Translated material
War
One thousand four hundred and four days. Putin holds a meeting in military uniform. Lavrov calls Europe “the main obstacle to peace”
Since February 24, 2022, Meduza has been broadcasting live about the Russian-Ukrainian war. We publish your letters in our daily materials because we are sure that we need to continue talking about the war. Share with us the thoughts you have about the war. What feelings are you experiencing? How does war affect you, your life, the lives of your loved ones and your attitude towards the world? The feedback form is at the end of this article. You can read the previous day's review here .
Ukraine
Zelensky spoke with European leaders before heading to Florida to see Trump
Vladimir Zelensky, on the eve of his meeting with Donald Trump, which was scheduled for 21:00 Moscow time, flew to Canada on December 27 and had a conversation with European allies. Among them were the leaders of Canada, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Poland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, as well as the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Zelensky himself told reporters that during the conversation with European allies they talked about “key documents” that he was going to discuss with Trump. According to him, 90% of the 20-point peace plan has already been agreed upon - there are decisions on them that “some will like, some will not.” Reuters clarifies that Zelensky, as he himself told reporters, plans to discuss with Trump the fate of Donbass and the future of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called security guarantees for Ukraine a key point in discussions. “All participants in the discussion agreed that security guarantees for Ukraine are of decisive importance. They must be specific and reliable. Such guarantees also mean security for Poland,” Tusk wrote . Zelensky added that he expects the conversation with Trump to “go well” and may be followed by another discussion with European leaders.
Russia
Before Zelensky's meeting with Trump, Putin put on his military uniform again, and Lavrov called Europe "the main obstacle to peace"
On the same day, December 27, Vladimir Putin, as reported in the Kremlin, visited one of the command posts of the joint group of troops. There he was informed that the Russian army had captured Gulyaypole in the Zaporozhye region and Mirnograd (in Russia it is called Dimitrov) on the territory of the self-proclaimed DPR. During this meeting, Putinsaid that Russia’s offensive in the Donbass region is proceeding at such a pace that it “reduces to zero” Moscow’s interest in withdrawing the Ukrainian Armed Forces from these territories.
As follows from the video published by the Kremlin, Putin again held the meeting at the control center in military uniform. Faridaily notes that this is the sixth time since October that Putin has held a meeting on the situation at the front (and the fourth time in military uniform) - this has not happened since the beginning of the war.
In addition, on the eve of Zelensky’s meeting with Trump, the Russian Foreign Ministry published an interview with its head Sergei Lavrov to the TASS agency, which was published on December 28. In this interview, Lavrov said that the “Zelensky regime” and its European allies “show no readiness for constructive negotiations,” and the European Union has become “the main obstacle to peace.”
The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry also spoke about Europe’s plans to send a peacekeeping contingent to Ukraine after the war. According to him, Russia has already “declared a hundred times” that in this case these military personnel “will become a legitimate target” of the Russian armed forces. “For the slow-witted politicians in Europe, who I hope will be shown this interview, I will repeat once again: there is no need to fear that Russia will attack anyone. But if someone decides to attack Russia, the response will be crushing,” Lavrov said.
War in photographs. Chernigov after Russian attacks
War through the eyes of Meduza readers
How we choose letters
Meduza's readers live in different countries and have different attitudes towards the war. We publish your letters to see this event through your eyes. Our editors try to present all points of view, even if they do not coincide with the editorial position. However, in accordance with the Meduza code, we do not publish messages that contain “hate speech,” justify the murder of civilians, or express direct support for an aggressive war.
Sergey (Ukraine) . Drones buzz above the house almost every night. Sometimes shots are heard in attempts to shoot them down. Sometimes they explode, sometimes very close, within 500–1000 meters [from my house]. At such moments, lying in bed, you feel the house shaking. It’s no longer scary - statistics say that the damage radius is small, but the territory is huge. But something in me is no longer the same as it was before. In the summer there was thunder without rain - it was very scary.
Now there is no electricity for most of the day, the sounds of working diesel engines are already a part of me. There is more time for reading and thinking. Sadly.