Live feed
From 10m ago
Zelenskiy rules out giving up any Ukrainian territory to Putin in potential peace deal
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has ruled out giving up any Ukrainian territory in a potential peace deal with Russia.
In an interview with the BBC, Ukraine’s leader said conceding land would mean Russia could “keep coming back”.
Zelenskiy said a predicted spring offensive had already begun. “Russian attacks are already happening from several directions,” he told the broadcaster.
But he said believed that his country’s forces could keep resisting Russia’s advance until they were able to launch a counter-offensive.
The Ukrainian leader repeated his calls for more military aid from western allies, and said western weapons would bring peace closer. He said:
Of course, modern weapons speed up peace. Weapons are the only language Russia understands.
He also addressed a warning by Belarus’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, who earlier today said his country would wage wage alongside Russian troops from his territory if a single Ukrainian soldier crossed the border.
Zelenskiy said:
I hope [Belarus] won’t join [the war]. If it does, we will fight and we will survive.
Key events
Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, has said results from his meetings with Nato officials and members in Brussels were “optimistic”.
In a Facebook post, Reznikov said:
Threats from the sky will be better repelled. The army will be better supplied with ammunition. More of our soldiers will receive quality training.
He said discussions took place on the “practical aspects” of the “tank coalition” of countries that pledged to send battle tanks to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s invasion.
Zelenskiy rules out giving up any Ukrainian territory to Putin in potential peace deal
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has ruled out giving up any Ukrainian territory in a potential peace deal with Russia.
In an interview with the BBC, Ukraine’s leader said conceding land would mean Russia could “keep coming back”.
Zelenskiy said a predicted spring offensive had already begun. “Russian attacks are already happening from several directions,” he told the broadcaster.
But he said believed that his country’s forces could keep resisting Russia’s advance until they were able to launch a counter-offensive.
The Ukrainian leader repeated his calls for more military aid from western allies, and said western weapons would bring peace closer. He said:
Of course, modern weapons speed up peace. Weapons are the only language Russia understands.
He also addressed a warning by Belarus’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, who earlier today said his country would wage wage alongside Russian troops from his territory if a single Ukrainian soldier crossed the border.
Zelenskiy said:
I hope [Belarus] won’t join [the war]. If it does, we will fight and we will survive.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia’s mercenary group Wagner, has predicted that the embattled Ukrainian city of Bakhmut will fall within a couple of months.
In an interview with a pro-war military blogger, Prigozhin forecast Bakhmut would be seized in March or April, depending on how many soldiers Ukraine commits to its defence and how well his own troops are supplied.
“Because there are a huge number of problems that need to be solved. Naturally, it will also depend on whether we continue to be bled,” he added, referring to the end of prisoner recruits.
The European Commission has abandoned plans to sanction Russia’s nuclear sector or its representatives in its next sanctions package, according to a report.
The head of the EU executive, the European Commission, had initially told EU countries that it would try to draw up sanctions targeting Russia’s civil nuclear sector.
That plan has failed, Politico reports, citing three EU diplomats. One source told the news website:
Unfortunately the nuclear sector is not included in this proposal.
A leaked version of the latest proposals seen by the Guardian yesterday showed the EU had not answered Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s plea to blacklist Russia’s nuclear industry in Europe.
For weeks, EU officials had played down the possibility of action to sanction the Russian nuclear industry, a move Hungary – a Rosatom client – has threatened to veto. Nonetheless when Ukraine’s president met EU leaders last Thursday, he urged this step, describing it as “a moral question”.
Here are some images from the UK Labour leader Keir Starmer’s visit to Ukraine today.
Keir Starmer’s trip to Kyiv today is the start of an international charm campaign for the Labour leader, which will see him visit the Munich security conference over the weekend for meetings with world leaders.
The Guardian reported last year that the Labour leader approached the Zelenskiy government over the summer about the possibility of a visit as opposition leader.
