Closing summary
The time in Kyiv is 11.15pm. Here is a round-up of all the day’s news stories:
Joe Biden has visited Kyiv, defying threats of Russian missile attacks, as Ukraine prepares to mark the sombre anniversary of last year’s full-scale Russian invasion. The US president, closely surrounded by a large security detail, was escorted by his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on a walkabout around central Kyiv as air sirens could be heard.
Biden announced a new package of additional US weapons supplies to Ukraine worth $500m (£415m) including artillery ammunition, anti-armour systems, and air surveillance radars. The timing of his visit to Kyiv – before a planned address by Vladimir Putin – was seen as a deliberate rebuke of the Russian president.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he and Biden spoke about “long-range weapons and the weapons that may still be supplied to Ukraine, even though it wasn’t supplied before”. But he did not detail any new commitments.
Biden’s visit to Kyiv came as EU foreign ministers met in Brussels. The 27-nation bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said the EU needs to ensure that Ukraine has enough ammunition to continue its fight against the Russian invasion. “It is the most urgent issue. If we fail on that, the result of the war is in danger. The Russian artillery shoots about 50,000 shots a day, and Ukraine needs to be at the same level of capacity. They have cannons but they lack ammunition.”
Fighting continues in the east of Ukraine and Russia regularly carries out missile attacks beyond the frontlines. Russian troops reportedly shelled the Kharkiv region three times on Monday morning: two people were injured, a woman may be under the rubble of a private residential building.
Russia probably lacks the reserves to dramatically increase the scale or intensity of its offensive in Luhansk this winter, the Institute for the Study of War has said in its latest intelligence update. The US thinktank added that Russian forces likely secured small gains in the northern suburbs of Bakhmut and in its eastern outskirts.
Russia will claim that Bakhmut has been captured to align with the anniversary, regardless of the reality on the ground, the UK Ministry of Defence has claimed. Russian forces are likely under increasing political pressure as the anniversary of the invasion draws near, the latest British intelligence report says.
The head of the Russian mercenary Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has acknowledged a “major problem” with ammunition supplies for his fighters, accusing Russian officials of deliberately denying his fighters sufficient ammunition. In an emotional seven-minute-long audio message published on his official Telegram channel, he said he was required to “apologise and obey” to someone “high up” who he has a “difficult relationship with” in order to secure ammunition.
Belarus’s authoritarian president has said the ex-Soviet nation will form a new territorial defence force amid the fighting in neighbouring Ukraine. Alexander Lukashenko has cultivated close military ties with Russia, which used Belarusian territory to send troops into Ukraine nearly a year ago at the start of what the Kremlin calls its “special military operation”, the Associated Press reported.
Japan will pledge a new £4.6bn financial aid package for Ukraine, the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has announced. Kishida, speaking at a global forum in Tokyo, also said he would mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by hosting an online Group of Seven (G7) summit with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Zelenskiy has warned that there will be a “world war” if China decides to support Russia in its war on Ukraine. Speaking ahead of a visit by China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, to Moscow today, Zelenskiy said Kyiv would like Beijing “to be on our side” in an interview with Die Welt. “If China allies itself with Russia, there will be a world war, and I do think that China is aware of that,” he said.
The Kremlin has confirmed a visit by China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, to Moscow today. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, has told Washington to keep out of its relationship with Moscow, after the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, warned against Beijing providing material support to Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour.
Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, has said she told Chinese diplomats that Beijing is “responsible for world peace” and must not ship any weapons to Russia. Baerbock, speaking to journalists in Brussels today, said she had raised the issue during the Munich Security Conference last week.
The Kremlin has described Russia’s relations with Moldova as “very tense” and accused its leaders of pursuing an “anti-Russian” agenda. Moldova’s parliament last week approved the formation of a new pro-western government led by the new prime minister, Dorin Recean, who has vowed to pursue a pro-European path and also called for the demilitarisation of the breakaway region of Transnistria in the east of Moldova. The Moldovan president, Maia Sandu, has accused Moscow of plotting to topple the country’s leadership, stop it joining the EU and use it in the war against Ukraine.
Russia has been trying to gain intelligence to sabotage critical infrastructure in the Dutch part of the North Sea, according to the Dutch intelligence agency MIVD. A Russian ship was detected at an offshore windfarm in the North Sea as it tried to map out energy infrastructure, before being escorted by Dutch marine and coast guard ships before any sabotage effort could become successful, MIVD head, Gen Jan Swillens, said.
Russia poses a clear military threat in Sweden’s immediate area but its forces are largely tied up in the war in Ukraine, the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service (Must) has said. Lena Hallin, head of Must, also said she expected Russia to strengthen its military capability in Sweden’s immediate area when it was possible, in response to Sweden and Finland applying for Nato membership.
The United Kingdom will continue to support a continuing ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes in international sporting events, including at next year’s Olympics, the culture secretary, Lucy Frazer, has said. The International Olympic Committee announced last month that it was “exploring a pathway” for athletes from the two nations to compete as neutrals in qualification events for the Paris Games having called on federations to exclude them following the invasion of Ukraine, the first anniversary of which is this week.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed the Ukraine live blog for today. Thanks for following along. Goodnight.
The United Kingdom will continue to support a continuing ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes in international sporting events, including at next year’s Olympics, the culture secretary, Lucy Frazer, has said.
The International Olympic Committee announced last month that it was “exploring a pathway” for athletes from the two nations to compete as neutrals in qualification events for the Paris Games having called on federations to exclude them following the invasion of Ukraine, the first anniversary of which is this week.
But more than 30 nations, including the UK, the United States, France and Germany, have pledged their support for the ban to stay in place while the war continues.
Frazer, who chaired a meeting earlier this month of ministers from countries united in wanting the ban to remain, believes the IOC’s plans are “not credible” and has urged the governing body to reconsider its position.
“We agree that [Russia’s president, Vladimir] Putin cannot use sport to legitimise his actions on the world stage,” Frazer said in a statement. “This coalition of nations has supported Ukraine on multiple fronts and we will continue to do so.
Today we are setting out our serious concerns with the International Olympic Committee’s plans which could see a route back into elite athletics for Russia and Belarus. Any plans to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in Paris are not credible.
“With the prospect of tanks from the United Kingdom, United States and European partners arriving in Ukraine over the coming weeks, and President [Volodymyr] Zelensky [of Ukraine] expressing serious concerns that a spring offensive by Russia is imminent, we urge the IOC to reconsider its position.”
Reuters reporters at the railway station in the southern Polish town of Przemysl saw rows of vehicles, some with US number plates, awaiting the arrival of Biden’s train, which pulled in at about 7.45pm GMT.
Biden could be seen getting off the train in footage from private broadcaster TVN24.
Shortly afterwards the motorcade left the railway station.
US president Biden is in Poland, says Polish deputy minister
US president Joe Biden is in Poland, state-run news agency PAP cited Polish deputy foreign minister Piotr Wawrzyk as saying this evening.
Earlier in the day Biden walked around the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on an unannounced visit, promising to stand with Ukraine as long as it takes, on a trip timed to upstage the Kremlin ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
Belarus’s authoritarian president has said the ex-Soviet nation will form a new territorial defence force amid the fighting in neighbouring Ukraine.
Alexander Lukashenko has cultivated close military ties with Russia, which used Belarusian territory to send troops into Ukraine nearly a year ago at the start of what the Kremlin calls its “special military operation”, the Associated Press reported.
Moscow also has maintained about 10,000 troops in Belarus and the two countries have regularly conducted joint drills as part of their military alliance.
Speaking during a meeting with officials on Monday, Lukashenko said the country needs to form paramilitary units in every town or village to serve as territorial defence to complement the country’s 45,000 military “in case of aggression”.
He added that every Belarusian man must learn how to handle weapons “to protect his family and home” if needed.
Defence minister Viktor Khrenin said Belarus will form a force of up to 150,000 volunteers who will be given weapons but keep their civilian jobs.
He noted that its members will form a military reserve in peacetime and could act as guerrillas in case of war.
The former British prime minister Boris Johnson has backed immediate assistance for Ukraine.
He told the House of Commons:
We said we would come to their aid in the event of an attack. Now is the time finally to do what we can to honour that promise.
The Ukrainians are not just fighting for their freedom, but for the cause of freedom around the world. We should give them what they need, not next month, not next year, but now.
He added:
With the right kit, including more long-range artillery they can punch through the land bridge, cut off Crimea and deal a knockout blow to Putin’s plans, and they should not stop there.
It is time for us all to end our obfuscation about what we think of as a Ukrainian victory and what we think of as Ukraine.
The Ukrainians need to be helped to restore not just the borders of 24 February last year, but the 1991 borders on which they voted for independence.
