The campaign of aggression: Ukraine has increased attacks on Russia by a third
Ukraine is intensifying attacks on Russian territory amid the intensification of the negotiation process. Since the second half of November, the number of attacks has increased by almost a third, Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador-at-large for crimes committed by the Kiev regime, told Izvestia. At the same time, the EU leaders issued a joint statement specifying security guarantees for Kiev. According to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Washington will be able to provide such guarantees if Ukraine makes territorial concessions. Experts are confident that Kiev is pursuing the goal of involving the United States in a direct conflict with Russia. About how viable the European proposals are, see the Izvestia article.
Kiev has stepped up attacks on Russian regions
Volodymyr Zelensky visited the Netherlands on December 16 to meet with Prime Minister Dick Schof, as well as with the heads of the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Defense. Another point of his visit was his participation in a conference in The Hague, where the work of the commission on the damage caused to Kiev during the conflict was launched.
Vladimir Zelensky attends a conference in The Hague
Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to strike at civilian infrastructure facilities. The more actively the peace talks are conducted, the more often the Ukrainian Armed Forces shell the territory of Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador on crimes of the Kiev regime told Izvestia.
— Right now, against the background of [US President Donald] Trump's latest [peace] proposal Under Trump, we are seeing an increase of almost a third. Well, we have an increase in the number of attacks by at least 20-30%, and this can be seen at the level of week—to-week comparison," said Rodion Miroshnik.
The Kherson, Belgorod and Kursk regions suffer the most from the strikes, Miroshnik emphasized. Attempts by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to strike deep into Russia are especially growing. The number of attacks has been increasing throughout 2025 — the number of attacks has roughly doubled since January. For example, last week the number of strikes on Russian regions reached 560 per day, the ambassador added.
Ukraine's desperate attempts to demonstrate military successes to its sponsors coincide with the negotiating track. On December 14 and 15, consultations between the Washington and Kiev teams on the peace plan took place in Berlin. Zelensky represented Ukraine, and the United States was represented by Special envoy Steve Witkoff and the son-in-law of the head of the White House, Jared Kushner. The European side also took part in the negotiations, until the appearance of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at separate meetings.
One of the topics of discussion in Berlin was security guarantees for Ukraine. Their list included maintaining the number of Ukrainian Armed Forces at the level of 800,000 people, the ability to respond to a possible resumption of conflict, as well as the formation of a European-led "multinational force" within the framework of the "coalition of the willing."
The European Agreement: the main points
The issue of "multinational force" is being used to put pressure primarily on Trump, according to political analyst Vadim Siprov.
"If the Europeans send their troops into the territory of Ukraine and some kind of armed incident occurs, this can be used as a reason to activate the fifth article of NATO," he told Izvestia.
The United States is not going to fight with Russia, so we should not expect them to support this initiative. Moreover, it is unlikely that the United States will agree to conclude some kind of bilateral agreement with Ukraine, Siprov is sure. According to him, Kiev will definitely take advantage of the opportunity to involve Washington in a military conflict with the Russian Federation, which is unacceptable for Americans. Therefore, it is not worth waiting for any guarantees containing direct obligations from the United States.
At the same time, it is not yet fully clear what Americans mean by security guarantees. It is only known that Washington has agreed to consider a mechanism similar to the fifth article of NATO in relation to Ukraine. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk shed a little more light on the situation, saying that Trump is ready to guarantee security for Kiev if the Ukrainian Armed Forces withdraw from Donbass.
The position of the Europeans regarding Kiev's territorial concessions also seems to have shifted: now any decisions on this matter can be made only after reliable guarantees of Ukraine's security are actually provided.
In addition, in their document they propose to consolidate the obligation to provide military, intelligence, logistical, economic and diplomatic support to Kiev. However, it is not clear from what funds it is planned to provide the same economic support to Ukraine, since the EU still cannot agree on either a "reparation" loan or financing of the Ukrainian economy under the Eurobond scheme. According to Politico, the EU ambassadors were still unable to convince Belgium to agree to the expropriation of Russian assets.
In addition, apparently, as part of the guarantees, the Europeans decided to include a clause on a mechanism for monitoring and verifying the ceasefire under the leadership of Washington.
— It is important to note the point about the cease-fire, which has been at least somehow spelled out over the past few months, — said political analyst Denis Denisov in a conversation with Izvestia. — Moreover, it is indicated that these obligations and responsibilities should be assumed by the United States. It will be an absolutely amazing configuration. It is not clear how it will work or whether it will work at all.
The conflict may end soon.
It is the territories that, apparently, remain the main stumbling block in the negotiations. According to media reports, 90% of the issues between Russia and Ukraine have been resolved at recent meetings. It is not yet clear what the remaining 10% will be, because the document updated after the negotiations in Europe has not yet reached Moscow.
According to Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, the United States does not inform Russia in real time about the course of contacts in Berlin.
— Now work is underway <...> between the negotiators of the United States, the Europeans and the Ukrainians. After they complete their part of the work, we will expect [that] we will receive from our American interlocutors the vision that is being discussed today," he said.
Nevertheless, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov is showing optimism. In an interview with ABC News, he said that the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine is very close to a settlement. According to him, the Russian Federation is ready to conclude a deal. The head of the White House demonstrated a similar attitude. The settlement of the conflict in Ukraine is closer than ever, Trump said after the talks in Berlin.
Summit of the leaders of the Eastern flank of Europe in Helsinki
But the Europeans still intend to escalate the Russian threat after the conflict ends. On December 16, in parallel with Zelensky's visit to the Netherlands, the Eastern Flank summit is being held in Helsinki. The leaders of Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Sweden, and Estonia were going to participate in it. At the meeting, it was planned to coordinate cooperation in strengthening defense and developing a common position within the European Union.
— The event is necessary primarily for Western European countries, namely Great Britain, France and Germany. It is necessary in order to organize the redistribution of financial flows within the NATO bloc in favor of European countries that are closest to Russia," Vadim Siprov noted.
At the same time, the key message of the statements is that Russia poses a military "threat" to all Eastern and Northern European countries. It is noteworthy that Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary are not participating in this event. Thus, a split has emerged within the NATO bloc, which is now actively supported primarily by the United Kingdom, the expert concluded.
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