‘We Need to End that Horrible, Horrible War’ – Ukraine at War Update for Dec. 23

Over the weekend, foreign leaders discussed ending the war in Ukraine as officials in Kyiv called for Russia to be held accountable for its war crimes.

Trump says Putin wants to meet him ASAP to discuss ending Ukraine war

US President-elect Donald Trump said at a rally in Arizona on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him he wants to have a meeting together as soon as possible, according to Ukriniform. “President Putin said that he wants to meet with me as soon as possible. So we have to wait for this. But we need to end that horrible, horrible war,” Trump said. 

He added that “millions” of soldiers had already been killed in the Russo-Ukrainian war that could have been prevented had he been in office. “Millions of soldiers have died,” he said. “We’ve got to stop it, it’s ridiculous. That war would have never happened if I was president,” Trump said.

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Finland PM Says Russia ‘Permanent’ Threat to EU

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the Finnish head of government said “the security situation has changed.”

The president-elect also claimed that the events of Oct. 7,  2023, in Israel would also not have happened if he had been president at the time.“Our country would be so different, and the world would be so different, but it’s not. So we need to make it great. We’re going to do it as quickly as possible,” concluded Trump.

Trump said he intends to maintain supplies of American weapons to Ukraine after he takes office next month, according to a report shared Friday by the Financial Times. 

Putin expressed readiness for discussions with Trump during his annual press conference last week, stating that he is prepared to meet “any time” with Trump, and he regrets not launching Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine earlier. 

“If we ever have a meeting with President-elect Trump, I am sure we’ll have a lot to talk about,” Putin said, emphasizing Russia’s openness to “negotiations and compromises,” the 72-year-old leader said, per Reuters. Putin spoke in a confident tone but was forced to admit he did not know when Russia would take back the parts of Russia’s Kursk region held by Kyiv since August. 

Reflecting on the war’s onset, Putin said he regretted not initiating the invasion sooner. “Knowing what is happening now, I would think that such a decision… should have been taken earlier,” he said.

While touting Russia’s battlefield advances, Putin faced questions about when displaced residents from the Kursk region could return home. Thousands were evacuated after Ukrainian forces captured parts of the region in August. “We will absolutely kick them out. But the question of a specific date, I’m sorry, I cannot say right now,” he said.

Putin also hinted at deploying more of Russia’s hypersonic Oreshnik missiles, proposing a “hi-tech duel” with the West. “Let them set some target to be hit, let’s say in Kyiv,” he said. “And we will launch an Oreshnik strike there and see what happens.”

Slovak PM Fico heads to the Kremlin on surprise visit 

Putin held surprise talks at the Kremlin on Sunday with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, officials said, after he had warned of harsh reprisals against Ukraine over a drone attack. Fico is one of the few European leaders Putin has stayed friendly with since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Russian TV journalist Pavel Zarubin, a Kremlin insider, posted a short video showing the two leaders smiling and shaking hands, according to AFP. The visit by Fico, whose country is a NATO and EU member, had not been previously announced. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told Zarubin that it had been arranged “a few days ago.”

Peskov did not give details of the talks but said it could be “presumed” that Russian gas supplies would be discussed. Later Peskov said the meeting had ended and that the two leaders would not make a comment.

Ukraine has said it will not renew a contract allowing the transit of Russian gas through its territory, which expires on Dec. 31. Slovakia and Hungary, which rely on Russian gas, have raised concerns about the prospect of losing supplies. 

Fico ended military aid to Ukraine when he became prime minister again in Oct. 2023, and like his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban, he has called for peace talks. He also announced in Nov. that he would go to Moscow in May for ceremonies to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Earlier Sunday, Putin vowed to bring more “destruction” to Ukraine after a drone attack on Kazan on Saturday. Videos on Russian social media showed drones hitting a high-rise glass tower block and setting off fireballs, though there were no reported casualties. Ukraine has not commented on the strike.

But Putin told a televised government meeting: “Whoever, and however much they try to destroy, they will face many times more destruction themselves and will regret what they are trying to do in our country.” 

The Kazan strike was the latest in a series of escalating aerial attacks in the nearly three-year conflict. Putin has previously threatened to target central Kyiv with a hypersonic missile in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory. And Russia’s defense ministry has called strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities over recent weeks as retaliation for Kyiv using Western-supplied missiles to hit Russian air bases and arms factories.

Russia has in recent months sought to secure as much territory as possible before Trump comes to power in January. The Republican has promised to end the war, without specifying how. Moscow’s army claims to have seized more than 190 Ukrainian settlements this year, as the rival army struggles with manpower and ammunition shortages.

Ukraine appeals to UN, ICRC after Russians accused of executing 5 POWS 

Ukraine on Sunday also accused Russian forces of killing captured soldiers – an alleged war crimes violation. Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets has announced plans to appeal to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross regarding the execution of five more captured Ukrainian soldiers by Russian troops. This announcement was made via Telegram, and Kyiv Post could not independently verify the footage. 

Lubinets highlighted that a video released by Brigadier General Mark Bezruchko of the 110th Separate Motorized Brigade shows Russian soldiers executing five Ukrainian defenders who had surrendered. “I will report this fact to the UN and the ICRC,” Lubinets said, condemning the act as a war crime.

The Ombudsman emphasized the need for accountability, asserting that Russian war criminals responsible for executing Ukrainian prisoners of war should face an international tribunal and receive the harshest penalties under international law. 

“I will report this fact to the UN and the ICRC,” Lubinets said, as reported by Radio Free Europe. “Russian war criminals who shoot Ukrainian prisoners of war should be brought before an international tribunal and punished with the most severe punishment provided for by law,” Lubinets added.

The incident adds to a troubling pattern, Lubinets said, having previously reported that Russian forces have executed 177 Ukrainian prisoners of war since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. He noted that on Nov. 22, Russian soldiers executed four Ukrainian defenders captured during an assault on the Pokrovsk front.