The Russian Foreign Ministry warned against a direct clash with Washington, and said that there is no negotiation on security guarantees without recognizing the reality that Russia has defined in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army announced that 150 Russian soldiers were killed in the bombing of a Russian airport in Kakhovka, Kherson.

On the political level, the director of the North American Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexander Darchiev, confirmed that there will be no serious negotiation on security guarantees without recognizing the reality on the ground that Russia has determined.

Darchiev said - in a statement to the Russian news agency Tass - that it is too early to start any serious negotiations on security guarantees with regard to Ukraine and the Euro-Atlantic region "before the pumping of weapons to the (Volodymyr) Zelensky regime stops and the military, mercenaries and trainers of America and NATO (NATO) are withdrawn." And before the reality on the ground determined by Russia is recognized.”

Darchiev pointed out that a year ago Moscow made what he described as a fair attempt to agree, as it put on the table two draft legally binding documents on security guarantees by the United States and NATO.

He added that the special military operation was an emergency measure that thwarted the scenario of extermination of the Russians on the former Ukrainian lands, as he put it.

He stressed that in these circumstances, Moscow has no confidence in the United States and the West in general.

The Russian diplomat expressed Moscow's hope that Washington would listen to the voice of reason and not push things towards a direct clash between Russia and the United States.

Darchiev accused the United States of having launched a machine to destroy bilateral relations with Russia, explaining that Moscow does not intend to sever them on its own initiative, but will not tolerate deliberate provocations that leave it no other choice, he said.

In turn, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to achieve all his country's goals in Ukraine, and said that all conflicts end with diplomacy, accusing Washington of seeking to prolong the war.

After a visit described as historic by the Ukrainian president to the United States, during which military aid was announced to Ukraine, including Patriot missile systems, Putin confirmed that the system is old and less efficient than the Russian S-300 system, and pledged to destroy it if it was transferred to Ukraine.

Putin stressed that Russia wants to end the war and is ready to negotiate, but the Ukrainian leadership prevented itself from negotiating, he said.


Oil embargo

In another context, the Russian news agency TASS quoted - today, Friday - Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, as saying that Russia may reduce its oil production by between 5 and 7% in early 2023, while responding to the imposition of maximum limits on the prices of its crude and oil products by stopping Sales to countries that support those borders.

The agency also quoted Novak as saying that the cuts could range between 500,000 and 700,000 barrels per day, revealing for the first time details of the Russian response to the price ceiling imposed by the West on Moscow because of the war on Ukraine.

The European Union, the G7 countries and Australia imposed a ceiling on the price of Russian oil of $ 60 a barrel, which took effect on December 5.

This came in addition to the ban imposed by the European Union on imports of Russian crude oil transported by sea, and pledges from the United States, Canada, Japan and Britain to take similar action.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he would issue a decree within the next week detailing Moscow's response to the price cap.


Dozens of Russian soldiers were killed

On the field level, the Ukrainian army announced the death of 150 Russian soldiers and the wounding of 50 others in the bombing of its forces on a Russian airfield in Kakhovka, Kherson.

Yesterday, the Ukrainian army announced that it had fully regained control of the city of Bakhmut, in the east of the country, and said that the city was under intense missile bombardment after the Russian forces were expelled.

The Ukrainian General Staff said that its forces repelled Russian attacks on its positions in the city, and succeeded in expelling the Russian forces and Wagner forces outside the borders of the industrial zone.

On the other hand, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that its forces are continuing to advance in the Donetsk axis, and that they have eliminated about 50 Ukrainian soldiers, and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has inspected the positions of the Russian forces in the area of ​​the military operation for Ukraine.

The Russian Chief of Staff, Valery Gerasimov, said - in a press conference in front of the foreign military attaches in Moscow - that the Russian forces had hit more than 1,300 vital targets in Ukraine, since the beginning of the military operation last February.