the prime minister will visit russia next month

Putin, seeking continuity, reappoints technocrat Prime Minister Mishustin

Russian President Vladimir Putin reappointed Mikhail Mishustin as the country’s prime minister on Friday, a widely anticipated move to keep on a technocrat who has maintained a low political profile.

Mishustin and other technocrats in the Cabinet have been credited with maintaining a relatively stable economic performance despite bruising Western sanctions for Russia’s role in Ukraine . Most other Cabinet members are expected to keep their jobs, though the fate of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu appeared uncertain.

In line with Russian law, Mishustin, 58, who held the job for the past four years, submitted his Cabinet’s resignation on Tuesday when Putin began his fifth presidential term at a glittering Kremlin inauguration .

Mishustin, the former head of Russia’s tax service, steered clear of political statements and avoided media interviews during his previous tenure.

The speaker of the parliament’s lower house, Vyacheslav Volodin, announced that Putin submitted Mishustin’s candidacy to the State Duma, which will hold a session later Friday to consider it.

Under the constitutional changes approved in 2020, the lower house approves the candidacy of the prime minister, who then submits Cabinet members for approval. The changes were ostensibly meant to grant parliament broader power, but the procedure is widely seen as pro forma given Kremlin control over the body.

Most Cabinet members are expected to keep their jobs, but it was not clear if Shoigu, the defense minister, would be among them after last month’s arrest of his top associate, Timur Ivanov.

Ivanov, who served as deputy defense minister in charge of massive military construction projects, was arrested on bribery charges and was ordered to stay in custody pending official investigation.

The arrest of Ivanov was widely interpreted as an attack on Shoigu and a possible precursor of his dismissal despite his close personal ties with Putin.

Shoigu was broadly criticized for Russian military’s setbacks in the early stage of the fighting in Ukraine. He faced scathing attacks from mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who marched on Moscow nearly a year ago to demand the ouster of Shoigu and the chief of the General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov.

After Prigozhin’s death in a suspicious plane crash two months after the rebellion — widely seen as the Kremlin’s revenge — Shoigu appeared to shore up his position. But Ivanov’s arrest, interpreted by many as part of Kremlin’s political infighting, again exposed Shoigu’s vulnerability.

The Associated Press

Putin, Amid Election Announcement Speculation, to Visit Russia Exhibition at Some Point - Kremlin

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit the "Russia" exhibition in Moscow at some point, the Kremlin said on Friday, an event at which a newspaper has suggested he may announce he will take part in next year's presidential election.

The Kommersant newspaper reported last month that Putin, who has been in power as either president or prime minister since 1999, may use a visit to the exhibition to drop a hint that he is going to take part in the 2024 contest.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the timing of Putin's visit to the exhibition would be announced in due course.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

Copyright 2023 Thomson Reuters .

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Russia’s Putin Reappoints Mikhail Mishustin, Low-Profile Technocrat, as Prime Minister

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday reappointed Mikhail Mishustin as the country’s prime minister after the previous stint on the job during which the low-key technocrat has shown a distinct lack of political ambitions.

In line with Russian law, Mishustin, 58, who held the job for the past four years, submitted his Cabinet’s resignation on Tuesday when Putin began his fifth presidential term at a glittering Kremlin inauguration.

Mishustin’s reappointment was widely expected by political observers, who noted that Putin has appreciated his skills and low political profile. Mishustin, the former head of Russia’s tax service, has steered clear of political statements and avoided media interviews during his previous tenure.

Read More: Do Russians Believe Putin’s Propaganda?

The speaker of the parliament’s lower house, Vyacheslav Volodin, announced that Putin has submitted Mishustin’s candidacy to the State Duma, which will hold a session later Friday to consider it.

Under the constitutional changes approved in 2020, the lower house approves the candidacy of the prime minister, who then submits candidacies of Cabinet members.

Mishustin’s approval is a mere proforma in the Kremlin-controlled parliament.

Read More: History Makes Clear the Risks of Appeasing Putin

Mishustin and other technocrats in the Cabinet were credited for maintaining a relatively stable economic performance despite bruising Western sanctions.

Most Cabinet members are also expected to keep their jobs and their reappointments are expected shortly.

The fate of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu appeared uncertain, however, after last month’s arrest of his top associate, Timur Ivanov.

Ivanov, who served as deputy defense minister in charge of multibillion military construction projects, was arrested on bribery charges and was ordered to stay in custody pending official investigation.

The arrest of Ivanov was widely interpreted as an attack on Shoigu and a possible precursor of his dismissal despite his close personal ties with Putin.

Shoigu was widely criticized for Russian military’s setbacks in the early stage of the fighting in Ukraine. He faced scathing attacks from mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who launched a brief attempted march on Moscow last June to demand the ouster of Shoigu and the chief of the General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov.

After Prigozhin’s death in a suspicious air crash two months after the rebellion that was broadly widely seen as a Kremlin revenge for his mutiny, Shoigu appeared to shore up his position, but Ivanov’s arrest, seen as part of Kremlin’s political infighting, again exposed Shoigu’s vulnerability.

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'Will Be Glad To See...': Putin Invites PM Modi, Meets EAM Jaishankar in Moscow

Curated By : Pragati Pal & Shankhyaneel Sarkar

Last Updated: December 28, 2023, 12:41 IST

Moscow, Russia

External affairs minister S Jaishankar (left-centre) meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin (right-centre) and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov (right to Putin) (Image: S Jaishankar/X)

President Putin extended an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Russia and said he will discuss the Russia-Ukraine issue when they meet.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Wednesday met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. EAM Jaishankar is on a five-day visit to Russia. President Putin extended an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Russia.

“We will be glad to see our friend, Mr Prime Minister Modi in Russia. We will be able to discuss all current issues and talk about the prospects for the development of Russian-Indian relations. We have a very large amount of work. I ask you to convey to him my best wishes and please pass on our invitation. We are waiting for him in Russia,” he said.

#WATCH | External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow pic.twitter.com/nn5su3wASA — ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2023

‘Doing His Utmost Best for Peace’

The Russian President lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for doing his ‘utmost’ to resolve the Russia-Ukraine issue peacefully. Putin said he discussed the developments related to Ukraine on several occasions with PM Modi and said he will delve deeper into the issue when both of them meet for further discussions.

“Many times, I advised him of how things have been going there and I know that he (PM Modi) is willing to do his utmost so that the issue is resolved by peaceful means. So, we probably will delve into that deeper now, and we will give additional information to you on that time,” Putin was quoted as saying by news agency ANI .

Russia and Ukraine have been embroiled in a war since February 2022. Russia has said that it has launched a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine to remove those who adhere to Nazi ideology. No ceasefire has been declared in the ongoing 2022 Russo-Ukrainian war as both Russia and Ukraine try to gain control of key areas in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Honoured to call on President Vladimir Putin this evening. Conveyed the warm greetings of PM @narendramodi and handed over a personal message.Apprised President Putin of my discussions with Ministers Manturov and Lavrov. Appreciated his guidance on the further developments of… pic.twitter.com/iuC944fYHq — Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) December 27, 2023

‘True Friend in Asia’

The union external affairs minister and the Russian President also discussed bilateral ties and growth in trade and commerce between New Delhi and Moscow.

“We have outpaced the growth rates over the past year. We have surpassed all the growth that we had last year over 9 months only,” Putin told the external affairs minister Jaishankar.

Putin was referring to the rising trade between India and Russia in sectors like oil, refined products, coal, and transfer of high-end tech.

“Definitely, this is due to the trade in oil and refined products in coal. Not only energy, we also operate in high-tech spheres,” Putin added.

“It’s always good to be in Moscow. So, I agree with you that our relationship has been very strong, and very steady, and I think we have lived up to the responsibilities of a special and privileged strategic partnership. This year we have already met six times, and this is our 7th meeting,” he said, noting that forums like G20, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, ASEAN, and BRICS allowed many more and many regular contacts.,” Jaishankar said in response.

Agreements Signed

On Tuesday, the external affairs minister also held a “comprehensive and productive” meeting with Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Manturov on the bilateral economic cooperation. During the meeting, the two global leaders witnessed the signing of some “important” agreements related to the construction of the future power-generating units of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu.

Russia on Wednesday stated that it supports India’s aspirations to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and also praised New Delhi’s handling of the contentious issues at the G20 Summit as a “true triumph” of its foreign policy.

• S Jaishankar
• Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin Invites PM Modi To Visit Russia Next Year: Report

S jaishankar, who is here on a five-day official visit to russia, earlier met with his russian counterpart sergey lavrov..

"We will be glad to see our friend, Mr. Prime Minister Modi in Russia."

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Russia next year as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called on the Russian leader at the Kremlin.

"We will be glad to see our friend, Mr. Prime Minister Modi in Russia," Vladimir Putin told Mr Jaishankar.

Mr Jaishankar, who is here on a five-day official visit to Russia, earlier met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

During a joint media appearance along with Mr Lavrov after their talks, Mr Jaishankar said he was confident that Prime Minister Modi and President Putin will meet for an annual summit next year. In his opening remarks earlier, Jaishankar said that the two leaders have been in frequent contact.

