Saskia Esken, leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, has supported the continuation of telephone talks between Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

Rolf Mützenich, Head of the parliamentary faction of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SDPG), has said that American billionaire Elon Musk had crossed the "boundaries of what is acceptable" in US-German relations with his scandalous statements.

Italy has announced the allocation of €13 million to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund on the instructions of Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

The European Union has stated that it is prepared for Ukraine to cease the transit of Russian gas.

In his New Year's address, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has promised to continue supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.

The Kremlin has revealed which European politicians are receiving New Year telegrams from Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin.

Slovakia has expressed outrage over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's remarks that Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has opened a "second energy front" with his threats to cut off electricity supplies to Ukraine.

Mikheil Kavelashvili, the anti-Western "President" of Georgia, whose legitimacy is not recognised by much of the international community, incumbent Georgian leader Salome Zourabichvili along with the opposition signed several laws on his inauguration day, including a ban on masks and pyrotechnics at protests.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has called on the EU to ban the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has written a letter to European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in which he again complains about Ukraine's refusal to continue transiting Russian gas after 2024.

The new Lithuanian government, which officially took office yesterday, intends to visit Ukraine next week.

The Estonian Defence Forces Intelligence Centre has noted in its weekly report the advance of Russian forces on the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove fronts in Donetsk Oblast and the successful actions of Ukrainian troops on the Kupiansk front in Kharkiv Oblast.

Hungary "did everything it could" when it initiated a Christmas ceasefire and a large-scale prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said.

Andrius Kubilius, the new EU Defence Commissioner, who is on a visit to Kyiv, had to spend the morning of Friday, 13 December, in a shelter due to a large-scale combined attack by Russia.