Summary of the day so far
It’s 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
Joe Biden has visited Kyiv, defying threats of Russian missile attacks, as Ukraine prepares to mark the sombre anniversary of last year’s full-scale Russian invasion. The US president, closely surrounded by a large security detail, was escorted by his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on a walkabout around central Kyiv as air sirens could be heard.
Biden announced a new package of additional US weapons supplies to Ukraine worth $500m (£415m) including artillery ammunition, anti-armour systems, and air surveillance radars. The timing of his visit to Kyiv – before a planned address by Vladimir Putin – was seen as a deliberate rebuke of the Russian president.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he and Biden spoke about “long-range weapons and the weapons that may still be supplied to Ukraine, even though it wasn’t supplied before”. But he did not detail any new commitments.
Biden’s visit to Kyiv came as EU foreign ministers met in Brussels. The 27-nation bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said the EU needs to ensure that Ukraine has enough ammunition to continue its fight against the Russian invasion. “It is the most urgent issue. If we fail on that, the result of the war is in danger. The Russian artillery shoots about 50,000 shots a day, and Ukraine needs to be at the same level of capacity. They have cannons but they lack ammunition.”
Fighting continues in the east of Ukraine and Russia regularly carries out missile attacks beyond the frontlines. Russian troops reportedly shelled the Kharkiv region three times on Monday morning: two people were injured, a woman may be under the rubble of a private residential building.
Russia probably lacks the reserves to dramatically increase the scale or intensity of its offensive in Luhansk this winter, the Institute for the Study of War has said in its latest intelligence update. The US thinktank added that Russian forces likely secured small gains in the northern suburbs of Bakhmut and in its eastern outskirts.
Russia will claim that Bakhmut has been captured to align with the anniversary, regardless of the reality on the ground, the UK Ministry of Defence has claimed. Russian forces are likely under increasing political pressure as the anniversary of the invasion draws near, the latest British intelligence report says.
The head of the Russian mercenary Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has acknowledged a “major problem” with ammunition supplies for his fighters, accusing Russian officials of deliberately denying his fighters sufficient ammunition. In an emotional seven-minute-long audio message published on his official Telegram channel, he said he was required to “apologise and obey” to someone “high up” who he has a “difficult relationship with” in order to secure ammunition
Japan will pledge a new £4.6bn financial aid package for Ukraine, the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has announced. Kishida, speaking at a global forum in Tokyo, also said he would mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by hosting an online Group of Seven (G7) summit with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Zelenskiy has warned that there will be a “world war” if China decides to support Russia in its war on Ukraine. Speaking ahead of a visit by China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, to Moscow today, Zelenskiy said Kyiv would like Beijing “to be on our side” in an interview with Die Welt. “If China allies itself with Russia, there will be a world war, and I do think that China is aware of that,” he said.
The Kremlin has confirmed a visit by China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, to Moscow today. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, has told Washington to keep out of its relationship with Moscow, after the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, warned against Beijing providing material support to Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour.
Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, has said she told Chinese diplomats that Beijing is “responsible for world peace” and must not ship any weapons to Russia. Baerbock, speaking to journalists in Brussels today, said she had raised the issue during the Munich Security Conference last week.
The Kremlin has described Russia’s relations with Moldova as “very tense” and accused its leaders of pursuing an “anti-Russian” agenda. Moldova’s parliament last week approved the formation of a new pro-western government led by the new prime minister, Dorin Recean, who has vowed to pursue a pro-European path and also called for the demilitarisation of the breakaway region of Transnistria in the east of Moldova. The Moldovan president, Maia Sandu, has accused Moscow of plotting to topple the country’s leadership, stop it joining the EU and use it in the war against Ukraine.
Russia has been trying to gain intelligence to sabotage critical infrastructure in the Dutch part of the North Sea, according to the Dutch intelligence agency MIVD. A Russian ship was detected at an offshore windfarm in the North Sea as it tried to map out energy infrastructure, before being escorted by Dutch marine and coast guard ships before any sabotage effort could become successful, MIVD head, Gen Jan Swillens, said.
Russia poses a clear military threat in Sweden’s immediate area but its forces are largely tied up in the war in Ukraine, the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service (Must) has said. Lena Hallin, head of Must, also said she expected Russia to strengthen its military capability in Sweden’s immediate area when it was possible, in response to Sweden and Finland applying for Nato membership.
More than 30 countries, including the US, Britain and France, have pledged their support for banning Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in international sporting events, a statement from the UK government has said.
Updated
More than 30 countries, including the US, Britain and France, have pledged their support for banning Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in international sporting events, a statement from the UK government has said.
The statement comes after ministers from 35 countries attended an online meeting earlier this month to discuss the banning Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has opened the door for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals, arguing that its inclusion of Russians and Belarusians is based on a UN resolution against discrimination within the Olympic movement.
But in the statement published today, the group of 30 countries said there are “serious concerns about how feasible it is for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete on a neutral basis given they are directly funded and supported by their state”.
It continues:
There are clear concerns over the strong links and affiliations between Russian athletes and the Russian military.
The UK and more than 30 like-minded nations have pledged their ongoing support for a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes competing in international sporting competitions as long as the war in Ukraine continues
— Department for Culture, Media and Sport (@DCMS) February 20, 2023
More info 🔽https://t.co/IzgsSo4GSI pic.twitter.com/nAPUwDiwnF
Germany warns China not to supply weapons to Russia
Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, has said she told Chinese diplomats that Beijing is “responsible for world peace” and must not ship any weapons to Russia.
Baerbock, speaking to journalists in Brussels today, said she had raised the issue during the Munich Security Conference last week.
She said:
I made it clear that China in particular, as a member of the Security Council, is responsible for world peace in the situation we are currently experiencing with the Russian war of aggression, which is also a breach of international law.
Her remarks came after the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, on Saturday said China may be about to provide lethal aid to help Russia in the war in Ukraine.
In response, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the US was “in no position to make demands of China”.
Britain’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly, said the UK would provide “more advanced capabilities across land, across sea, and across air” to Ukraine.
Cleverly, speaking in the House of Commons, said:
In 2023 we shall, at very least, match the £2.3bn of military aid we gave last year. And we shall add more advanced capabilities across land, across sea, and across air.
Former prime minister Boris Johnson has also been speaking in the Commons, where he called for the UK and western allies to send the military equipment Ukraine says it needs, from anti-tank missiles to Himars missiles.
It is “crucial” that the west accelerates its support for Ukraine and gives them “the tools to finish the job”, Johnson said, warning that Vladimir Putin will “twist his knife in the wound” and “bide his time” until he can attack again unless he is “purged” from Ukrainian territory.
There is no conceivable grounds for delay in getting [the weapons] to Ukraine. We need those machines – Abrams, Challengers, Leopards – to make a real difference in real-time in the next few weeks, not next year.
Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, has also posted to social media about his meeting with International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief, Kristalina Georgieva.
Shmyhal said he hoped to clinch a multi-year support programme of at least $15bn for Ukraine, following talks in Kyiv with Georgieva.
At a meeting with @KGeorgieva and @IMFnews team in Kyiv today, we discussed mechanisms of financial support to 🇺🇦. We've achieved success in implementing the monitoring program. Now we expect to launch a new long-term program of more than $15 billion. Grateful for your support. pic.twitter.com/ccV6dIP22R
— Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) February 20, 2023
Joe Biden wasn’t the only high-profile figure to travel to Kyiv to meet Volodymyr Zelenskiy today.
The Ukrainian president also welcomed the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, in the Ukrainian capital, Zelenskiy posted to Telegram.
He wrote:
The IMF’s support creates an opportunity for Ukraine to remain strong. It is also a weapon - an economic weapon that allows us, our society, and our business to develop.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also met today with Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. pic.twitter.com/bHMFLYE0Ud
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) February 20, 2023
The street lights are back on in central Kyiv, my colleague Isobel Koshiw writes.
The street lights are back on in central Kyiv! pic.twitter.com/p6qAcFNApL
— Isobel Koshiw (@IKoshiw) February 20, 2023
EU member countries should approve the latest package of sanctions against Russia “in the next hours”, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has said.
Borrell, speaking to reporters, said:
It is going to be approved in the next hours, in the next hours. Before the 24th (of February) in any case.
The proposed 10th package of sanctions, estimated to be worth some €11bn in trade flows, is designed to make financing the war more difficult and starve Russia of parts needed to build arms for the front.
The measures, which still require the unanimous approval of all EU states, would target four more Russian banks, imports from Russia, including rubber, and exports to Russia including heavy vehicles, among others.
