0724GMT//Putin hosts Witkoff and Kushner in the Kremlin; banned Russian street musicians reappear in Yerevan; Russian war casualties now at 1.15 million
UKRAINE PEACE NEGOTIATIONS: Vladimir Putin hosted Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump's chief negotiator, and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, for talks at the Kremlin. The talks lasted five hours. Yuri Ushakov, a top adviser to Putin, called the talks "useful and constructive". (COMMENT>> This was Witkoff's sixth trip to Moscow and Kushner's first. Kushner's presence feels significant. Photos showed Putin greeting the two Americans warmly. Russian media portrayed the meeting as the White House sending its top envoys to Putin's court. Ushakov said that some progress had been made in thrashing out a peace deal for Ukraine but that "more work was needed".)
STREET MUSICIANS REAPPEAR IN YEREVAN: Diana Loginova and her fiancé, Alexander Orlov, the two St Petersburg street musicians who were arrested in October for playing a banned song before being released, have reappeared in Yerevan. There, they performed a street song. (COMMENT>> The case of Loginova and Orlov became a cause celebre in Russia. Other street musicians openly supported them when they appeared trapped in a 'carousel detention' scenario. It was a surprise when the authorities released them. Other subversive street artists in Russia are still in prison. Some have died in police custody. Perhaps timing is important. With a potentially favourable peace deal in Ukraine now a possibility, the Kremlin may not have wanted to upset the US in any way.)
WAR CASUALTIES RISE: Russian casualties for its war in Ukraine are now more than 1.15 million, Nato has estimated. This is both dead and injured. It said that the casualty rate has increased to 1,100 per day in November as the Kremlin pushed to take more ground ahead of a peace plan. (COMMENT>> The numbers are staggering and will pose huge problems for Russian society further down the line. For context, Russians used to talk about the collective trauma of the Soviet Union's decade-long war in Afghanistan that killed or injured around 60,000 men. The war in Ukraine is of a far greater impact.)
SKIING READMITS RUSSIAN ATHLETES: A ruling by the Court of Sport Arbitration said that a ban on Russian skiers featuring under a neutral flag at the Winter Olympics was "illegal". The ruling will allow Russian and Belarusian skiers to feature in the Winter Olympics in Italy next year. (COMMENT>> Slowly, various sports are re-admitting Russians. These are propaganda wins for the Kremlin.)