Closing summary
It’s 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where things stand:
Germany declined to take a decision on whether to give Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine at a special international summit held at the Ramstein US air force base in Germany. It had been hoped in Europe and the US that Germany would at least allow Leopards owned by countries such as Poland and Finland to be re-exported, but despite days of pleading, Berlin’s newly appointed defence minister said no final decision had been taken.
Berlin’s reluctance to act over sending German-made tanks to Ukraine prompted frustration in Kyiv and a warning from Poland that lives could be lost. Mariusz Blaszczak, Poland’s defence minister, said he was still “convinced that coalition-building will end in success”. But Poland’s foreign affairs minister, Zbigniew Rau, said Ukrainian blood is the “price of hesitation” over the delivery of tanks to Ukraine.
The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said the group of Kyiv-supporting defence ministers were focused on “making sure that Ukraine has the capability that it needs to be successful right now”. Speaking after the Ramstein airbase meeting, Austin described Germany as a “reliable ally” and said the package of military aid being sent to Ukraine was “very, very capable”.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, pleaded with Germany and western allies to send their battle tanks to Kyiv at the opening of the meeting in Ramstein. Urgent action was necessary, the Ukrainian leader said, because “Russia is concentrating its forces, last forces, trying to convince everyone that hatred can be stronger than the world”.
The Kremlin said supplying additional tanks to Kyiv would not “fundamentally change anything” and warned that the west would “regret” its “delusion” that Ukraine could win on the battlefield. Russia’s relationship with the US is at its “lowest point historically”, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also said, with “no hope” of bilateral relations improving “in the foreseeable future”.
A group of nine Nato countries, including Britain and Poland, pledged a raft of new military aid to support Ukraine’s war with Russia on Thursday. Gathering at a military base in Estonia, defence officials from those countries pledged missiles, stinger air defence systems, anti-aircraft guns, machine guns, training, and other equipment and services. Britain, which has already announced plans to send tanks to Ukraine, will also send 600 Brimstone missiles, defence secretary Ben Wallace said.
It will “very, very difficult” for Ukraine to “military eject” Russian forces from every inch of occupied territory this year, the US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Mark Milley, said. Meanwhile, senior US officials have reportedly urged Ukraine to hold off on launching a major offensive against Russian forces until the latest supply of US weaponry is in place and training is provided.
EU countries are reportedly working on a 10th round of Russia-related sanctions. The next package of sanctions “will be somewhere around” the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, one senior diplomat told Reuters. EU officials are also seeking approval from the ministers for a seventh tranche of military aid for Ukraine worth €500m.
The US will impose additional sanctions against the Russian private military company, the Wagner Group, the White House national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, has said. The US treasury department plans to designate Wagner as a significant Transnational Criminal Organisation, which would freeze any assets the group has in the US and prohibit Americans from providing funds, goods, or services to the group.
Russian proxy forces in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in the Donbas region said they had taken control of Klishchiivka, a small settlement south of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Germany’s foreign intelligence service (BND) is reportedly alarmed by the losses the Ukrainian army is suffering in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
A UN humanitarian convoy has reached an area close to the town of Soledar in east Ukraine. A UN spokesperson said the three-truck convoy had set off early on Friday from Dnipro carrying food, water, hygiene kits and medical supplies for 800 people, to Soledar where some of the fiercest fighting in the country has taken place in recent weeks.
The UK has offered qualified support for the creation of a special tribunal capable of holding the Russian civilian and military leadership, including Vladimir Putin, to account for war crimes in Ukraine.
Italian authorities are on the hunt for a Russian oligarch after two of his luxury yachts that were seized under EU sanctions mysteriously disappeared from a port in Sardinia. The yachts, belonging to Dmitry Mazepin, the billionaire owner of a mineral fertiliser company, went missing from the Sardinian port of Olbia within weeks of each other last summer.
The US will impose additional sanctions against the Russian private military company, the Wagner Group, the White House national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, has said.
The US treasury department plans to designate Wagner as a significant Transnational Criminal Organisation along with additional sanctions, to be announced next week, he said.
Declaring Wagner a Transnational Criminal Organisation freezes any assets the group has in the US and prohibits Americans from providing funds, goods, or services to the group.
The move will “recognise the transcontinental threat that Wagner poses, including through its ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity”, Reuters cited a senior US official as saying.
They added:
With these actions, and more to come, our message to any company that is considering providing support to Wagner is this: Wagner is a criminal organization that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses, and we will work relentlessly to identify, disrupt, expose, and target those assisting Wagner
Updated
Italian authorities are on the hunt for a Russian oligarch after two of his luxury yachts that were seized under EU sanctions mysteriously disappeared from a port in Sardinia.
A public notice informing Dmitry Mazepin, the billionaire owner of a mineral fertiliser company, of the penalties against him over the alleged illegal removal of the vessels has been issued by the town hall of Forte Dei Marmi, the Tuscan coastal resort where the oligarch owns a home.