They would also punish individuals linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards over the production of drones used against Ukraine, and restrict EU sales of satellite data to China.
Here are some more of the images we have been sent over the news wires of Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv today.
The Ukrainian military will be “ready” to respond to any possible “provocative actions” by Moscow around the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s air force command said.
Ukraine’s air force is “on stand-by 24/7, our job is to be ready at all times”, Yurii Ihnat told CNN, without elaborating on any possible specific threats.
After a week of freezing temperatures, Kyiv woke on Monday morning to a perfect blue sky.
Spring had arrived. And so had someone else.
The centre of the Ukrainian capital with its cobbled streets and ethereal gold-domed churches was mysteriously closed off. The main Zhytomyr Avenue – the route in from the west of the country – was shut too. Even the trains were late.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion a year ago numerous foreign leaders have come to Kyiv to meet Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. But Monday’s security measures were unprecedented. As videos circulated of a vast cavalcade of vehicles speeding through the centre of the city the rumours reached fever pitch. Could they be true? Sometime after breakfast it turned out they were – Joe Biden was in town, dropping by for an extraordinary visit.
It wasn’t immediately clear how the US president had reached Kyiv, arriving at 8am local time. It is a city without a functioning airport. A seasoned traveller on Amtrak, he appears to have got there by train. Since last autumn Russian warplanes have fired ballistic missiles at the capital, in an attempt to destroy its infrastructure and to immiserate its citizens. Nobody quite knows where the next bomb will fall, or when.
A decision to go to Ukraine was made only on Friday, after a huddle of top officials in the Oval Office, the White House said. The visit was meticulously planned. The Biden administration informed Moscow about the trip a few hours after the president took off early on Sunday from Andrews air force base in Maryland. The Russians were briefed for “deconfliction reasons”, officials in Washington said.
Whatever the long route to Kyiv, the images on Monday morning told their own remarkable story.
Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has said Vladimir Putin is “destroying our future” just to make “our country look bigger on the map”.
In a series of posts on his Twitter feed, which is maintained by his associates as he serves an 11 1/2 prison sentence, Navalny said Russia had hit “rock bottom” and that its troops had committed war crimes in Ukraine.
“Tens of thousands of innocent Ukrainians have been murdered and pain and suffering have befallen millions more” because of Putin’s “desire to hold on to power at any cost”, he said.
He is desperately trying to make this a "people's war," seeking to turn all Russian citizens into his accomplices, but his attempts are failing. There are almost no volunteers for this war, so Putin's army has to rely on convicts and forcibly mobilized people.
— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) February 20, 2023
He wrote:
The combination of aggressive warfare, corruption, inept generals, weak economy, and heroism and high motivation of the defending forces can only result in defeat.
Russia must “leave Ukraine alone”, he continued. “Stop the aggression, end the war and withdraw all of its troops from Ukraine.”
Wagner boss says he had to ‘apologise and obey’ for ammunition
The head of the Russian mercenary Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has acknowledged a “major problem” with ammunition supplies for his fighters, accusing Russian officials of deliberately denying his fighters sufficient ammunition.
“This is a major problem,” Prigozhin said in an emotional seven-minute-long audio message published on his official Telegram channel.
He said he was required to “apologise and obey” to someone “high up” who he has a “difficult relationship with” in order to secure ammunition for his fighters. Speaking at times with a raised voice and occasionally swearing, he said:
I’m unable to solve this problem despite all my connections and contacts.
Russia’s military production was now sufficient to supply the forces fighting at the front, he said, claiming the supply difficulties his fighters were experiencing were the result of conscious decisions.
Prigozhin said the unspecified individuals he blamed for the shortage of ammunition were “eating breakfast, lunch and dinner off golden plates” and sending their relatives on holiday to Dubai, a popular destination for the Russian elite.
Those who interfere with us trying to win this war are absolutely, directly working for the enemy.
It is not possible to independently verify Prigozhin’s claims.
The EU should use its full economic and legal force to punish those who enable the evasion of sanctions against Russia, Dutch foreign minister Wopke Hoekstra has said.
Hoekstra, speaking at the College of Europe in Bruges, said the EU should use its collective economic strength and criminal justice systems to prevent the measures being circumvented.
The EU should set up a “sanctions headquarters” in Brussels where countries can pool their information and resources in the fight against such evasion, he said.
This new HQ would establish a watch list of sectors and trade flows with a high circumvention risk. Companies will be obliged to include end-use clauses in their contracts, so that their products don’t end up in the Russian war machine.
Summary of the day so far
It’s 6pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
Joe Biden has visited Kyiv, defying threats of Russian missile attacks, as Ukraine prepares to mark the sombre anniversary of last year’s full-scale Russian invasion. The US president, closely surrounded by a large security detail, was escorted by his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on a walkabout around central Kyiv as air sirens could be heard.
Biden announced a new package of additional US weapons supplies to Ukraine worth $500m (£415m) including artillery ammunition, anti-armour systems, and air surveillance radars. The timing of his visit to Kyiv – before a planned address by Vladimir Putin – was seen as a deliberate rebuke of the Russian president.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he and Biden spoke about “long-range weapons and the weapons that may still be supplied to Ukraine, even though it wasn’t supplied before”. But he did not detail any new commitments.
Biden’s visit to Kyiv came as EU foreign ministers met in Brussels. The 27-nation bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said the EU needs to ensure that Ukraine has enough ammunition to continue its fight against the Russian invasion. “It is the most urgent issue. If we fail on that, the result of the war is in danger. The Russian artillery shoots about 50,000 shots a day, and Ukraine needs to be at the same level of capacity. They have cannons but they lack ammunition.”
Fighting continues in the east of Ukraine and Russia regularly carries out missile attacks beyond the frontlines. Russian troops reportedly shelled the Kharkiv region three times on Monday morning: two people were injured, a woman may be under the rubble of a private residential building.
Russia probably lacks the reserves to dramatically increase the scale or intensity of its offensive in Luhansk this winter, the Institute for the Study of War has said in its latest intelligence update. The US thinktank added that Russian forces likely secured small gains in the northern suburbs of Bakhmut and in its eastern outskirts.
Russia will claim that Bakhmut has been captured to align with the anniversary, regardless of the reality on the ground, the UK Ministry of Defence has claimed. Russian forces are likely under increasing political pressure as the anniversary of the invasion draws near, the latest British intelligence report says.
Japan will pledge a new £4.6bn financial aid package for Ukraine, the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has announced. Kishida, speaking at a global forum in Tokyo, also said he would mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by hosting an online Group of Seven (G7) summit with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Zelenskiy has warned that there will be a “world war” if China decides to support Russia in its war on Ukraine. Speaking ahead of a visit by China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, to Moscow today, Zelenskiy said Kyiv would like Beijing “to be on our side” in an interview with Die Welt. “If China allies itself with Russia, there will be a world war, and I do think that China is aware of that,” he said.
The Kremlin has confirmed a visit by China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, to Moscow today. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, has told Washington to keep out of its relationship with Moscow, after the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, warned against Beijing providing material support to Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour.
The Kremlin has described Russia’s relations with Moldova as “very tense” and accused its leaders of pursuing an “anti-Russian” agenda. Moldova’s parliament last week approved the formation of a new pro-western government led by the new prime minister, Dorin Recean, who has vowed to pursue a pro-European path and also called for the demilitarisation of the breakaway region of Transnistria in the east of Moldova. The Moldovan president, Maia Sandu, has accused Moscow of plotting to topple the country’s leadership, stop it joining the EU and use it in the war against Ukraine.
Russia has been trying to gain intelligence to sabotage critical infrastructure in the Dutch part of the North Sea, according to the Dutch intelligence agency MIVD. A Russian ship was detected at an offshore windfarm in the North Sea as it tried to map out energy infrastructure, before being escorted by Dutch marine and coast guard ships before any sabotage effort could become successful, MIVD head, Gen Jan Swillens, said.
Russia poses a clear military threat in Sweden’s immediate area but its forces are largely tied up in the war in Ukraine, the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service (Must) has said. Lena Hallin, head of Must, also said she expected Russia to strengthen its military capability in Sweden’s immediate area when it was possible, in response to Sweden and Finland applying for Nato membership.
Good afternoon from London. I’m Léonie Chao-Fong and I’m here to bring you all the latest developments from the Russia-Ukraine war. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskiy embraced after laying wreaths at a memorial wall for fallen soldiers, during the US president’s visit to Ukraine earlier today.
Biden got a brief first-hand taste of the terror that Ukrainians have lived with for close to a year as air raid sirens sounded over the city.
Russian state media is reporting that six Russian servicemen were killed in a bunker in the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine.