The summit between the prime minister of India and the Russian president is the highest institutional dialogue mechanism in the strategic partnership between the two sides.

So far, 21 annual summits have taken place alternatively in India and Russia. The last summit took place in New Delhi in December 2021.

Vladimir Putin also said that the trade turnover between Russia and India is growing, particularly on account of crude oil and high technology areas.

"Our trade turnover is growing, for the second year in a row at the same time and at a steady pace. The growth rate this year is even higher than in the last year," he said.

On Tuesday, Jaishankar held a "comprehensive and productive" meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov on the bilateral economic cooperation during which they witnessed the signing of some "very important" agreements related to the construction of the future power-generating units of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu.

The ties between India and Russia remained strong notwithstanding Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. India has not yet condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it has been maintaining that the crisis must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.

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India's import of Russian crude oil has gone up significantly despite increasing disquiet over it in many Western countries. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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‘PM Modi looks forward to visiting Russia next year… will find mutually convenient date’: Jaishankar tells Putin

Putin noted the domestic political calendar in india is “difficult and complex” next year -- the lok sabha elections are scheduled to take place – but expressed the hope that irrespective of the alignment of political forces, traditional friendly ties between the people of the two countries will remain.

While visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar assured the Kremlin leader that PM Modi looks forward to visiting Russia on a “mutually convenient” date next year. Putin, on his part, has extended an invitation to PM Modi to visit the country after the latter skipped their annual summit for the second year in a row .

The EAM also delivered a letter sent by PM Modi to Putin. “Please allow me to convey personal greetings from Prime Minister Modi. Certainly, Mr President he looks forward to visiting Russia next year. I am sure we will find a date which is mutually convenient for the political calendar of both countries. It is something he certainly looks forward to,” Jaishankar said.

#WATCH | External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar says, "First of all, please allow me to convey the personal greetings of Prime Minister Modi…I would also, extensive like to take the opportunity to share with you, aspects of the progress that we have made and in the last two… pic.twitter.com/R5jNOe1CVM — ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2023

On Wednesday, Putin told Jaishankar at the Kremlin that despite all the turbulence happening in the world, relations with traditional friends in Asia, with India, the Indian people were developing progressively.

“We will be glad to see our friend, Mr Prime Minister Narendra Modi , in Russia. We will be able to discuss all current issues and talk about the prospects for the development of Russian-Indian relations,” Putin had told Jaishankar.

Putin noted the domestic political calendar in India is “difficult and complex” next year — the Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to take place – but expressed the hope that irrespective of the alignment of political forces, traditional friendly ties between the people of the two countries will remain.

Meanwhile, Jaishankar said, “I would also, extensive like to take the opportunity to share with you, aspects of the progress that we have made and in the last two days, which I had a chance to discuss with the Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov, and today with FM Sergey Lavrov of Russia. I would like to highlight the progress we have made in trade, which is in excess of a turnover of 50 billion dollars, and whose potential is only now beginning to be visible. It is, therefore, important we give it a more sustainable character.”

Jaishankar’s meeting with Putin is considered significant since the Russian President doesn’t usually meet visiting Foreign Ministers. The EAM was accompanied by Pavan Kapoor, Ambassador to Russia, and Charanjeet Singh, Joint Secretary in Ministry of External Affairs, in charge of Russia.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Sunak meets Zelenskiy in Kyiv and confirms UK’s ‘continued support’ – as it happened

UK prime minister makes first visit to Ukraine since taking power

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Who is Russia's new prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin?

By Alexandra Odynova

January 17, 2020 / 11:12 AM EST / CBS News

Moscow ­­­—  Few knew the name Mikhail Mishustin until this week, when President Vladimir Putin appointed him Russia's new prime minister. Now he's the second most powerful politician in the country, replacing Russia's longest-serving prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, who resigned shortly after Putin proposed sweeping  constitutional changes .

In his state of the union speech earlier this week, Putin suggested reforms to Russia's constitution that would limit the powers of his successor, a move that was widely seen as a hint of possible plans to stay in power in another role after his presidential term ends in 2024. As the law currently stands, Putin is not allowed to serve again as Russia's president.

A software engineer by training, 53-year-old Mishustin helped reform the Federal Tax Service, which he had been heading until recently. He actively worked on digitization and boasted achieving a significant increase in the number of tax payments made by Russians.

Like Putin, Mishustin enjoys ice hockey, and they both play in the amateur Night Hockey League. He is also a member of the supervisory board of Moscow CSKA hockey club alongside Putin's long-time ally Igor Sechin, who runs oil giant Rosneft.

His personal wealth appears relatively modest compared to his predecessor, who was repeatedly accused by opposition leader Alexei Navalny of graft.

However, Navalny's Foundation Against Corruption used open source data to estimate that Mishustin's wife, Vladlena Mishustina, earned 789 million rubles ($12.8 million) in nine years.

He called on the prime minister "to immediately disclose all the details of how and in partnership with what organizations his wife earned hundreds of millions of rubles."

Mishustina doesn't officially own any businesses, according to the data, and her sources of income remain unclear. Independent online media outlet Proekt, known for its investigations into Russian state officials, published a report saying that Mishustin's family owns elite real estate in a prestigious suburb outside Moscow.

According to Proekt, Mishustin and his wife were listed as owners of a 9,700-square-foot house on a 1.3-acre estate, worth approximately $9.5 million, from 2001 to 2005. After 2005, official documents listed the owner of the property as "the Russian Federation," which, Proekt says, is a common way of concealing real estate. Mishustin did not declare any property in his 2018 tax returns.

Neither Mishustin nor his family have responded to the reports.

Putin, once a little-known bureaucrat himself, first served as prime minister under Boris Yeltsin, who he succeeded as president in 1999. He has been ruling the country ever since.

Putin again served as the prime minister between 2008 and 2012, letting Medvedev take the presidency for one term in a power arrangement often referred to by local media as "The Tandem." After his presidential term ends in 2024, one option for Putin is to try to stay in power as prime minister. Mishustin, however, is seen as unlikely candidate to succeed him as president.

"It's seems highly likely that Mishustin is just a technocratic placeholder," nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Moscow Center Tatyana Stanovaya said in a post online.

"Putin's logic in cases like this has always been to wait until a few months before elections before revealing the name of his successor," she wrote.

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LIVE: President Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv as Russia's war against Ukraine enters 2nd year

This page is no longer being updated. For the latest developments, head to NPR.org , tune in to your NPR member station or listen to NPR's State of Ukraine podcast . Have a question on Ukraine? We'll continue monitoring our live question form to inform our coverage this week.

President Biden made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday, a somewhat risky move aimed at expressing solidarity with Ukrainians as Russia's invasion of their country heads into a second year.

Here's what you need to know.

• New aid: Biden announced a half a billion dollars of additional assistance to Ukraine , as well as new sanctions on individuals and corporations that support Russia.
• A successful secret: The White House told reporters they'd been planning this trip for months. Officials even gave Russia a head's up for de-escalation purposes.
• The war, one year on: As sirens wailed around Kyiv, Biden's visit marked a new push by Russian forces to take control of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, which Russia illegally annexed last September.
• What's next: Biden left Kyiv by early afternoon (local time) . He was scheduled for diplomatic talks in neighboring Poland on Tuesday.

Next up: Biden and Putin are expected to give speeches this week

By Rachel Treisman

Biden's Kyiv visit kicks off what is expected to be a busy week in the leadup to Friday's anniversary.

Tomorrow, Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to give his address to the federal government — a major speech that he typically delivers at the end of each year, but had delayed back in December.

Biden is scheduled to be in Warsaw on Tuesday and Wednesday. According to a schedule released on Sunday, Biden's time in Poland is supposed to include meetings with Poland's president, the NATO secretary-general and other NATO allies, as well a speech of his own on Tuesday.

The White House said before Monday's surprise visit to Ukraine that "The President will deliver remarks ahead of the one year anniversary of Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, addressing how the United States has rallied the world to support the people of Ukraine as they defend their freedom and democracy, and how we will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes."

Ukrainians cheer Biden's visit

By Hanna Palamarenko, Julian Hayda

KYIV — Kyiv residents expressed astonishment at news that President Biden had traveled to their city, just one year after it came under siege by Russian troops.

“[Biden] is a very brave person who has united the entire Western world around Ukraine,” said Denys Serhiienko as he walked his dog near a medieval monastery that Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had visited a few hours prior.

As the two leaders exited the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery complex air raid sirens sounded, reminding people that while the ground battles have shifted several hundred miles east, the city is still within range of cruise missiles and drone attacks.

“When the war came, we felt like we had to fend for ourselves, but it turns out we were wrong!” said 70-year-old Nina Albul. "I’m going to sleep well tonight because there can’t be any big booms — if Biden could come here, Ukraine is obviously protected."

“We want peace around the world, and are showing all people in bondage that it’s OK to fight back,” she added.

“The atmosphere was trusting and soulful,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who rushed back to Kyiv from the Munich Security Conference in time for Biden’s visit.

“This visit is a victory for the Ukrainian people [and] a clear signal to the swamps," he added, referring to Moscow. "No one is afraid."

