Russia meets to discuss special military operation, Ukraine urged to negotiate

Russian President Putin and military generals met to discuss a special military operation. Ukrainian President Zelensky admitted being urged to negotiate.

According to RT, on December 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with military commanders and generals to discuss upcoming plans for a special military campaign.

Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting with senior generals. Photo: TASS

"I will listen to the opinions of the commanders of each service. Please propose our action plan in the short and medium term," Mr. Putin said at the meeting.

Images released by the Kremlin showed the meeting was attended by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Commander of Russian forces in Ukraine Sergey Surovikin. The specific contents of this meeting were not released to the media.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Commander of Russian forces in Ukraine Sergey Surovikin. Photo: TASS

On December 16, President Putin spent a day at the Russian General Staff Headquarters. Here, the Kremlin leader listened to reports on the progress of the special operation and inspected the work of unit commanders.

President Zelensky admits being urged to negotiate

According to TASS, on December 17, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had an interview with French TV channel LCI. He admitted being urged to negotiate with Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: AP

"There are people who have urged me to negotiate. But I have nothing to discuss with Moscow," Mr. Zelensky said.

Also in the interview, President Zelensky said that there were no special prospects from the meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin. "I don't think they will make a difference," Mr. Zelensky commented.

New developments in the case of Polish police chief injured by Ukraine's gift

Polish prosecutors are investigating an “unintentional release of violent energy that threatened the lives or health of several people,” Reuters reported, citing a complaint that Polish police chief Jaroslaw Szymczyk was hospitalized after receiving a gift from Ukraine.

Polish media reported that among the gifts Mr. Szymczyk received was a grenade launcher. Mr. Szymczyk is said to have accidentally fired the weapon without checking its ammunition, a serious violation of safety regulations.

At present, representatives of the Polish police force and prosecutor's office have refused to comment further on this matter.