Citing emergency services, state-owned Tass news agency writes that the fire occurred near the village of Ulanok, less than 10km (6 miles) from Ukraine’s northeastern border.
Seven servicemen were inside the bunker at the time of the incident, emergency services said. Six died while a seventh person was injured.
Russia says relations with Moldova ‘very tense’
The Kremlin has described Russia’s relations with Moldova as “very tense” and accused its leaders of pursuing an “anti-Russian” agenda.
Moldova’s parliament last week approved the formation of a new pro-western government led by the new prime minister, Dorin Recean, after the previous administration resigned en masse amid a series of crises in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The new administration has vowed to pursue a pro-European path and also called for the demilitarisation of Transnistria, a breakaway region in the east of Moldova where 1,500 Russian soldiers are stationed region.
During his regular briefing with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was acting “responsibly” with regard to peacekeeping forces it has stationed in the breakaway region and warned Moldova against inflaming the situation further.
He said:
Our relations with Moldova are already very tense. The leadership always focuses on everything anti-Russian, they are slipping into anti-Russian hysteria.
The Moldovan president, Maia Sandu, has accused Russia of trying to destabilise Moldova and has accused Moscow of plotting to topple the country’s leadership, stop it joining the EU and use it in the war against Ukraine.
Sandu’s comments came after Moldova’s intelligence service reported that it had identified “subversive activities”, after Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Kyiv had intercepted a “plan for the destruction of Moldova” by Russian intelligence.
Updated
Russia poses a clear military threat in Sweden’s immediate area but its forces are largely tied up in the war in Ukraine, the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service (Must) said on Monday.
“The European security order as we know it has ceased to exist … and with that the risks for Swedish security have also increased,” Reuters reports Lena Hallin, head of Must, told a news conference.
Hallin also said she expected Russia to strengthen its military capability in Sweden’s immediate area when it was possible, in response to Sweden and Finland applying for Nato membership.
She said that Must judged that Russia wants to avoid current tensions escalating into an armed conflict with Nato.
“But there is considerable uncertainty, mainly relating to the Russian leaderships’ willingness to take high risks,” she said, adding that the high level of tension raised risks that accident or misjudgment could lead to conflict.
Dmitry Medvedev, outspoken long-term ally of Vladimir Putin, and currently deputy chair of the Security Council of Russia, has posted to Telegram his view of Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv. Medvedev, who was formerly president and prime minister of the Russian Federation, writes:
Biden, having received security guarantees, finally went to Kyiv. He promised a lot of weapons and swore allegiance to the neo-Nazi regime to the grave. And of course, there were mutual invocations about the victory that would come with new weapons and a courageous people.
Medvedev went on to say “and here it is important to note that the west really delivers weapons and money to Kyiv quite regularly. In huge quantities, allowing the military-industrial complex of Nato countries to earn money” and, he implies, siphon some of the weapons off to sell to “terrorists around the world.”
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Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has posted some more images of US president Joe Biden’s trip to Kyiv on his Telegram channel, with the message “The democratic world will win this historic battle. Ukraine will win.”
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King Charles III has visited Ukrainian troops being trained in Wiltshire in the south-west of England. As well as the recruits, the monarch met instructors from a variety of nations, including New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Lithuania, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland. The king was accompanied by Gen Sir Patrick Sanders, the chief of general staff.
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Members of Germany’s ruling Social Democratic party (SPD) have expressed scepticism about the country meeting the Nato goal of members spending 2% of its economic output on defence, after the new German defence minister said he wanted to meet the target as soon as possible.
Boris Pistorius, who took over the defence post this January, said last week that 2% “is not enough” and should be seen as the “floor” rather than an upper limit of Nato members’ defence spending plans. In 2022 Germany spent around 1.7% of its GDP on defence.
Pistorius has taken a notably more hawkish rhetorical stance than the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, telling the Munich Security Conference over the weekend that Ukraine must win the war if Russian aggression is to be curbed in the long run. Scholz has in the past notably avoided that same phrasing, instead insisting that “Russia must not win this war”.
In an interview on Monday, however, the SPD’s co-leader Saskia Esken appeared to try to reign in her freshly appointed party colleague, questioning whether tying defence spending to GDP was “the right way”. “Ten billion euros [more] is a lot of money,” Esken told newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).
The coalition government’s other projects, such as setting Germany on renewable energy tracks, expanding its digital networks and tackling child poverty, also needed to be considered in the next budget, she said.
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Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, has been speaking more about what Biden hoped to get out of the trip, and it sounds like keeping the US and Ukraine very much on the same page was key.
“Coming over, the president was very focused on making sure that he made the most of his time on the ground, which he knew was going to be limited,” Sullivan told reporters.
So he was quite focused on how he was going to approach his conversation with President Zelenskiy and how the two of them were really going to look out over the course of 2023, and try to come to a common understanding of what the objectives are.
The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, has been describing Biden’s conversations with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
They spent time talking about the coming months in terms of the battlefield, what Ukraine needs, the capabilities to be able to succeed on the battlefield. They talked about Ukraine’s needs in terms of energy, infrastructure, economic support, humanitarian needs, and they also talked about the political side of this, including the upcoming UN General Assembly session on Ukraine, as well as Ukraine’s peace formula and Ukraine’s efforts to rally international support for a just and sustainable and durable peace built on the principles of the UN Charter, chief among them sovereignty and territorial integrity.
On the question of whether Biden and Zelenskiy had spoken about particular weapons systems, particularly F16 fighter jets, that might be provided to Ukraine, Sullivan was opaque.
The national security adviser said:
I think the two presidents both laid out their perspectives on a number of different capabilities that have been thrown around in the press, both recently and over the course of several months, and I will leave it at that.
President Joe Biden paid tribute to his Ukrainian counterpart’s “courage and leadership” in a message written in the guestbook at Mariinsky Palace.
Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s vice prime minister for restoration, tweeted a photograph of Biden’s message which reads:
I am honored to be welcomed again in Kyiv to stand in solidarity and friendship with the freedom loving people of Ukraine. Mr President, please accept my deepest respect for your courage and leadership. Slava Ukraini! Joe Biden.
🇺🇦🇺🇸Grateful for support, Mr.Biden! It’s a great honor ti welcome @POTUS to Kyiv! 🇺🇦🇺🇸
— Oleksandr Kubrakov (@OlKubrakov) February 20, 2023
@USAmbKyiv#StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/C1OC6FKmjW
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Russian state-owned Rossiya 24 news channel has launched a countdown until Vladimir Putin’s address to Russia’s federal assembly tomorrow.
Valerie Hopkins writes in the the New York Times that some analysts have said that Joe Biden’s trip to Ukraine today has raised the stakes, and that the Russian president may make additional edits to his speech to “make it even tougher”.
Rossiya 24 has started a countdown for Putin’s address tomorrow. Some analysts are saying Biden’s trip to Kyiv has raised the stakes, and Putin may make additional edits to his speech to “make it even tougher.” (@Stanovaya) pic.twitter.com/aOiiK8b0C0
— Valerie Hopkins (@VALERIEinNYT) February 20, 2023
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Jonathan Finer, the deputy national security adviser, has been giving some details about Biden’s trip, saying it has been months in the making and finally green-lighted on Friday after a huddle of top officials in the Oval Office.
Finer did not confirm Biden’s mode of transport, however. We are told that and further logistical details will be provided once it is safe to do so.
“The travelling party accompanying the president was extremely small, consisting basically of a handful of his closest aides, a small medical team, a photographer and the security package,” Finer said.
This visit was meticulously planned over a period of months involving several offices in the White House: the chief of staff’s office, the White House military office, as well as a small number of colleagues from the Pentagon, Secret Service, and of course, the intelligence community which offered threat assessments on the visit.
“Only a handful of people in each of these buildings were involved in the planning for operational security reasons,” Finer said.
The president was fully briefed on each stage of the plan and then made the final go or no go decision after a huddle in the Oval Office, and by phone with some key members of his national security cabinet, on Friday.
Obviously, this was all worked very closely between the White House and the highest levels of the Ukrainian government, who have become quite adept at hosting high level visitors. Although not one quite like this.
Russia has been trying to gain intelligence to sabotage critical infrastructure in the Dutch part of the North Sea, according to the Dutch intelligence agency MIVD.
A Russian ship was detected at an offshore windfarm in the North Sea as it tried to map out energy infrastructure, Reuters is reporting MIVD head, Gen Jan Swillens, as saying at a news conference.
The ship was escorted out of the North Sea by Dutch marine and coast guard ships before any sabotage effort could become successful, he said.
He said:
We saw in recent months Russian actors tried to uncover how the energy system works in the North Sea. It is the first time we have seen this.
