Kremlin warns sending more weapons to Ukraine ‘leads to significant escalation’
The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, has said the west’s supplying of further weapons to Ukraine will only lead to “significant escalation” of the conflict.
Kyiv “demands more and more weapons”, Peskov said in a call with reporters, after Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, Andriy Melnyk, called on Germany to send his country a submarine.
Hi guys, I know I’m gonna get a new shit storm, but I have another creative idea. Germany (ThyssenKrupp) produces one of the world’s best submarines HDW Class 212A. The Bundeswehr has 6 such U-boats. Why not to send one to Ukraine? Then we’ll kick 🇷🇺fleet out of the Black Sea💪 pic.twitter.com/qy75sRVZ76
Peskov said western countries were “encouraging these demands, and professes its readiness to provide such weapons”. He added:
It’s a dead-end situation: it leads to significant escalation, it leads to Nato countries more and more becoming directly involved in the conflict – but it doesn’t have the potential to change the course of events and will not do so.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s most senior adviser, Andriy Yermak, has suggested Poland is willing to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighters. Yermak said Ukraine had had “positive signals” from Warsaw in a Telegram posting, although Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, was careful to stress his own country would only act in consultation with Nato allies, as Ukraine’s lobbying for the combat jets steps up only a few days after Germany and the US agreed to send over their tanks.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for western weapons to be supplied more quickly. Speaking in his nightly address, the Ukrainian president said Russia was hoping to drag out the war, and exhaust his country’s ability to resist the invaders. “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,” Zelenskiy said.
The Kremlin warned the west’s supplying of further weapons to Ukraine would only lead to “significant escalation” of the conflict. Kyiv “demands more and more weapons” while Nato countries were “more and more becoming directly involved in the conflict”, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, after Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, Andriy Melnyk, called on Germany to send his country a submarine.
Russian forces continued attacks on positions across the frontline near the eastern cities of Bakhmut and Donetsk. Moscow’s troops have been pounding Bakhmut in the Donbas for several months, but in recent days the invaders appeared to have opened up a new effort to gain ground around the village of Vuhledar, 30 miles south-west of Donetsk city.
The situation in Bakhmut and Vuhledar was “very tough” with both and “other areas in the Donetsk region are under constant Russian attacks”, President Zelenskiy said. Vuhledar is close to the junction with the southern Zaporizhzhia front and considered a hinge point for both sides, but remains held by the Ukrainians despite a claim by the leader self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic to the contrary.
Ukraine’s military and Russia’s Wagner private military group are both claiming to have control in the area of Blahodatne, eastern Donetsk region. “Units of Ukraine’s defence forces repelled the attacks of the occupiers in the areas of … Blahodatne … in the Donetsk region,” Ukraine’s military reported, adding its forces also repelled attacks in 13 other settlements in the Donetsk region. Wagner, designated by the US as a transnational criminal organisation, said on the Telegram messaging app on Saturday that its units had taken control of Blahodatne.
Russian shelling of residential areas in Ukraine’s southern city of Kherson left at least three people dead and 10 injured,local authorities said. The Kherson regional military administration said on its Telegram channel that Russian forces targeted a hospital, school, bus station, post office, bank and residential buildings in a strike on Sunday.
A missile hit an apartment building in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, killing one person and injuring three others, according to the regional governor. Oleh Synehubov said the missile struck the city centre on Sunday, and that an elderly woman’s body had been pulled from the rubble. He said 15 residents of the building were evacuated immediately after the explosion, and will be provided with temporary accommodation.
Ukraine’s state-run energy operator Ukrenergo has said there is a “significant” deficit in the country’s energy system due to damage caused by Russian missile attacks. Ukraine’s energy system had “survived” 13 rocket attacks and 15 drone strikes from Russian forces, which had “caused significant damage to high-voltage facilities and power plants”, it added.