The yachts, both called Aldabra but featuring maritime flags of two different countries, went missing from the Sardinian port of Olbia within weeks of each other last summer.
They were seized last March after Mazepin, who is the father of the former Formula One driver Nikita Mazepin, was named on the sanctions list a few weeks after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It is the first case in Italy of a Russian with assets frozen in the country who has managed to dodge EU sanctions.
EU working on 10th round of Russia sanctions - report
EU countries are working on a 10th round of Russia-related sanctions that could be ready around the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, according to diplomatic sources.
The next package of sanctions “will be somewhere around” that date, one senior diplomat told Reuters. Another said “there was ambition” to have the package ready by then.
The sources did not discuss who or what might fall under the latest sanctions package. No decisions are expected when EU foreign ministers meet on Monday, but some could use the opportunity to push the discussion.
EU officials are also seeking approval from the ministers for a seventh tranche of military aid for Ukraine worth €500m.
Updated
Germany declined to take a decision on whether to give Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine at a special international summit on Friday, prompting frustration in Kyiv and a warning from Poland that lives could be lost because of hesitation in Berlin.
It had been hoped in Europe and the US that Germany would at least allow Leopards owned by countries such as Poland and Finland to be re-exported, but despite days of pleading, Berlin’s newly appointed defence minister said no final decision had been taken.
Instead, Boris Pistorius said on the sidelines of the 50-nation meeting at the Ramstein US air force base in Germany he had asked his ministry to “undertake an examination of the stocks” of the tanks available.
Although it was the closest Germany has come to suggesting it might be contemplating the use of the tanks in the conflict, it provoked a number of pointed comments from Ukraine and its allies as the meeting broke up without progress on what has come to be seen as the core issue.
Here are some of the latest images we have received from the frontline in Ukraine.
The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, has told reporters no German decision had been made to send tanks to Ukraine, despite Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, urging Nato partners to provide them.
Speaking at Germany’s US Ramstein airbase, he said:
What we’re really focused on is making sure that Ukraine has the capability that it needs to be successful right now.
He added that Poland was willing to provide tanks if other allies followed suit.
US officials urge Ukraine to hold off on new offensive
Senior US officials have urged Ukraine to hold off on launching a major offensive against Russian forces until the latest supply of US weaponry is in place and training is provided, Reuters is citing a senior official as saying.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US was holding fast to its decision not to provide Abrams tanks to Ukraine at this time.
Washington has declined so far to provide M1 Abrams tanks to Kyiv, citing extensive and complex maintenance and logistical challenges.
Poland’s foreign affairs minister, Zbigniew Rau, says Ukrainian blood is the “price of hesitation” over the delivery of German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
He writes:
Arming Ukraine in order to repel the Russian aggression is not some kind of decision-making exercise. Ukrainian blood is shed for real. This is the price of hesitation over Leopard deliveries. We need action, now.
Arming Ukraine in order to repel the Russian aggression is not some kind of decision-making exercise. Ukrainian blood is shed for real. This is the price of hesitation over Leopard deliveries. We need action, now.
— Zbigniew Rau (@RauZbigniew) January 20, 2023
His tweet comes after the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said Germany has not yet decided on the provision of tanks to Ukraine.
Updated
Austin says Germany has “contributed a lot” to the west’s military support of Ukraine and is “a reliable ally”.
He says Berlin is “working hand in hand” with the rest of the group, and that he truly believes that it will continue to be a reliable ally going forward.
Milley: 'Very difficult' for Ukraine to remove all Russian forces from occupied territories this year
The US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Mark Milley, says it will “very, very difficult” for Ukraine to “military eject” Russian forces from every inch of occupied territory this year.
He adds:
That doesn’t mean it can’t happen, doesn’t mean it won’t happen, but it would be very, very difficult.
What could happen is a “continued defence stabilising the front”, he says, which would depend on the delivery and training of military equipment the west is sending to Ukraine.
Milley says it’s possible for Ukraine to run a “significant” tactical offensive operation to liberate as much Ukrainian territory as possible.
Updated
Asked if he is disappointed in the German position over sending Leopard tanks to Ukraine, Austin says the goal has been to “provide the capability that Ukraine needs to be successful in the near term”. He says the group has been “fairly successful” at doing this.
He points to Germany sending Marder vehicles, and describes the package of military aid being sent to Ukraine as “very, very capable”.
I really do believe that it will enable the Ukrainians to be successful going forward. This is not dependent upon a single platform, this is this is a combined arms effort that we brought together that I truly believe is going to provide them the best opportunity for success.
Austin: No decision made on supplying German-made tanks to Ukraine
The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, says Germany has yet to make a decision on the provision of Leopard tanks to Ukraine, citing his German counterpart.
