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The president has urged western allies for more weapons amid fierce fighting
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Moment Zelensky told tanks would be delivered
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned of “constant Russian attacks” across frontline regions in his daily address.
Mr Zelensky says the eastern Donetsk region has seen “constant fighting”, calling the situation across the frontline “very tough.”
The president added that Russia is looking to drag out the conflict in a ‘war of attrition’. He said: “We must speed up the events, speed up the supply and opening of new necessary weaponry options for Ukraine.”
Talks reported to be ongoing over requests for long-range missiles and military aircraft were confirmed by Ukraine’s defence minister, who said in an interview on Canadian television he saw military jets as a “game changer”.
The discussions come as shelling in the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine on Sunday killed three civilians, hitting a hospital and a school.
A missile attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, is also reported to have killed one civilian, wounding several others.
Meanwhile, an attack from the mercenary Wagner Group on Blahodatne in the eastern part of the Donetsk region on Sunday, was repelled by Ukraine’s forces, according to the General Staff of Ukraine‘s Armed Forces.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned of “constant Russian attacks” across frontline regions in his daily address.
In a markedly sombre tone, Zelensky said: “The situation is very tough. Bakhmut, Vuhledar and other areas in the Donetsk region are under constant Russian attacks.
“There are constant attempts to break through our defense.”
Zelensky repeated reports from his previous address on Saturday of fierce fighting in the Donetsk region, amid reports of Ukrainian forces struggling to hold Bakhmut, at the epicentre of fighting in the region.
President Zelensky continued: “We are doing everything to ensure that our pressure outweighs the occupiers’ assault capabilities.
“Russia hopes to drag out the war, to exhaust our forces. So we have to make time our weapon.
“We must speed up the events, speed up the supply and opening of new necessary weaponry options for Ukraine.”
President Zelensky also paid tribute to those killed in shelling in Kherson, where three people died on Sunday.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz sought to drum up support for Ukraine during his first South American tour although differences with his hosts emerged, with Argentine president Alberto Fernandez declaring the region was not planning on sending weapons.
On his three-day trip, Mr Scholz has sought to stress unity, noting all three countries he is visiting – Argentina, Chile and Brazil – condemned Russia’s invasion at the United Nations General Assembly last year.
The fallout of the war and Western sanctions on Russia such as soaring food and energy prices, however, have hit the region particularly hard, raising questions over the West’s approach.
Chile’s president Gabriel Boric speaks next to Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz during a joint statement following their meeting at La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, on 29 January 2023
Mr Fernandez said in a joint news conference with Mr Scholz in Buenos Aires on Saturday that Argentina, like Germany, wanted to help restore peace as soon as possible.
But asked if Argentina would send weapons to Ukraine to fend off Russian troops like Germany and its western allies had, he gave an emphatic no.
“Argentina and Latin America are not planning to send weapons to Ukraine or any other conflict zone,” he said.
Chilean president Gabriel Boric did not refer to the war in his opening statements at a news conference with Mr Scholz in Santiago de Chile yesterday, focusing instead on economic cooperation, particularly in the commodities sector.
Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg urged South Korea today to increase military support to Ukraine, citing other countries that have changed their policy of not providing weapons to countries in conflict after Russia’s invasion.
Mr Stoltenberg is in Seoul, the first stop on a trip that will include Japan and is aimed at strengthening ties with US allies in the face of the war in Ukraine and rising competition with China.
In meetings with senior South Korean officials, the Nato chief argued that events in Europe and North America are interconnected with other regions, and that the alliance wants to help manage global threats by increasing partnerships in Asia.
Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a conversation at Chey Institute in Seoul on 30 January 2023
Speaking at the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies in Seoul, he thanked South Korea for its non-lethal aid to Ukraine, but urged it to do more, adding there is an “urgent need” for ammunition.
South Korea has signed major deals providing hundreds of tanks, aircraft and other weapons to Nato member Poland since the war began, but South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol has said that his country’s law against providing arms to countries in conflicts makes providing weapons to Ukraine difficult.
Mr Stoltenberg noted that countries such as Germany, Sweden, and Norway had similar policies but have changed them.
If we don’t want autocracy and tyranny to win, then (the Ukrainians) need weapons, that’s the reality.
Defence secretary Ben Wallace spoke to the Putin vs The West programme, set to air this evening, about his journey to Moscow in February as he sought to reach a breakthrough and prevent a war.
He recalls speaking to Russia’s minister of defence Sergei Shoigu, as well as chief of general staff Valery Gerasimov.
“And I remember saying to minister Shoigu ‘they will fight’ and he said, ‘My mother is Ukrainian, they won’t!’ He also said he had no intention of invading,” Mr Wallace said.