Ukraine’s military will spend nearly $550m (£444m / €505m) on drones (UAVs) in 2023, and 16 supply deals have already been signed with Ukrainian manufacturers, defence minister Oleksii Reznikov has said. Ukraine has received significant supplies of UAVs from its partners but Kyiv is now seeking to boost domestic production to build what officials cast as an “army of drones”.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, in the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv on Monday. The pair “reviewed the state of the region’s energy infrastructure, the means of its protection and the pace of recovery”, and discussed the impact of Russian missile and drone strikes, Zelenskiy posted to Telegram.
Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has urged South Korea to increase military support to Ukraine, suggesting it reconsider its policy of not exporting weapons to countries in conflict. Stoltenberg thanked South Korea for its non-lethal aid to Ukraine, but urged it to do more, adding there is an “urgent need” for ammunition.
The UK’s defence minister, Ben Wallace, has said that the tanks donated to Ukraine will arrive on the frontline“this side of the summer”. Britain should be “really proud” of having led the world in supporting Ukraine and standing up to Russian aggression, prime minister Rishi Sunak has said.
The president of Croatia, Zoran Milanović, has criticised western countries for supplying Ukraine with heavy tanks and other weapons. Speaking to reporters in Zagreb, Milanović said he was “against sending any lethal arms” to Kyiv, arguing that supplying Ukraine with weapons only “prolongs the war” and that Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula seized and annexed by Russia in 2014, will “never again be part of Ukraine”.
Delays in the provision to Ukraine of western long-range fires systems, advanced air defence systems, and tanks have limited Ukraine’s ability to seize opportunities for larger counter-offensive operations presented by Russian military failures, according to a Washington-based thinktank. Western delays in providing necessary military aid exacerbated “stalemate” conditions and the ability to regain significant portions of territory, the Institute for the Study of War said.
Boris Johnson has said Vladimir Putin claimed he could have sent a missile to hit Britain “within a minute”,in a call shortly before the invasion of Ukraine. “He sort of threatened me at one point and said, ‘Boris, I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute’, or something like that,” Johnson said in a three-part documentary for BBC Two on the conflict and the lead-up to Russia’s invasion in February last year.
President Tayyip Erdoğan signalled that Turkey may agree to Finland joining Nato without Sweden, amid growing tensions with Stockholm. “We may deliver Finland a different message [on their Nato application] and Sweden would be shocked when they see our message. But Finland should not make the same mistake Sweden did,” Erdoğan said in a televised speech aired on Sunday. Sweden and Finland applied last year to join Nato and need all member countries’ approval to join. Turkey and Hungary are holding out.
The new US ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, was heckled by a crowd of people chanting anti-US slogans as she entered the Russian foreign ministry in Moscow to present her diplomatic credentials. Protests in Russia – particularly on issues related to the war – are effectively banned unless they have the backing of the authorities.
Poland could supply Ukraine with F-16 fighters, Kyiv suggests
Dan Sabbagh
Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s most senior adviser has suggested Poland is willing to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighters as Ukraine’s lobbying for the combat jets steps up only a few days after Germany and the US agreed to send over their tanks.
Andriy Yermak said Ukraine had had “positive signals” from Warsaw in a Telegram posting, although Poland’s prime minister was careful to stress his own country would only act in consultation with Nato allies.
“We coordinate all actions aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s defence forces with our Nato partners,” Mateusz Morawiecki told a press conference where he announced plans to lift his country’s defence spending to 4% of GDP when asked about the jets. Any possible transfer of fighter jets would come “in full coordination” he added.
Ukraine began its lobbying campaign for the US-made jets almost immediately after Germany and the US said they would supply Leopard 2 and Abrams tanks, but this time its effort could be successful more quickly.
The deputy US national security adviser, Jon Finer, said last week that Washington would be discussing the idea of supplying fighter jets “very carefully” with Kyiv and its allies, while other reports said there was growing support for the idea in the Pentagon.
The British defence secretary, Ben Wallace, on Monday wryly noted that:
I think what we know about all these demands is that … the initial response is no and it ends up being yes.
Crimea will ‘never again be part of Ukraine’, says Croatian president
The president of Croatia, Zoran Milanović, has criticised western countries for supplying Ukraine with heavy tanks and other weapons, and said Crimea will “never again be part of Ukraine”.
