensky says he is back in Kyiv after Washington visit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has posted a video saying he is back at work in the Ukrainian capital after his landmark visit to Washington this week.
"I am in my office. We are working toward victory," he said in the video posted to his Telegram channel.
Zelensky thanked US President Joe Biden and the US Congress in an earlier message, saying: "We are returning from Washington with good results, with things that will really help."
The US announced a new $1.8 billion military aid package during the visit, including supplies of the Patriot air defense systems, the most powerful such weapons to be delivered to Ukraine yet – though it declined to provide more sophisticated assault weapons demanded by Kyiv.
>> Read more: Why the US declined to send Ukraine long-range missiles, tanks
8:17am: North Korea denies media report it supplied munitions to Russia
North Korea's foreign ministry denied a media report it supplied munitions to Russia, calling it "groundless", and denounced the United States for providing lethal weapons to Ukraine, the North's official KCNA news agency reported on Friday.
Japan's Tokyo Shimbun reported earlier that North Korea had shipped munitions, including artillery shells, to Russia via train through their border last month and that additional shipments were expected in the coming weeks.
"The Japanese media's false report that the DPRK [North Korea's official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea] offered munitions to Russia is the most absurd red herring, which is not worth any comment or interpretation," a ministry spokesperson said in a statement carried by the KCNA.
The White House said on Thursday the North has completed an initial arms delivery to a private Russian military company, the Wagner Group, to help bolster Russian forces in Ukraine.
7:53am: Russian diplomat says NATO instructors must leave Ukraine before talks can start
A senior Russian diplomat said on Friday that talks on security guarantees for Russia cannot take place while NATO instructors and "mercenaries" remain in Ukraine, and while Western arms supplies to the country continue.
In an interview with Russian state-owned news agency TASS, Alexander Darchiev, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's North America department, said talks would be premature "until the flood of weapons and financing for the (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky regime stops, American and NATO servicemen/mercenaries/instructors are withdrawn".
Russian officials have increasingly stressed their openness to talks on Ukraine in recent weeks, even as they have emphasised that they do not believe Zelensky is interested in a peaceful settlement.
In his comments, Darchiev said that talks would also need to be preceded by "recognition of the realities we have defined on the ground", an apparent reference to Russia's control of parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.
7:50am: Kyiv residents battle blackouts, drone attacks: ‘We have our dog to keep us warm’
Ukrainian authorities are scrambling to restore electricity supplies in Kyiv after Russian drone attacks crippled energy infrastructure earlier this week. The situation remains critical, with entire neighbourhoods forced to endure rolling blackouts as the limited power supplies are rationed.
FRANCE 24's team on the ground met with residents deprived of both light and heating as they grapple with winter temperatures.
6:55am: Moscow threatens to cut oil output in response to price caps
Russia may cut oil output by 5%-7% in early 2023 as it responds to price caps on its crude and oil products by halting sales to the countries that support them, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has told state television.
Detailing for the first time the Russian response to the price caps introduced by the West over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Novak said the cuts could amount to 500,000-700,000 barrels per day.
The European Union and G7 nations introduced a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian oil from Dec. 5, on top of the EU's embargo on imports of Russian crude by sea and similar pledges by the United States, Canada, Japan and Britain.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he would issue a decree early next week detailing Moscow's actions in response.
1:05am: Former Russian deputy PM wounded in Donetsk shelling
Russian former deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has said he required surgery after being hurt in a blast in Russian-occupied Ukraine, the latest in a series of attacks on pro-Moscow officials.
Rogozin, also former head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, was hurt on Wednesday when Ukrainian shells hit the hotel where he was staying in Donetsk, a town controlled by Russian proxies since 2014.
"I have wounds – a piece of metal 8 millimetres by 6 millimetres (1/3 to 1/4 inch) that entered above the right shoulder blade," Rogozin said on Telegram. "There will have to be an operation. Several people close to me were also hit."
10:15pm: Russia says US Patriot missiles won't stand in its way
Russia has warned that Ukraine acquiring Patriot missiles from the United States would not help settle the conflict or prevent Moscow from achieving its goals.
Though the Patriot air defence system is widely regarded as advanced, President Vladimir Putin dismissed it as "quite old", telling reporters Moscow would find a way to counter it. He also said Russia wants an end to the war in Ukraine and that this will 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."
His comments drew quick US scepticism, with White House spokesman John Kirby noting that Putin has "shown absolutely zero indication that he's willing to negotiate" an end to the war.
9:25pm: Russian-installed official killed in car bomb attack
Andrei Shtepa, a local official in a part of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region controlled by Russian forces was killed on Thursday in a car bomb attack. The Russian occupation authorities blamed his death on "Ukrainian terrorists".
Ukrainian media reports about Shtepa's death referred to him as "an occupier" and as someone who had actively collaborated with Russian forces.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
