Movement of British diplomats in Russia restricted by Moscow
Russia has restricted the movement of British diplomats within the country in a response to “hostile actions” from London, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.
On Thursday, the ministry summoned the British interim charge d’affaires, Tom Dodd, where it announced that a “notification procedure” for the movement of employees beyond a 75-mile radius would be implemented.
In a statement it said details including the purpose of a trip, accommodation, accompanying persons and mode of transport would need to be submitted at least five working days before a trip is planned to go ahead.
The restrictions come as a consequence of what the Russian Foreign Ministry referred to as “inadmissible support [of] the terrorist actions of the Kyiv regime” and the obstruction of Russian diplomacy in Britain, although it failed to give any specific details.
Ukraine war latest: Moscow imposes restrictions on UK
In response, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) disputed the claim that Mr Dodd was summoned to the Russian ministry.
“This was a planned meeting, held at our request, as part of a standard diplomatic practice,” a spokesperson said. The FCDO said it was considering the implications of Russia’s statement on travel restrictions.
As the charge d’affaires, Mr Dodd is the deputy to the British ambassador in Russia, Dame Deborah Bronnert. The restrictions do not apply to the ambassador.
Other recent developments in regard to the Ukraine war include:
• Russia’s Defence Ministry said it will deem all ships travelling to Ukraine as potentially carrying military cargo.
• At least two dead after Russian airstrikes in the Ukrainian port town of Odesa.
• Overnight incidents have been reported in Russian-occupied Crimea for the fourth day in a row.
• Belarusian forces are holding military exercises with Wagner fighters near the Polish border.
Following the end of the Black Sea grain deal – which provided some protection to ships exporting goods from Ukraine’s blockaded ports – Russia said that it was declaring southeastern and northwestern parts of the Black Sea’s international waters as unsafe for navigation.
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Analysis: Russia threatens ships
As a result, any vessel heading to Ukraine is now deemed a potential carrier of military equipment by the foreign ministry.
In retaliation, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence said on Thursday that Kyiv will also consider all ships travelling to Russian ports and Ukrainian ports currently occupied by Russia as potential carriers of military cargo.
Administrative building heavily damaged after Russia’s attack on Odesa
Following Moscow’s exit from the grain deal, some of Ukraine’s most critical grain export infrastructure has been the target of Russian airstrikes for the third consecutive night.
At least two people, including a 21-year-old security guard, were killed in the besieged port city of Odesa, which destroyed administrative and residential buildings near the port, according to Odesa governor Oleh Kiper.
He said Ukrainian air defences destroyed all of the 12 Iranian-made Shahed drones and two Kalibr missiles that targeted the area.
The attack came after Moscow vowed “retribution” for an attack that damaged a crucial bridge between Russia and the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula. Russian officials blamed that strike on Ukrainian drone boats.
Read more:
MI6 chief urges Russians appalled by war in Ukraine to spy for UK
Wagner mercenary boss ‘seen welcoming his fighters to Belarus’
Russia targets Odesa with missile and drone attacks
Reports of incidents in the popular Russian holiday destination of Crimea have been reported for the past four nights.
Following the attack on the Kerch Bridge on Monday, Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces foiled a 28-drone Ukrainian attack on Tuesday.
Section of the Kerch Bridge damaged by alleged Ukrainian attack
The following day, an explosion at a military base in Crimea’s Kirovske district caused a huge fire and led to mass evacuations. While on Thursday, Russia claimed a teenage girl was killed in a drone strike in northwestern Crimea.
Ukraine has claimed that it wants to take back Crimea – after it was annexed in 2014 – but has not explicitly claimed responsibility for attacks on the territory.
The West has also largely been hesitant to provide any support for Ukraine’s mission to take back Crimea, and has urged against Western weapons being used on Russian territory.
Meanwhile, Russia has increasingly flexed its influence and control over Belarus.
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Wagner boss ‘welcomes fighters’
Ties between the two countries deepened after Russia helped to curb huge anti-government demonstrations against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in 2020.
Belarus has since remained in support of Russia’s war on Ukraine and now, fighters from the Wagner group have been seen practicing military exercises at a base near the Polish border.
Vehicles and tents at the base near Tsel, about 65 miles southeast from the capital Minsk.
Pic:Planet Labs PBC/AP
New satellite imagery revealed that about 300 vehicles have arrived over three days at the base in Tsel, near Osipovichi in Belarus.
This comes after troop tents were first pitched at the base on 26 June, two days after an agreement was made to end Wagner’s attempted coup in Russia. Part of this agreement was for Wagner troops to move to Belarus.
US president-elect Donald Trump has suggested Israel and Hamas could agree a Gaza ceasefire by the end of the week.
Talks between Israeli and Hamas representatives resumed in the Qatari capital Doha yesterday, after US President Joe Biden indicated a deal to stop the fighting was “on the brink” on Monday.
A draft agreement has been sent to both sides. It includes provisions for the release of hostages and a phased Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza.
Qatar says Israel and Hamas are at their “closest point” yet to a ceasefire deal.
