© MOD, via Agence France-Presse
US president tells his Russian counterpart to ‘settle now and stop this ridiculous war’ or face repercussions
Donald Trump has threatened Russia with taxes, tariffs and sanctions if a deal to end the war in Ukraine is not struck soon, as the new US president tries to increase pressure on Moscow to start negotiations with Kyiv.
Writing in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump said Russia’s economy was failing and urged Vladimir Putin to “settle now and stop this ridiculous war”.
Continue reading...© Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP
© Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP
Financier turned activist Bill Browder says Russia will make gains that spark refugee crisis if US military support dries up
Keir Starmer should show leadership over the Ukraine war by pushing for $300bn (£243bn) of frozen Russian assets to be used to fund Kyiv’s military, the financier turned activist Bill Browder has said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Browder warned that if US military support for Ukraine dried up, Russia would make territorial gains in the near-three-year long conflict, forcing millions of Ukrainians to flee the country.
Continue reading...© Photograph: Yan Dobronosov/Reuters
© Photograph: Yan Dobronosov/Reuters
© Nanna Heitmann for The New York Times
Ukraine claims strikes on oil depot and aviation plant inside Russia; Trump talks Ukraine negotiations, Russia sanctions and how China should do more to end the war. What we know on day 1,064
Ukraine fired a wave of drones into Russia sparking a blaze at an oil depot and explosions at a plant producing military aircraft, the Ukrainian army said on Tuesday. In the western Voronezh region bordering Ukraine, Kyiv said it struck an oil depot near the town of Liski for the second time in less than a week. “Tanks with fuel and lubricants used by the occupiers to supply Russian troops caught fire,” the Ukrainian army said. Ukraine also said it struck an aviation plant producing “combat aircraft” in the western Russian city of Smolensk, sparking “explosions”. The governor of the Smolensk region said only that falling debris from downed drones had sparked “roof fires”. Footage and pictures online backed up the Ukrainian versions of events. Russia said it downed 55 Ukrainian drones over Monday night, more than half of which were intercepted over regions bordering Ukraine, while Ukraine said Moscow fired 131 drones and decoys as well as four missiles at its territory.
Donald Trump has said it “sounds like” the US might impose fresh sanctions on Russia if its president, Vladimir Putin, refuses to negotiate about ending the war in Ukraine. Trump said on Monday that the Russian president “should make a deal … I think he’s destroying Russia by not making a deal”. The US has already sanctioned Russia heavily and Trump gave no details on possible additional sanctions. “We’re talking to [Ukrainian president Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, we’re going to be talking with President Putin very soon,” Trump said. “We’re going to look at it.”
Trump said he had pressed the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, in a call to intervene to stop the Ukraine war. “He’s not done very much on that. He’s got a lot of … power, like we have a lot of power. I said, ‘You ought to get it settled.’ We did discuss it.” In Moscow, the Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin and Xi on Tuesday discussed talks with Donald Trump and the outlook for a possible peace deal to end the war in Ukraine. Xi told Putin about a call with Trump, Ushakov said.
Trump claimed “Russia never would have gone into Ukraine” had he been president instead of Joe Biden. “I had a very strong understanding with Putin. That would have never, ever happened. He disrespected Biden. Very simple. He disrespects people. He’s smart. He understands. He disrespected Biden.” Trump said his administration was also looking at the issue of sending weapons to Ukraine, adding his view that the EU should be doing more to support Ukraine.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has said that “at least 200,000” allied troops would be needed to enforce any peace deal in Ukraine as he urged Europe to “take care of itself” as Donald Trump returns to power in the US. Luke Harding writes that Zelenskyy said European leaders should not ask themselves what Trump would do next, and said that they instead needed to take collective steps to defend their continent at a time when it was under aggressive attack by Russia. “Will President Trump even notice Europe? Does he see Nato as necessary? And will he respect EU institutions?” Zelenskyy told reporters he was working on meeting Trump but there was no date yet. “We want to finish the war and President Trump says that he also really would like to finish the war, and I believe he will help us with this.”
Continue reading...© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Ukrainian president tells Davos that Europe must establish itself as an ‘indispensable’ player on the global stage
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that “at least 200,000” allied troops would be needed to enforce any peace deal in Ukraine as he urged Europe to “take care of itself” as Donald Trump returns to power in the US.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Zelenskyy said European leaders should not ask themselves what Trump would do next, and said that they instead needed to take collective steps to defend their continent at a time when it was under aggressive attack by Russia.
Continue reading...© Photograph: Maria Senovilla/EPA
© Photograph: Maria Senovilla/EPA
Timing may show two leaders want to coordinate approach in engaging with new US administration over Ukraine
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, held a video call with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in a symbolic display of unity just hours after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the US.
Speaking from his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Putin highlighted the close ties between the two countries, stating that their relations were based on “shared interests, equality, and mutual benefit“, calling Xi his “dear friend”.
Continue reading...© Photograph: Gavriil Grigorov/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA
© Photograph: Gavriil Grigorov/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA
Photographer Nikoletta Stoyanova juxtaposes scenes of destruction with moments of celebration from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine over the past year. Nikoletta is a recipient of the Ian Parry photojournalism grant which has offered financial support and mentoring to emerging photographers for the last three decades
Continue reading...© Photograph: Nikoletta Stoyanova
© Photograph: Nikoletta Stoyanova
Russia is engaging in a 'shadow war' with Nato states, which is reportedly part of a deliberate strategy to undermine the alliance’s ability to support Ukraine. At the same time Russia's military industrial complex is producing arms at a formidable rate, and with Nato countries struggling to keep up in term of numbers, the arms race is having a big impact on the frontline. Josh Toussaint-Strauss finds out how Russia is using hybrid warfare alongside boosting its arms industry to outpace Nato, and what this all means for the war in Ukraine
West’s spy chiefs alarmed at recklessness of Russian counterparts
Russia to raise defence budget by 25% to highest level on record
‘A lot higher than we expected’: Russian arms production worries Europe’s war planners
© Photograph: the Guardian
© Photograph: the Guardian
Connexion