President Biden left Zelenskyy a note of encouragement

By Emily Olson

President Biden, who left Kyiv a few hours ago, just tweeted a picture of a note he left behind for his Ukrainian counterpart.

"I am honored to be welcomed again in Kyiv to stand in solidarity and friendship with the freedom loving people of Ukraine Mr. President," Biden's note appears to read. "Please accept my dearest respect for your courage and leadership."

Biden signed the note with "Sláva Ukrayíni," meaning "Glory to Ukraine."

Kyiv has captured a part of my heart. I knew I would be back. pic.twitter.com/5HYcoEL47Y — President Biden (@POTUS) February 20, 2023

In a press conference earlier today, Biden said this was his seventh visit to Kyiv. He visited the city six times as vice president, in large part to address a related issue: Pro-Russian occupation in eastern Ukraine.

Ask NPR reporters your Ukraine questions

This week marks one year since Russia first invaded Ukraine, a moment that, as President Biden put it in a press conference Monday , caused the world to change.

A year later, there's still a lot we don't know. But wading into those unknowns is what our reporters do best.

Let us know what's on your mind by using the question form below. We'll use your questions to guide our reporting throughout this anniversary week and may use them, in part or in full, online or on the air. Should you choose to leave us your email address, a reporter may reach out for follow-up questions.

Your submission will be governed by our general  Terms of Use  and  Privacy Policy . As the Privacy Policy says, we want you to be aware that there may be circumstances in which the exemptions provided under law for journalistic activities or freedom of expression may override privacy rights you might otherwise have.

A year into the Ukraine war, the world's biggest democracy still won't condemn Russia

By Lauren Frayer

MUMBAI — Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Western democracies have condemned Moscow, slapped wide-ranging sanctions on the country and its leaders, cut back on buying Russian oil and gas and sent unprecedented amounts of arms and ammunition to help Ukraine defend itself.

But the world's most populous democracy — India — hasn't done any of that.

Instead, India has solidified ties with Moscow. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Vladimir Putin in September and called their countries' friendship "unbreakable." He did tell the Russian president it's "not a time for war," but Modi refuses to assign blame for the violence in Ukraine, and has voiced more concern over the spike in global food and fuel prices triggered by the war.

Meanwhile, as Europe has looked for other sources of energy, India has doubled down on buying Russian oil at bargain prices — much to Washington's chagrin. And India continues to place orders for Russian-made weapons.

All this is a reminder that, a year into this war, condemnation of Russia is far from unanimous. Much of the global south actually sees the West's focus on Ukraine as a distraction from other, more pressing issues — including food security, inflation and mounting debt.

Analysts and political scientists cite four main factors shaping India's policy toward Ukraine and Russia: History, energy, arms and influence.

Read the full story here .

How will the conflict end? It may not, experts tell NPR

As NPR's Scott Neuman reports, there are few, if any, signs of a way out of the war as its first anniversary arrives this week. A negotiated settlement seems unlikely, as does a total military victory for either side. So where does that leave things?

Experts told him that the most likely outcome is also one "that would satisfy no one" — a conflict that drags on for years and years.

➡️ Read the full story here .

Some Republicans are attacking Biden for this visit

It's still early in the day in Washington — and a federal holiday (Presidents Day) at that. congressional leadership hasn't publicly weighed in on Biden's visit, but some House Republicans took to social media to criticize the president for what they say is putting Ukraine ahead of the U.S.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, described the trip as "incredibly insulting."

"Today on our President’s Day, Joe Biden, the President of the United States chose Ukraine over America, while forcing the American people to pay for Ukraine’s government and war," she wrote in a tweet.

This is incredibly insulting. Today on our President’s Day, Joe Biden, the President of the United States chose Ukraine over America, while forcing the American people to pay for Ukraine’s government and war. I can not express how much Americans hate Joe Biden. pic.twitter.com/nHXzG67YOL — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) February 20, 2023

Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., also framed Biden's Kyiv visit as poor prioritization, but mentioned immigration explicitly.

"Breathtaking that President Biden can show up in Ukraine to ensure their border is secure, but can’t do the same for America," he wrote on Twitter.

A year into the conflict in Ukraine, congressional support for Kyiv, especially among Republicans, has changed, reflecting both domestic attitudes and the long, drawn-out nature of the conflict.

Last year around this time, Americans were strongly united about giving aid to Ukraine. But A Pew Research Center survey conducted last month showed that, in a shift led mostly by Republicans, about a quarter of Americans say the United States is giving too much aid to Ukraine.

➡️ Read more about how political support for Ukraine has shifted.

The war dominated this year's Munich Security Conference. Here are 4 takeaways

Esme Nicholson

Biden's visit to Kyiv comes immediately after this year's Munich Security Conference, the world's largest gathering on international security policy and an annual tradition since 1963.

NPR's Esme Nicholson , who covered this weekend's conference, writes:

"Dubbed the Davos of Defense, the Munich Security Conference attracts heads of state, generals, intelligence chiefs and top diplomats from around the world.

"With war raging in Europe, the world's foreign policy elite is on edge, and Russia's war in Ukraine dominated discussions.

"President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine set the tone of the three-day conference by urging Western leaders to act rather than talk, calling via videolink for the speedy deliveries of weapons and warning of dwindling supplies on the battleground.

"This year, the U.S. made its presence at the gathering felt with a record number of delegates, including significant bipartisan and bicameral representation from Congress."

Notably, Russia and Iran were not invited.

Click here to read about Nicholson's four key takeaways, which include: the U.S. accusing Russia of crimes against humanity in Ukraine, China calling for peace talks in Ukraine and European leaders committing to invest more in weapons.

Looking for more on the state of the war? We've got you covered

Ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion on Feb. 24, Morning Edition co-host Leila Fadel has been talking to NPR journalists, foreign officials, military experts and Ukrainians on the ground about how we got here, where the war stands and what could happen next.

The result is a nearly hour-long special report, which you can read about and listen to here .

It looks at the impact of the war in Ukraine and beyond — from Fadel following up with a Ukrainian teenager she met in a Kyiv hospital last year, to talking to Taiwan's foreign minister about what lessons his country is learning.

She shared more details in a Twitter thread today:

This weeks marks one year since Russia attacked Ukraine's capital and threatened to take the country. But Ukrainians fought, they continue to fight. In this @NPR special we look at how this war started and where it is today. https://t.co/GEbveHZ2fV — Leila Fadel (@LeilaFadel) February 20, 2023

When was Biden originally expected to leave for Europe?

Biden's visit to Ukraine — his first since the war broke out — is a high-stakes, highly secretive one. We don't know much yet about how it came together, but details are starting to emerge about how the White House kept it hidden.

Recent weeks had seen some speculation about whether the president might stop in Ukraine during his previously-announced trip to Warsaw, where the White House had said he would arrive on Tuesday.

But there was no public sign that such a pit stop was likely to happen — quite the contrary, in fact.

When the White House released Biden's Monday schedule at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday night, it showed him leaving D.C. for Warsaw the following evening.

The president and first lady made local headlines for dining out at a D.C. restaurant, the Red Hen, on Saturday night. That was evidently just the first stop on Biden's itinerary.

Biden is expected in Poland for more diplomatic discussions

President Biden will next to head to Warsaw, Poland, where he was previously scheduled for diplomatic talks and a public address on Tuesday. It's unclear how this surprise visit may change those plans.

A top international policy aide for Polish President Andrzej Duda praised Biden's visit to Ukraine, and said it served as a sign of sustained support.

"With his visit to Kyiv, [Biden] confirms the American commitment to continued support for Ukraine and faith in its victory; we welcome declarations of military assistance, because it brings us significantly closer to peace," wrote Marcin Przydacz, according to a translation.

🗨️ @POTUS wizytą w Kijowie potwierdza zaangażowanie amerykańskie w dalsze wsparcie Ukrainy i wiarę w jej zwycięstwo; przyjmujemy z zadowoleniem deklaracje o pomocy wojskowej, bo to znacząco przybliża nas do pokoju – Szef @BPM_KPRP @marcin_przydacz . pic.twitter.com/mtP4x1ouUn — Biuro Polityki Międzynarodowej (@BPM_KPRP) February 20, 2023

The White House has been planning this trip for months

By NPR Washington Desk

National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on a Monday call that President Biden’s trip to Kyiv was “historic” and “unprecedented” for a sitting president, given that the U.S. does not have a military presence on the ground and only a limited embassy presence there.

Sullivan said the president felt it was an important message of solidarity to send ahead of the one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine. While the trip was risky, he said Biden was confident that his security team was able to bring the risk to a “manageable level.”

The plan, which has been in the works for months, was set by the White House and a limited group of people from the Pentagon, the Secret Service and the intelligence community.

The White House would not go into further detail on the logistics of the president’s trip yet for security reasons, but said more information would be shared in the coming days. Biden is scheduled to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda and give remarks in Warsaw on Tuesday.

Sullivan, who traveled with Biden to Kyiv, said that the president was excited about the trip, and that during the flight he was focused on making the most of his limited time on the ground. Sullivan said the plane ride was “filled with real anticipation that this was an important moment, and that the president was rising to the moment and felt he had an important mission to undertake and he wanted to do it.”