Two Hamas officials said the group has accepted the draft agreement, with Israel still considering the deal.
An Israeli official said a deal is close but “we are not there” yet.
More than 46,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its ground offensive in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Read more:
What’s in the proposed deal?
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on beachfront cafe in Deir al Balah. Pic: Reuters
Biden hails possibility of agreement
President Biden said it would include a hostage release deal and a “surge” of aid to Palestinians, in his final foreign policy speech as president.
“So many innocent people have been killed, so many communities have been destroyed. Palestinian people deserve peace,” he said.
“The deal would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel, and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started.”
Qatari mediators have sent Israel and Hamas a draft proposal for an agreement to halt the fighting.
Analysis:
Deal might be close, but there are many unanswered questions
Pic: Reuters
Trump: ‘We’re very close’
President-elect Donald Trump has also discussed a possible peace deal during a phone interview with the Newsmax channel.
“We’re very close to getting it done and they have to get it done,” he said.
“If they don’t get it done, there’s going to be a lot of trouble out there, a lot of trouble, like they have never seen before.
“And they will get it done. And I understand there’s been a handshake and they’re getting it finished and maybe by the end of the week. But it has to take place, it has to take place.”
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Donald Trump’s inauguration 2.0
Pic: AP
Israeli official: Former Hamas leader held up deal
Speaking on Tuesday as negotiations resumed in Qatar, an anonymous Israeli official said that an agreement was “close, but we are not there”.
They accused Hamas of previously “dictating, not negotiating” but said this has changed in the last few weeks.
“Yahya Sinwar was the main obstacle for a deal,” they added.
Sinwar, believed to be the mastermind of the 7 October attacks, led Hamas following the assassination of his predecessor but was himself killed in October last year.
Under Sinwar, the Israeli official claimed, Hamas was “not in a rush” to bring a hostage deal but this has changed since his death and since the IDF “started to dismantle the Shia axis”.
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Biden: ‘Never, never, never, ever give up’
Iran ‘weaker than it’s been in decades’
Yesterday, President Biden also hailed Washington’s support for Israel during two Iranian attacks in 2024.
“All told, Iran is weaker than it’s been in decades,” the president said.
Mr Biden claimed America’s adversaries were weaker than when he took office four years ago and that the US was “winning the worldwide competition”.
“Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are
weaker,” he said.
“We have not gone to war to make these things happen.”
The US president is expected to give a farewell address on Wednesday.
A draft ceasefire deal on the table between Israel and Hamas would see 33 hostages set free and a phased withdrawal of IDF forces from parts of Gaza.
President Joe Biden said an agreement to stop the fighting was “on the brink” and high level negotiations between the two sides resumed in Qatar on Tuesday.
The deal would see a number of things happen in a first stage, with negotiations for the second stage beginning in the third week of the ceasefire.
It would also allow a surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by more than a year of war.
Details of what the draft proposal entails have been emerging on Tuesday, reported by Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages hold photos of their loved ones during a protest on 8 January. Pic: AP
Hostages to be returned
In the first stage of the potential ceasefire, 33 hostages would be set free.
These include women (including female soldiers), children, men over the age of 50, wounded and sick.
Israel believes most of these hostages are alive but there has not been any official confirmation from Hamas.
In return for the release of the hostages, Israel would free more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
People serving long sentences for deadly attacks would be included in this but Hamas fighters who took part in the 7 October attack would not be released.
An arrangement to prevent Palestinian “terrorists” from going back to the West Bank would be included in the deal, an anonymous Israeli official said.
Read more:
A timeline of events since the 7 October attacks
The hostages who still haven’t returned home
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in Beit Hanoun in Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza
The agreement also includes a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, with IDF troops remaining in the border perimeter to defend Israeli border towns and villages.
Security arrangements would be implemented at the Philadelphi corridor – a narrow strip of land that runs along the border between Egypt and Gaza – with Israel withdrawing from parts of it after the first few days of the deal.
The Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza would start to work gradually to allow the crossing of people who are sick and other humanitarian cases out of Gaza for treatment.
Unarmed North Gaza residents would be allowed to return to their homes, with a mechanism introduced to ensure no weapons are moved there.
“We will not leave the Gaza Strip until all our hostages are back home,” the Israeli official said.
What will happen to Gaza in the future?
There is less detail about the future of Gaza – from how it will be governed, to any guarantees that this agreement will bring a permanent end to the war.
“The only thing that can answer for now is that we are ready for a ceasefire,” the Israeli official said.
“This is a long ceasefire and the deal that is being discussed right now is for a long one. There is a big price for releasing the hostages and we are ready to pay this price.”
The international community has said Gaza must be run by Palestinians, but there has not been a consensus about how this should be done – and the draft ceasefire agreement does not seem to address this either.
In the past, Israel has said it will not end the war leaving Hamas in power. It also previously rejected the possibility of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited governing powers in the West Bank, from taking over the administration of Gaza.
Since the beginning of its military campaign in Gaza, Israel has also said it would retain security control over the territory after the fighting ends.
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