Facts from the crash site of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Kazakhstan suggest that Russia is involved in the incident. Those responsible must be held accountable, states Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Twitter (X).

Zelenskyy drew attention to the increasing details emerging about the Azerbaijan Airlines flight crash. The president expressed his condolences to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the Azerbaijani people.

The president emphasized that every human life is valuable and every loss of life deserves a thorough investigation to establish the truth.

“We can see that photos and videos from the crash site clearly point to Russia’s responsibility for the tragedy,” Zelenskyy added.

He clarified that if Russia continues spreading falsehoods, as it did with the MH17 disaster, it will be necessary to consolidate international pressure on Moscow “to ensure the truth is revealed and those responsible are held accountable.”

Plane crash in Kazakhstan

On December 25, the Azerbaijan Airlines plane was flying from Baku to Grozny. However, it never managed to land in the Russian city. Instead, the aircraft turned towards the Kazakh city of Aktau, where it crashed.

It was later established that the plane was shot down by Russian air defense near Grozny, and it was forbidden to land on Russian territory.

All the details of the incident are available in the RBC-Ukraine material.

Ukraine’s allies are holding ongoing discussions about what the path to peace might look like. Security guarantees for Ukraine are also being discussed, states German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in an interview with T-Online.

According to him, a simple ceasefire does not constitute a sustainable peace. Scholz believes that no discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine’s involvement.

“I have already spoken twice with the future US President Trump, and we agreed that the US and Europe must closely coordinate on all these issues. At a later stage, we will also discuss security guarantees for Ukraine, and Germany will also play an important role in this,” said the Chancellor.

Scholz was also asked whether Germany would send its soldiers to Ukraine during a potential ceasefire.

“I will not send a single German soldier to this war. This discussion is very strange when the goal right now is to ensure that Ukraine is not left alone and that we continue supplying weapons. It is more important for everyone now to understand if they can do more to further support Ukraine,” he replied.

At the same time, he declined to reveal details of his phone conversations with newly elected US President Donald Trump.

“I am confident that, despite some concerns, we will manage to achieve coordinated policy on Ukraine between the US and Europe, as well as between the US and Germany,” he emphasized.

Scholz also stated that Trump wants to end the war. He had the impression that Trump is equally convinced that this can only be achieved when Ukraine is strong militarily.

Scholz and Putin’s negotiations

Earlier, we reported that Scholz had a phone conversation with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. These were the first such negotiations in two years. Later, the Chancellor stated that Putin had not changed his stance on the war in Ukraine. However, it was worth talking to Putin.

Russia’s offensive in the Kursk region is causing heavy losses for North Korean forces. Over the past week alone, the DPRK has lost 1000 soldiers, stated John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, according to journalist Kellie Meyer.

Kirby stated that, according to US data, North Korean forces are conducting offensives on Ukrainian positions in the Kursk region, leading to significant losses.

“It is clear that Russian and NK military leaders are treating these troops as expendable,” he said.

At the same time, the National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications noted that North Korea lost 1,000 soldiers in just the past week.

“We have reports of NK soldiers taking their own lives rather than surrendering to Ukraine,” Kirby said.

North Korean troops in Russia

According to US and South Korean officials, more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to help Russia in the war.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on December 16 that Russia had begun to involve soldiers from the DPRK in the fighting in the Kursk region.

Yesterday, Ukrainian intelligence noted that Russia continues to use North Korean soldiers in hostilities against Ukraine. As a result, North Korean troops continue to suffer losses.

Negotiations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation are a completely realistic prospect. However, for this to happen, it is necessary to stop the Russian advance, states political scientist Volodymyr Fesenko in a comment to the YouTube channel of RBC-Ukraine.

In particular, the political scientist commented on the statement made by Russian President Vladimir Putin, claiming that Moscow would continue to achieve all the objectives of the “special military operation” next year.

“This may add some realism. To some of our politicians and part of society who have started living in anticipation of the war’s end and have begun preparing for elections. The real situation is that Putin does not want a freeze in the war,” Fesenko explained.

He also noted that newly elected US President Donald Trump would most likely push for a freeze in the war in exchange for concessions, including a moratorium on Ukraine’s NATO membership.

“But Putin and Kremlin representatives show that they are not interested in a freeze; they want a complete victory over Ukraine. I think we need to prepare for a different scenario,” said the expert.

According to the political scientist, before any real negotiations can begin, Russia must be stopped on the battlefield.

“Before any real negotiations begin, and I don’t rule out that Russia will eventually agree to negotiations, but for real negotiations to start, we need to stop the Russian offensive,” emphasized Fesenko.

He stressed that this would be the key condition for any realistic negotiations on halting the fighting.

“As long as the offensive continues, Putin will have the illusion of victory. This will influence his behavior and the situation around potential peace talks,” the political scientist added.

Yesterday during his speech, Putin was somewhat confused in his statements. Specifically, the Russian President first claimed that his country allegedly seeks to end the war in Ukraine. However, he later emphasized that in 2025, Russia “will continue to achieve all the objectives of the special military operation.”

Earlier, Trump had expressed his desire to quickly end the war between Russia and Ukraine. According to his statements before the US elections, he planned to do so within the first 24 hours of his presidency.

Trump also promised to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to end the war.