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France does not want to expropriate Russian assets held in its private banks — FT

French banks hold around 18 bln euros in Russian assets, which is the second-highest figure in Europe, the paper said

LONDON, December 8. /TASS/. France, which supported the provision of a reparations loan to Ukraine, refused to include in it funds frozen in the republic's private banks, the Financial Times (FT) newspaper wrote, citing sources.

Private credit institutions are subject to different contractual obligations than the Belgian depository Euroclear, according to the publication. An unnamed official stated that French banks are unwilling to participate in discussions regarding the possibility of transferring Russian assets to Kiev.

French banks hold around 18 bln euros in Russian assets, which is the second-highest figure in Europe, the paper said. Belgium, the leading holder of Russian assets, holds approximately 7 bln euros in private bank accounts. The names of banks are kept confidential.

Currently, around 210 bln euros in Russian sovereign assets are frozen in Europe. Of these, 185 bln euros are held in accounts at the Euroclear depository in Belgium. Neither the European Commission nor EU countries have officially announced the exact location of the remaining 25 bln euros.

Russian stocks up as main trading session opens

Meanwhile, the yuan exchange rate was up by 5 kopecks at 10.83 rubles

Russia to reduce list of restricted trades for women in 2027

Changes will apply to the spheres of transport and processing industry

Cambodia fires BM-21 rockets at Thai territory — army

The Royal Thai Army previously reported that one Thai soldier was killed and four others were wounded in clashes on the Thai-Cambodia border

UAV attack repelled in five districts of Rostov Region, power line pole damaged

Governor Yury Slyusar said that restoration work in the farms will begin in daylight hours

French politician says Zelensky, his allies reject peace as they fear to lose power

Florian Philippot said that efforts to negotiate a peace settlement are being stalled by the deep state, which is "adding tons of fuel to the fire"

Yan to receive $50,000 bonus from UFC for tournament's best fight

At UFC 323, Petr Yan defeated Georgia's Merab Dvalishvili by unanimous judges' decision and regained the UFC bantamweight championship belt

Thai military retaliate fire in self-defense on border with Cambodia — foreign ministry

According to earlier reports, two Thai soldiers were wounded in a 30-minute shootout on the border with Cambodia

Top Iranian diplomat to soon visit Russia for high-level talks — MFA

The Iranian Foreign Minister also plans to visit Belarus

New US national strategy signals readiness to discuss security architecture — Medvedev

The Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman noted that for the first time in many years, the US document refers to Russia not as a "threat" but as a participant in the dialogue on stability

IAEA experts to visit Japan to inspect water discharge from Fukushima-1 NPP

According to a statement released by the Japanese Foreign Ministry, the team will visit the country from December 15 to 19

Earthquake with magnitude of 5.8 occurred in Alaska — USGS

No information about injured people and damage was reported thus far

Attempted coup in Benin suppressed — news outlet

The rebels have been arrested and constitutional order has been restored

Polish PM fears ‘something has changed’ in EU-US relations

The updated US National Security Strategy expresses concern that Europe will be unrecognizable and on the verge of destruction as a civilization in 20 years

Firefighting efforts at Temryuk port continue for third day after Ukrainian drone attack

According to the Russian emergencies ministry’s Krasnodar Region department, firefighting efforts involve 35 men and 11 fire engines

Polish Foreign Minister suggests Musk going to Mars after call to disband EU

"There's no censorship of Nazi salutes there," Radoslaw Sikorski said

Ukrainian drone strike leaves civilian injured in Russia’s Belgorod Region

According to the regional crisis center, the man suffered multiple shrapnel injuries and was taken to the hospital

Cambodian Defense Ministry accuses Thailand of violating joint peace declaration

The Cambodian Defense Ministry strongly condemns those "brutal and inhumane" attacks as they seriously violate the Joint Declaration that Cambodia and Thailand signed on October 26, 2025

US armed forces learning lessons from conflict in Ukraine — Pentagon chief

The United States are studying the experience of using autonomous weapon, Pete Hegseth said

Poland asks Interpol to put two Ukrainians suspected of railway bombing on wanted list

They are talking about Alexander Kononov and Evgeny Ivanov

Russian diplomat slams Kiev regime as international corruption brigade

"Ukrainian patriots," Maria Zakharova said ironically, commenting on reports that senior Ukrainian government officials were involved in the corruption scheme along with businessmen

US to spend $800 million on support for Ukraine in 2026, 2027 — Pentagon budget draft

The document also obligates the Pentagon chief to report to the House of Representatives and Senate on the temporary suspension or cessation of intelligence provision to Ukraine