Biden wanted to demonstrate the U.S. commitment to Ukraine and his commitment to working with allies to continue to support the country against Russian aggression, Sullivan said.

Biden is the latest in a long list of U.S. and foreign leaders to visit wartime Kyiv

President Biden's visit to Kyiv is a momentous one, a year into the war and in the face of a renewed Russian offensive.

It's the first time in modern history that a U.S. president has entered a war zone where there is not an active American military presence, according to NBC News .

And Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, hailed it as "a historical moment for our country."

It's worth noting that this is not the first wartime meeting between the two presidents: They met in Washington in December , when Zelenskyy visited to address members of Congress. And several other U.S. leaders have traveled to Ukraine since the war began last February.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has been there twice , including once with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Then-House speaker Nancy Pelosi led a delegation of congressional Democrats to Kyiv last May , the same month that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and three other Republican senators met with Zelenskyy there too .

And it's not just U.S. officials who have made the risky trip.

The prime ministers of Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic became the first foreign leaders to visit Kyiv in March 2022, less than a month into the war. Many others have followed since then, including the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Romania .

And two British Prime Ministers (out of the three that have held the role in the past year) have visited the Ukrainian capital during the war — Boris Johnson last January and Rishi Sunak in November .

Zelenskyy met with Sunak again (and King Charles III) during a rare and unannounced visit to the U.K. last month, which was followed by a stop in Paris to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The U.S. told Russia about Biden's trip shortly before he left

National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on a Monday morning call that the White House had notified Russia of President Biden’s trip to Kyiv “some hours” ahead of his departure, for “deconfliction purposes.”

He would not go into details about how the Russians responded or the nature of the U.S. message.

Biden says he has 'every confidence' that Ukraine will prevail

Joanna Kakissis

Speaking at a press conference earlier this morning, President Biden recalled a phone call with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy one year ago this week.

"It was very late at night in Washington, very early in the morning here in Kyiv. Russian planes are in the air and tanks were rolling across your border. You told me that you could hear the explosions in the background," Biden said. "I'll never forget that. And the world was about to change."

Biden repeated a line that's become a refrain of his since that phone call: The U.S. stands with Ukraine.

As a new measure of U.S. support, Biden pledged a security package valued at half a billion dollars, which will include artillery, ammunition, armor systems and surveillance radar. Biden also said the U.S. planned to announce additional measures against companies and individuals that have skirted previous sanctions.

"The cost that Ukraine has had to bear has been extraordinarily high, and the sacrifices have been far too great," Biden said. "We know that there will be very difficult days and weeks and years ahead. But Russia's aim was to wipe Ukraine off the map, and Putin's war of conquest is failing."

Air raid sirens sounded as Biden and Zelenskyy walked through Kyiv

As the two presidents walked through Kyiv on Monday morning local time, air raid sirens went off. The ominous-sounding alarm highlighted the tension of the moment — a year into Russia's war and amid fears of a renewed offensive — but did not seem to faze either of the leaders, according to videos posted to social media.

Presidents @POTUS and @ZelenskyyUa in the center of Kyiv as an air raid alert sounds in the city. Look how calm they are. It seems President Zelenskyy is even pointing some Kyiv sights to President Biden as they walk. pic.twitter.com/jzCZnAfLiW — Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) February 20, 2023

Newsweek reports that the sirens were triggered by the flight of Russian MiG-31 aircraft that was thought to be carrying Kinzhal hypersonic missiles.

Colonel Yurii Ihnat told reporters at a Monday briefing that he wasn't sure if the flight was related to Biden's visit, Newsweek reports. "Those flights are going on on a daily basis," he said.

Kyiv has been a regular target of Russian missile and drone strikes, NPR has reported, including as recently as Feb. 10.

Zelenskyy says his talks with Biden will bring Ukraine 'closer to victory'

Reporters on the ground were taken to the official presidential residence, a beautiful ornate palace with chandeliers, even though Zelenskyy doesn’t live there.

The press conference was short and to the point, but highly symbolic: After a year of war, Ukraine is still standing. President Biden is standing with the country.

Zelenskyy spoke first, describing the visit as one that would solidify Ukraine's resilience.

"This conversation brings us closer to the victory, and we hope that this year, 2023, will become a year of victory," Zelenskyy said.

"This is the first visit over 15 years," he added. "This is really the most important visit for the whole history of the Ukraine/U.S. relationship."

Zelenskyy reiterated the significance of the U.S. decision to send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine , thanked Biden for a new aid package and called for the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute alleged Russian war crimes.

Zelenskyy also said the U.S. will join Ukraine in submitting a U.N. resolution supporting peace in Ukraine at the General Assembly meeting this week in New York.

Biden has left Kyiv

By NPR Washington Desk, Rachel Treisman

President Biden has left Kyiv after a surprise visit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Stay with us as we continue to bring you reaction and parse through the significance of the trip.

What we know about Biden's trip to Kyiv so far

The world was expecting President Biden to visit Poland this week to show support for Ukraine on the one-year anniversary of Russia's full-fledged invasion.

It was a little more surprised to see him walking around Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during an unannounced visit on Monday. Details of his trip — including how he got to Ukraine and how long he will stay — are being kept under wraps for security reasons.

Only three officials as well one reporter and one photographer traveled with Biden. A small group of reporters already inside Ukraine — including NPR's Joanna Kakissis — joined Biden after his arrival at 8 a.m. local time.

As Kakissis reports :

Biden met with Zelenskyy at Mariinsky Palace. Then, the two leaders walked together outside St. Michael's cathedral in central Kyiv. Air raid sirens were heard across the city as they left the church.

"I thought it was critical that there not be any doubt, none whatsoever, about U.S. support for Ukraine in the war," Biden said, emphasizing bipartisan support in Congress for Ukraine.

Biden also announced half a billion dollars of additional assistance for the country and a new wave of sanctions against Russia, with details to come in the days ahead.

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Russian PM to visit Beijing as China renews criticism of Western arms sales to Ukraine

FILE - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin attends his meeting with Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov during the 78th anniversary of the end of World War II celebrations in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2023. Mishustin will visit Beijing next week for talks, China’s Foreign Ministry said Friday, May 19, 2023, marking the latest exchange in a relationship in which Russia is becoming increasingly reliant on China for economic and diplomatic support. (Dmitry Astakhov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

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BEIJING (AP) — Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin will visit Beijing next week for talks, China’s Foreign Ministry said Friday, marking the latest exchange in a relationship in which Russia is becoming increasingly reliant on China for economic and diplomatic support .

“During the visit, the two sides will have an in-depth exchange of views on practical cooperation in bilateral relations and issues of common concern,” ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing.

“We look forward to further strengthening cooperation between the two sides, deepening people-to-people and local exchanges (and) injecting strong momentum into the recovery of the world economy,” Wang added.

Mishustin’s visit is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Meanwhile, China’s Deputy Permanent U.N. Representative Geng Shuang again criticized Western arms sales to Ukraine, saying it would only lead to escalation, more civilian casualties and displacement, and make it harder to obtain a ceasefire and start peace negotiations.

China says it does not and will not provide arms to either side in the Ukraine conflict, a point Geng reiterated at a Security Council meeting Thursday.

“The constant feeding of weapons to the battlefield will ... also pose serious challenges to post-war reconstruction and, if such weapons are diverted to terrorists or armed groups, likely cause new turmoil in a wider geographic area,” Geng was cited as saying on the U.N.’s website .

“All parties should promote a political settlement with sincerity and urgency and create conditions conducive to a ceasefire,” Geng added.

China says it is a neutral party and wants to help broker an end to the 15-month-old conflict, but has refused to criticize the invasion and blamed the West for provoking Moscow.

China is now seen as the senior partner in the relationship, helping Moscow deflect condemnation at the United Nations and maintaining what it calls “normal trade” with Russia, providing a market for Russian oil and other resources and selling the country needed manufactured goods.

At the same time, Beijing is making inroads into what has traditionally been Russia’s strategic backyard, this week hosting a summit of five former Soviet Central Asian republics.

China’s special envoy met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other government officials during talks in Kyiv earlier this week. The visit followed a phone call last month between the Ukrainian leader and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that Zelenskyy described as “long and meaningful” and which marked the first known contact between the two since the Russian invasion began.

Beijing released a peace plan in February but Ukraine’s allies largely dismissed it, insisting that Russian President Vladimir Putin must withdraw his forces. Zelenskyy’s own 10-point peace plan includes a tribunal to prosecute war crimes committed by Russia.

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February 8, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

By Kathleen Magramo , Aditi Sangal , Adrienne Vogt , Leinz Vales , Mike Hayes, Tori B. Powell and Maureen Chowdhury , CNN

Zelensky and UK prime minister meet with Ukrainian troops in training at British military facility

From CNN's Lauren Kent and Olena Maherovska

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived at Lulworth Camp, a British military facility in Dorset, England. 

Zelensky and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met with Ukrainian troops being trained on Challenger 2 tanks. 