Russia is mapping how our wind parks in the North Sea function. They are very interested in how they could sabotage the energy infrastructure.
Critical offshore infrastructure such as internet cables, gas pipes and windmill farms has become the target of Russian sabotage activities, a joint report by Dutch intelligence agencies MIVD and AIVD said.
Russia is “secretly charting this infrastructure and is undertaking activities which indicate preparations for disruption and sabotage”, they warned.
Covert threats by Russia to water and energy supplies in the Netherlands were also conceivable, they added.
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Biden visit 'unprecedented in modern times', says US national security adviser
The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said Biden’s visit to Kyiv was “unprecedented in modern times” on the grounds that it was the first time a US president had visited “the capital of the country at war where the United States military does not control the critical infrastructure”.
That, White House officials are saying, is the distinction between this trip and previous presidential visits to Afghanistan and Iraq. In those countries, there was a massive US military presence, but there is none in Ukraine, and a minimal diplomatic presence too.
“That required a security operational logistical effort from professionals across the US government to take what was an inherently risky undertaking and make it a manageable level of risk,” Sullivan said.
But of course, there was still risk and is still risk in an endeavour like this, and President Biden felt that it was important to make this trip because of the critical juncture that we find ourselves at as we approach the one year anniversary of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine.
White House officials said that Biden finally gave the go-ahead for the trip on Friday after receiving a final security briefing.
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The US told Russia that Joe Biden was going to Kyiv a few hours before his departure, the White House has said.
It is still not providing details on how Biden and his small team got there until they say it is safe to do so, suggesting that the president and his entourage are still in the country, although they have left Kyiv.
“We did notify the Russians that President Biden will be traveling to Kyiv,” the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said.
We did so some hours before his departure for deconfliction purposes, and because of the sensitive nature of those communications I won’t get into how they responded or what the precise nature of our message was, but I can confirm that we provided that notice.
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Kremlin confirms high-level visit from China as Zelenskiy warns of 'world war'
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned that there will be a “world war” if China decides to support Russia in its war on Ukraine.
Speaking ahead of a visit by China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, to Moscow today, Zelenskiy said Kyiv would like Beijing “to be on our side” in an interview with Die Welt.
He said:
For us, it is important that China does not support the Russian Federation in this war. In fact, I would like it to be on our side. At the moment, however, I don’t think it’s possible.
He added:
But I do see an opportunity for China to make a pragmatic assessment of what is happening here. Because if China allies itself with Russia, there will be a world war, and I do think that China is aware of that.
His comments came as the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, told Washington to keep out of its relationship with Moscow.
Responding to a warning by the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, against Beijing providing material support to Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour, Wang said:
The United States is in no position to make demands of China.
China’s “comprehensive collaborative partnership” with Russia was based on “non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third parties”, he said, adding that it was “a matter within the sovereignty of two independent countries”.
He added:
We will never accept the US pointing fingers at Sino-Russian relations or even coercing us.
The Kremlin has confirmed the planned visit by Yi to Moscow but gave no date for the trip. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters:
We don’t rule out a meeting between Mr Wang and the president [Putin]. The agenda is clear and very extensive, so there is lots to talk about.
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Here’s a clip of US president Joe Biden’s joint press conference with Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv earlier today.
Japan will pledge a new £4.6bn financial aid package for Ukraine, the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has announced.
Kishida, speaking at a global forum in Tokyo, also said he would mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by hosting an online Group of Seven (G7) summit with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
As the chair of the G7 summit this year, Japan is preparing to host the meeting online on 24 February. It will be the first time Kishida has hosted a G7 summit.
Japan has joined the EU and US in sanctioning Russia over its invasion and providing humanitarian and economic support for Ukraine.
Speaking on Monday, Kishida said Japan was quick to react because of “strong concern that Ukraine may be tomorrow’s East Asia”.
Updated
Here are some more of the images we have been sent over the news wires of Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv.
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Joe Biden has left Kyiv, according to reporters travelling with him.
The US leader spent more than five hours in the Ukrainian capital, meeting Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the Mariinsky Palace, honouring Ukraine’s fallen soldiers and meeting with US embassy staff.
Updated
Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, will take part in a virtual meeting of Group of Seven (G7) leaders on Friday, the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a government spokesperson has said.
Scholz is also scheduled to meet Joe Biden in the US on 3 March, Steffen Hebestreit confirmed.
Asked whether the visit had been scheduled so that Berlin and Washington could coordinate on further arms deliveries to Ukraine, Hebestreit said those talks were “continuous” and not the subject of Scholz’s visit.
Hebestreit, speaking during a press conference, also said the US president’s visit to Ukraine today was a “good signal” but declined to provide further comment.
Olena Hedaniyivna, a retired humanities teacher who was nearby when Zelenskiy and Biden left Mikhailivskyi Cathedral in Kyiv, said she only had “positive” emotions towards Biden’s visit and that Ukrainians were “happy for the support”.
Asked if she thought it would influence the anticipated speech by Russian president Vladimir Putin, scheduled for tomorrow, she said:
No, everything in his mind is of his own making. He’ll do whatever he wants.
Metropolitan Lavrentyi or Lawrence, a senior priest in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, said he greeted Biden this morning together with Metropolitan Epifanyi, the leader of the Ukrainian church, at Mikhailivskyi Cathedral in Kyiv.
Metropolitan Lavrentyi said Biden wished that US support would continue and that America was convinced Ukraine would win.
He declared his wish and certainty that the US would continue to support Ukraine in all respects. Together with Zelenskiy, he said they don’t just hope, they believe in Ukraine’s victory. They are convinced it will happen.
He said Biden was in a good mood and the sirens started just as he was exiting the church.
He was very welcoming. He was joking about. He said to me ‘Father you can smile’, probably because I was looking serious.
Lavrentyi said they were told there would be a high-level foreign delegation but they did not know who it would be.
Lavrentyi told Biden the history of the cathedral which was rebuilt after being destroyed by the Soviets.
He looked around the church and said a few words about the fact that he is close to the church, a believer and has a religious education.
Updated
We have a clip of the US president, Joe Biden, walking through Kyiv with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Biden also met Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, as his motorcade arrived at Mariinsky Palace.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said Biden’s trip to Kyiv clearly signalled to Vladimir Putin that “no one is afraid of you”.
In a statement, Kuleba said:
This visit is the victory of the Ukrainian people and President Zelenskiy. It has been conducted in spite of everything for the sake of Ukraine’s victory and all the free world. It is a clear signal to the swamp – no one is afraid of you!
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Biden: Americans stand with Ukraine, the world stands with Ukraine
Speaking alongside Volodymyr Zelenskiy at Mariinsky Palace, Joe Biden recalled the fears nearly a year ago that Russia’s invasion forces might quickly take the Ukrainian capital.
“One year later, Kyiv stands,” Biden said.
Ukraine stands. Democracy stands. The Americans stand with you, and the world stands with you.
He warned that the “brutal and unjust war” is far from won, and that there will be “very difficult days and weeks and years ahead”.
But Vladimir Putin’s “war of conquest is failing”, the US president said. He said the Russian leader counted on the world not sticking together, “but he’s just been plain wrong”.
One year later, the evidence is right here in this room. We stand here together.
Biden pledged long-term support for Ukraine, saying that “freedom is priceless. It’s worth fighting for for as long as it takes. And that’s how we’re going to be with you.”
Zelenskiy: Talks with Biden ‘very fruitful’
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said his negotiations with his US counterpart, Joe Biden, were “very fruitful” during a joint press conference in Kyiv.
The Ukrainian leader described Biden’s visit to Ukraine as “the most important visit of the whole history of US-Ukraine relations” which underlines “the results we have already achieved” and the “historic achievements we might gain together with the whole world”.
He thanked the US president personally as well as Congress and the American people, ahead of the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The result of this visit will “surely have a reflection on the battlefield”, Zelenskiy said, adding that he and Biden discussed long-range weapons and the weapons “that may still be supplied to Ukraine”.
“Ukraine is grateful to you, Mr President,” Zelenskiy said.
Hello everyone. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong here, taking over the live blog from Martin Belam. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
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The Kremlin did not immediately make any comment on Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv on Monday, although the trip is expected to be viewed in the Kremlin as the latest confirmation that Moscow is fighting not just against Ukraine but against the collective west led by Washington as well.
“I don’t think the Russians would be surprised,” said Tatiana Stanovaya, the founder of R.Politik, a political analysis firm.
It will be for them another proof that Washington has unambiguously chosen its camp... It’s a proof of total disruption with Russia, confirmation that now the West bets on the strategic defeat of Putin.
Biden’s visit comes one day before Vladimir Putin is scheduled to give a state of the nation address that could bring a further Russian escalation in the war.