Speaking to reporters in Zagreb, Milanović said he was “against sending any lethal arms” to Kyiv, arguing that supplying Ukraine with weapons only “prolongs the war”.
Western military support for Ukraine “is deeply immoral because there is no solution (to the war)“, he said, adding that the arrival of German tanks in Ukraine would only serve to drive Russia closer to China.
Referring to Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula seized and annexed by Russia in 2014, he said:
It is clear that Crimea will never again be part of Ukraine.
Milanovic has embraced an anti-EU stance since he was originally elected in 2019 as a left-leaning liberal candidate, and has aligned his policies with those of Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, and Bosnian Serb secessionist leader Milorad Dodik.
Although the presidential post is mostly ceremonial in Croatia, Milanovic is formally the supreme commander of the armed forces.
In recent months, he has openly opposed the accession of Finland and Sweden into Nato as well as the training of Ukrainian troops in Croatia as part of EU aid to the embattled country.
France and Australia have announced plans to jointly manufacture ammunition for Ukraine.
French defence minister, Sébastien Lecornu, said the two countries had agreed to cooperate to make “several thousands” of 155-millimetre shells to help Ukraine, which he hoped could start being delivered in the first quarter of this year.
Lecornu was speaking after meeting his Australian counterpart Richard Marles, as the two countries seek to shore up defence cooperation. Australia will supply the powder while France’s Nexter will make the ammunition.
Marles told reporters the decision was intended as a “statement about how importantly Australia and France regard the support of Ukraine in the current conflict”.
Kremlin denies Putin threatened Boris Johnson with missile
The Kremlin has said the former UK prime minister Boris Johnson was lying when he said the Russian president threatened him with a missile strike during a phone call in the run-up to what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters that what Johnson said was not true, or “more precisely, a lie”.
'It's a lie': Kremlin denies Putin threatened Boris Johnson with missile – video
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for western weapons to be supplied more quickly. Speaking in his nightly address, the Ukrainian president said Russia was hoping to drag out the war, and exhaust his country’s ability to resist the invaders. “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,” Zelenskiy said.
The Kremlin warned the west’s supplying of further weapons to Ukraine would only lead to “significant escalation” of the conflict. Kyiv “demands more and more weapons” while Nato countries were “more and more becoming directly involved in the conflict”, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, after Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, Andriy Melnyk, called on Germany to send his country a submarine.
Russian forces continued attacks on positions across the frontline near the eastern cities of Bakhmut and Donetsk. Moscow’s troops have been pounding Bakhmut in the Donbas for several months, but in recent days the invaders appeared to have opened up a new effort to gain ground around the village of Vuhledar, 30 miles south-west of Donetsk city.
The situation in Bakhmut and Vuhledar was “very tough” with both and “other areas in the Donetsk region are under constant Russian attacks”, President Zelenskiy said. Vuhledar is close to the junction with the southern Zaporizhzhia front and considered a hinge point for both sides, but remains held by the Ukrainians despite a claim by the leader self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic to the contrary.
Ukraine’s military and Russia’s Wagner private military group are both claiming to have control in the area of Blahodatne, eastern Donetsk region. “Units of Ukraine’s defence forces repelled the attacks of the occupiers in the areas of … Blahodatne … in the Donetsk region,” Ukraine’s military reported, adding its forces also repelled attacks in 13 other settlements in the Donetsk region. Wagner, designated by the US as a transnational criminal organisation, said on the Telegram messaging app on Saturday that its units had taken control of Blahodatne.
Russian shelling of residential areas in Ukraine’s southern city of Kherson left at least three people dead and 10 injured,local authorities said. The Kherson regional military administration said on its Telegram channel that Russian forces targeted a hospital, school, bus station, post office, bank and residential buildings in a strike on Sunday.
A missile hit an apartment building in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, killing one person and injuring three others, according to the regional governor. Oleh Synehubov said the missile struck the city centre on Sunday, and that an elderly woman’s body had been pulled from the rubble. He said 15 residents of the building were evacuated immediately after the explosion, and will be provided with temporary accommodation.