At a news conference during the visit, Zelensky thanked Sunak and the British people "for these 350 days of unity" and for standing with Ukraine.

Sunak pledged continued support to Ukraine, saying Zelensky's visit "underlines our two countries’ close and enduring friendship – we will always be by your side, our staunch and unwavering friends," the prime minister said in opening remarks at the news conference.

"We both know the people of Ukraine’s incredible strength and inspiring bravery will ultimately defeat tyranny. That is why we are training and arming them with the equipment they need to push back Russian forces," Sunak said.

Zelensky's meeting with Macron and Scholz will stress Ukraine's close coordination with EU, Germany says

From Chris Liakos in Paris and Jessie Gretener in London 

The Ukrainian president's meeting with the French and German leaders in Paris will highlight Kyiv's close coordination with its EU allies, a German government spokesperson said ahead of Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Paris on Wednesday evening.

Zelensky has a planned meeting with French President Emanual Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on his agenda as he travels to Paris after visiting the United Kingdom earlier Wednesday.

The meeting of the three leaders “stresses the close coordination among EU allies … in the question of continuous and rigorous support for Ukraine,” a German government spokesperson said, adding that this will be the third meeting for the trio since Scholz took office.

The three leaders first met in Brussels in the December 2021 — before Russia began its invasion — on the sidelines of the Eastern Partnership summit. Macron and Scholz also travelled to Kyiv in June 2022, alongside then-Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

The German government spokesperson said that “ties are close” between the three leaders, adding that “both leaders talk regularly to President Zelensky on the phone.”

Wednesday's meeting in Paris also comes a day before an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.

First battalion of Leopard 2 tanks could reach Ukraine by March or April, German defense minister says

From CNN's Chris Stern, Berlin and Lauren Kent in London 

The first battalion of Leopard 2 tanks delivered by Western allies could reach Ukraine by March or April of this year, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a press conference on Wednesday. 

Speaking during a visit to Warsaw, Poland, Pistorius said, "I think we could deliver one battalion in the first four months of this year, three months maybe — and then we have to proceed as fast as possible of course."

Pistorius noted that the battalion would consist of 31 tanks. 

Official says UK is considering whether to send jets to Ukraine, according to news agency

From CNN's Lauren Kent in London

The United Kingdom is "actively" considering whether to send British jets to Ukraine, the prime minister's official spokesman said on Wednesday, according to the UK's PA Media news agency. 

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace is investigating which aircraft could be given to Ukraine, but Downing Street maintained that no decision has yet been made on whether to supply the jets, the agency reported. 

"I think you can see from the steps that we are taking that we are willing to put Ukraine in the position where, once we have reached the goals of training pilots, they are able to fly these type of jets," said the prime minister's official spokesman, according to PA Media. "What we have not made a decision on is whether we send UK fighter jets. Obviously there is an ongoing discussion among other countries about their own fighter jets, some of which are more akin to what Ukrainian pilots are used to."

"We've confirmed there will be a training program for Ukrainian pilots and the Defence Secretary is actively looking at whether we send jets," the spokesperson added.

Zelensky meets with King Charles III: "We’ve all been worried about you"

From CNN's Lauren Kent and Max Foster in London

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday. 

"We’ve all been worried about you and thinking about your country for so long, I can’t tell you," King Charles said. 

The pair greeted each other by shaking hands in the Palace's 1844 Room, and Zelensky said it was "a great honor to be here." 

The King went on to say that he heard the Ukrainian President had addressed both Houses of Parliament earlier on Wednesday. 

Zelensky responded that British lawmakers had been a "big support," and the King responded, "I'm so glad."

The pair met in private for a half-hour conversation about the war and Britain's support of Ukraine, according to Buckingham Palace. They were joined by the King’s principal private secretary, Sir Clive Alderton, the head of the Ukrainian President's Office, Andriy Yermak, and the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba.

He is slated to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Paris later Wednesday.

French President Macron will host Zelensky and German chancellor in Paris today 

From CNN’s Dalal Mawad and Saskya Vandoorne in Paris

French President Emmanuel Macron will host Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in Paris Wednesday evening, according to the Élysée Palace. 

Ukrainian air force says it needs "squadrons" of western jets

From CNN's Tim Lister and Fred Pleitgen in Kyiv

Ukraine's air force spokesperson, Yurii Ihnat, welcomed the United Kingdom's offer of training for air force pilots and said that Ukraine will need dozens of western combat aircraft to prevail in the war against Russia.

"We can start with a few squadrons, each includes 12 jets. If we have one, two or more squadrons it would be the first step for pilots to adapt to this transition," Ihnat told CNN.

Ihnat said the newest combat plane currently in Ukraine's possession is more than 30 years old.

"We have SU-25 attack aircraft, Su-24 bomber aircraft and Mig-29 and Su-27 fighter jets. They have even been adapted for use of American Anti-Radiation Missiles HARM that everyday hit enemy’s air defense systems. But these HARM missiles don’t have the functionality and efficiency they would if they were on American aircraft or other aircraft of our partners."

Ihnat said that Ukraine would welcome any type of western combat jet. He said the F16 had been through several stages of deep modernization.

"What Ukraine currently needs is a western type of platform ... Besides the platform, it’s important what range of armaments is possible to be carried, what it (jet) can take under the wings, what kind of missiles, what is their flight range ...This is Ukraine’s main need."

Zelensky arrives at Buckingham Palace to meet King Charles III

From CNN's Chris Liakos

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived at Buckingham Palace to meet King Charles III, shortly after he addressed members of UK parliament and thanked them for their support during the war.

Zelensky recalls feeling of sitting in Winston Churchill's armchair

From CNN's Jack Guy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has recounted how he was invited to sit in an armchair used by British wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill during a previous visit to the UK.

A guide asked how Zelensky felt as he sat in the chair, in which Churchill sat to give orders during the fight against Nazi Germany, the Ukrainian president told lawmakers during an address at the Houses of Parliament.

"I certainly felt something," he said, adding that he only now understood what the feeling was.

"It is the feeling of how bravery takes you through the most unimaginable hardships to finally reward you with victory," he said.

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Trudeau to travel to France for 80th anniversary of D-day at Juno Beach

Trudeau also attended 75th anniversary of d-day in france in 2019.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will travel to France next month for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

Trudeau will spend two days in France to attend D-Day events including a Canadian ceremony at Juno Beach on the morning of June 6, marking exactly 80 years since 14,000 Canadians stormed the beach as part of a massive Allied forces operation.

An international ceremony will be held later the same day on Omaha Beach.

On June 5, a memorial will take place at the Beny-sur-Mer Canadian war cemetery where 2,049 Canadian soldiers are buried.

D-Day is considered to be the beginning of the end of the Second World War, ultimately leading to the Allies liberating Western Europe from the Nazis less than a year later.

Canadians hold massive D-Day event at Juno Beach

But it came at a heavy cost, with 381 Canadians killed on the first day of the invasion and more than 5,000 by the time the Battle of Normandy concluded three months later.

Trudeau is expected to use the ceremonies to highlight that the aftermath of the Second World War "led to the foundation of the modern rules-based international order" which Canada soundly defends.

He has used many speeches in recent months to talk about growing threats to that rules-based order around the world.

Canada has not yet commented on the fact that French President Emmanuel Macron invited Russian officials to attend some of the official D-Day events despite Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

• D-Day anniversary commemorated on bus shelters
• Analysis D-Day at 75: Why the beginning of the end of WWII resonates today

Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for war crimes, was not invited.

Trudeau has repeatedly said Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine is a threat to peace and stability around the world.

The organizer of the D-Day commemorations in France, known as Mission Liberation, said in a statement in April that France had always invited countries whose troops landed in Normandy, including the Russian Federation.

Putin did receive an invitation and attend ceremonies to mark the 60th and 70th anniversaries of D-Day, the latter of which took place just a few months after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine.

Trudeau attended ceremonies in France to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day in 2019.

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Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders, who took 'Earthrise' photo, dead in plane crash

Retired astronaut William Anders, who was one of the first three humans to orbit the moon, capturing the famed "Earthrise" photo during NASA's Apollo 8 mission in 1968, died on Friday in the crash of a small airplane in Washington state. He was 90.

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November 19, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

By Adrienne Vogt

UK prime minister visits Kyiv to show support for Ukraine

From Kareem Khadder in Kyiv and Niamh Kennedy in London

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is in Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a show of support for the country in his first visit since becoming UK leader.

“The Prime Minister is in Ukraine today for his first visit to Kyiv to meet President Zelenskyy and confirm continued UK support,” a Downing Street spokesperson said. 

A CNN crew in Kyiv earlier spotted Sunak and Zelensky on Saturday during the visit, while they were touring an outdoor square. 

Zelensky posted a video on his official Telegram channel of him receiving Sunak in a snowy Kyiv. 

"Since the first days of the war, Ukraine and the UK have been the strongest of allies. During today's meeting, we discussed the most important issues both for our countries and for global security," Zelensky said in the post. 

"Together we are stronger, and we will achieve the desired results," the Ukrainian president added. 

In a tweet, Sunak said, "we are with you all the way."