“I am expecting that tomorrow Putin may be extremely hawkish with the West in his annual address,” she said.
Without any official comment, Russian state television gave circumspect reports on Biden’s visit.
“Zelensky is in wild delight -- he’s just published his first photos on social media with Biden from Kyiv,” said a host on the Russian political talk show 60 Minutes on state-run television, adding reports on new promises of military aid to Ukraine. “It’s the genuine Joe Biden in Ukraine. On your screens now.”
A political commentator quickly suggested that the visit was a “good start to Biden’s reelection campaign.”
But some Russian pro-war commentators on Telegram used Biden’s visit as an opportunity to launch a careful attack on Putin for failing to visit the warzone.
“Look, there are two grandpas,” wrote Zastavny, a pro-war Russian blog with more than 110,000 subscribers.
One of them is old, has all the signs of Alzheimer’s, dementia, and nighttime urination, the whole world makes fun of him. The other grandpa looks very good, has a spring in his step, speaks well, thinks clearly, and has the widely accepted reputation of a strong and brave leader.
But only one of [the leaders] has actually come to Kyiv. And the other one [Putin] didn’t go to Donetsk, he still hasn’t gone.
Summary of the day so far …
Joe Biden has arrived in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, defying threats of Russian missile attacks, to announce significant additional US weapons supplies, as Ukraine prepares to mark the sombre anniversary of last year’s full-scale Russian invasion.
The US president, closely surrounded by a large security detail, was escorted by his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodomyr Zelenskiy, on a walkabout around central Kyiv as air sirens could be heard, confirming rumours of a visit that had been circulating during the morning.
Zelenskiy posted an image to Telegram of him together Biden, alongside the message “Joseph Biden, welcome to Kyiv! Your visit is an extremely important sign of support for all Ukrainians.”
In a brief public appearance, Zelenskiy spoke first, in English, thanking Americans for their support. He said that when the war started the first phone call of support he got was from the White House. Biden spoke second. He talked about it being important that the president of the US be here on the anniversary of the war, and said it’s critical that there not be any doubt, none whatsoever, about US support.
A statement issued by the White House to accompany the visit stated that the US “will announce another delivery of critical equipment, including artillery ammunition, anti-armor systems, and air surveillance radars to help protect the Ukrainian people from aerial bombardments. And that later this week, [the US] will announce additional sanctions against elites and companies that are trying to evade or backfill Russia’s war machine.”
The visit came as EU foreign ministers met in Brussels. The 27-nation bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said the EU needs to ensure that Ukraine has enough ammunition to continue its fight against the Russian invasion. “It is the most urgent issue. If we fail on that, the result of the war is in danger. The Russian artillery shoots about 50,000 shots a day, and Ukraine needs to be at the same level of capacity. They have cannons but they lack ammunition.”
Turkey is not exporting products that could be used in Russia’s war effort, foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Monday, after US warnings this month about exports of chemicals, microchips and other items.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Monday in Ankara that Washington strongly supports Sweden and Finland’s quick Nato accession. Turkey has been an obstacle to ratifying their membership.
China will never accept the US pointing fingers at Sino-Russia relations, the Chinese foreign ministry said at its regular news briefing on Monday. The comments came after Blinken suggested China may be ready to supply Russia with arms. China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, is expected in Moscow today.
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. I will be back later. Léonie Chao-Fong will be with you shortly.
During the public portion of Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv, Associated Press reports that Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he and Biden spoke about “long range weapons and the weapons that may still be supplied to Ukraine even though it wasn’t supplied before.” But he did not detail any new commitments.
The pair laid a wreath and held a moment of silence at the Wall of Remembrance honouring Ukrainian soldiers killed since 2014 during the visit.
A German government spokesperson welcomed US president Joe Biden’s trip to Ukraine on Monday. Steffen Hebestreit said during a government press conference that the visit was a “good signal,” but Reuters reports he declined to provide further comment.
Biden promises more arms for Ukraine on surprise visit to Kyiv
Isobel Koshiw and Peter Beaumont report for the Guardian from Kyiv:
Joe Biden has arrived in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, defying threats of Russian missile attacks, to announce significant additional US weapons supplies, as Ukraine prepares to mark the sombre anniversary of last year’s full-scale Russian invasion.
The US president, closely surrounded by a large security detail, was escorted by his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on a walkabout around central Kyiv as air sirens could be heard, confirming rumours of a visit that had been circulating during the morning.
A statement from the White House said Biden was in Kyiv to reaffirm America’s “unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity”.
“When Putin launched his invasion nearly one year ago, he thought Ukraine was weak and the west was divided,” the statement said. “He thought he could outlast us. But he was dead wrong.”
The White House said Biden will announce another delivery of equipment to Ukraine, including artillery ammunition, anti-armour systems, and air surveillance radars, and that later this week he will announce additional sanctions against companies linked to Russia’s war machine.
His trip came as EU foreign ministers met in Brussels to discuss jointly procuring ammunition to provide to Ukraine in its fight against Russia. “It is the most urgent issue. If we fail on that, the result of the war is in danger,” the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said before the meeting.
Updated
Peter Beaumont is in Kyiv for the Guardian:
According to a Jim La Porta of Rolling Stone magazine, who had become aware of the visit in advance and was asked to keep it under wraps, US president Joe Biden was presented with an “array of plan” for this Ukraine trip including a meeting between Biden and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, at the Polish-Ukrainian border or in the western city of Lviv.
Biden, however, reportedly insisted that he should visit the Ukrainian capital which became a symbol of resistance to the invasion during the battle of Kyiv in the early weeks of the war when Russia tried to take the city.
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Here are some more of the images we have been sent over the news wires of Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s public appearance in Kyiv this morning.
Nick Schifrin, who is foreign affairs and defence correspondent at PBS’s Newshour, has the White House media pool report on Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US president Joe Biden’s public words during their joint appearance in Kyiv. It reads:
President Zelenskiy spoke first, in English, thanking Americans for their support. He said that when the war started the first phone call of support he got was from the White House. President Biden spoke second. He talked about it being important that the president of the US be here on the anniversary of the war, and said it’s critical that there not be any doubt, none whatsoever, about US support. He said the Ukrainian people have stepped up in a way that no others have in the past. “For all the disagreement we have in our Congress on some issues, there is significant agreement on support for Ukraine. It’s not just about freedom in Ukraine, it’s about democracy at large.”
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Biden to announce more weapons for Ukraine, more sanctions, following Kyiv visit
The White House has issued a statement about Joe Biden’s visit to Ukraine this morning. It reads:
As the world prepares to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, I am in Kyiv today to meet with President Zelenskiy and reaffirm our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.
When Putin launched his invasion nearly one year ago, he thought Ukraine was weak and the west was divided. He thought he could outlast us. But he was dead wrong.
Today, in Kyiv, I am meeting with President Zelenskiy and his team for an extended discussion on our support for Ukraine. I will announce another delivery of critical equipment, including artillery ammunition, anti-armor systems, and air surveillance radars to help protect the Ukrainian people from aerial bombardments. And I will share that later this week, we will announce additional sanctions against elites and companies that are trying to evade or backfill Russia’s war machine. Over the last year, the US has built a coalition of nations from the Atlantic to the Pacific to help defend Ukraine with unprecedented military, economic, and humanitarian support – and that support will endure.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has posted an image to Telegram of him together with Joe Biden in Kyiv, alongside the message “Joseph Biden, welcome to Kyiv! Your visit is an extremely important sign of support for all Ukrainians.”
Updated
The New York Times is reporting that US president Joe Biden arrived in Kyiv following an hour-long train ride from the border with Poland. He has been walking in Ukraine’s capital alongside Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and the pair visited St Michael’s monastery as an air raid warning sounded across the city. The New York Times described the visit as “a demonstration of his administration’s resolve in the face of Russia’s yearlong invasion of the country”. It says:
The visit to Kyiv was conducted covertly because of security concerns, with Mr. Biden departing Washington without notice after he and his wife had a rare dinner out at a restaurant on Saturday night. Biden had already been publicly scheduled to arrive in Warsaw on Tuesday morning for a two-day visit, and officials had repeatedly denied that there were any other plans they could announce about a trip to Ukraine while he was there. Indeed, the White House on Sunday night issued a public schedule for Monday showing the president still in Washington and leaving in the evening for Warsaw, when in fact he was already half a world away.
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Here is one of the first images posted to social media of the US president, Joe Biden, walking in Kyiv.
