Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “a weak Russia and a defeated Russia are not beneficial,” so he believes that China is not seeking an end to the Russian-Ukrainian war.
“Of course, China is a strong country with a strong economy, and most importantly in our case, it has influence over Russia, personally over Putin. But with all due respect to the Chinese people, their history, and their culture, we must honestly say that I don’t see how ending this war would benefit China. Why? Because, I think we have read… the new US (security) doctrine… These are two great powers, great economies, and this is a great confrontation. This does not mean that it is a war, it may be any diplomatic or economic confrontation – this is happening. And today, a weak Russia and a defeated Russia in this format is not beneficial to China.
And because of this, honestly, the Ukrainian people are suffering,“ Zelensky said, responding to a question from journalists on WhatsApp on Monday.
Zelensky added that if ”it is not beneficial for China to stop Russia, it means that the war will continue.”
“This does not mean that China directly supports Russia with weapons, but it certainly does not support stopping this war. That is final. Plus, there are various reports from our intelligence services about the supply of machine tools and other items from China to Russia, but I have not been informed of any direct supplies of weapons,” Zelensky said.
Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises increased pig iron production by 10.2% in January-November this year compared to the same period last year, reaching 7.188 million tons.
According to the Ukrmetallurgprom association, 704,300 tons of pig iron were produced in November, which is an increase compared to October.
According to preliminary data, Ukrainian metallurgical companies increased their total rolled steel production by 3.9% in January-November this year compared to the same period last year, from 5.741 million tons to 5.966 million tons.
According to information from the Ukrmetallurgprom association on Monday, steel production during this period fell by 3.1% to 6.813 million tons. In November, 589,100 tons of rolled steel and 641,100 tons of steel were produced.
For more information on the largest steel producers and global industry trends, see the Experts Club video analysis review available on YouTube: Experts Club — Leaders of the global steel industry 1990–2024
The Ministry of Finance added euro-denominated domestic government bonds maturing on May 6, 2027, to the primary auction on Tuesday, December 9.
According to the updated placement calendar, the rest of Tuesday’s auctions remain unchanged: traditional offers of four issues of government bonds in hryvnia – 1.1 years, 1.7 years, 2.5 years, and 3.1 years, as well as 1.5-year dollar-denominated government bonds.
On November 18, the Ministry of Finance already held an unscheduled auction for the placement of OVDPs in euros, for which a total of EUR 6.7 million in bids were submitted for EUR 100 million, and the cut-off rate remained at 3.25%.
As for dollar-denominated government bonds, last Tuesday the Ministry of Finance refused to put them up for sale, and at the last auction on November 25, it was able to attract $121.2 million for offers of $200 million, but at the same time lowered the cut-off rate from 4.05% to 4.02%, and the weighted average rate from 4.01% to 3.98%.
As for hryvnia bonds, their placement rates have remained unchanged since April this year: 16.35% for 13-month securities, 17.1% for 19-month securities, 17.5% for 28-month securities, and 17.8% for 36-month securities per annum.
According to the updated placement calendar, there are currently no offers for either currency OVDPs or benchmark OVDPs, which banks can use to partially form reserves, at the last two auctions on December 16 and 23.
Total foreign trade in dairy products in November amounted to $54.7 million, up 3.3% from October ($53 million), according to the Ukrainian Dairy Industry Association (UDIA).
The industry association noted that export volumes in November continued to grow for the second month in a row and amounted to $23.84 million, adding 12.7% compared to October ($21.16 million) and 15.4% compared to September ($20.7 million).
At the same time, the value structure of exports in November 2025 was as follows: condensed milk and cream – 37%, cheese – 25%, butter – 21%. The value structure of exports in November 2025 compared to November 2024 changed slightly: the share of milk and condensed cream increased (from 30% to 37%) against the backdrop of a decrease in the share of cheese (from 32% to 25%).
Imports in November amounted to $30.9 million, down 2.9% from October ($31.8 million) and 2.2% from September ($31.6 million). In November 2025 compared to November 2024, the value structure of imports did not change significantly, in particular, the share of all types of cheese remained at about 84%.
The export-import balance in November was negative (-$7.0 million), as it was in October (-$10.6 million) and September (-$10.9 million), the association noted.
The ratio of exports to imports was 0.77 in November, 0.67 in October, and 0.65 in September.
Imports of dairy products in November this year exceeded exports by 1.3 times, the SMU summarized.
Copper prices on Monday updated the historical maximum on fears of a supply shortage in the global market. Quotes of three-month futures for copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) by 13:25 Q1 rose by 0.3% to $11,653 per ton. At the same time during the session they rose to a record $11,771 per ton.
“Supply shortages continue to provoke panic buying,” The Wall Street Journal quoted analysts at ANZ Research as saying.
The market has been pressured this year by a series of problems at major oilfields. In addition, the build-up of stocks in the U.S. because of fears of the introduction of the authorities of the country in the next year of duties on imports of refined copper increases the risk of shortages in other regions.
Prices are also supported by the promise of the Chinese authorities to strengthen support for the economy to stimulate domestic consumption through a “more proactive” fiscal policy and the preservation of “moderately soft” monetary policy, analysts say ANZ Research.
Earlier, the information and analytical center Experts Club released a video dedicated to global copper production and the leading producing countries – https://youtube.com/shorts/_h8iU50z8C0?si=a-XkgGEfeUxseQNa.