Lithuania 'playing' with drones for European money — top Belarusian diplomat

Maxim Ryzhenkov pointed out that the European Union is looking at allocating more than billion euro to help Lithuania fight Belarus and Russia’s alleged hybrid aggression

Diplomat sees Zelensky fighting against Ukrainian people, not Russia

Maria Zakharova pointed to Kiev’s silence regarding Ukraine refusing a thousand POWs

EU sets unrealistic rules to punish companies that reject censorship — Durov

In Telegram co-founder's words, the EU exclusively targets platforms that host inconvenient or dissenting speech

Servicemen seize power in Benin — news outlet

The servicemen also have announced the dissolution of all state authorities

Ukraine conflict likely to be resolved with Russian victory, US expert says

John Mearsheimer stressed that there’s nothing US President Donald Trump "can do to assuage Russian fears that any agreement Moscow reaches with Ukraine and the West will stick over time"

Putin’s visit to India clearly shows Russia not isolated — TV

"Signing of numerous contracts between Russia and India in different spheres during the visit is a kind of a demonstrative response to the Western pressure in late months," according to France 5

Seizure of frozen Russian assets could impact euro’s role as reserve currency — FT

Euro-denominated assets account for around 20% of foreign exchange reserves held by central banks worldwide, according to the publication

Nigerian air force strikes putschists in Benin — agency

The attack was greenlighted by Benin’s legitimate government

S-400 gets new features unusual for air defense systems — Almaz-Antey

Modernization potential of the S-400 Triumph air defense system allows it to quickly mitigate emerging threats during the special military operation

Putin underscores importance of Montreux Convention preservation to Erdogan

The Convention provides for free pass through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits only for trade ships and regulates the pass of non-Black Sea states’ military ships, seriously limiting their classes and displacement

End of conflict in Ukraine close — Kellogg

The issues of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant and the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic remain on the agenda, special envoy of the US president said

US fears reparations loan will undermine dollar’s status — economist

"The US is acting with restraint not because of sympathy for Russia, but because of concerns that asset confiscation would significantly undermine the status of the dollar and the euro as reserve currencies," Nikolay Gaponenko said

RDIF CEO gives tips on how to make Europe great again

"To resolve EU-made problems: uncontrolled migration, rising crime, de-industrialization, punishing energy prices, accelerating economic decline and ubiqutious censorship," Kirill Dmitriev said

US not going to change status quo in Taiwan issue — Hegseth

"Our interests in the Indo-Pacific are significant, but also scoped and reasonable," war secretary said

Russian cosmonaut Ryzhikov hands over command of ISS and its Russian segment

He has handed over the command of the station to NASA astronaut Michael Fincke and the command of the station’s Russian segment to Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov

Kiev forces lost nearly 3,900 soldiers, mercenaries in a week along LPR borders — expert

The greatest losses in manpower were inflicted on the enemy in the zone of responsibility of the Battlegroup West

Communist Party leader supports Putin’s web camera initiative

The leader of Russia’s Communist Party, Gennady Zyuganov

UN Security Council will hold a meeting on Ukraine on December 9

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. local time

Odessa Appeals Court adjourns hearing of extradition of Putin’s suspected assailant

The court said the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office must supply documents to prove the identity of the 31-year-old Chechen Adam Osmayev

Press review: US proposed four-part Ukraine plan as EU eyes expropriating Russian assets

Top stories from the Russian press on Friday, December 5th

Malaysia ready to help de-escalate situation on Thai-Cambodian border — PM

Anwar Ibrahim noted that "the renewed fighting risks unravelling the careful work that has gone into stabilizing relations between the two neighbors"

China demands Japan stop slandering actions of PLA Navy — spokesman

These incidents occurred amid a sharp deterioration in relations after Japanese Prime Minister said a potential military crisis in Taiwan could pose an "existential threat"

US needs to cut off all military support to Ukraine, former White House advisor says

Steve Bannon pointed out that it would be highly difficult to implement Washington’s 28-point plan, as well as the United States’ plan to resolve the crisis in the Middle East

Russian national wins UFC bantamweight title

Petr Yan is the first Russian to regain the UFC championship title

Russian forces advancing toward Konstantinovka from one more direction — DPR head

In the Krasny Liman area, Russian forces are fighting near Yampole, Drobyshevo, Yarovaya, Alexandrovka, and Korovy Yar, Denis Pushilin said

Strikes paralyze operations of 26 wine houses in France

According to LCI data, 80% of employees of Ruinart and Moet & Chandon were on strike on Friday in the Champagne-Ardenne region