It is confirmed! Joe Biden spotted in Kyiv this morning. This is a big deal and a historic visit of @POTUS
— Olga Tokariuk (@olgatokariuk) February 20, 2023
📷 @ukrpravda_news pic.twitter.com/BkRMfh6dEW
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US president Joe Biden arrives in Kyiv in surprise visit ahead of invasion anniversary
Joe Biden has arrived in Kyiv to meet Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The US president’s public itinerary had suggested he would be visiting Poland, but the US president has just arrived in Ukraine’s capital.
Biden’s here — on walkabout in central Kyiv. pic.twitter.com/l9uus74Dke
— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) February 20, 2023
More details soon …
Turkey is not exporting products that could be used in Russia’s war effort, foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Monday, after US warnings this month about exports of chemicals, microchips and other items.
“It is not true that we have exported to Russia products that can be used in the defence industry,” Reuters reports Çavuşoğlu said. “We asked the US to notify [us] if there are any violations on this issue.”
Speaking after meeting US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, in Ankara, Çavuşoğlu also said Turkey will not allow US and European sanctions to be violated in or via Turkey, and Ankara is taking steps to prevent it.
Western nations applied the export controls and sanctions after Moscow’s invasion nearly a year ago. Yet supply channels have remained open from Hong Kong, Turkey and other trading hubs.
Ankara has balanced its good ties with both Moscow and Kyiv throughout the war, held early talks between the sides and helped broker a deal for grain shipments from Ukraine.
Updated
An air raid warning has been declared across all of Ukraine. It comes amid rumours of a high-profile surprise foreign visit to the capital, Kyiv, – which some suspect could be the US president, Joe Biden, or vice-president, Kamala Harris, – and as a delegation from Israel’s Knesset are in Bucha visiting the site of a mass grave there.
Visiting #Bucha with @YuliEdelstein and @zeev_elkin pic.twitter.com/Fv6muVskoo
— Michael Brodsky (@michael_brodsk) February 20, 2023
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Here are some of the latest pictures sent to us over the news wires from Vuhledar in Ukraine.
The European Union needs to ensure that Ukraine has enough ammunition to continue its fight against the Russian invasion, the EU’s top diplomat said on Monday.
“It is the most urgent issue. If we fail on that, the result of the war is in danger,” Reuters reports Josep Borrell as saying before a meeting with foreign affairs ministers from the EU countries in Brussels.
“The Russian artillery shoots about 50,000 shots a day, and Ukraine needs to be at the same level of capacity. They have cannons but they lack ammunition.”
Updated
Journalist Olga Tokariuk sums up the rumours that are flying around about who may be visiting Kyiv today.
Speculations about the visit of some highest-ranking Western official to Kyiv today as roads in the centre of Ukrainian capital are closed to traffic and Ukrainian foreign minister cancels his trip to Brussels this morning. The US president Biden expected in Warsaw today 🤔
— Olga Tokariuk (@olgatokariuk) February 20, 2023
The US has been asking Ukraine to consolidate its gains and “perhaps launch its own counterstrike,” according to Politico citing US officials. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in his nightly address that he had met with Ukraine’s top generals on Sunday. “We are doing everything to prepare our moves – planning for the future, the near future,” said Zelenskiy.
Western officials and analysts say at present, Russia does not have the capabilities to launch a large-scale offensive or any offensive outside the current battles on the eastern Ukrainian front. Instead, it will continue to increase the intensity of the fighting in eastern Ukraine.
Talking to the War on the Rocks podcast on Saturday, military analyst Michael Koffman said that Russia’s new offensive started three weeks ago with its failed attack in Vuhledar. He said that while the current fighting which is concentrated in seven places in eastern Ukraine -Bakhmut, Belohorivka, Mariianka, Avdiivka, Kupiansk, Kremmina and Vuhledar – may grow in intensity, it will not grow in scope until, and if, Russia conducts a second wave of mobilisation.
Koffman said Russia was using the estimated 150,000 reserves it kept back from its October mobilisation drive to replenish and boost its ongoing offensive in eastern Ukraine.
“At this stage, the Russia military has already deployed many of the mobilised personnel … much of the rest of force that they have deployed is not an additional second army, these a replacements to substitute for casualties that they take in the fighting. The Russian military has not yet committed its reserves to these fights and it’s looking to see which axis they make progress on, that they can exploit,” said Koffman.
“The offensive may grow in intensity but not likely to grow in scope. In order to have another offensive, much larger than this, the Russian military would have to conduct a second mobilisation. They would need several hundred thousand additional personnel,” said Koffman, who described Russia’s present efforts as “underwhelming” though noted that Ukrainian forces would likely have to retreat from Bakhmut, where casualties on both sides have been huge.
A senior US military official told CNN last week that Russia’s plans for a new large-scale offensive are “more aspirational than realistic”. Writing about the Luhansk axis, Washington-based thinktank, the Institute for the Study of War, contends that Russia is struggling to replace equipment, especially tanks, lost during previous failed offensive operations.
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Parts of central Kyiv have been closed amid rumours flying round of a high-profile foreign delegation visit. One group who have definitely arrived – confirmed by Israel’s ambassador to Ukraine, Michael Brodsky – are representatives of Israel’s Knesset.
Knesset members @YuliEdelstein and @zeev_elkin arrived in Kyiv pic.twitter.com/9TBYkTIxH8
— Michael Brodsky (@michael_brodsk) February 20, 2023
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My colleague, Peter Beaumont, has arrived in Kyiv for the Guardian.
Arrived in Kyiv to lots of security and rumours of important visitor. But , more important, trams are working again
— petersbeaumont (@petersbeaumont1) February 20, 2023
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Monday that Washington strongly supports Sweden and Finland’s quick Nato accession, given steps they have already taken, even as his Turkish counterpart stressed the need for more concrete steps.
“The US has strong support for the Nordic accession as quickly as possible … Sweden and Finland’s Nato expansion is not a bilateral issue,” Reuters reports Blinken as saying in a joint news conference with Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in Ankara.
Çavuşoğlu, alongside Blinken, said all parties in the alliance must convince Sweden in particular to take more action to address Ankara’s concerns and win its support for the bid.
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Ukraine’s state broadcaster Suspilne has this update in its news roundup on Telegram this morning:
Russian troops shelled the Kharkiv region three times in the morning: two people were injured, a woman may be under the rubble of a private residential building.
On 19 February, Russian shelling in Donetsk region killed three people and injured another.
Russia lost about 820 of its soldiers in a day, reports the general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine. Ukrainian aviation made almost 30 strikes on Russian positions
In Kyiv, due to the arrival of foreign delegations, a number of streets, including the centre, were closed.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Updated
China will never accept the US pointing fingers at Sino-Russia relations, the Chinese foreign ministry said at its regular news briefing on Monday, Reuters reports.
“China’s comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation is based on non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third parties, which is within sovereignty of two independent countries,” said ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin in response to a question on a meeting between China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, and US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, over the weekend.
Wang Yi is expected to arrive on a visit to Russia today.
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Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has tweeted to thank Estonia for a proposal for “joint direct procurement of arms and ammunition” for Ukraine, and to express his regrets that he is not attending the EU’s foreign affairs council meeting in Brussels later today in person.
I thank Estonia for proposing a joint direct procurement of arms and ammunition, which could start with the EU members providing 1 million 155mm rounds to Ukraine. Even though I can’t join today's FAC in person, we strongly endorse the initiative and urge to put it into action.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) February 20, 2023
The meeting in Brussels, chaired by the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has on its agenda to “exchange views on the Russian aggression against Ukraine, after a first informal exchange with the minister of foreign affairs of Ukraine”. It will later also discuss Moldova, where the pro-western government has recently changed, in part, according to president Maia Sandu, because of tensions over Russia.
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Shipping group and logistics firm AP Moller-Maersk has entered an agreement to sell its two logistics sites in Russia to IG Finance Development Limited, Reuters reports the company said in a statement on Monday.
“We are pleased to have found a new owner of our two logistics sites in Russia and thereby execute on our decision to divest all our assets in the country,” chief commercial officer, Karsten Kildahl, said in a statement.
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Russia will claim that Bakhmut has been captured to align with the anniversary, regardless of the reality on the ground, the UK Ministry of Defence has claimed.
Russian forces are likely under increasing political pressure as the anniversary of the invasion draws near, the latest British intelligence report says.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 20 February 2023
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) February 20, 2023
Find out more about Defence Intelligence: https://t.co/WmgdSo26nd
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/nCbHIkxusO
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Russia probably lacks the reserves to dramatically increase the scale or intensity of its offensive in Luhansk this winter, the Institute for the Study of War has said in its latest intelligence update.
The US thinktank added that Russian forces likely secured small gains in the northern suburbs of Bakhmut and in its eastern outskirts.
