French President Emmanuel Macron said that Russia must be defeated in Ukraine but warned against "crushing" the country in an interview with French press on Saturday. US Vice President Kamala Harris told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, that Russia has committed "crimes against humanity" in Ukraine, with its forces having conducted "widespread and systemic" attacks on the country's civilian population. Read our live blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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8:45pm: Macron says Russia must be defeated but not 'crushed'
French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview released Saturday that he wanted Russia to be defeated in its war with Ukraine, but did not want to see the country "crushed".
"I am convinced that, in the end, this will not conclude militarily," he told two French newspapers and broadcaster France Inter. But while he wanted Russia's defeat, he did not share the position of those who wanted to see the country crushed.
"I do not think, as some people do, that we must aim for a total defeat of Russia, attacking Russia on its own soil. Those observers want to, above all else, crush Russia. That has never been the position of France and it will never be our position," Macron said.
7:20pm: Hungary's Orban vows to maintain Russia ties
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban vowed Saturday to maintain ties with Moscow and urged others to do the same, even as the EU tries to maintain a united front against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
"We will keep our economic relations with Russia, and this is what we propose to our allies as well," Orban said in his annual state-of-the-nation address.
"The Hungarian government does not consider the suggestion that Russia is a threat to the security of Hungary or Europe to be realistic," he added.
Instead, he said, Europe was "on the verge of drifting into war... In fact, it is already at an indirect war with Russia," he said.
"We have only one choice left: to stay out of the war. This won't be easy as a member of NATO and EU, because there, everyone else is for the war," he alleged.
Since the start of the invasion of neighbouring Ukraine last year, Hungary has trod an ambiguous path on the war, with Orban condemning Russian aggression while refusing to criticise Russian President Vladimir Putin by name.
Orban, who nursed close ties with Putin before the war, has also refused to send weapons to Ukraine as other EU members have done, instead calling for an immediate ceasefire and peace talks.
6:41pm: Russian attack on Ukraine emboldened North Korea, says South Korean minister
South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said on Saturday that Russia's attack on Ukraine and the global attention on that war had emboldened North Korea, which launched a long-range ballistic missile into the sea off Japan's west coast earlier in the day.
The missile launch - North Korea's first since January 1 - clearly signalled "its intent to conduct additional provocations", Park said at a panel during a global security conference in Munich, Germany.
6:03pm : Netherlands orders Russian embassy to downsize and closes St Petersburg consulate
The Dutch government on Saturday said it would close its consulate in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and that it would limit the number of Russian diplomats allowed at the Russian embassy in The Hague.
"Russia keeps trying to secretly get intelligence agents into the Netherlands under cover of diplomacy. We cannot and shall not allow that," Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said in a statement.
The Dutch government also ordered the Russian trade office in Amsterdam to close by Tuesday.
2:33pm: Time for West to 'double down' on military support for Ukraine, UK's Sunak says
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called on world leaders Saturday to “double down” on support for Ukraine, saying additional arms and security guarantees are needed to protect the country and the rest of Europe from Russian aggressio n now and in the future.
Highlighting Britain’s recent commitment to provide battle tanks, advanced air defense systems and longer-range missiles to Ukraine, Sunak urged other nations to follow suit before Russia launches an expected spring offensive.
“Now is the moment to double down on our military support,” Sunak said in a speech to the Munich Security Conference. “When Putin started this war, he gambled that our resolve would falter. Even now he is betting we will lose our nerve.”
Sunak also called on NATO to provide long-term security guarantees for Ukraine. Such commitments are necessary to shield Ukraine from future Russian aggression and to protect the system of international rules that have helped keep peace since the end of World War II, Sunak said. “It’s about the security and sovereignty of every nation. ... Because Russia’s invasion, its abhorrent war crimes and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric are symptomatic of a broader threat to everything we believe in.”
2:23pm: Ukraine's FM says he is ‘sure’ allies will eventually send fighter jets
Ukraine's foreign minister said on Saturday that he was certain that the country's allies would eventually supply fighter jets to help it fend off the Russian invasion.
"I will take a risk of saying that Ukraine will receive planes, it's a matter of time and procedure," Dmytro Kuleba told a news conference at the Munich Security Conference.
Kyiv's allies have promised battle tanks, and talks are underway about securing longer-range missiles. So far, Ukraine's partners are hesitant about providing fighter jets.
2:17pm: Russia says it has captured village in Ukraine's Kharkiv region
Russia on Saturday claimed to have taken control of a small village near the key city of Kupiansk in the northeastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv.
"The settlement of Gryanikovka... was completely liberated," the defence ministry said in a statement, referring to the Ukrainian village of Gryanykivka by its Russian name.
Gryanykivka was home to around 600 people before the start of Russia's offensive in Ukraine last February.
In September, Russian troops retreated from key cities in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, including the key rail hub of Kupiansk.
