Closing summary
The EU has agreed to more than quadruple its spending on training Ukrainian soldiers to battle Russia, investing close to an extra €200m (£173m), AFP reported.
Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, urged members of the alliance to “stay the course” in supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia’s invasion, Reuters reported. “It’s our obligation to ensure that we provide Ukraine with the weapons they need,” Stoltenberg told reporters as he arrived for a gathering of foreign ministers from Nato countries at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.
A Ukrainian military intelligence official has confirmed that Marianna Budanova, the wife of Ukraine’s intelligence head, Kyrylo Budanov, had been poisoned and had been undergoing treatment in a hospital. Her poisoning was reported earlier by Ukrainian media outlets, which cited unnamed intelligence sources.
Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has said military and financial support for Ukraine is of “existential importance” to Europe. In a speech to parliament, he was quoted by AFP as saying: “We will continue with this support as long as it is necessary. This support is of existential importance. For Ukraine … but also for us in Europe. None of us want to imagine what even more serious consequences it would have for us if Putin won this war.”
Moscow’s Lefortovo district court extended the pre-trial detention of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich for two months until 30 January 2024, the court’s press service said.
According to AFP, the caretaker Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, is the clear frontrunner to become the next head of Nato. Multiple diplomats put the veteran well ahead of other hopefuls – including the Estonian prime minister, Kaja Kallas, and Latvia’s top diplomat, Krišjānis Kariņš – to take over next year from Jens Stoltenberg.
Updated
EU agrees to more than quadruple its spending on training Ukrainian soldiers
The EU has agreed to more than quadruple its spending on training Ukrainian soldiers to battle Russia, investing close to an extra €200m (£173m), AFP reports.
The 27-nation bloc has so far trained 34,000 Ukrainian personnel for the frontline, making the EU the biggest provider of training for Ukraine’s military
The latest funding increased the amount from the EU’s central European Peace Facility fund for the training by €194m to €255m in total, Brussels said in a statement.
Officials say they were aiming to reach 40,000 Ukrainian troops trained by the EU in the near future.