Ukraine’s state-run energy operator Ukrenergo has said there is a “significant” deficit in the country’s energy system due to damage caused by Russian missile attacks. Ukraine’s energy system had “survived” 13 rocket attacks and 15 drone strikes from Russian forces, which had “caused significant damage to high-voltage facilities and power plants”, it added.
Ukraine’s military will spend nearly $550m (£444m / €505m) on drones (UAVs) in 2023, and 16 supply deals have already been signed with Ukrainian manufacturers, defence minister Oleksii Reznikov has said. Ukraine has received significant supplies of UAVs from its partners but Kyiv is now seeking to boost domestic production to build what officials cast as an “army of drones”.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, in the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv on Monday. The pair “reviewed the state of the region’s energy infrastructure, the means of its protection and the pace of recovery”, and discussed the impact of Russian missile and drone strikes, Zelenskiy posted to Telegram.
Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has urged South Korea to increase military support to Ukraine, suggesting it reconsider its policy of not exporting weapons to countries in conflict. Stoltenberg thanked South Korea for its non-lethal aid to Ukraine, but urged it to do more, adding there is an “urgent need” for ammunition.
Britain should be “really proud” of having led the world in supporting Ukraine and standing up to Russian aggression, prime minister Rishi Sunak has said.The UK earlier this month announced it would send 14 of its own Challenger 2 tanks, the first time a western nation send it would give its own heavy armour to Kyiv. Since then, a coalition of western nations including Germany and the US have confirmed they are willing to supply battle tanks.
Delays in the provision to Ukraine of western long-range fires systems, advanced air defence systems, and tanks have limited Ukraine’s ability to seize opportunities for larger counter-offensive operations presented by Russian military failures, according to a Washington-based thinktank. Western delays in providing necessary military aid exacerbated “stalemate” conditions and the ability to regain significant portions of territory, the Institute for the Study of War said.
Boris Johnson has said Vladimir Putin claimed he could have sent a missile to hit Britain “within a minute”,in a call shortly before the invasion of Ukraine. “He sort of threatened me at one point and said, ‘Boris, I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute’, or something like that,” Johnson said in a three-part documentary for BBC Two on the conflict and the lead-up to Russia’s invasion in February last year.
President Tayyip Erdoğan signalled that Turkey may agree to Finland joining Nato without Sweden, amid growing tensions with Stockholm. “We may deliver Finland a different message [on their Nato application] and Sweden would be shocked when they see our message. But Finland should not make the same mistake Sweden did,” Erdoğan said in a televised speech aired on Sunday. Sweden and Finland applied last year to join Nato and need all member countries’ approval to join. Turkey and Hungary are holding out.
The new US ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, was heckled by a crowd of people chanting anti-US slogans as she entered the Russian foreign ministry in Moscow to present her diplomatic credentials. Protests in Russia – particularly on issues related to the war – are effectively banned unless they have the backing of the authorities.
Hello everyone, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong still with you today with all the latest developments from the Russia-Ukraine war. I’m on Twitter or you can email me.
Earlier we reported that the new US ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, was heckled as she entered the Russian foreign ministry in Moscow to present her diplomatic credentials.
Kevin Rothrock of Meduza has a clip:
Behold the welcome wagon for Lynne Tracy outside Russia’s Foreign Ministry today. “The USA is a sponsor of death!” “Your tanks are killing civilians!” “Abrams & Tigers [sic] all burn the same!” “The US Army is a tool of aggression & plunder!” “You came here to profit off death!” pic.twitter.com/cfGxH92Box
Ukraine’s military will spend nearly $550m (£444m / €505m) on drones (UAVs) in 2023, and 16 supply deals have already been signed with Ukrainian manufacturers, defence minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Monday.
“In 2023, we are increasing the procurement of UAVs for the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Reuters reports Reznikov wrote on Facebook.
Ukraine has received significant supplies of UAVs from its partners but Kyiv is now seeking to boost domestic production to build what officials cast as an “army of drones”.
