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Four occupied regions of Ukraine that were “annexed” by the Russian Federation in late 2022 are expected to participate in Russia’s presidential election next year, after the date was set for 17 March.

Russia’s Federation council confirmed the date this morning, with Ella Pamfilova, head of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, saying a decision will be made by 12 December on whether occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson will take part. The four internationally recognised Ukrainian territories already participated in Russian regional elections in 2023.

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Vladimir Putin will make a one-day trip to both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia tomorrow, the Kremlin said.

The Russian president will hold talks focusing on bilateral relations, the war between Israel and Hamas and other international issues, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. Issues related to oil price caps will also be on the agenda, Peskov said. The Cop28 climate summit is taking place in Dubai in the UAE, but the Kremlin did not specify whether Putin would attend any related events.

On a snowy road next to Poland, Ukrainian lorry driver Vitaliy Zemyenko pondered the long journey ahead. It would take him nine hours to get through the Medyka border crossing. Over on the other side he would drop off a consignment of vodka. The problem was getting back.

“At the moment it’s taking a minimum of eight days to re-enter Ukraine,” he said. “That’s the best case scenario. Worst case is two weeks. This is a terrible situation”. The Poles, he added, wanted to stop Ukrainian drivers from operating in the European Union. “They don’t want us,” he said.