Poland barring Russia from security organization talks is "unprecedented and provocative," Moscow says

From CNN's Gabby Gretener in London

Poland has barred Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov from attending the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Council of Foreign Ministers. The meeting is scheduled for Dec. 1 and Dec. 2 in Lodz, Poland.

On Saturday, Russia's Foreign Ministry responded to Warsaw's refusal in a statement, saying Poland's decision as OSCE Chairman-in-Office is "unprecedented and provocative." In the statement, the foreign ministry called for the OSCE to have a "rules-based order."

Poland has also barred a Russian delegation from participating in the autumn session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, which will be held in Warsaw from November 24 to 26. The Russian ministry said this was a "culmination of Poland's anti-chairmanship in the organisation."

Admission of the Russian delegation to the OSCE session "would violate the principle of solidarity with Ukraine," the head of Poland’s delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Barbara Bartus, said in response to the request for visas, according to Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy chair of the Russian Federation Council Committee on International Affairs. Dzhabarov made the statement on Wednesday.

Nikopol district in southern Ukraine hit by Russian shells overnight, official says

From Kostan Nechyporenko from Kyiv

Russian shelling hit the southern Ukrainian Nikopol district overnight Friday into Saturday, according to the head of the Nikopol district military administration. 

“About sixty shells and rocket munitions fell on peaceful settlements,” Yevhen Yevtushenko said in a Telegram post on Saturday.

Although residential buildings and cars were damaged, no one was reported injured in the shelling, Yevtushenko added. 

Experts are currently surveying the sites of attacks in the Marhanets and Myrove communities and the city of Nikopol, the official said.  

The Nikopol district is located in the Dnipropetrovsk region and sits across the river from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. 

Zelensky says energy supply issues persist after Russian strikes

From CNN's Jennifer Hauser

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says energy supply issues persist in the capital and 17 other regions Friday, even after utility officials indicated that power access had been restored across the country.

Speaking in his nightly address, Zelensky said it's still difficult to get enough electricity to "Kyiv region and Kyiv. It’s very difficult in the Odesa region, and also the Vinnytsia region and Ternopil region." 

The director of Ukraine's Energy Industry Research Center said earlier Friday that power had been restored nearly everywhere in the country, after 10 million customers lost service due to missile attacks Thursday.

Even when utilities repair infrastructure in Ukraine and customers regain access, operators have had to widely impose emergency cuts to deal with the country's diminished supply. That means regions only receive a limited amount of energy and are sometimes subject to intentional blackouts aimed at stabilizing and maintaining the fragile grid.

Fighting in the east: In his update, Zelensky also reported "fierce fighting" in the eastern Donetsk region. He claimed that about 100 Russian attacks were repelled in the region on Thursday alone.

Donetsk, which is one of four Ukrainian regions Moscow claims to have annexed, has been subject to some of the conflict's fiercest fighting .

First train leaves Kyiv for liberated Kherson after 8 months of occupation

From CNN's Dennis Lapin in Kyiv

The first train from Kyiv to the recently liberated city of Kherson left Friday.

"This is our train of victory!" Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said on Telegram.

There were about 200 passengers on board.

Some context: Kherson residents lived under Russian occupation for eight months, but last week, Ukrainian forces swept into the city as  Moscow's troops retreated east .

The return of the city, which was the only regional capital held by the Kremlin's forces, brought scenes of jubilation in the streets, where locals sang, waved flags and embraced Ukrainian soldiers.

Much work remains to restore basic services to the city and the region surrounding it, however, and Ukrainian officials are now investigating the brutality and torture suffered by detainees in the city.

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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Vladimir Putin repeats warning he could send weapons to adversaries of the West

Speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Vladimir Putin also says he does not see the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons as set out in Russia's nuclear doctrine - but adds he could not rule out a change to it.

Friday 7 June 2024 17:15, UK

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• Russia economically strong despite 'illegitimate sanctions'
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• Russian vessels to make port in Cuba in 'hopes of invoking memory of missile crisis'
• Biden to discuss $225m package with Zelenskyy in France
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• Live reporting by Andy Hayes and  Ollie Cooper

Thank you for reading.

We will be back soon with more updates from the war in Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin has said he does not see the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons as set out in Russia's nuclear doctrine - but added he could not rule out a change to the doctrine.

"We have a nuclear doctrine which states that the use of nuclear arms is possible in an exceptional case, when the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country is threatened," he told the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

"But the doctrine can be changed.

"The same applies to nuclear tests. We will carry out tests if needed, but so far there is no such need."

Russia could send weapons to adversaries of the West, Vladimir Putin has warned for a second time.

The Russian president repeated the warning from earlier this week during the St Petersburg Economic Forum.

He did not say what countries or entities he was referring to, and he stressed that Moscow is not doing it currently.

"If they supply (weapons) to the combat zone and call for using these weapons against our territory, why don't we have the right to do the same?" he told the crowds. 

"But I'm not ready to say that we will be doing it tomorrow, either."

On Wednesday, Putin told international journalists that Russia could provide long-range weapons to others to strike Western targets in response to NATO allies allowing Ukraine to use their arms to attack Russian territory.

He also reaffirmed Moscow's readiness to use nuclear weapons if it sees a threat to its sovereignty.

Joe Biden has apologised to Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the recent delay in approving new US aid for Ukraine.

Last month, following months of political disagreements, the Senate passed $95bn (£76.2bn) in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan .

"I apologise for those weeks of not knowing," the US president said.

"Some of our very conservative members [of Congress] were holding it up. 

"But we got it done, finally. We're still in - completely, totally." 

The Ukrainian president thanked his counterpart for American assistance.  

"It's very important that you stay with us," he said. 

"It's very important that in this unity, the United States of America, all American people stay with Ukraine, like it was during World War Two - how the United States helped to save human lives, to save Europe." 

The two men were speaking in Paris, the day after D-Day commemorations in Normandy.

Russia needs to boost its use of non-Western currencies, Vladimir Putin said as he addressed the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

He also said his country needs to reduce imports while calling for a major expansion of its domestic financial markets.

Trade with Asia is soaring, he told delegates, adding that almost two fifths of Russian external trade is now in roubles.

The share conducted in US dollars, euros and other Western currencies has declined.

Russia will try to boost the share of settlements conducted in the currencies of BRICS countries - which include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, Mr Putin said.

"Last year, the share of payments for Russian exports in the so–called 'toxic' currencies of unfriendly states halved, while the share of the rouble in export and import transactions is growing - it is approaching 40% today," the president said.

Russia has referred to nations that imposed sanctions on it as "unfriendly".

 The session begins with an address by the Russian president. 

Vladimir Putin says there is a race among world powers to establish sovereignty. 

He speaks of the need for countries to both establish partnerships and also to look internally to tackle challenges presented by the current global economic landscape. 

Despite all the "obstacles and illegitimate sanctions", Russia remains one of the world's economic leaders, he says. 

He adds that "friendly countries" - those that have not joined sanctions against Moscow - account for three quarters of Russia's mutual trade turnover, and praises them for that. 

Countries including India and China have strengthened economic ties since Mr Putin launched his war in Ukraine. 

Vladimir Putin has taken to the stage in St Petersburg to address the International Economic Forum there.

He's joined by Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwais and Bolivian President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora. 

Chairing the session is Sergey Karaganov - a Russian political scientist. 

We'll bring you any key lines here in this live blog. 

A T-shirt is on sale at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum printed with a phrase attributed to Vladimir Putin, Sky News has discovered. 

"If a fight is inevitable, throw the first punch," it says.

The Russian president reportedly said it in 2015.

He apparently explained that it was something he had learned while growing up on the streets of Leningrad - a former name of St Petersburg. 

The Russian defence ministry has accused Ukraine of injuring 20 people, including children, in a missile attack on the Russian-controlled eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk, using US-supplied ATACMS missiles.

Four of five missiles were shot down by air defence systems, the ministry said in a statement.

However, one of the missiles damaged two residential apartment blocks, it added, claiming it was deliberate.

Sky News is unable to verify the allegations.

There has been no immediate comment from Ukraine. 

The European Commission supports starting EU accession talks with Ukraine, the country's prime minister has said.

Denys Shmyhal said the commission had confirmed in a report that Kyiv had fulfilled the remaining steps required to start negotiations. 

"Now we expect our European partners to take the next step - to start negotiations on European Union membership this month," Mr Shmyhal said on Telegram. 

Earlier (7.43am post) we reported that the commission was reportedly ready to recommend that accession talks get underway.

It is part of an attempt to signal support for Kyiv before Hungary takes over the rotating presidency of the EU next month, the Financial Times reported.

The EU announced earlier this year that it was sending an additional £42bn in aid to Ukraine - but only after  weeks of resistance from Hungary , which reportedly has concerns about minority rights in Ukraine. 

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Daily Briefing June 7: Day 245 – PM to visit DC next month. Will Israel still be at war?

W elcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

It is day 245 of the war with Hamas. US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today’s episode.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address a joint session of Congress on July 24, top US lawmakers announced on Thursday. Will this truly be a bipartisan event?

Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan informed his US counterpart Linda Thomas-Greenfield yesterday that Jerusalem opposes the Security Council resolution being advanced by the Biden administration that expresses support for the hostage-ceasefire proposal Israel made last week. Why is Israel opposing an Israeli proposal?

The United States warned Thursday that Israel will see a “massive” negative impact if the Palestinian Authority collapses as Washington again pressed Israel to let revenue flow. Who is holding up the money and on what grounds?

The US State Department announced on Thursday sanctions against the Lions’ Den terror group that was established over two years ago in the northern West Bank. Why now?

In a new interview with ABC News, US President Joe Biden said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has listened to his warnings against a major military offensive in Rafah and that Biden believes Netanyahu supports the hostage deal Israel submitted last week. What else did you hear?

For more updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

‘Falling for Hamas tactics’: IDF names 9 terrorists killed in school strike, slams media

Netanyahu to defend ‘just war’ in July 24 speech to joint session of US Congress

Israel rejects Security Council resolution in support of its own hostage deal offer

US announces sanctions on largely dormant West Bank terror group Lions’ Den

THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Ci vil ians and soldiers killed in Hamas’s onslaught on Israel

THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown

Subscribe to The Times of Is rael Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts ,  Spotify , YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.  

Check out yesterday’s Daily Briefing episode:

The post Daily Briefing June 7: Day 245 – PM to visit DC next month. Will Israel still be at war? appeared first on The Times of Israel .

Never miss important Israel stories - get the free Times of Israel Daily Edition

Russia-Ukraine War Zelensky Visits U.K. for Talks on Military Aid

• Share full article
• Chequers, Aylesbury, England President Volodymyr Zelensky meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain. UK Pool, International Pool via Associated Press
• Kramatorsk, Ukraine A civilian house that was destroyed by a Russian bombing overnight. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
• Synyak, Ukraine The funeral for Dmytro Konobas, who was killed while fighting in the Luhansk region this month. Nicole Tung for The New York Times
• Donetsk region, Ukraine Ukrainian soldiers resting after rotating out of fighting in Bakhmut. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
• Donetsk region, Ukraine An armored vehicle driving through a village. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
• Irpin, Ukraine Demolishing buildings that were damaged in strikes last year. Roman Pilipey/Getty Images
• Kyiv region, Ukraine A training session at a drone school. Nicole Tung for The New York Times
• Hostomel, Ukraine Garages destroyed by shelling last year. Nicole Tung for The New York Times

The U.K. promises more missiles and drones for Ukraine.

LONDON — Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain pledged on Monday to provide a large package of missiles and attack drones to Ukraine, ahead of a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky, who over the weekend secured promises of billions of dollars in additional military aid from European allies .

Mr. Zelensky, who has been on a whirlwind tour of Europe to shore up support ahead of a counteroffensive against Russia, hugged Mr. Sunak when he landed at the British leader’s country residence outside London, Chequers, on Monday morning. The Ukrainian president — who referred to Mr. Sunak in a tweet as “my friend Rishi” — later said he was “very pleased” by the results of his European tour.

Welcome back, @ZelenskyyUa 🇬🇧🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/ph57ZoUHpC — Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) May 15, 2023

The prime minister’s office said that in addition to the cruise missiles it announced last week, Britain would deliver “hundreds of air defense missiles and further unmanned aerial systems,” including long-range drones to support Ukraine in its anticipated counteroffensive.

“This is a crucial moment in Ukraine’s resistance to a terrible war of aggression they did not choose or provoke,” Mr. Sunak said in a statement on Monday. “They need the sustained support of the international community to defend against the barrage of unrelenting and indiscriminate attacks that have been their daily reality for over a year.”

The two leaders met for around two hours at Chequers before emerging to take a few questions from journalists, with Mr. Zelensky expressing thanks to Britain, Germany and France for their new weapons pledges over the weekend.

“I am very pleased with our achievements and agreements,” Mr. Zelensky said, according to Ukrinform, a Ukrainian state-funded news outlet . “Powerful defense packages are really important.”

Recent Ukrainian military advances around the embattled city of Bakhmut prompted some Russian military bloggers to claim that Kyiv’s long-anticipated counteroffensive was already underway. But Mr. Zelensky said last week that Ukraine needed to wait for more hardware from the West to arrive, specifically armored vehicles, before it could launch the assault. When asked if that was still fair to say on Monday, Mr. Zelensky told journalists that “we really need some more time.”

“Not too much,” he said, according to the BBC. “We will be ready in some time.”

The Kremlin, though, dismissed the significance of Britain’s new military aid pledge.

“We take an extremely negative view of it,” the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, told journalists, according to the Russian state news agency Tass , but he said the new weapons would “not have any significant impact” on the course of the war.

Britain provided about $2.8 billion in military assistance to Ukraine in 2022, making it one of Kyiv’s largest backers. Mr. Sunak also promised to start training Ukrainian fighter pilots this summer, though he has yet to commit to sending British fighter jets to Ukraine. Instead, Britain has said it will help other countries that supply combat aircraft by providing support systems.

Mr. Zelensky’s brief visit to Britain comes after he traveled over the weekend to Italy, Germany and France, meeting with Pope Francis and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome, Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, and President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. On Saturday, Germany announced an arms package of almost $3 billion, and on Sunday, France also pledged more weaponry for Ukraine.

The British government confirmed last week that it would begin supplying Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles, continuing its policy of being in the vanguard in providing the Ukrainian Army heavier weapons to fight Russian forces.

The missiles, which are known as Storm Shadow and have a range of more than 155 miles, would “allow Ukraine to push back Russian forces based in Ukrainian sovereign territory,” according to Britain’s defense secretary, Ben Wallace.

Britain, with its aggressive approach, has often acted as a catalyst for other Western countries to supply Ukraine with heavier weapons. Its decision to send a squadron of Challenger 2 main battle tanks foreshadowed decisions by Germany and the United States to send more sophisticated tanks.

The Ukrainian leader last visited Britain in February, delivering an emotional speech in which he pleaded for NATO countries to supply Ukraine with fighter jets. Mr. Sunak has said fighter jets are on the table, but he has not yet taken the step of committing them.

A spokesman for Mr. Sunak’s office affirmed that point on Monday, telling the BBC that Britain had “no plans” to supply jets to Ukraine.

— Mark Landler

Iran and Russia are discussing more drone sales, the White House says.

United States officials see continued indications that Iran and Russia are expanding their military partnership, with Russia having employed large numbers of Iranian drones against Ukraine and seeking to procure more, John Kirby, a White House spokesman, said at a press briefing on Monday.

Iran has provided Russia with more than 400 one-way attack drones since August, most of which have been used against Ukraine’s infrastructure as Russia presses its invasion, Mr. Kirby said, and discussions of buying more advanced weapons “are now continuing.”

By providing the drones, “Iran has been directly enabling Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine,” Mr. Kirby said.

Russia is also providing more “defense cooperation” to Iran, Mr. Kirby said, at a time when Iran is seeking to buy billions of dollars in Russian fighter jets, attack helicopters and Yak-130 combat trainer aircraft. Iran’s ability to carry out “destabilizing activities in the Middle East,” he said, has only been heightened.

The United States has tried to prevent the Iranian drone sales . It has choked off Iran’s ability to produce the craft, made it harder for Russia to launch them and helped Ukraine with its air defenses. Mr. Kirby said on Monday that the United States was “using the tools at our disposal to expose and disrupt these activities, and we are prepared to do more.”

The United States, the European Union and Britain have sanctioned Iran for supplying the drones. Iran has denied sending them for use against Ukraine; in November, Iran’s foreign minister acknowledged sending the drones to Russia but said the deliveries had all taken place before the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

Western officials believe Russia and Iran have developed an alliance of convenience, one that flows both ways. Iran has bought billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment, including fighter jets, from Russia, Mr. Kirby said.

“The partnership between Russia and Iran is directly enabling Iran’s destabilizing activities in the Middle East, posing a threat not just to Ukraine, of course, but also to Iran’s neighbors,” he said. “This is a full-scale defense partnership that is harmful to Ukraine, to the region in the Middle East and to the international community.”

Mr. Kirby also said the White House plans to help businesses and governments understand the Iranian drone program and related illicit practices, so they can avoid “inadvertently contributing to” Iran’s efforts.

— Daniel Victor

Advertisement

A former U.S. Embassy employee is being held in Moscow, according to Russia’s state news agency.

Robert Shonov, identified as a former employee of the U.S. Embassy in Russia, was arrested in the Russian city of Vladivostok and charged with conspiracy, according to the Russian state news agency Tass . The report did not identify his nationality.

Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesman, told reporters at a briefing on Monday that he had seen the report but that “I don’t have anything additional to offer at this time.”

Tass, quoting an anonymous law enforcement official, said that Mr. Shonov was accused of “collaboration on a confidential basis with a foreign state or international or foreign organization.” He has been taken to Lefortovo Prison in Moscow, Tass reported, and no court date has been set.

