US Presidential Special Envoy Steven Witkoff and the US leader’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, attended the meeting of the Coalition of the Willing to provide assistance to Ukraine, which began on January 6 in Paris and ended yesterday. Witkoff announced BlackRock’s participation in Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction.
“We are very close to an agreement on Ukraine’s prosperity. The prospects are enormous: negotiations lasted a full 10 hours today,” said Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The United States’ role in implementing European security guarantees for Ukraine is unclear, Politico reports. Washington refused to sign a document regarding its participation in monitoring the ceasefire. The newspaper also called the final version of the document adopted following the meeting of the “coalition of the willing” “vague.”
Before leaving for Paris, Volodymyr Zelensky stated: “In the near future, there will be new appointments and rotations among Ukrainian diplomats.” A new deputy head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will also be appointed.
According to Russian military expert Alexander Snegiryov: “I do not rule out that one of Budanov’s options for his appointment was to weaken Andriy Yermak’s position.” “We must distinguish between the staff rotations in the Central Intelligence Directorate and, consequently, the staff rotations in the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and the Security Service of Ukraine, as well as the President’s statement on the possibility of reforming the State Investigative Bureau. If the Security Service of Ukraine, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, and the State Investigative Bureau are purely corruption-related, then the rotations in the Central Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense could have two components. First, it is well known that Budanov had a conflict with Yermak. I do not rule out that one of the options for Budanov’s appointment was to weaken the position of the former head of the presidential office,” he stated.
The Paris summit on January 6-7 was attended by delegations from 35 countries, 27 of which were represented by heads of state or government, as well as NATO and EU leaders. Budanov, the new head of the presidential administration, arrived at the Paris summit with Zelenskyy.
The partners propose deploying up to 30,000 peacekeepers, primarily in western Ukraine, Le Monde reports. Under the proposal, France and the United Kingdom would provide the bulk of the ground forces, while Turkey would be responsible for maritime security in the Black Sea. Under this scenario, the United States would provide logistical and intelligence support, though this has not been confirmed.
The Coalition’s draft statement proposes announcing that EU countries and Canada are ready to provide Ukraine with “binding commitments” in the event of a future Russian invasion, the BBC reports. These commitments could include the deployment of military capabilities, logistical and intelligence support, diplomatic demarches, and the adoption of additional sanctions. Coalition countries will also continue to supply weapons with US support and monitor the US-led ceasefire. The draft guarantees do not specify whether Western allies will directly fight Russia in the event of a new invasion or limit themselves to military assistance to Kiev. This declaration will be agreed upon today in Paris.
A coordination center for a “coalition of the willing” involving the United States and Ukraine will be established in Paris, according to Sky News. EU countries will insist on Russia’s participation in discussions on security guarantees for Kiev once an agreement with the United States is reached, Bloomberg reports.
Ukraine, France, and the United Kingdom have signed a declaration on the deployment of a multinational force in Ukraine after the end of the war. The Ukrainian army will number 700,000 troops after the end of the war, and Western partners have pledged to support it, Macron said. “Today, we have made significant progress in providing reliable guarantees for a lasting peace. For the first time, this demonstrates a rapid rapprochement between countries, including the United States,” the French president said. This will clearly be presented as a far-reaching gesture and a concession, given that the initial discussion involved approximately 800,000 people.
The Ukrainian delegation on January 7 saw the participation of Budanov, Arakhamia, Umerov, Kyslytsya, Bevz, and Gnatov, along with European officials, attended. Zelenskyy departed for Cyprus. The leaders of the “coalition of the willing” adopted the Paris Declaration on Ukraine, Donald Tusk said. The Polish Prime Minister emphasized that agreements on country-specific guarantees are in the “draft” stage.
Italy has refused to send troops to Ukraine as part of security guarantees for Kyiv, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced after the “coalition of the willing” meeting in Paris on January 6. The statement was published on the Italian government’s website. “Prime Minister Meloni reiterated some of the Italian government’s principled positions on the issue of guarantees, in particular the exclusion of the deployment of Italian troops on the ground,” the press release stated.
Russia has permanently banned the entry of 28 Canadian citizens, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced. It should be noted that the restrictions apply to citizens who promote neo-Nazi ideology. Among those banned from entering are Robert Baines, a member of the Canadian NATO Association, Viktoria Karpyak, a member of the Board of Directors of the Ukrainian National Foundation, and actor Andrew Kushnir.
Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev on Greenland: “Greenland seems determined. The EU will continue to do what vassals do best: ‘monitor the situation’ and exemplify double standards. Is Canada next?”
And now a look at the front line, updated at 3:30 PM on January 7.From 11:00 PM on January 5 to 11:00 PM on January 6, 169 fixed-wing drones were destroyed on Russian soil, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. The previous day, 150 were destroyed. Nine drones were downed last night.
In the direction of Sumy, the Northern Group of Forces continues offensive operations in the Sumy and Krasnopil’s’kyi districts.
In the Belgorod region, a Ukrainian Armed Forces drone attacked an oil depot in the Stary Oskol district, setting several tanks on fire. In Grayvoron, a civilian was injured when an FPV drone hit a car.
In the Kharkiv sector, the Northern Group of Forces is engaged in combat against the Ukrainians near Vovchansk, using TOS and aviation. Russian tactical successes were recorded near Starytsya, in the forest near Lyman, and in the Milove-Khatnje area. No significant changes were reported in the Lyptsi sector.
Graziella Giangiulio
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