Summary
Here are some of today’s key events:
Top western officials have weighed in to criticise former president Donald Trump after he suggested the U.S. might not protect Nato allies who aren’t spending enough on defence from a potential Russian invasion.
Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said any suggestion Nato allies would not defend each other undermines all of the alliance’s security and puts US and European soldiers at risk.. “Any attack on Nato will be met with a united and forceful response,” he said.
The White House also rejected the comments, calling them “appalling and unhinged”. Trump made the statement on Saturday during a campaign rally in Conway, South Carolina, ahead of the state’s Republican presidential preference primary on 24 February.
Ukraine has claimed that Russian forces were using terminals of Elon Musk’s satellite internet service Starlink in occupied areas, releasing what it said was an intercept of an exchange between two Russian soldiers as proof of its “systemic” use. Starlink systems have been vital for Ukraine’s battlefield communications throughout Russia’s nearly two-year-old invasion as Kyiv has faced a larger and better-equipped military.
A narrowly divided U.S. Senate will try to move closer to passing a $95.34 billion (£75.49 billion) aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on Sunday, while hoping to show enough bipartisan support to propel the measure all the way through Congress.The legislation needs 60 votes to overcome a procedural hurdle and continue toward Senate passage in the coming days.
A Russian drone strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, killed seven people, including three children, Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov reported Saturday. A Ukrainian prosecutor, her husband, and their three small children were among the seven killed after the strike hit an oil depot, triggering blazes that burned half a street to the ground, officials said. An elderly couple living in the same street were also killed in the attack that mayor Ihor Terekhov said injured 57 people and razed 15 homes.
President Zelenskiy has appointed Oleksandr Pavliuk, former first deputy defence minister, as the new commander of Ukraine’s ground forces. Pavliuk, a lieutenant-general who served in the ministry role for a year, replaces Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi after he was appointed this week as commander of Ukraine’s armed forces. Zelenskiy has announced five senior military appointments.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence said there are indications that Russia’s war with Ukraine is contributing to a shortage of healthcare professionals across Russia. In its latest intelligence update, the MoD adds the heavy resource and financial burden of the war is negatively affecting a range of civilian sectors.
Russia’s registration of candidates for the March presidential election has closed, TASS reported on Sunday, with a list including president Vladimir Putin and three politicians who all support Moscow’s war in Ukraine. The list did not include the Russian anti-war candidate Boris Nadezhdin after the Central Election Commission barred him on Thursday from running. Nadezhdin said on Thursday he would challenge the CEC’s decision in Russia’s supreme court.
Japan will pledge 15.8bn yen ($106m) in aid to Ukraine at a conference to be held in Tokyo on 19 February, Kyodo News reported on Sunday, citing unidentified sources. The funding will be used for reconstruction in seven areas, including agriculture and the disposal of rubble, Kyodo said.
Centre-right Alexander Stubb of the National Coalition Party is the frontrunner in Finland’s presidential run-off on Sunday, according to opinion polls, as the Nordic country elects a new leader of its security and foreign policy. The election marks a new era in Finland after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The winner is expected to be known by around 2100 GMT.
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Western officials hit out at Trump over Nato comments
Top western officials have weighed in to criticise former president Donald Trump after he suggested the US might not protect NATO allies who aren’t spending enough on defence from a potential Russian invasion, Reuters reports.
“Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the US, and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk,” said NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg in a written statement. “Any attack on NATO will be met with a united and forceful response,” he added.
Polish defence minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said: “NATO’s motto ‘one for all, all for one’ is a concrete commitment. Undermining the credibility of allied countries means weakening the entire NATO,” he wrote on social media platform X. “No election campaign is an excuse for playing with the security of the Alliance.”
Germany’s foreign ministry posted the message ‘One for all and all for one’ with the hashtag #StrongerTogether on its English language X account following Trump’s comments.
EU council president Charles Michel said: “Reckless statements on #NATO*s security and Art 5 solidarity serve only (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s interest.”
Article 5 of the NATO treaty says that an armed attack against an alliance member will be considered an attack against them all, triggering collective self-defence.
Trump, speaking during a political rally in South Carolina and appearing to recount a meeting with NATO leaders, quoted the president of “a big country” that he did not name as asking, “Well sir, if we don’t pay, and we’re attacked by Russia - will you protect us?” “I said: ‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?’ He said: ‘Yes, let’s say that happened.’ No I would not protect you. In fact I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay.”
“We have heard that before ... Nothing new under the sun”, said EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton in an interview with France’s LCI television, adding:
“He maybe has issues with his memory, it was actually a female president, not of a country, but of the European Union,” Breton said, referring to European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen and a conversation she had with Trump in 2020.
“We cannot flip a coin about our security every four years depending on this or that election, namely the U.S. presidential election,” Breton said, adding European Union leaders understood the bloc needed to boost its own military spending and capacities.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates, asked about Trump’s comments, said, “Encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged - and it endangers American national security, global stability and our economy at home.”
NATO’s 31 members have agreed on a target of spending at least 2% of gross domestic product on defence, but NATO estimates have shown that only 11 are spending that much.
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