Coronavirus
The first case of the omicron variant of Covid-19 was registered in Ukraine, Health Minister Viktor Lyashko has said. This person has just returned from the UAE where he or she was in contact with an infected patient.
US support
Representative Jason Crow led a U.S. Congressional delegation to Kyiv to discuss Russia’s aggressive military buildup in and around Ukraine and hear assessments from Ukrainian officials and military leadership, the US embassy to Ukraine has said. Representative Crow and his colleagues, Representative Brad Wenstrup and Representative Rick Crawford underscored bipartisan support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and its Euro-Atlantic trajectory.
US efforts to keep Russia at bay
Wary of repeating mistakes made in 2014, when the US and Europe were caught off guard by Russia's annexation of Crimea, Joe Biden directed his national security team to use every tool possible to try to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin while a possible invasion was still assessed to be several months away, a senior US official told CNN.
"What we have been doing is very calculated," the official said. "But we only have about a four-week window from now" to pull it off, he added.
UK position
It is highly unlikely that London and its allies would send troops to Ukraine in case of a Russian invasion, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said.
"We shouldn’t kid people we would. The Ukrainians are aware of that," he continued, explaining that instead, there are significant and long-lasting sanctions that could be imposed against the Kremlin.
Naval project with Denmark
The Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry and the Danish Defence Ministry have signed a memorandum on cooperation in the construction of multi-purpose vessels in Ukraine.
The signing ceremony took place during an official visit to Ukraine by Danish Defence Minister Trine Bramsen.
In particular, the memorandum provides for the construction of multi-purpose vessels. Production will be fully localized in Ukraine and more than 50% of the orders will be carried out by Ukrainian companies.
Lithuanian support
Lithuania is ready to support Ukraine by all available means, including the transfer of lethal weapons, Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas said on 19 December, as quoted by LRT.
The minister did not specify what weapons Lithuania would transfer to Ukraine.
Human rights
The Ukrainian parliament's human rights commissioner Lyudmyla Denisova is concerned about the imposition of military education and increased propaganda aimed at destroying the national identity of the Ukrainian population in the temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Denisova said on Facebook that children were sworn in into "cadets" in school No. 4 in the city of Donetsk, which is occupied by pro-Russian militants, in December. Some 47 boys and girls took the "oath" and received corresponding "certificates".