“The independence of the military-industrial complex is one of the factors of the country’s defence capability,” Reznikov wrote.
Here is the latest situation map of Ukraine from the Guardian’s graphics team. Earlier today the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Denis Pushilin, said that pro-Russian forces were continuing to make advances in Vuhledar, which both sides consider to be a hinge point.
Reuters reports that the new US ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, was heckled by a crowd of people chanting anti-US slogans as she entered the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow to present her diplomatic credentials.
US ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy walks out of the headquarters of Russia’s foreign ministry after a meeting in Moscow. Photograph: Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters
The group held hand-painted placards carrying messages criticising Washington, one of which read “Your tanks are killing civilians”.
The news agency notes that protests in Russia – particularly on issues related to the war – are effectively banned unless they have the backing of the authorities.
Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told Tracy he expected her to follow the principle of not interfering in Russia’s internal affairs, the state-owned RIA Novosti news agency reported.
The US embassy said: “Ambassador Tracy is focused on maintaining dialogue between our capitals at a time of unprecedented tension, protecting the interests of U.S. citizens detained in Russia, and supporting ties between the American and Russian peoples.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he met Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, in the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv, and also discussed the impact of Russian missile and drone strikes.
The pair “reviewed the state of the region’s energy infrastructure, the means of its protection and the pace of recovery”, Zelenskiy posted to Telegram.
Images show Zelenskiy greeting Frederiksen on a snowy street before entering a hospital where they met soldiers wounded in Russia’s invasion.
Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomes Denmark's prime minister Mette Frederiksen in Mykolaiv. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters
Zelenskiy and Frederiksen walk in city's downtown. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters
Zelenskiy and Frederiksen visit Ukrainian servicemen at a military hospital in Mykolaiv. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters
The pair visited a water refilling station built with Danish support in Mykolaiv. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters
Kremlin warns sending more weapons to Ukraine ‘leads to significant escalation’
The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, has said the west’s supplying of further weapons to Ukraine will only lead to “significant escalation” of the conflict.
Kyiv “demands more and more weapons”, Peskov said in a call with reporters, after Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, Andriy Melnyk, called on Germany to send his country a submarine.
Hi guys, I know I’m gonna get a new shit storm, but I have another creative idea. Germany (ThyssenKrupp) produces one of the world’s best submarines HDW Class 212A. The Bundeswehr has 6 such U-boats. Why not to send one to Ukraine? Then we’ll kick 🇷🇺fleet out of the Black Sea💪 pic.twitter.com/qy75sRVZ76
Peskov said western countries were “encouraging these demands, and professes its readiness to provide such weapons”. He added:
It’s a dead-end situation: it leads to significant escalation, it leads to Nato countries more and more becoming directly involved in the conflict – but it doesn’t have the potential to change the course of events and will not do so.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for western weapons to be supplied more quickly as Russian forces continued attacks on positions across the frontline near the eastern cities of Bakhmut and Donetsk.
Speaking in his nightly address, the Ukrainian president said Russia was hoping to drag out the war, already heading for the one year mark, and exhaust his country’s ability to resist the invaders.
“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,” Zelenskiy said, warning that Russia was making “constant attempts to break through our defence”.
Last week, Germany and the US agreed to send western standard tanks to Ukraine, although they will arrive in the country in two months at the earliest, before what is expected to be a critical period in the war next spring.
But the US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War argued that the incremental pace of western weapons supply – in which new arms have been sent after weeks or months of debate – has held back the Ukrainian defenders.
“Delays in the provision to Ukraine of western long-range fires [artillery] systems, advanced air defense systems, and tanks have limited Ukraine’s ability to take advantage of opportunities for larger counter-offensive operations presented by flaws and failures in Russian military operations,” it warned.
Russian forces have been pounding Bakhmut in the Donbas for several months, but in recent days the invaders to have opened up a new effort to gain ground around the village of Vuhledar, 30 miles south-west of Donetsk city.
The situation in both places, Zelenskiy said, was “very tough” with “Bakhmut, Vuhledar and other areas in the Donetsk region are under constant Russian attacks” as the end of January approaches.