German parliament turns down two anti-Russian resolutions

A total of 455 lawmakers voted against the first resolution, and 77 supported it

Russian troops disrupt Ukrainian army reserves deployment to Khatneye — security official

According to the official, in the forest west of Liman, the enemy’s 225th separate assault regiment launched a failed counterattack against Russia’s Battlegroup North forces

EC hopes Germany, Italy, France will become guarantors for loan to Kiev — Politico

The publication reported that EU countries will be required to individually commit to providing billions of euros to guarantee Ukraine's 210 bln euros emergency loan

ECOWAS doesn’t rule out use of Standby Force to defend constitutional order in Benin

"ECOWAS strongly condemns this unconstitutional move that represents the subversion of the will of the people of Benin," it said in a statement

ECOWAS to send its Standby Force to Benin

The regional bloc did not say however which countries will participate in the mission

Ukrainian militants ordered to shoot retreating troops near Kupyansk — radio interception

This is evidenced by radio intercepts obtained by TASS

EU eyes seizing Russian money due to depletion of national resources — economist

"The goal is not simply to ‘take money away,’ but rather to establish a sustainable financial flow for Ukraine", said Nikolay Gapenko

Benin’s rebel leader in hiding — news portal

According to the Actualites 229 news portal, 13 rebels who took part in the TV company building’s seizure have been arrested but Pascal Tigri and several other officers managed to escape

France does not want to expropriate Russian assets held in its private banks — FT

French banks hold around 18 bln euros in Russian assets, which is the second-highest figure in Europe, the paper said

Tucker Carlson hopes to visit Russia again

He also noted that the trip to Moscow left a strong impression on him

Legitimate authorities regain control of situation in Benin — news agency

It was a small group of rebels who had access to television, a source told the agency

Trump says he is a bit disappointed that Zelensky has not read the draft peace deal yet

The US leader also noted that Vladimir Zelensky's people loved the US government's proposal

Massive strikes launched on Ukraine in response to drone attack on Grozny — Chechen leader

According to him, more than 60 targets across Ukraine were hit overnight

Unjust fine on X confirms prospects for Europe’s ‘civilizational erasure’ — RDIF CEO

"EU’s viscous censorship machine and the unjust fine against X once again prove Trump’s National Security Strategy warning about Europe’s ‘stark prospect of civilizational erasure’," Kirill Dmitriev said

Ukraine loses around 1,450 troops in special military operation area in past 24 hours

The Russian military launched a massive strike using the Kinzhal missile systems against Ukrainian military-industrial complex enterprises and energy facilities in response to Kiev’s terrorist attacks in Ukraine

Russian, Ukrainian foreign ministers meet for talks in Moscow

The Ministers agreed to intensify negotiations to resolve the Azov-Kerch water area issue with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable solution

Trump believes Russia is fine with the US plan for Ukraine

Washington proposed a 28-point plan for settling the conflict in Ukraine

Putin concludes two-day state visit to India

The Russian president held a series of bilateral talks with Indian officials, took part in the Russia-India Business Forum, and laid a wreath at the Mahatma Gandhi memorial

Strains between US, EU beneficial for Russia — Medvedev

"The Americans continue taming the crazed European Union," The Russian Security Council Chairman wrote

Hungary to challenge ban on Russian oil, gas with EU court next week — top diplomat

"This dictation will make it impossible to ensure reliable energy supplies to our country and Slovakia and will provoke a dramatic price hike," Peter Szijjarto said

Kiev forces stepped up efforts in Krasny Liman direction last week — expert

Military expert Andrey Marochko emphasized that active combat operations continued along the western borders of the Lugansk People’s Republic

Russian army’s successes make Putin-Witkoff meeting more productive — Kremlin aide

Yury Ushakov pointed to US President Donald Trump's words to Vladimir Zelensky that he could have obtained more favorable terms in February, but Ukraine's position is now deteriorating

Cambodian military again opened fire on the border with Thailand — army

Civilians are being evacuated from the border area

Air defense forces shot down 67 Ukrainian UAVs over Russian regions overnight

24 of them were destroyed over the Bryansk region

No one wants to share responsibility for seizing Russian assets with Belgium — Kremlin

Belgium opposes the European Commission’s plan for the expropriation of Russian sovereign assets blocked in Europe under the guise of a so-called "reparations loan" to Ukraine, being afraid of Russia’s potential response

Russia's main New Year's tree to be cut down outside Moscow on Monday

It will be shipped to the capital on December 10

Royal Thai Air Force carried out airstrikes on Cambodian armed forces positions

According to the statement released by the Royal Thai Air Force, the operation was carried out in response to Cambodia's military actions that posed a direct threat to Thailand's national security

