Live: Russia threatens to cut oil output in response to price caps

Issued on: 23/12/2022 – 07:23Modified: 23/12/2022 – 08:43

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for the (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky regime stops, American and NATO servicemen/mercenaries/instructors are withdrawn”.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)