Russia-Ukraine live news: NATO ‘will not back down’ – Stoltenberg

‘We cannot allow Putin to steal our Christmas’, says Kyiv’s mayorOfficials said Kyiv would put up Christmas trees without lights throughout the city in a defiant display of holiday spirit.“No one is going to cancel the New Year and Christmas, and the atmosphere of the New Year should be there,” Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko told the RBC-Ukraine news agency.“We cannot allow Putin to steal our Christmas.”Sergey Kovalenko, chief executive officer of YASNO, which provides power to Kyiv, said on his Facebook page that the trees would be without lighting and garlands to save electricity.“There will be the New Year’s-Christmas tree and it will be the most energy-responsible, but still festive for all of us,” Kovalenko said.“Christmas trees will be installed especially to remind our children of the New Year’s mood,” Klitschko said. “You know, I don’t want to take Santa Claus away from the children.”People walk in a park where the illumination is switched off in Kyiv [Oleg Petrasyuk/EPA]

13m ago (10:27 GMT)China to form closer ties with Russia over energy security: President XiChina is looking to form a closer partnership with Russia on energy issues to ensure global energy security, President Xi Jinping said.State broadcaster CCTV reported Xi’s comments in a message to the Fourth China-Russia energy forum.“China is willing to work with Russia to forge a closer energy partnership, promote clean and green energy development and jointly maintain international energy security and the stability of industry supply chains,” it reported.The meeting of businesses from the two trade partners comes amid preparations for a G7 price cap to be imposed from December 5 on Russian oil to curb Moscow’s ability to fund its invasion of Ukraine.

24m ago (10:16 GMT)Make weapons so Ukraine wins the war, FM Kuleba tells NATO membersIn an interview with Politico, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said NATO countries must boost the productions of weapons to support Kyiv, or risk Russia winning the war.His comments late on Monday came ahead of a two-day NATO meeting in the Romanian capital Bucharest starting Tuesday, where members will discuss ways to help Ukraine through the cold winter.“While we are fighting the battles of today, we have to think how we will be fighting the battles of tomorrow,” Kuleba said.If more weapons are not produced, he warned, “we won’t be able to win – as simple as that.”On the military side, NATO keeps pushing weapons manufacturers to accelerate production but a diplomat has cautioned there are increasing problems with supply capacity, according to Reuters.“We are doing the maximum we can on deliveries, but there is a real problem. The Ukrainians know it. Even the US weapons industry despite its strength is having issues,” the diplomat told the news agency.

30m ago (10:10 GMT)Ukraine’s Naftogaz asks USAID for help with gasNaftogaz has asked the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for help with additional natural gas volumes for winter, according to the Ukrainian energy company’s company’s chief.Meanwhile, DTEK, Ukraine’s biggest private electricity producer, said it would reduce the electricity supply by 60 percent for its consumers in Kyiv as the national grid operator resumed regular emergency blackouts across the country.In Kherson city, which has lacked electricity and heat since Russian forces abandoned it earlier this month, regional Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said that 24 percent of customers now had electricity, including partial power in the city centre.

37m ago (10:03 GMT)Russia condemns Pope’s criticism of ‘special military operation’Russia’s envoy has expressed Moscow’s strong dissatisfaction with the Vatican following Pope Francis’ latest condemnation of the “cruelty” of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.Francis had told the Jesuit magazine America in an interview: “When I speak about Ukraine, I speak about the cruelty because I have much information about the cruelty of the troops that come in. Generally, the cruellest are perhaps those who are of Russia but are not of the Russian tradition, such as the Chechens, the Buryati and so on. Certainly, the one who invades is the Russian state. This is very clear.”