Britain announced an immediate surge of military deliveries to Ukraine and new sanctions against Russia ahead of what it said would be a visit to London later on Wednesday by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
VISIT
Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office, which announced the visit, also said the country would offer longer range capabilities to Ukraine. Kyiv has warned Russia is about to launch an assault on Ukrainian government-held parts of eastern and southern regions of Ukraine that Moscow has unilaterally declared are now part of Russia.
ECONOMY
* Russia’s rouble slid to a one-month low against the dollar ahead of two OFZ treasury bond auctions, held back from a more dramatic fall by the government’s foreign currency sales. Russia is now selling 8.9 billion roubles ($124.48 million) worth of foreign currency per day, compensating for lower oil and gas revenues, down 46.4% year-on-year in January.
* The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates said it had granted a license to Russia’s MTS Bank, a fintech unit of Russia’s largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems.
BATTLEFIELD LATEST
* Ukraine’s military said on Tuesday that 1,030 Russian troops were killed over 24 hours, the highest daily toll of the war. For its part, Russia said it had inflicted 6,500 Ukrainian casualties in the month of January. Reuters could not independently verify either report.
* Ukraine national security chief Oleksiy Danilov said in an interview the Kremlin was expected to target the northeastern Kharkiv or southern Zaporizhzhia regions in a new thrust.
* The Ukraine military said on Tuesday evening that more than 30 towns and villages in Kharkiv and 20 communities in Zaporizhzhia came under fire.
DIPLOMACY
* A new U.S. package of weapons is expected to include longer-range rockets, which would give Ukraine the ability to hit Russian supply lines in all of the territory it occupies in Ukraine’s mainland and parts of the Crimea Peninsula.
* The German government’s security council has approved delivery of 178 Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine from industry stocks, considerably more than previously announced, a source said, confirming an earlier Spiegel magazine report.
* Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands will pool funds to restore at least 100 old Leopard 1 tanks from industry stocks and supply them to Ukraine, according to a joint statement.
* Russia says Western arms shipments to Ukraine are dragging military alliance NATO into the conflict with a potentially “unpredictable” level of escalation.
* Switzerland is close to breaking with centuries of tradition as a neutral state, as a pro-Ukraine shift in the public and political mood puts pressure on the government to end a ban on exports of Swiss weapons to war zones.
* The Paris mayor says there should be no Russian delegation at the Paris 2024 Olympics as long as the war is ongoing.
* Russia has demanded that the U.S. embassy in Moscow stop spreading what Moscow regards as fake news regarding its military operation in Ukraine and has threatened to expel U.S. diplomats, the TASS news agency reported.
(Compiled by Reuters editors)
