Ukraine latest: Putin accuses West of aggression ahead of EU-Ukraine summit read full article at worldnews365.me

The warfare that started with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 is approaching a grim one-year milestone, with mounting navy and civilian deaths.

As Russia steps up assaults round Bakhmut, Western nations have raised their navy assist for Ukraine to the best stage but, with commitments to ship predominant battle tanks.

Learn our in-depth protection. For all our protection, go to our Ukraine war web page.

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Word: Nikkei Asia determined in March 2022 to droop its reporting from Russia till additional data turns into out there concerning the scope of the revised felony code. Entries embody materials from wire providers and different sources.

Listed below are the newest developments:

Friday, Feb. 3 (Tokyo time)

4:00 a.m. European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen and Russian President Vladimir Putin have painted contrasting footage of the warfare in Ukraine — one as a combat for freedom towards Russian aggression, the opposite as resistance towards Western threats.

“Today, we have come to the heart of Europe,” von der Leyen says on a go to to Kyiv, her fourth since final February’s invasion. “Because Ukraine has become the center of our continent — the place where our values are upheld, where our freedom is defended, where the future of Europe is written.”

She is scheduled to carry a summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday alongside European Council chief Charles Michel, throughout which they’ll focus on Ukraine’s bid for EU membership.

In the meantime, at an occasion marking the eightieth anniversary of the top of the Battle of Stalingrad, Putin says Russia is “again being threatened by German Leopard tanks.”

“We have been forced to resist the collective West’s aggression again and again,” he additionally says.

2:30 a.m. Ukrainian troops will start coaching on German-made Leopard 2 tanks subsequent week below a European Union-funded program, the Monetary Instances reviews, citing two individuals conversant in preparations.

The coaching is anticipated to final about six weeks, the FT reviews.

Thursday, Feb. 2

6:20 p.m. Russian Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Thursday that Moscow’s relations with China had no limits and, regardless of not being a proper navy alliance. In an interview on state TV, Lavrov additionally stated Russia would emerge from the present scenario stronger and higher in a position to defend itself.

6:15 p.m. Prime European Union officers arrived in Kyiv on Thursday for talks with Ukrainian officers as rescue crews dug by means of the rubble of an condo constructing in japanese Ukraine struck by a Russian missile that killed not less than three individuals and wounded about 20 others. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was resulting from meet with European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen and EU international coverage chief Josep Borrell earlier than what officers described as a summit on Friday. Borrell tweeted that the go to aimed “to convey EU’s strongest message of support to all Ukrainians defending their country.”

8:50 a.m. A Russian missile destroyed an condo constructing and broken seven extra within the japanese Ukrainian metropolis of Kramatorsk on Wednesday evening, killing not less than three individuals and injuring 20, regional police say. Native authorities initially stated Russia had fired a rocket, however the police later stated an Iskander-Okay tactical missile had struck at 9:45 p.m. “At least eight apartment buildings were damaged. One of them was completely destroyed,” police stated in a Fb submit. “People may remain under the rubble.”

8:10 a.m. Myanmar’s navy authorities is “very worried” about worldwide strain, which is why “they reach out to the Russians so much,” says Kyaw Moe Tun, the nation’s defiant ambassador to the United Nations, in an interview with Nikkei.

“The international community [needs] to forget about the carrot-and-stick approach. Just the stick approach is the only approach that will work,” he says. Read more.

2:00 a.m. The newest U.S. sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine goal a global community together with a person described by the State Division as a “gray arms dealer” who helps Moscow evade sanctions.

Igor Zimenkov is one in all 22 individuals and entities sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Division’s Workplace of Overseas Property Management.

Folks within the Zimenkov community “have engaged in projects connected to Russian defense capabilities, including supplying a Russian company with high-technology devices after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” OFAC says in a information release.

Singapore-based Asia Buying and selling & Development, which OFAC describes as a “Zimenkov network shell company,” was additionally sanctioned for promoting helicopters to a Latin American authorities on behalf of already sanctioned Russian military-industrial firm Rostec.

Wednesday, Feb. 1

9:10 p.m. Any try by China to vary the established order within the Taiwan Strait will trigger “severe consequences” for regional and world safety, NATO’s secretary-general tells Nikkei in an interview in Tokyo.

Jens Stoltenberg says the bloc is anxious about China’s threatening rhetoric and “coercive behavior” within the Taiwan Strait.

“There is no justification for China’s threats against Taiwan. And it will be in no one’s interest to have a conflict around Taiwan,” he says.

With the Ukraine warfare heading towards a second 12 months, NATO “needs to be prepared for the long haul” as a result of it sees no signal that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is preparing for peace,” Stoltenberg says. Read more.