Starmer has previously visited the Polish border and British troops in Estonia to affirm Labour’s “unshakeable” commitment to Nato which a Labour government helped to found. The trip has been postponed previously, during the turmoil of the collapse of Liz Truss’ government and because of the security situation in Ukraine.
Starmer is not the first national opposition leader to visit Kyiv. Friedrich Merz, the head of Germany’s biggest opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), travelled to the capital in May and was received by Zelenskiy.
The Labour leader is keen to portray himself to the Ukrainians as a reliable partner and strong supporter. At PMQs during Zelenskiy’s visit to London earlier this month, Starmer used all his time at the despatch box to stress cross-party unity on Ukraine, rather than challenge Rishi Sunak.
He said Labour “doesn’t just hope for Ukrainian victory, we believe in it” and highlighted his time as a barrister representing victims of Serbian aggression at the International Court of Justice in the Hague. He said:
We in this house have a duty to stand on the shoulders of giants and support Ukraine’s fight for freedom, liberty and victory.
UK Labour leader Keir Starmer visits Kyiv to meet Zelenskiy
The UK Labour party leader, Keir Starmer, has travelled to Kyiv to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to emphasise his party’s commitment to backing action to arm the country against a renewed offensive by Russia.
Starmer said the UK’s position on Ukraine “will remain the same” if there is a change of government next year, as he travelled to the suburbs of Irpin and Bucha where Russia committed significant atrocities last year as they were forced back by Ukrainian forces.
Starmer told Reuters:
It’s incredible to see the evidence of atrocities that I’ve seen this morning. Photographs of civilians in the outskirts of Kyiv blindfolded, with their arms tied behind their back.
He said he had travelled to Ukraine to express solidarity with the country and to emphasise the need to pursue justice and reparations against perpetrators.
There has to be justice for this. There has to be justice in The Hague and there has to be proper reparation in the rebuilding of Ukraine.
Canada’s foreign minister, Mélanie Joly, has wrapped up her two-day visit to Ukraine by praising a recent crackdown of corruption by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government.
Joly said she repeatedly voiced Canada’s concerns about corruption, including in meetings with Zelenskiy and other top officials. She said:
It is important, as Ukrainians are fighting for further freedom to be able to live in a democracy, that the values underpinning democracy are protected.
She also said Canada is lobbying for other allies to provide more heavy weaponry to Ukraine. Canada quickly donated four Leopard 2 tanks following an appeal from Ukraine, all of which are now in Europe.
Joly’s visit also included a meeting with both President Zelenskiy and his wife, Olena Zelenska. She also met with senior Ukrainian officials including foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, and the head of Zelenskiy’s office, Andriy Yermak.
Russia’s defence ministry said Ukraine has returned 101 prisoners of war to Russia following talks, state-run media is reporting.
In a statement, the Russian ministry said:
Aircraft of the military transport aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces will deliver the released servicemen to Moscow for treatment and rehabilitation in medical institutions of the Russian Defence Ministry.
Meanwhile, Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said 100 troops and one civilian had been returned to Ukraine.
Nearly all had been defending the besieged southern city of Mariupol before it fell to Russian forces, Yermak posted to Telegram.
UK and Poland agree Ukraine support must be stepped up ‘in coming weeks’
Britain’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, have agreed on the importance of stepping up support to Ukraine in the coming weeks, Sunak’s office said.
Sunak met with Duda in Downing Street today with talks on European security and support for Kyiv high on the agenda. The Polish leader’s visit comes after Nato defence ministers met in Brussels earlier this week, and ahead of the Munich Security Conference this weekend.
Duda has reportedly said he is on a “diplomatic offensive” and he is also expected to meet with Joe Biden when the US president visits Poland later this month.
Following the Downing Street meeting, Sunak’s office said:
They both agreed it was important that support to Ukraine was accelerated in the coming weeks, and the leaders discussed the training of Ukrainian pilots on Nato standard jets that would begin in the UK shortly.
The meeting comes amid pressure from Ukraine for fighter jets, something Downing Street has said would require agreement with international allies.