Kupiansk is near the frontline in eastern Ukraine and locals fear it can be taken over again.
The Ukrainian army said earlier Saturday that Russian troops were "conducting offensive actions" in a several cities including Kupiansk and Bakhmut, the eastern city that is the scene of the longest and bloodiest battle of the war so far.
1:51pm: US VP Kamala Harris presents an indictment of Russian war crimes in Ukraine
US Vice President Kamala Harris used her speech at the Munich Security Conference to present an indictment of Russian war crimes in Ukraine, presenting examples such as targeting civilian infrastructure, rape and the forced displacement of the Ukrainian people. She added that these crimes are being documented and that the perpetrators as well as those who ordered these crimes would be brought to justice.
She went on to remind people that this war is not just about the US versus Russia or even NATO versus Russia but about defending a rules-based international order, which involves respect for human rights, as is enshrined in the UN Human Rights Charter.
FRANCE 24's Nick Spicer reports.
1:36pm: Russia should pay towards Ukrainian reconstruction, says UK's Sunak
Western allies should consider how to ensure that Russia pays towards the reconstruction of Ukraine once the war has ended, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Saturday.
Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference, he also said the international community's response to general Russian aggression had not been strong enough.
12:59pm: Russia has committed 'crimes against humanity' in Ukraine, says US
Russia committed "crimes against humanity" in Ukraine, US Vice President Kamala Harris said Saturday, with its forces having conducted "widespread and systemic" attacks on the country's civilian population.
"The US has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity," Harris said in an address to the Munich Security Conference.
11:13am: EU to team with defence industry to speed up ammunition output
The European Union aims to join forces with the bloc's defence industry to speed up and scale up the production of ammunition badly needed on the battlefield in Ukraine and to replenish military stocks at home, its chief said on Saturday.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suggested the bloc should do what it did during the pandemic to prepare for the large-scale production of a COVID vaccine.
"We could think of, for example, advanced purchase agreements that give the defence industry the possibility to invest in production lines now to be faster and to increase the amount they can deliver," she said.
Von der Leyen underlined that the bloc could not wait for months and years to be able to replenish its own military stocks or send munitions such as 155mm artillery shells to Ukraine.
10:52am: EU's von der Leyen urges allies to 'double down' for Ukraine
European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday told a security forum that allies must "double down" on military support for Ukraine, as it fights back against Russian forces.
"We have to double down and we have to continue the really massive support that is necessary (so) that these imperialistic plans of (President Vladimir) Putin will completely fail," she told the Munich Security Conference.
10:45am: Poland ready to support Ukraine with MiG jets if broader coalition formed, says PM
Poland is ready to support Ukraine with its MiG jets, but only if a broader coalition is formed with the United States as a leader, Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki said on Saturday.
"Today we can talk about transferring our MiG (jets) as part of a wider coalition and we are ready for that... Poland can only be a part of a much larger coalition here, a coalition with the United States as a leader," he said.
9:40am: 'Give Ukraine what they need to win', says NATO chief
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is expected to tell the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that allies must provide Ukraine what it needs to defeat Russia, as Kyiv pleads for more weapons.
"We must give Ukraine what they need to win and prevail as a sovereign, independent nation in Europe," he is expected to tell the gathering of world leaders, according to excerpts of his speech seen by AFP.
9:21am: Explosions reported after new missile attack on Ukraine
Two explosions were heard in a west Ukrainian city as the country faced a new Russian missile salvo, local government officials said, with several regions limiting electricity supply as a precaution for potential strikes on the grid.
Two explosions could be heard in the city of Khmelnytskyi, which lies 170 miles (274 km) west of Kyiv, the regional governor said.
Shortly after air raid alerts were issued nationwide on Saturday morning, authorities in several southern and eastern regions of Ukraine warned of possible precautionary power outages to limit damage to the grid in case of a strike.
8:53am: Russian assets worth around $5.7 billion sanctioned in Germany
Russian assets worth around 5.32 billion euros ($5.69 billion) have been sanctioned in Germany over the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine, the German finance ministry was cited as saying by the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
The newspaper report said the assets belong to Russian entities such the Russian central bank, companies and individuals on the European Union sanctions list. The ministry did not give the value of assets belonging to so-called oligarchs that were frozen, Welt am Sonntag said.
The paper said a new central authority for implementing sanctions is still being set up, citing the ministry, with 36 staff already working there and more being hired.
6:30am: Biden to send message to Putin in Ukraine war anniversary speech
President Joe Biden will be "messaging" Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin when he speaks in Warsaw next week, while hailing NATO's unprecedented effort to help Ukrainians save their country as the war reaches the one-year mark.
The White House says Biden will give the speech in Poland – a key US ally and fulcrum of vast efforts to arm Ukraine and receive refugees – on Tuesday.
That's the same day Putin is set to give his own speech in Moscow, three days from the February 24th anniversary of Russian tanks rolling into Ukraine.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