Asked whether the issue of supplying heavy tanks to Ukraine was discussed at today’s meeting at Ramstein airbase, Austin said:
You may have heard the German minister of defence say earlier that they’ve not made a decision on the provision of Leopard tanks.
What we’re really focused on is making sure that Ukraine has the capability that it needs to be successful right now. So we have a window of opportunity here between now and the spring or whenever they commence their offensive.
Updated
Mark Milley, the US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, is speaking next. He says that in his 43 years in uniform, “this is the most unified I’ve ever seen Nato”.
The meeting of defence ministers plays “an important role” in supporting Ukraine and is a “clear, unambiguous demonstration of the unity and resolve of the allied nations”, Milley says.
He describes the US’s latest military aid package as “signifying our continued commitment to Ukraine”.
Austin says he is confident the group will remain united, and will continue to build momentum to support Ukraine.
He says the military commitments made by countries show that members of the group “are standing up for a world where rules matter and where rights matter and where sovereignty is respected”.
He says:
This isn’t just about Ukraine’s security. It’s also about European security and it’s about global security.
It’s about the kind of world that we want to live in and it’s about the world that we want our children and grandchildren to inherit.
Austin says today’s meeting focused on Ukraine’s needs for air defence and armour, and the group “pushed hard” on how to synchronise those donations.
That means every step from donation, to training, to maintenance, and then to sustainment.
Several countries have come forward with “key donations” that will help protect Ukraine’s skies and citizens, he says. France, Germany and the UK have all donated air defence systems to Ukraine, including a Patriot battery system from Germany.
The Netherlands has also said it is donating Patriot missiles and launchers and training, he says.
Austin commends the UK for its “significant” donation of Challenger 2 battle tanks for Ukraine.
Updated
Austin says the meeting of defence ministers at Ramstein airbase in Germany has concluded.
He says the group “will not slow down” at this “decisive moment for Ukraine’s struggle to defend itself”.
We’re going to continue to dig deep and based upon the progress that we’ve made today, I’m confident that Ukraine’s partners around the globe are determined to meet this moment.
He says the US is committed to “leading in this coordinated effort” and provides details about the latest round of US military aid for Ukraine, worth $2.5bn.
Austin holds press conference after meeting of defence ministers in Germany
The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, is speaking after a meeting of Ukraine-supporting defence ministers from 50 countries in Ramstein, Germany.
You can watch a live feed of his news conference here:
No decision on sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine was reached at a meeting of Kyiv-supporting defence ministers in Germany today, according to Poland’s defence minister, Mariusz Blaszczak.
Blaszczak said he was still “convinced that coalition building will end in success” while speaking to reporters. He said:
Hope comes from the fact that … defence ministers of 15 countries met on the sidelines of today’s conference and we talked about this topic.
Updated
The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, has shared a clip of him meeting his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksii Reznikov, at a meeting of dozens of defence ministers at Ramstein airbase in Germany.
Ukraine’s allies “stand shoulder-to-shoulder” to support Kyiv, he wrote.
It’s always a pleasure meeting with my 🇺🇦 Ukrainian counterpart & friend, Minister @oleksiireznikov. We’re proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you, our partners & allies to support Ukraine’s self-defense. A collective of nearly 50 nations of goodwill are united behind you. pic.twitter.com/idyjwvJJtB
— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) January 20, 2023
In turn, Reznikov tweeted his thanks to Austin, President Joe Biden and the American people after the Pentagon announced another military aid package to Ukraine worth $2.5bn.
The package does not include tanks, instead the US said it will send 90 Stryker combat vehicles and an additional 59 Bradley fighting vehicles to Ukraine, in addition to hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition.
Another package of security assistance to Ukraine from the US is
— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) January 20, 2023
a strong support to #UAarmy,
an example to follow for other partner states; and a reminder to the terrorist state that its defeat inevitable.
Thank you to @POTUS @SecDef and the American people. pic.twitter.com/TmBrmk8eqY
Updated
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the office of president of Ukraine, has posted to Telegram to say that two people have been injured in the Kherson region by Russian shelling. He says one was a 15-year-old boy, and the other lost a leg in the incident.
The claims have not been independently verified. Kherson is one of the regions that Russia claims to have annexed.
Updated
Leopard 2 tanks: what are they and why does Ukraine want them?
What is the Leopard 2?
The Leopard 2 is a German-manufactured main battle tank with a range of about 500km (311 miles). It first came into service in 1979 and has a top speed of 68km/h (42mph). Equipped with a 120mm smooth bore gun as its main armament, it is also armed with two coaxial light machine guns.
As well as being used by the German military, Leopard 2 has been in wide service in Europe, with more than a dozen countries using the tank, as well as a number of other countries including Canada. The tanks have been deployed in Kosovo, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Syria (by Turkey) where several were lost to anti-tank missiles.
Why does Ukraine want them?