US to prevent deployment of adversaries’ weapons in Western Hemisphere — Hegseth

The US uses such dominance " to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region," Pete Hegseth said

Russian security official to visit Vietnam, Laos, meet with leaders — press service

Sergey Shoigu will also visit some defense industry facilities, the press service reported

EU sees US as ally despite criticism in National Security Strategy — Kallas

The updated US National Security Strategy expresses, among other things, the concern that Europe will become unrecognizable in 20 years and is on the verge of destruction as a civilization due to the subversive policies of the leadership of the European Union and other supranational structures

Disappearance of 'Russian threat' from US national security strategy positive — Kremlin

The messages for Russia-US relations sent by the administration of US President Donald Trump differs from approaches of previous administrations, the Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted

X deleted European Commission’s ad account after being fined by it

X believes everyone should have an equal voice on its platform, however, it seems European Commission believes that the rules should not apply to its account, Head of Product at X Nikita Bier said

Russian troops destroy Ukraine vehicles, stronghold in Zaporozhye

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the enemy was using the vehicles to covertly transport personnel to Gulyaipole to reinforce positions in the locality

FSB publishes declassified data on Nazi collaborators who took refuge in Canada

The documents reveal that the war criminals were from the Belarusian, Ukrainian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Estonian Soviet Socialist Republics, as well as the Kirov and Smolensk Regions

Attempted coup in Benin suppressed, all its foci mopped up — President

Patrice Talon stressed that the authorities have complete control of the situation throughout the country

Bank of Russia lifts limits on foreign currency transfers abroad for Russian citizens

As the Central Bank explained, the decision to lift the limit is due to the stable situation on the foreign exchange market

Putin’s potential meeting with Trump was not discussed at meeting with Witkoff — aide

Russia and the US "have managed to make progress in the context of a better understanding of each other’s positions," Yury Ushakov said

Russia urges US to refrain from escalating conflict with Venezuela — senior diplomat

Sergey Ryabkov noted that Moscow views the situation around Venezuela with great alarm and concern

Lavrov says Savchenko will be headache for Ukraine

The foreign minister considers handing the ex-servicewoman over to Kiev the right decision as Moscow had to bring back its citizens sentenced on terrorism charges in Ukraine

International Court of Justice ready to assess Kiev's crimes — Russian Foreign Ministry

The West's hopes of using "legal weapons" against Russia have once again failed, the ministry said

Ukrainian military sites to be hit soon in retaliation for strike on Grozny — Kadyrov

According to Chechen leader, the attack on high-rise buildings makes absolutely no sense from the tactical point of view

Conflict in Ukraine entering its decisive phase — Bloomberg

European leaders are deeply concerned about US attempts to broker a deal they see as a capitulation of the West, according to the report

Israel to retain control of security in West Bank — Netanyahu

The issue of the political annexation of the West Bank is still subject to discussion, the Israeli prime minister said

Press review: President Putin begins India state-visit while EU mulls Military Schengen

Top stories from the Russian press on Thursday, December 4th

Bombs with power of 13 kilos of trotyle found in Russia’s Kabardino-Balkaria

An active accomplice of bandits was detained in the search operation and gave confessing testimony

Putin ratifies agreement on naval base in Syria’s Tartus

Russia will be able to deploy up to 11 warships to the facility

Slovak President Pellegrini put on Ukraine’s undesirable persons database

According to the website, Peter Pellegrini, a "Russian agent of influence in the European Union countries," was put on the database for "denying Ukraine’s sovereign right to defense"

Qatar Energy head expresses bewilderment at EU's decision to phase out Russian gas by 2027

Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi noted that ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods recently announced his intention to withdraw the company from Europe

Russian forces destroy French-made Crotale missile system in Kursk Region

According to Akhmat Special Forces Commander Major General Apty Alaudinov, it costs €8.9 million

Medvedev supports Musk’s call to abolish EU

"Exactly," the senior Russian security official commented on Musk’s post on X

Russia can receive unlimited number of Indian specialists — first deputy PM

Denis Manturov confirmed that the labor mobility agreement was signed during the Russian-Indian summit in New Delhi

EU, G7 to completely ban transportation of Russian oil on Western ships — Reuters

Representatives of the US and UK are actively promoting this idea at G7 technical meetings, sources told the agency

Head of Spiritual Board of Russia’s Muslims put on Ukraine’s undesirable persons database

Access to Ukraine’s Mirotvorets extremist website is blocked in Russia by court order

Von der Leyen, Merz fail to convince Belgian PM to authorize seizure of Russian assets

"We agreed to continue our discussions with the aim of reaching a consensus at the European Council meeting on December 18," European Commission President said