Britain’s defence secretary Ben Wallace leaves after attending the weekly cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street, in London, on 10 January 2023
Mr Wallace said it was a Russian “demonstration of bullying or strength: ‘I’m going to lie to you. You know I’m lying. I know you know I’m lying and I’m still going to lie to you.’ He knew I knew and I knew he knew. But I think it was about saying: ‘I’m powerful.’”
I remember as we were walking out General Gerasimov said, ‘Never again will we be humiliated. We used to be the fourth army in the world, we’re now number two. It’s now America and us.’ And there in that minute was that sense of potentially why [they were doing this].
Ukrainian poet, literary critic and politician Dmytro Pavlychko has died aged 93.
Active in Soviet Ukraine, Pavlychko was one of the founders of the Soviet-controlled nation’s first major independent political party, Rukh (People’s Movement of Ukraine).
In 1990, he co-authored the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine, a law which overruled the authority from the Soviet parliament.
He later served as ambassador in post-Soviet Ukraine to neighbouring countries Slovakia, and later to Poland, before being awarded the nation’s highest honour, Hero of Ukraine, in 2004.
In a post on Telegram, president Volodymyr Zelensky paid tribute to Pavlychko in his political and literary achievements, calling him “an outstanding poet.”
Boris Johnson has claimed that Russian president Vladimir Putin threatened to kill him in a missile attack, saying “it would only take a minute” in a call ahead of the invasion of Ukraine.
The former prime minister said the “extraordinary” conversation took place in February after he had visited Kyiv in a last-ditch attempt to show Western support for Ukraine amid growing fears of an assault.
Mr Johnson, who would emerge as a staunch backer of Volodymyr Zelensky’s government, made the claim in a new three-part series for BBC Two looking at how the West grappled with Mr Putin in the years leading up to the invasion.
Our political correspondent Adam Forrest has more:
‘It would only take a minute’, Russian president told British PM ahead of Ukraine invasion
Inspectors from the US government have met with Ukraine’s deputy PM to discuss proposals for a new audit mechanism to “ensure transparency in the use of partners’ aid.”
Oleksandr Kubrakov, who is also head of Ukraine’s infrastructure projects, added that any funds utilised for infrastructure repairs and reconstruction should be monitored with US assistance.
Scrutiny of how aid is being used in Ukraine has increased since a recent scandal involving the sale of food packages at inflated prices, which prompted the deputy defence minister, Vyacheslav Shapovalov, to resign.
Deputy prime minister Kubrakov said in a post on Facebook: “I am grateful to my American colleagues for their leadership role in supporting our country in the fight against the Russian aggressor.
“Today, Ukraine shows the whole world that it is a reliable and predictable partner with working anti-corruption institutions, and we continue to move in this direction.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated his stance on Russian athletes competing at the 2024 Paris Games, suggesting it showed that “terror is somehow acceptable”.
He added that he had sent a letter to French president Emmanuel Macron as part of his assertive campaign.
In his latest address, Zelensky said: “Attempts by the International Olympic Committee to bring Russian athletes back into the Olympic Games are attempts to tell the whole world that terror is somehow acceptable.
“As if you could shut your eyes to what Russia is doing in Kherson, Kharkiv, Bakhmut and Avdiivka,” all of which have been the focus of intense attacks in recent days.
His latest comments were accompanied by references to the “tragedies” of the 20th century, including the hosting of the 1936 Olympic Games in Hitler’s Berlin.
Zelensky added “The Olympic movement and terrorist states definitely should not cross paths.”
Read more here:
Thomas Bach said the IOC and international sports federations are discussing how to bring Russian athletes back into competition.
Efforts within the US military high command to supply Ukrainian forces with modern F-16 fighter jets are quietly gaining pace, a defence department official has said.
Speaking with Politico, a senior official from the US department of defence said: “I don’t think we are opposed,” when asked if jets were being considered for supply.
A spokesperson for the White House declined to comment for this story, though referred reporters to previous statements made by deputy national security adviser Jon Finer.
Ukraine’s own stock of fighter jets are older models, first produced by the Soviet Union
Finer said that US officials would be discussing the prospect of fighter jets “very carefully” with Ukraine and its other western allies.
He continued: “We have not ruled in or out any specific systems.”
President Zelensky reiterated his plea for arms and military equipment in his latest daily address, where he said: “We must speed up the events, speed up the supply and opening of new necessary weaponry options for Ukraine.”
Boris Johnson has claimed that Russian president Vladimir Putin threatened to kill him in a missile attack, saying “it would only take a minute” in a call ahead of the invasion of Ukraine.
The former prime minister said the “extraordinary” conversation occurred in February following his visit to Kyiv in a last-ditch attempt to show Western support for Ukraine, amid growing fears of invasion.
The former prime minister, who would later emerge as a key supporter among western allies of Volodymyr Zelensky’s government, made the claim in a new series for BBC Two looking at how the West grappled with the Russian president in the years leading to the invasion.
Read more here:
‘It would only take a minute’, Russian president told British PM ahead of Ukraine invasion
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