Ukraine has said it has an urgent need for heavier armour in its war against Russia’s invasion. Kyiv has limited availability of tanks, most of them from the Soviet or post-Soviet era.
As well as emphasising its belief that Moscow intends to launch a significant new offensive in the coming months, Kyiv and many of its allies believe that the war will end more quickly if Russia is defeated on the battlefield in Ukraine’s own counteroffensives to take back Russian occupied territory.
While Ukraine has won significant victories – in the battle for Kyiv at the beginning of the war as well as in Kharkiv oblast and around Kherson in the south – it is hampered by a shortage of tanks to support its operations and faced by Russian forces increasingly fielding more modern and capable T-90s.
The widespread availability of Leopards – including in neighbouring Poland, which wants to supply them to Ukraine – makes them a good fit for Kyiv.
Ukraine has suggested it needs 300 tanks, while western analysts have suggested that 100 could probably shift the balance of the war.
So what is the problem?
Because the tanks were supplied to countries under export licences, Germany can veto re-export, although Poland suggested on Thursday it could simply ignore Germany and export its Leopards regardless.
Germany’s own position has been conflicted. It prefers a multilateral approach on arms supply to Ukraine rather than being seen to be moving unilaterally.
Although Germany has supplied a large amount of equipment to Ukraine, including armoured cars, it has also been wrestling with its post-second world war tradition of anti-militarism. The supply of main battle tanks had been seen as problematic because of their much more obviously offensive capabilities.
Germany had tried to tie the supply of Leopards to a wider coalition that would supply other tanks, including US Abrams – a tank viewed by experts as being less suitable for the war in Ukraine because of its heavy consumption of fuel.
What is the argument against supplying the tanks?
Opponents believe the supply of tanks would be an escalation of the involvement of Nato countries in the war, heightening the risk of it spreading. Ukraine has said it would only use the tanks within its internationally recognised borders, while supporters say it is Moscow that has continued to escalate the conflict, mobilising ever more troops, targeting civilian infrastructure and making veiled threats of nuclear strikes.
Updated
The family of a Tanzanian man who was killed fighting with the private Russian mercenary Wagner Group in Ukraine say they had warned him against joining the group.
Nemes Tarimo, 33, had been studying at a Moscow university but was subsequently imprisoned for what were described as drug-related offences.
His family told the BBC they warned him against joining Russian mercenaries last October. “Nemes informed me and some other family members about joining Wagner, and we advised him not to,” a family member said.
“He said he would join to free himself,” the relative said. Tarimo’s family has learned that he died at the end of October while on a combat mission in Ukraine with Wagner.
No decision yet on sending tanks to Ukraine, says German defence minister
Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius has said in the last few minutes on the sidelines of the Ramstein meeting that there has been no decision made yet on whether Leopard battle tanks can be delivered to Ukraine.
However, he said he had given his ministry the task this morning to “undertake an examination of the stocks” of the tanks available.
This is the closest the German government has so far come to suggesting it might be contemplating the use of the tanks in the conflict, even if Germany’s allies might have hoped for more of an indication at this stage.
German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit meanwhile has told reporters in Berlin that Scholz is not making the decision on the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks dependent on whether or not the USA delivers its M1-Abrams tanks to Ukraine.
“At no time has there been any deal or demand that one thing would follow on from another,” he said. This is despite Scholz saying earlier in the week Germany would consider sending Leopard tanks only if the US agreed to send its tanks.
Hebestreit added:
I find it difficult to imagine a German chancellor dictating any conditions or making demands to an American president.
But he stressed that it was important for the government to make its decisions regarding the Ukraine conflict, in conjunction with the US, citing other weapons systems Germany has so far dispatched.
Asked how Germany might react if Poland carried out its threat to deliver Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine without receiving the necessary export licence from Germany, Hebestreit said:
All our partners will surely want to behave in a law-abiding way.
Updated
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has tweeted his address via video link to Ukraine-supporting defence ministers in Ramstein airbase where he pleaded with Germany and allies to send their battle tanks to Kyiv.
#Ramstein
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 20, 2023
The war started by RF doesn’t allow delays.
I can thank you hundreds of times – but hundreds of "thank you” are not hundreds of tanks.
We must speed up! Time must become our common weapon, just like air defense, artillery, armored vehicles & tanks.
The Kremlin must lose pic.twitter.com/wieu6fkMBn
Germany’s foreign intelligence service (BND) is alarmed by the losses the Ukrainian army is suffering in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, according to a report.
The army is losing a three-digit number of soldiers every day fighting against Russian forces in Bakhmut, Der Spiegel reports, citing information it had received.
The Russian capture of Bakhmut would have significant consequences as it would allow Russia to make further advances, the BND warned.
