Russia-Ukraine war live: US state department calls on Congress to ‘act swiftly’ to resume flow of aid to Kyiv

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has warned that no one world-wide could be certain of escaping unscathed from Western machinations in 2024, Reuters has reported.

In a year-end interview released by the official Tass news agency, Lavrov said:

Storms continue in the world and one of the reasons is that the ruling circles in the West provoke crises thousands of kilometres from their borders in order to resolve their own issues at the expense of other peoples.

In extracts released ahead of full publication, Lavrov added:

It can be said that given conditions in which the West is clinging to the domination slipping away from it, no one can be protected against its geopolitical intrigues. There is a growing understanding of this.

Russia has lost 356,670 personnel since the beginning of the war until 28 December, according to Euromaiden Press.

Other losses include 5,940 tanks, 11,015 APVs, 8,391 artillery systems and 6,503 drones.

Ukraine’s air defence systems shot down seven out of eight Russia-launched Shahed drones overnight, the country’s air force said on Thursday.

Drones were downed in three central and southern regions, the air force said on the Telegram messenger,” according to a report by Reuters. It was not clear whether the drone that was not shot down reached its target.

The Russian Defence Ministry also said it thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack over Moscow-occupied Crimea overnight.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

Finland will be the first country to suffer in the event of an escalation of tensions between Russia and NATO due to its proximity to the former, the RIA news agency cited a senior Russian diplomat as saying on Thursday.

Mikhail Ulyanov, permanent representative of Russia to international organisations in Vienna, told RIA:

They had lived calmly and in peace and suddenly ended up between Russia and NATO as a member of that alliance, but since they are our neighbours, if, God forbid there is some escalation, they will be the first to suffer.

The US Congress should “act swiftly” to renew the flow of aid to Ukraine, the state department has said, after the White House announced what it said was the last remaining package of weapons available under the existing authorisation.

“It is imperative that Congress act swiftly, as soon as possible, to advance our national security interests by helping Ukraine defend itself and secure its future,” the state department said in a statement, adding that the year’s final package included air-defence and artillery munitions.

President Joe Biden has made backing Ukraine a priority and US weapons and financial assistance have been crucial in helping the pro-western country battle against a far larger attacking Russian force.

However, right-wing Republicans have led a push to halt the effort, refusing to authorise new budget outlays if the Democrats don’t first agree to sweeping, tough new measures against illegal migration over the US southern border.

Democrats in the Senate, where they hold a narrow majority, tried to push Republicans in December for a last-minute deal, but with little progress the two parties left for the end-of-year holidays.

Congress reconvenes on 8 January.

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

The US has announced a fresh package of arms to Ukraine, worth up to $250m. The package comes amid growing Republican opposition to continued financial support for Kyiv.

With many Republicans demanding concessions on US border security as a condition for renewing a larger $61bn of aid for Ukraine, the US state department has urged Congress to act to pass a bill that will allow more equipment to flow unimpeded.

More on that shortly – first, here’s some of the day’s other main headlines.

• The war in 2024 “must be different from 2023”, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces has said. “Otherwise we will face what I wrote about in the article [the Economist]”, said Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi. “Unfortunately, I must state that the enemy is not far behind us. In recent days, we have had a powerful confrontation applying modern technologies. But we do not spare efforts. My main mistake was that I thought that the amount of losses we inflicted on the enemy would stop anyone. But not the Russian Federation.”

• Zaluzhnyi, giving a press conference, said Ukrainian troops remained on a defensive line in the northern part of Maryinka. “But I can say that this settlement no longer exists. The [Russian] method is the same as it was in Bakhmut. Street by street, block by block are destroyed. The fact that we have now moved to the outskirts of Maryinka, and in some places equipped positions beyond Maryinka, seems to me to be nothing that can cause a public outcry.”

• “As for the conduct of hostilities around Avdiivka,” he continued, “there is no need to dwell on it and make a show of it. The conduct of hostilities is subject to the laws of war, and they are not subject to what politicians or journalists want. The enemy now has the opportunity to concentrate forces; they can do to the city in two or three months what they have done to Bakhmut.”

• Two people were killed in Russian drone attacks on Odesa, according to figures from the Odesa oblast governor, Oleh Kiper. A 17-year-old was among the wounded and remained in hospital.

• The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, held talks in Moscow with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and said progress had been made on plans for Russia and India to jointly produce military equipment. Jaishankar added that he expected Vladimir Putin and the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, to meet next year.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin must be stopped in his war against Ukraine or all of Europe will pay a much higher price, Moldova’s pro-European president, Maia Sandu, said in an interview published on Wednesday.