7:58 p.m. A senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated talks had been below method on securing longer-range missiles and assault plane from international companions to assist repel Russian forces. “Each war stage requires certain weapons. Amassing RF’s (Russia’s) reserves in the occupied territories require specifics from (Ukraine) & partners,” political adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter. “So: 1. There is already a tank coalition (logistics, training, supply). 2. There are already talks on longer-range missiles & attack aircraft supply.”

6:15 p.m. Outstanding Russian journalist Alexander Nevzorov was sentenced in absentia to eight years in jail by a Moscow courtroom on Wednesday after being discovered responsible of spreading ‘pretend information’ in regards to the Russian military, state media reported. Investigators opened a case towards Nevzorov final 12 months for posts on social media through which he accused Russia’s armed forces of intentionally shelling a maternity hospital within the Ukrainian metropolis of Mariupol, an assertion Moscow stated was false. Nevzorov’s spouse wrote on Instagram in March that she and her husband had been in Israel.

3:58 p.m. Austria’s Raiffeisen Financial institution Worldwide, one of many European banks most uncovered to Russia, earned greater than half its revenue final 12 months from Russia, a market it’s contemplating exiting after the invasion of Ukraine. That may be a bigger share than in 2021, when Russia contributed virtually a 3rd to the group’s internet revenue. The division has been helped by a stronger ruble. Revenue from Russia was 2.058 billion euros ($2.24 billion), whereas revenue on the group was 3.797 billion euros, figures printed by the financial institution on Wednesday confirmed.

12:44 p.m. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated he can be prepared to think about serving as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine if requested by each warring nations and the U.S. “If asked by all relevant parties, I’ll certainly consider it, but I’m not pushing myself in,” Netanyahu instructed CNN in an interview. He added it must be the “right time and the right circumstances.” Israel’s shut ally the U.S. would additionally must ask as a result of “you can’t have too many cooks in the kitchen,” he stated.

7:17 a.m. Ukraine hopes to safe widespread worldwide assist for banning Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Paris Olympics in 2024 resulting from Moscow’s invasion, the nation’s sports activities minister stated on Tuesday. Vadym Huttsait, 51, a former Olympic fencing champion, instructed Reuters the thought of permitting Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals was unacceptable. “It is impossible for us at a time when the full-scale war is going on, when our athletes, our soldiers are defending our homeland,” he stated in his Kyiv workplace, beside a wall with portraits of athletes killed within the warfare.

1:35 a.m. Gold shopping for by central banks reached its highest stage in 55 years because the freezing of Russia’s greenback property spurred nations to hunt alternate options much less weak to financial sanctions.

Final 12 months’s shopping for spree is believed to have been sparked by sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow’s conflict with the West “drove home the point that assets from the ‘Western’ economic sphere, like dollars, are risky to hold,” stated monetary and treasured metals analyst Koichiro Kamei. Read more.

Tuesday, Jan. 31

10:19 p.m. France alerts openness to sending fighter jets to Ukraine, the Monetary Instances reviews. “By definition, nothing is excluded,” President Emmanuel Macron tells reporters in The Hague on Monday, including that he has not acquired a request for jets from Ukraine.

Ukrainian Protection Minister Oleksii Reznikov is visiting Paris on Tuesday for conferences together with his French counterpart and Macron.

The U.S. and Germany lately determined to ship predominant battle tanks to Kyiv, however President Joe Biden has dominated out sending F-16 jets.

7:01 p.m. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis accused Turkey of “sitting on the fence” over the Ukraine warfare, saying that his nation’s longtime nemesis must step up as a NATO member with the battle now heading right into a second 12 months.

In an exclusive interview with Nikkei in Tokyo, Mitsotakis hit out at Ankara for not imposing sanctions on Moscow and refusing to ratify Sweden’s and Finland’s accession to the navy alliance.

“The Turkish position within NATO has frustrated lots and lots of NATO members, and this has nothing to do with the peculiarities of the Greek-Turkish bilateral agenda,” he stated. “It is greatly profiting from the fact that it has a special economic relationship [with Russia]. If you belong to an alliance, which is also an alliance of values, you cannot sit on the fence.”

12:30 p.m. NATO will proceed to strengthen its partnership with Japan amid the continuing Ukraine warfare, NATO Secretary-Common Jens Stoltenberg says throughout a go to to Japan, the place he’ll meet with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

“The war in Ukraine matters for all of us, and therefore we’re also very grateful for the support that Japan is providing, using also the planes and the cargo capabilities,” Stoltenberg stated throughout a quick speech after surveying the Japanese Self-Protection Drive’s Iruma Air Base. His journey, which included a cease in South Korea, is aimed toward bolstering ties with Western allies in Asia within the face of the warfare and rising competitors with China.

8:00 a.m. A rich Russian businessman with ties to the Kremlin, Vladislav Klyushin, made tens of tens of millions of {dollars} by means of buying and selling on corporations’ secret monetary data obtained by hackers, a U.S. prosecutor stated Monday at first of his trial.