It comes after Russian proxy forces in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in the Donbas region said they had taken control of Klishchiivka, a small settlement south of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
Updated
Zelenskiy pleads with Germany and allies to send tanks to Ukraine
Ukraine’s president has pleaded with Germany and western allies to send their battle tanks to Kyiv, amid speculation that Berlin would allow German-made Leopard 2s to be re-exported by other countries but not necessarily send any of its own stock.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking via video link at the opening of a meeting of Ukraine-supporting defence ministers from 50 countries in Ramstein, Germany, said it was “in your power” to at least make a decision in principle to send tanks.
Urgent action was necessary, the Ukrainian leader said, because “Russia is concentrating its forces, last forces, trying to convince everyone that hatred can be stronger than the world”.
It was necessary to speed up weapons supplies, Zelenskiy said, because the war with Russia amounted to a battle between freedom and autocracy.
It is about what kind of world people will live in, people who dream, love and hope.
Updated
Britain has joined a group of international partners to pursue criminal accountability for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has said.
Russia’s “atrocities must not go unpunished”, Cleverly said in a statement, citing the deaths of soldiers and civilians and the displacement of millions of Ukrainians.
UK starts to shift ground and joins core group of countries looking into value of setting up a specialised hybrid tribunal into the crime of aggression in Ukraine. Says court must be integrated into Ukraine's national justice system have international elements and complement ICC.
— Patrick Wintour (@patrickwintour) January 20, 2023
He added:
That’s why the UK has accepted Ukraine’s invitation to join this coalition, bringing our legal expertise to the table to explore options to ensure Russia’s leaders are held to account fully for their actions.
The statement said Britain’s involvement would include assessing the feasibility of a new “hybrid” tribunal, which could “complement established mechanisms for investigating war crimes, including the international criminal court and Ukraine’s domestic legal process”.
Updated
The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, says some European countries are prepared to send heavy tanks to Ukraine, and that he hopes the decision to provide them will be made at today’s meeting of defence ministers in Germany.
Borrell told reporters in Madrid:
This is the discussion that will take place in Ramstein today, where the EU will be represented. We have to give Ukraine the arms necessary not only to repel, which is what they’re doing, but also to regain terrain.
He added:
I think Ukraine needs the combat arms and heavy tanks that it has asked for and some European countries are prepared to give and I hope that is the decision that is taken.
The first delivery of UN humanitarian aid arrived near the frontline town of Soledar in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, a UN spokesperson has said.
A three-truck convoy offloaded supplies of food, water, hygiene and medicines for about 800 people in areas controlled by the Ukrainian government, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA) spokesperson, Jens Laerke.
He did not provide details of the convoy’s exact location, or of how the OCHA was able to ensure its safety, but said the vehicles departed from Dnipro, adding:
People there are in dire need of aid so we are indeed happy this convoy has reached [them].
The agency is seeking to increase the number of aid convoys close to the frontlines and more are expected in the days ahead, he added.
Updated
Russia warns west will ‘regret’ sending tanks to Ukraine
Russia’s relationship with the US is at its “lowest point historically”, the Kremlin has said, with “no hope” of bilateral relations improving “in the foreseeable future”.
As western defence ministers gather at Ramstein airbase in Germany to discuss sending further military aid to Ukraine, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said supplying additional tanks to Kyiv would not “fundamentally change anything”.
The west will “regret” its “delusion” that Ukraine could win on the battlefield, he said. Peskov told reporters:
We have repeatedly said that such supplies will not fundamentally change anything, but will add problems for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.
Asked whether supplying increasingly advanced weapons to Ukraine meant that the conflict was escalating, the Kremlin spokesperson replied:
You are absolutely right, it really is developing in an upward spiral. We see a growing indirect and sometimes direct involvement of Nato countries in this conflict ... We see a devotion to the dramatic delusion that Ukraine can succeed on the battlefield. This is a dramatic delusion of the western community that will more than once be cause for regret, we are sure of that.
Hello everyone. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong here again, taking over the live blog from Martin Belam to bring you the latest from the Russia-Ukraine war. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
Summary of the day so far …
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has called for allies to “dig deeper” in their support for Ukraine as “history is watching us”, as he gave details of the $2.5bn military aid package the US announced on Thursday.
Speaking at a meeting of the Ukraine defence contact group in Germany, Austin said “This is a crucial moment. Russia is regrouping, recruiting and trying to re-equip. This is not a moment to slow down. It’s a time to dig deeper. But Ukrainian people are watching us. The Kremlin is watching us and history is watching us. So we won’t let up. And we won’t waver in our determination to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia’s imperial aggression.”
The meeting at the US Ramstein base was attended in person by Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksii Reznikov, and was addressed via video link by Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Zelenskiy had said his government was expecting “strong decisions” from defence leaders of Nato and other countries meeting on Friday to discuss boosting Ukraine’s ability to confront Russian forces with modern battle tanks.