NEW: The major phase of Russian offensive operations in #Luhansk Oblast is underway, and #Russia likely lacks sufficient uncommitted reserves to dramatically increase the scale or intensity of the offensive this winter. #Ukraine latest w/ @criticalthreats: https://t.co/sXNDrBE7ul pic.twitter.com/bmjVE2fzeP
— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) February 20, 2023
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Zelenskiy says Macron 'wasting his time' in talks with Russia
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has accused his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, of wasting his time considering any sort of dialogue with Russia.
Zelenskiy, interviewed by the Italian daily Corriere della Sera on Sunday, was responding to a suggestion by Macron that Russia should be “defeated but not crushed” and that the conflict in Ukraine would have to be settled by negotiations.
The two presidents spoke by telephone on Sunday. Zelenskiy later told the Italian daily:
It will be a useless dialogue. In fact, Macron is wasting his time. I have come to the conclusion that we are not able to change the Russian attitude.”
On Friday, Macron urged allies to step up military support for Ukraine.
He also said in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche he did not believe in regime change, that there was little chance of a democratic solution from within Russian civil society and no alternative to bringing Putin back to the negotiating table.
Macron has drawn criticism from some Nato allies for delivering mixed messages regarding his policy on the war between Ukraine and Russia.
In describing their conversation on Sunday, Zelenskiy made no mention of Macron’s latest comments. The leaders discussed strategies, including joint decisions Zelenskiy said were due ahead of this week’s first anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
Before a brief visit to Paris this month, Zelenskiy said the French president’s tougher stand on Russia in recent months showed he had had undergone a significant change.
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As Ukraine continues to maintain its defence of Bakhmut, here are some images from the eastern city.
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Zelenskiy says Ukraine will defend Bakhmut but 'not at any price'
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Ukraine will maintain its months-long defence of the eastern city of Bakhmut, but “not at any price and not for everyone to die”.
Zelenskiy was quoted in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera on Sunday as debate rages over whether Kyiv’s forces should remain in the eastern Ukraine city, which Russian shelling has all but destroyed.
Bakhmut, in the frontline Donetsk region, had a pre-war population of 70,000 but now Ukrainian officials estimate fewer than 5,000 civilians remain.
Yes, it is not a particularly big town. In fact, like many others in Donbas, [it’s been] devastated by the Russians. It is important for us to defend it, but not at any price and not for everyone to die,” Zelenskiy told the paper.
Analysts say the town has more symbolic than strategic value as a gateway to cities farther west in Donetsk region.
Zelenskiy said that Russian commanders were bent on pushing on to the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, farther west in Donetsk region “and as far as (the central city of) Dnipro.”
We will resist and meanwhile prepare the next counter-attack.”
Russia has concentrated on securing control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
Russian forces have besieged Bakhmut since July when they captured two major towns farther north.
Russian troops, spearheaded by the Russian Wagner Group mercenary force, have made incremental gains in nearby villages and fighting has engulfed its northern districts in the past few days.
But Ukrainian military analysts have said the town, protected by a river and wooded areas, has considerable significance in pinning down Russian occupying forces.
“There are no grounds at this time for the Ukrainian military to leave Bakhmut. The town is not surrounded,” military analyst Oleksandr Kovaleno, of the Ukrainian thinktank Information Resistance, told the news site nv.ua.
“Bakhmut plays an important role – it serves as a trap. For nine months it has drawn in the resources and means of the Russian occupying forces and they have been killed in large numbers. It must be regarded not as a fortress, but as a trap.”
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Foreign ministers to meet on EU-wide ammunition deal
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell backed a call from Estonia for the bloc’s members to buy arms jointly to help Ukraine – an approach officials say would be more efficient than EU members placing individual orders.
EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss the plan in Brussels on Monday.
The plan would work by placing large ammunition orders on behalf of multiple member states to speed up procurement and encourage European arms firms to invest in increasing their production capacities.
Borrell said he would table plans at the meeting to use the existing €3.6bn (£3.2bn) European peace facility for the EU to procure ammunition jointly on the model of the procurement of vaccines during the Covid crisis.
In a panel discussion with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas in Munich on Sunday, Borrell said:
I completely agree with the Estonian prime minister’s proposal, we are working on that and it will work.”
However he warned it would not solve Kyiv’s urgent need for more ammunition now.
This cannot be solved by going into joint procurement ... because any procurement that comes to the market will come at the end of a queue of a long list of orders already passed by the member states.”
Borrell said the Estonian idea would work in the medium term, but he believes the urgency of the shortages is such that it requires EU countries to draw on existing stocks. “We have to use what member states have,” he said.
Much more has to be done and much quicker. There is still a lot to be done. We have to increase and accelerate our military support. It currently takes almost 10 months for the European army to buy a bullet for the calibre of 155mm, almost one year, and almost three years to buy an air-to-air missile. This is not in accordance with the war situation in which we live.”
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EU foreign affairs chief calls for more ammunition
The war with Ukraine will be over unless the EU finds a way in weeks to speed up the provision of ammunition to Ukraine, the EU foreign affairs chief has warned.
Josep Borrell told ministers at a Munich security conference on Sunday:
Much more has to be done and much quicker.
We have to increase and accelerate our military support to Ukraine.
The first and most urgent thing that a geopolitical Europe has to do, is to arm Ukraine.
… This shortage of ammunition has to be solved quickly. It’s a matter of weeks.”
Borrell also called for an extraordinary meeting on 7-8 March where he will propose to accelerate the supply processes.
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be bringing you all the latest developments as they unfold.
The EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, earlier told ministers at a Munich Security Conference on Sunday that the war could be over if the EU cannot increase its supply of ammunition to Ukraine.
Borrell has backed a call from Estonia for the bloc’s members to buy arms jointly to help Ukraine by placing large ammunition orders on behalf of multiple member states to speed up procurement and encourage European arms firms to invest in increasing their production capacities.
EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss the plan in Brussels on Monday.
It’s 7.30am in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
Ukraine’s military is inflicting “extraordinarily significant” losses on Russian forces near the town of Vuhledar in the eastern Donbas region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday in his nightly video address. Zelenskiy referred to several towns in Donbas, saying “the more losses Russia suffers there … in Bakhmut, Vuhledar, Marinka, Kreminna – the faster we will be able to end this war with Ukraine’s victory”.
Ukrainian troops are preparing to defend one of the possible targets of a new Russian offensive in the eastern Donetsk region as Russia threatens to capture Bakhmut. Ukrainian soldiers near the small town of Siversk described being outgunned. “If they occupied Bakhmut, then we would be semi-encircled, because on the left side we have the Siverskyi Donets river, and the enemy will advance from the right, and it is possible to cut us off if they reach the Bakhmut highway,” said the deputy Siversk battalion commander.
Three people were killed by shelling near the southern Ukrainian city of Berislav on Sunday morning, according to local officials. The regional military administration said Russian forces struck the village of Burgunka with “massive artillery fire” and that one of the shells hit the yard of a family home.
The EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, said the war could be over if the EU cannot increase its supply of ammunition to Ukraine. “We are in urgent war mode,” he said. “This shortage of ammunition has to be solved quickly.” Borrell backed a call for the bloc’s members to buy arms jointly to help Ukraine but warned it would not solve Kyiv’s urgent need for more ammunition now.
The US and Ukraine are “still having discussions” amid pressure to supply F-16 jets. The US ambassador to the United Nations indicated on Sunday that the White House could reverse its refusal to supply F-16 jets to Ukraine. Ukrainian officials have urged US Congress members to press Biden’s administration to send the jetfighters to Kyiv, saying the aircraft would boost Ukraine’s ability to hit Russian missile units with US-made rockets, lawmakers said.
Zelenskiy and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by phone on Sunday and discussed strategies, including what the Ukrainian leader described as joint decisions ahead of this week’s anniversary of Russia’s invasion of his country. In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said he thanked the French president “for understanding our needs and for expressing jointly that we cannot waste any opportunity or a single week in our defence against Russian aggression … We also discussed important decisions that we are planning for this week – for our year of resistance.”
France has said it would deliver the AMX-10 light armoured vehicles it has promised to Ukraine “by the end of next week”. Macron added in an interview that he wants Russia to lose the war but he does not want to see it “crushed”.
China may be on brink of supplying arms to Russia, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has warned. Blinken told US networks that the US had information China was considering whether to give Russia assistance, possibly including guns and weapons, for the Ukraine war..
The Polish prime minister said he and US President Joe Biden will discuss the possibility of increasing US troop presence in Poland and making it more permanent. “We are in the process of discussion with President Biden’s administration about making their (troop) presence more permanent and increasing them,” Mateusz Morawiecki said on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday.