Klyushin and his associates made practically $90 million by means of buying and selling shares primarily based on yet-to-be-announced details about lots of of publicly traded corporations stolen by hackers, Assistant U.S. Legal professional Stephen Frank instructed a federal jury in Boston.

4:00 a.m. Ministers from Australia and France have pledged to work collectively to assist Ukraine’s firepower.

The 2 nations will collectively provide 155-millimeter ammunition in a collaboration that “leverages the complementarities of respective defense industries and meets Ukraine’s urgent need” for the artillery rounds, Australian and French international and protection ministers say in an announcement following talks in Paris.

French arms provider Nexter will manufacture the ammo utilizing Australian gunpowder. French Protection Minister Sebastien Lecornu is quoted as saying manufacturing might be a number of thousand rounds.

Ukraine has been calling for extra shipments of the broadly used shells. German arms maker Rheinmetall instructed Reuters final week that the corporate was able to considerably enhance its output of 155-mm rounds.

The Australian and French ministers “reiterated their unequivocal condemnation of Russia’s illegal, immoral and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and called once more for Russia’s immediate withdrawal,” the statements says.

Monday, Jan. 30

4:30 p.m. Russia’s deputy international minister stated in an interview printed on Monday that it was “quite possible” the New START nuclear arms management treaty with america would finish after 2026. “This is quite a possible scenario,” Deputy Overseas Minister Sergei Ryabkov instructed the RIA information company in an interview. U.S.-Russia talks on resuming inspections below the New START treaty, which expires in February 2026, had been known as off on the final minute in November 2022. Neither facet has agreed on a time-frame for brand new talks.

12:30 p.m. With america having determined to produce tanks to Ukraine, it is senseless for Russia to speak to Kyiv or its Western “puppet masters,” the RIA information company quoted Russian deputy international minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Monday. Ryabkov stated nobody within the West has give you any critical initiatives on resolving the Ukrainian disaster.

11:15 a.m. NATO Secretary-Common Jens Stoltenberg urges South Korea to extend navy assist to Ukraine, citing different nations reminiscent of Germany which have modified their coverage of not offering weapons to nations in battle after Russia’s invasion. South Korea has signed main offers offering lots of of tanks, plane and different weapons to NATO member Poland for the reason that warfare started, however South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has stated that his nation’s regulation towards offering arms to nations in conflicts makes offering weapons to Ukraine tough. In conferences with senior South Korean officers in Seoul on Monday, Stolternberg stated, “If we don’t want autocracy and tyranny to win, then [the Ukrainians] need weapons, that’s the reality.”

9:00 a.m. A missile hit an condo constructing on Sunday within the Ukrainian metropolis of Kharkiv, killing one particular person, injuring not less than three and inflicting widespread injury, Oleh Synehubov, the regional governor, says. A Reuters picture from the scene confirmed hearth engulfing a part of a residential constructing within the nation’s second most-populous metropolis. Synehubov stated the strike happened within the metropolis’s central Kyiv district. “Three people were slightly injured. Unfortunately, an elderly woman was killed,” Synehubov wrote on Telegram. “Her husband was nearby when the strike occurred and by a miracle suffered no serious injuries.”

4:04 a.m. Situations are “very tough” within the japanese Ukraine’s Donetsk area, and sooner weapons provides and new kinds of arms are wanted to resist Russian assaults, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says.

“The situation is very tough,” Zelenskyy says in his nightly video handle. “Bakhmut, Vuhledar and other areas in the Donetsk region are under constant Russian attacks. There are constant attempts to break through our defense.”

“Russia hopes to drag out the war, to exhaust our forces,” he stated. “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.”

Sunday, Jan. 29

3:30 a.m. Ukraine and its Western allies are engaged in “fast-track” talks on the potential of equipping Kyiv with long-range missiles and navy plane, a high Ukrainian presidential aide says.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says Western supporters “understand how the war is developing” and the necessity to provide planes that may cowl floor forces, together with the brand new tanks pledged this month.

Nonetheless, in remarks to on-line video channel Freedom, Podolyak says some Western companions keep a “conservative” angle to arms deliveries, “due to fear of changes in the international architecture.”

1:15 a.m. German arms maker Rheinmetall is making ready a serious enhance to the output of tank and artillery munitions to satisfy demand in Ukraine and the West, and should begin producing HIMARS a number of rocket launchers in Germany, CEO Armin Papperger tells Reuters.

Rheinmetall makes a variety of protection merchandise however might be most well-known for manufacturing the 120-mm gun of the Leopard 2 tank.

Papperger and different German protection business leaders are anticipated to satisfy new Protection Minister Boris Pistorius for the primary time within the coming days. Pistorius goals to start out talks on learn how to hasten weapons procurement and enhance ammunitions provides in the long run after virtually a 12 months of arms donations to Ukraine has depleted the German navy’s shares.

For earlier updates, click here.