A group of nine Nato countries had pledged a raft of new military aid for Ukraine, ahead of today’s meeting. The aid from countries including Britain, Latvia and Poland will include tens of stinger air defence systems, S-60 anti-aircraft guns, machine guns and training, according to a statement.
The US announced on Thursday $2.5bn in new weaponry and munitions for Ukraine. The package includes 90 Stryker armoured personnel carriers, an additional 59 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, Avenger air defence systems, and large and small munitions, according to a Pentagon statement.
The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in the Donbas region has announced it has taken control of Klishchiivka, a small settlement south of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine claims it has arrested seven Russian agents in Dnipro, who are accused of assisting missile attacks on the city.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has stated that the Wagner mercenary group “almost certainly now commands up to 50,000 fighters in Ukraine and has become a key component of the Ukraine campaign”.
Fewer than 9% of western firms have divested from Russia since it launched its invasion of Ukraine, according to a study by academics at St Gallen University and the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland.
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. Léonie Chao-Fong will be with you for the next few hours.
Updated
Fewer than 9% of western firms have divested from Russia since it launched its invasion of Ukraine, according to a study by academics at St Gallen University and the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland.
Simon Evenett and Niccolò Pisani said their research revealed “a very limited retreat of EU and G7 firms from Russia”, adding that the findings “challenge the narrative that there is a vast exodus of western firms leaving the market”.
The researchers said that of 1,404 EU and G7 companies registered as owning a total of 2,405 subsidiaries in Russia in February 2022, only 8.5% had divested at least one of them by November, with divestment rates “barely changing” in the fourth quarter.
“In effect, many firms headquartered in these nations have resisted pressures from governments, the media and NGOs” to leave Russia, even though western firms that continue commercial ties “could be accused of ‘trading with the enemy’.”
The study found that more US companies (18%) had pulled out of Russia than European firms (8%), and that of those subsidiaries remaining, 19.5% were German owned, 12.4% American and 7% are Japanese.
Yale University maintains a list showing that more than 1,000 western companies have curtailed their activities in Russia or – as is the case with some of the world’s largest multinationals – pulled out altogether, but many remain.
The Swiss researchers said their study probably overstated the degree of divestment and represented “a reality check” on “how willing, able, and quickly western firms are prepared to sever overseas commercial ties in the face of acute geopolitical risks”.
Updated
Ukraine claims it has arrested seven Russian agents in Dnipro, who are accused of assisting missile attacks on the city.
State broadcaster Suspilne writes on Telegram:
Seven Russian agents of the main directorate of the general staff of the armed forces of the Russian Federation were detained in Dnipro, who were correcting missile attacks on the city. Information about their possible involvement in the rocket attack on a high-rise building on 14 January 2023 is being verified.
Updated
Here are some of the images from the Ukraine defence contact group in Ramstein in Germany.
Austin calls for allies to 'dig deeper' as US offers $2.5bn military package to Ukraine
US defence secretary has called for allies to “dig deeper” in their support for Ukraine as “history is watching us”, as he gave details of the $2.5bn military aid package the US announced on Thursday.
Speaking at a meeting of the Ukraine defence contact group in Germany, Austin said “This is a crucial moment. Russia is regrouping, recruiting and trying to re-equip. This is not a moment to slow down. It’s a time to dig deeper.
“But Ukrainian people are watching us. The Kremlin is watching us and history is watching us. So we won’t let up. And we won’t waver in our determination to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia’s imperial aggression.”
The meeting at the US Ramstein base was attended in person by Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksii Reznikov, and was addressed via video link by Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Austin said he was proud of the US package, which he said provides “even more air defence capabilities to help Ukraine defend its cities and its skies,” adding “Some 50 countries have stepped up to help Ukraine defend itself and deter future threats.
“When Putin launched his reckless and unprovoked invasion 11 months ago, he thought that Ukraine would just collapse, and he thought that the world would just look away. But Putin didn’t count on the courage of the Ukrainian people.”
Finland has also announced a new donation of defence equipment, but it does not include the German-made Leopard 2 heavy tanks which it said it could also send if there is an agreement with allies. Germany has to give permission for them to be re-exported, which it has so far been reluctant to do.
Here is a little more from Lloyd Austin’s address to the allies at the Ukraine defence contact group meeting in Ramstein. He said:
Ukraine has inspired the world and meanwhile Russia is running out of ammunition. It was suffering significant battle losses. And it’s turning to its few remaining partners to resupply its tragic and unnecessary invasion. Even Iran and North Korea won’t admit that they’re supplying Russia. Just compare that to the groundswell of support for free and sovereign Ukraine represented in this room.
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US defence secretary Lloyd Austin responded to the video link address by Volodymyr Zelenskiy by saying:
Thank you, Mr President. I hope you know that we will continue to stand up for the principle that borders may not be redrawn by force. And we will continue to stand up for an open world of rules, rights and responsibilities. Again, thank you for being here today.