Ukraine’s state-run energy operator Ukrenergo has said there is a “significant” deficit in the country’s energy system due to damage caused by Russian missile attacks.
In a statement published today, Ukrenergo said:
The power grid is still recovering from the previous series of hostile missile attacks that damaged power plant units. As a result, electricity production at the operating power plants cannot fully cover consumption.
Ukraine’s energy system had “survived” 13 rocket attacks and 15 drone strikes from Russian forces, which had “caused significant damage to high-voltage facilities and power plants”, it continued.
It added:
All regional power distribution companies have been notified of consumption limits that act throughout the day. As a reminder, each regional power distribution company draws up schedules of planned hourly outages to ensure that the consumption of the region is within the approved limit.
Here are some of the latest images we have received from the aftermath of a Russian missile attack on an apartment building in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city.
One woman was killed and three others were wounded by the shelling, according to the regional governor, Oleh Synehubov.
A local resident carries her baby outside their residential building partially destroyed after a missile strike in Kharkiv. Photograph: Sergey Bobok/AFP/Getty Images
At least one woman was killed and three people were injured in the shelling, according to the Ukrainian Emergency Service. Photograph: Sergey Kozlov/EPA
Kharkiv and surrounding areas have been the target of heavy shelling since February 2022. Photograph: Sergey Kozlov/EPA
Ukrainian rescuers clear the debris of the residential building. Photograph: Sergey Bobok/AFP/Getty Images
Ukraine’s presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak has accused the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of being a “promoter of war, murder and destruction” after the committee said it would consider ways for Russian athletes to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The IOC was offering Russia “a platform to promote genocide & encourages their further killings”, Podolyak wrote on Twitter.
#IOC is a promoter of war, murder & destruction. The IOC watches with pleasure RF destroying 🇺🇦 & then offers 🇷🇺 a platform to promote genocide & encourages their further killings. Obviously ru-money that buys Olympic hypocrisy doesn’t have a smell of 🇺🇦 blood. Right, Mr. #Bach?
Ukraine’s sports minister, Vadym Guttsait, last week warned the country would consider a boycott of the 2024 Olympics if Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed to take part. His remarks came after the IOC said it was continuing to work on a pathway which would enable Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals, a move which was criticised by the British government.
UK should be ‘really proud of leading the world’ in Ukraine support, says Sunak
Britain should be “really proud” of having led the world in supporting Ukraine and standing up to Russian aggression, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said.
The UK earlier this month announced it would send 14 of its own Challenger 2 tanks, the first time a western nation send it would give its own heavy armour to Kyiv. Since then, a coalition of western nations including Germany and the US have confirmed they are willing to supply battle tanks.
Speaking at a Q&A in County Durham, Sunak said:
We were the first major country to do that. What that has led to is other countries, like America and like Germany, saying they will do the same thing.
That is really important because it will provide the support that Ukraine needs to, hopefully, make more progress against Russia over the early part of this year.
Hello everyone. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong here again, taking over the live blog from Martin Belam to bring you the latest news from Ukraine. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
Boris Johnson has said that Vladimir Putin claimed he could have sent a missile to hit Britain “within a minute”, in a call just before the invasion of Ukraine.
The former prime minister’s comments came in a three-part documentary for BBC Two looking at the conflict in Ukraine and the lead-up to Russia’s invasion in February last year.
It had been in a conversation about hypothetical support for Nato on Russia’s borders if Putin decided to invade, as Johnson tried to talk Putin down.
He told the makers of Putin vs the West that he didn’t regard Putin’s comments as a threat. He went on to become one of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s biggest supporters and has visited Kyiv since resigning as prime minister.
Boris Johnson claims Vladimir Putin threatened UK missile strike – video
The show will air on BBC Two on Monday at 9pm.
“He sort of threatened me at one point and said, ‘Boris, I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute’, or something like that,” Johnson said.
“I think from the very relaxed tone that he was taking, the sort of air of detachment that he seemed to have, he was just playing along with my attempts to get him to negotiate.”
