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.

Estonia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs will allocate an additional €200,000 from the 2024 budget to help the people of Ukraine.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has called his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, to complain about Ukraine's rejection of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's proposal for a Christmas truce and a prisoner-of-war swap between Kyiv and Moscow.

During a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk refuted rumours that Poland would send troops to Ukraine, saying there were no plans for a European peacekeeping force.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has upheld Ukraine's ban on the public display of St George's ribbons, deeming it lawful in its 2017 judgment in the case of Borzykh v. Ukraine. [St George's ribbon is a propaganda symbol of war used by Russia – ed.]

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for his phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The Associated Press (AP) has reported that current US President Joe Biden has approved a new secret national security memorandum before Donald Trump returns to the White House.