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In his speech over video link to the Ukraine defence contact group in Ramstein, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said that Russia seeks to destroy nations. He has said there is little time, and “we must act fast”.
He said the conflict is about “what kind of world we will live in” and that “the Kremlin must lose”.
“You are strong people of powerful countries,” he told the audience. “I encourage you to make such decisions that can deprive Russian evil of any power.
“It is in your power to guarantee artillery and aircraft that will crush terror. It is in your power to make victory.”
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As part of his speech, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has said:
This is not a moment to slow down. It is time to dig deeper. The Ukrainian people are watching us. The Kremlin is watching us. History is watching us. So we won’t let up. And we won’t waver in our determination to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia’s imperial aggression.
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin is speaking about Ukraine at the meeting in Ramstein of the Ukraine defence contact group. You can watch it here. I will bring you the key quotes shortly. He is about to hand over to a video address from Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in the Donbas region has announced that it has taken control of Klishchiivka, a small settlement south of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
Tass reports that it issued a statement saying: “As of January 20, 2023, Russian troops liberated Klishchiivka on the territory of the DPR.”
Yesterday the Wagner mercenary group said that it had taken control of the area. Tass quotes Col Vitaly Kiselev saying that it is of strategic importance for the development of an offensive against Bakhmut.
Donetsk is one of the regions of Ukraine which the Russian Federation claims to have annexed. Prior to the annexation, Russia, Syria and North Korea were the only UN member states to recognise the DPR as any kind of legitimate authority.
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Here are some of the latest images from the war in Ukraine to be sent to us over the news wires.
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A quick snap from Reuters here that Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has held a phone call with his counterpart from Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The immediate read-out is that they discussed energy cooperation.
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Maksym Kozytskyi, governor of Lviv in western Ukraine, has posted to Telegram to say that yesterday there was one air alert in the region after Mig-31 and A-50 aircraft took off from Belarus, but “the danger did not materialize, everything is calm in our region”.
Kozytskyi reports that on Thursday “107 forcibly displaced persons arrived in our region by two evacuation trains”.
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Wagner has up to 50,000 troops in Ukraine, says UK
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has produced its latest intelligence briefing on what it sees as the situation in Ukraine. Today it is focused on the Wagner mercenary group. It says, among other things, that it “almost certainly now commands up to 50,000 fighters in Ukraine and has become a key component of the Ukraine campaign”.
The ministry describes Wagner as having experienced a “remarkably rapid development” in its public profile, stating that Yevgeny Prigozhin “only admitted to founding Wagner in September 2022; in October 2022, it opened a glossy HQ in St Petersburg.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 20 January 2023
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) January 20, 2023
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/5z9U167MxU
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/johkRTuMp8
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Pavlo Kyrylenko, Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk, one of the occupied areas of the country which the Russian Federation claims to have annexed, has posted to Telegram to give civilian casualty figures from yesterday. He writes:
On 19 January, the Russians killed four civilians of Donetsk region: three more people in the region were injured. Currently, it is impossible to establish the exact number of victims in [the regions of] Mariupol and Volnovakha. Every war criminal will be punished!
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me on martin.belam@theguardian.com, and I will be here for the next few hours.
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Poland’s deputy foreign minister, Paweł Jablonski, says the country is ready to take non-standard’ action if Germany opposes sending leopard tanks to Ukraine, Reuters reports.
Asked on private radio station RMF FM whether sending tanks to Ukraine would be possible even with Germany opposition, Jablonski said, “I think that if there is strong resistance, we will be ready to take even such non-standard action … but let’s not anticipate the facts.”
Jablonski was reiterating a statement by Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, who signalled on Thursday that it could send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine as part of a wider coalition even without Germany’s approval.
“Consent is of secondary importance here, we will either obtain this consent quickly, or we will do what is needed ourselves,” Morawiecki said.
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The US arms package did not include the ATA long-range missiles that Ukraine has requested, according to AFP.
The missiles, which travel up to 300km (180 miles), could enable Ukraine to strike Russian supply routes and depots far behind the frontlines that are not reachable with current Himars rocket systems.
But western partners also fear that Ukraine could use long-range weapons to hit deep inside Russian territory or Crimea – a peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014 – despite Kyiv promising it would not do so.
The Kremlin warned against escalating the conflict to a “whole new level” if the west meets Ukraine’s latest calls for longer-range weapons.
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The US on Thursday announced fresh military assistance for Ukraine valued at up to $2.5bn, including hundreds of armoured vehicles and support for Ukraine’s air defence, Reuters reports.
The aid includes 59 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and 90 Stryker Armored Personnel Carriers, the US Defense Department said in a statement. In total, the US has committed more than $27.4bn in security aid to Ukraine since the invasion began.
German government sources have said Berlin would move on the Leopard tanks issue if Washington agreed to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine. Abrams tanks were not included in Thursday’s announcement by the US.
