Here is the situation as it stands on Friday, February 24, 2023:
Diplomacy:
- The United Nations General Assembly passed a non-binding resolution that calls for Russia to end hostilities and withdraw from Ukraine. It included a call for a “just and lasting” peace.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed confidence in his country’s victory over invading Russian forces as fears mount over attacks on the war’s first anniversary.
- Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu accused the West of using Ukraine to try to break up Russia, but said he thought the attempt would fail.
- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance has seen signs China is considering supplying arms to Russia and warned Beijing against taking any such step.
- China’s deputy UN ambassador, Dai Bing, told the UN General Assembly that one year into the Ukraine war, “brutal facts offer an ample proof that sending weapons will not bring peace”.
- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez went to Kyiv, becoming the latest world leader to visit the war-torn country’s capital.
- Sweden and Turkey plan to resume discussions in March on Sweden’s membership of NATO, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said.
Weapons:
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the West will continue to support Ukraine for as long as necessary, but it would not be “clever” for Ukraine to use the weapons it receives to mount attacks on Russian territory.
- President Vladimir Putin said the delayed Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile will be deployed this year.
- Spain may increase the number of Leopard 2A4 tanks it will send to Ukraine to 10, from the six promised earlier, and will discuss potential aircraft deliveries with its NATO and EU partners, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said during a visit to Kyiv.
- Finland will send three Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, the Finnish defence ministry said.
Fighting:
- Three ambulance workers trying to evacuate people from their homes in the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine were killed by Ukrainian shelling, a Russian-installed official in the region said.
- Moldova dismissed claims by Russia’s defence ministry that Ukraine planned to invade the breakaway region of Transnistria – and instead called for calm.