Germany’s new defence minister, Boris Pistorius, said earlier, however, that he did not know of any requirement that Ukraine receive US and German tanks simultaneously.
“I’m not aware of any such stipulation,” Pistorius told German ARD television when asked if that meant Abrams and Leopards had to be delivered at the same time, a position that leaves open the possibility of an agreement on Friday.
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Zelenskiy expecting ‘strong decisions’ as Kyiv’s allies meet in Germany
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said his government is expecting “strong decisions” from defence leaders of Nato and other countries meeting on Friday to discuss boosting Ukraine’s ability to confront Russian forces with modern battle tanks.
The meeting at Ramstein airbase in Germany is the latest in a series since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 11 months ago, and where future weapons supplies will be discussed, particularly of Germany’s Leopard 2 tanks used by armies across Europe.
Berlin has veto power over any decision to export the tanks and Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government has appeared reluctant so far to authorise that for fear of provoking Russia.
Some allies say Berlin’s concern is misplaced, with Russia already fully committed to war, while Moscow has repeatedly said western weapons transfers would prolong the conflict and increase suffering in Ukraine.
“We are, in fact, now waiting for a decision from one European capital, which will activate the prepared chains of cooperation regarding tanks,” Zelenskiy said in a video address on Thursday night.
“We are preparing for the Ramstein meeting tomorrow. We are expecting strong decisions. We are expecting a powerful military aid package from the United States,” he said.
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Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest for the next while.
Our top story this morning: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his government was expecting “strong decisions” from defence leaders of Nato and other countries meeting on Friday to discuss boosting Ukraine’s ability to confront Russian forces with modern battle tanks.
Here are the other key recent developments:
A group of 11 Nato countries have pledged a raft of new military aid for Ukraine, ahead of a crunch meeting on arms for Kyiv in Germany on Friday. The aid from countries including Britain, Estonia, Latvia and Poland will include tens of stinger air defence systems, S-60 anti-aircraft guns, machine guns and training, according to a statement.
The US has announced $2.5bn in new weaponry and munitions for Ukraine. The package includes 90 Stryker armoured personnel carriers, an additional 59 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Avenger air defence systems, and large and small munitions, according to a Pentagon statement.
CIA director William Burns recently traveled in secret to Ukraine’s capital to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a US official told Reuters on Thursday. “Director Burns traveled to Kyiv, where he met with Ukrainian intelligence counterparts as well as President Zelenskiy and reinforced our continued support for Ukraine and its defense against Russian aggression,” the US official, who declined to be identified or say when the visit took place.
Britain plans to send 600 Brimstone missiles to Ukraine to support the country in its fight against Russia, defence minister Ben Wallace announced. Speaking at a meeting with other defence ministers at the Tapa army base in Estonia, Wallace outlined a previously announced package of military support for Ukraine, including sending Challenger tanks. “We’re in it for the long haul,” he said.
Sweden’s government announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine that will include armoured infantry fighting vehicles and the Archer artillery system. Poland said it was sending S-60 anti-aircraft guns with 70,000 rounds of ammunition and was ready to donate a company of German-made Leopard 2 tanks, “pending (a) wider coalition” of Leopard donors.
Lithuania’s defence minister, Arvydas Anušauskas, has said several countries will announce sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine at Friday’s meeting of defence ministers at the Ramstein airbase in Germany. The total number of armoured vehicles pledged at tomorrow’s meeting would go into hundreds, Anušauskas told Reuters.
Estonia’s defence minister, Hanno Pevkur, announced his country will send military equipment to Ukraine worth €113m in its latest package of support.
Denmark announced it will donate 19 French-made Caesar howitzer artillery systems to Kyiv.
The US and German defence ministers met on Thursday as Berlin faces pressure to allow the transfer of German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine. The meeting between Lloyd Austin and Boris Pistorius came as a German government source told Reuters that Berlin would allow Leopard tanks to be sent to Ukraine to help its defence against Russia if the US agreed to send its own tanks.
A German government spokesperson has said it has yet to receive a request from any country for permission to re-export German-made tanks to Ukraine. Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has signalled that it could send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine as part of a wider coalition even without Germany’s approval. “Consent is of secondary importance here, we will either obtain this consent quickly, or we will do what is needed ourselves,” Morawiecki said.
The Kremlin has said Russia will achieve its goals in Ukraine “one way or another” and the sooner Kyiv accepts its demands, the sooner the conflict will end. The Kremlin has repeatedly said Russia is ready to halt military operations if Ukraine meets its demands, but Moscow has not publicly outlined details of its negotiating position or what it is seeking from Kyiv in order to end hostilities.
The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, says he worries the world is becoming complacent about the dangers posed by the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Grossi, speaking to reporters in Kyiv, said a nuclear accident could happen any day and reiterated the situation at the plant was very precarious.
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