Being held in isolation is commonplace at Lefortovo, a notorious high-security prison whose inmates currently include Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal correspondent who was accused of espionage in March, charges that his employer and American officials have strongly denied. It is also where Paul Whelan , a former U.S. Marine who is serving a 16-year sentence on what the United States has said are fabricated charges of espionage, was held for 20 months until his trial in 2020. He is now at a forced labor camp several hundred miles away.

In the Soviet era, the K.G.B. kept Soviet dissidents at the prison, and it has been used more recently to isolate opponents of the Kremlin.

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed a nationality to the former U.S. embassy employee detained in Vladivostok. It is not known whether the person is an American; the Tass report did not identify the person’s citizenship.

An earlier version also incorrectly stated the whereabouts of Paul Whelan. He is not currently being held at Lefortovo Prison in Moscow; he is now at a forced labor camp in Mordovia, several hundred miles to the southeast of Moscow.

How we handle corrections

With a new tranche of weapons, Ukraine has much of what it needs for a counteroffensive, analysts say.

The new long-range missiles, attack drones and tanks and other armored vehicles that President Volodymyr Zelensky has secured from allies in recent days will fulfill many, but not all, of the demands for weapons that Ukraine said it needs for a counteroffensive against Russia.

Military analysts believe at least some of the latest tranche of Western weapons will be quickly sent to the front lines to cut off Russian supply routes and to strike at their artillery systems and command centers in Ukraine’s south and east. Others may be delivered later, including in the autumn or beyond, to help Mr. Zelensky plan for future operations should the war continue to drag on.

But the robust package — announced as Mr. Zelensky visited four European capitals over the last three days — may signal that Western officials now believe Ukraine could retake significant swaths of territory in the counteroffensive, said Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, a former Danish army intelligence officer.

“We wouldn’t be committing this amount of weapons to Ukraine at this point, if the thinking was that it was not likely that they would succeed,” said Mr. Kirkegaard, who is now a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund research group in Brussels.

Some Western officials hope that if the Ukrainians make substantial gains of territory, they would have more leverage in any peace negotiations.

Just last week, Mr. Zelensky had warned that the anticipated counteroffensive against Russia that was expected to begin this spring or early summer could be delayed unless Kyiv quickly received more weapons.

European allies responded in a matter of hours.

Perhaps the most significant commitment came from Germany, which on Saturday announced — just before Mr. Zelensky landed in Berlin — that it would send Ukraine 30 additional Leopard tanks and 20 armored fighting vehicles, 16 air defense systems, more than 200 drones and a slew of other arms and ammunition. The leaders of France and Italy also gave vaguer promises to send light tanks, ammunition and air defense systems.

The additional Leopards and infantry fighting vehicles that Germany is sending as part of its package worth 2.7 billion euros, or nearly $3 billion, will be most useful on Ukraine’s southern steppe, where the Russian-controlled terrain , Mr. Kirkegaard said, is well suited “for tank or maneuver warfare.”

But Max Bergmann, the director of the Europe, Russia and Eurasia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, noted that it was not clear that all of the newly pledged German tanks would arrive soon. (Berlin has already delivered 18 Leopard tanks to Ukraine.)

However, he said, the commitment “helps give Ukraine a degree of confidence” as military planners prepare for a drawn-out battle.

As of early March, only 31 percent of tanks and 76 percent of other armored fighting vehicles had been delivered to Ukraine for the coming counteroffensive, according to classified U.S. military assessments that were recently leaked, although American officials have said far more have been delivered in the months since. The Biden administration has also pledged to send 31 American-made Abrams tanks to Ukraine, but they are not expected to arrive until fall at the earliest.

The new air defense systems that were promised may help ease American worries that Ukraine did not have enough to protect itself as the counteroffensive neared. Four of the 16 air defense systems that Germany has newly pledged are considered among the most sophisticated on the market.

The newly promised long-range Storm Shadow missiles, which Britain pledged on Thursday, help answer a longstanding request from Ukraine. The United States has so far resisted sending American long-range missiles to Ukraine, in part to avoid potentially escalating the war with weapons that Ukraine could use to reach into Russian territory.

Mr. Kirkegaard said the long-range drones that Britain pledged on Monday are of particular threat to the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean port of Sevastopol and other sites in and near Crimea, including the Kerch Strait Bridge that connects occupied Crimea to Russia.

Crimea has been a key staging ground for the Russians operating in captured territory in southern Ukraine.

— Lara Jakes

Ukraine claims further advances around Bakhmut.

DONBAS REGION, Ukraine — Ukrainian soldiers made further advances around Bakhmut over the weekend, the country’s deputy defense minister said on Monday, putting pressure on Russian positions on the city’s flanks as Ukraine tries to retake momentum after months of being on the defensive.

While the battle inside the city continues to rage, the Ukrainian success around Bakhmut — while limited — presents Russian commanders with the difficult choice of whether to send reinforcements, which could weaken positions elsewhere in the face of Kyiv’s looming counteroffensive.

Hanna Maliar, the deputy defense minister, said on Monday that “against all odds, our troops managed to advance for several days.” A day earlier, she reported that Kyiv’s forces had “captured more than 10 enemy positions” after punching through Russian lines north and south of Bakhmut last week.

It was not possible to independently verify her claims. While Russia’s Ministry of Defense acknowledged on Friday that its forces had retreated in one segment around Bakhmut, it claimed on Sunday that “there has been no breakthrough” against Russian lines and that all Ukrainian attacks had been repelled. But in a rare acknowledgment of high-level casualties, it also said that two Russian colonels were killed in the fighting around the city.

Ukraine’s advances around Bakhmut have been the country’s first significant gains in the monthslong battle for the devastated city. At the same time, Russian forces control about 90 percent of Bahkmut, and have continued to pound the last remaining Ukrainian positions inside the city limits.

Both sides have suffered heavy casualties in the fight for Bakhmut. Since December alone, the United States estimates that more than 20,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine, many around the city.

The Ukrainians are now seeking to take advantage of Russia’s losses by attacking positions around the city that they were forced from over the winter, and they could be trying to encircle Russian forces inside the ruins of Bakhmut.

Maj. Oleksandr Pantsyrny, 26, the commander of Ukraine’s 24th Separate Assault Battalion, or Aidar, said he led an operation that resulted in a breakthrough against Russian flanks in the area of Bakhmut last week. Over three days, his battalion recaptured several miles of territory, he said. His account of the fighting could not be independently confirmed.

Major Pantsyrny said the Ukrainian breakthrough came as units of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, which has spearheaded the assault on Bakhmut, began withdrawing units from outlying suburbs early this month in order to regroup.

“We were watching,” he said in a telephone interview on Sunday. “They started step by step, handing over positions and moving troops for assaults inside Bakhmut.”

He said the Ukrainians spotted a weakness as the Wagner troops rotated out and hit Russian Army units as they arrived to take over. The next day, he said, his troops followed with a second assault against arriving Russian reinforcements.

“We guessed the right moment of the rotation,” Major Pantsyrny said, adding that the Russian defenders were unfamiliar with the terrain and “not used to such intensity of combat.”

Even as Ukrainian soldiers advanced along the rolling hills and open plains north and south of Bakhmut, the battle inside the ruined city was a different story. Russian forces have captured nearly all of the city over months of bitter fighting, with the remaining Ukrainian defenders confined to a small western section and facing relentless assault.

On Monday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that assault units, supported by airborne troops, continued to battle for the western neighborhoods of Bakhmut.

“Things are difficult in Bakhmut and the surrounding area,” Ms. Maliar, the Ukrainian deputy defense minister, said on Monday , adding that “heavy fighting continues.”

— Marc Santora ,  Carlotta Gall and Oleksandr Chubko

The Wagner leader disputes a report that he offered to betray Russia.

The head of the Wagner private military group on Monday rejected a report that he had offered to share with Ukraine the positioning of Russian Army troops around Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, in exchange for a withdrawal of Kyiv’s forces from the area.

The Wagner group has been a driving force behind Russia’s monthslong battle to take Bakhmut, which has cost thousands of lives on both sides and reduced much of the city to rubble. Its founder, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, has publicly clashed with Russia’s military leadership over the fight for the city, accusing them of starving his forces of ammunition.

The Washington Post reported on Sunday that a U.S. intelligence document leaked on the messaging platform Discord said that Mr. Prigozhin told contacts in Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate that he was willing to betray the Russian Army’s locations around Bakhmut if Kyiv agreed to withdraw from around the city. A Ukrainian official told The Post that Mr. Prigozhin’s offer — made “more than once” — had been rejected.

In an audio statement published on Monday by his press service, Mr. Prigozhin called the report “speculation” and a “hoax.” He suggested that Russia’s corrupt elites, who he said envied his fighters’ achievements on the front lines in Ukraine and were eager to tank his reputation, could be responsible.

Mr. Prigozhin’s mercenaries have taken lead in trying to capture Bakhmut, the site of the longest and one of the bloodiest battles of the war, while Russian troops have controlled the area around the city’s flanks. Over the last few weeks, Mr. Prigozhin has stepped up his accusations of incompetence against the Russian military leadership.

Despite openly feuding with top Russian officials, Mr. Prigozhin has been careful not to criticize President Vladimir V. Putin.

Dmitri S. Peskov, the spokesman for Mr. Putin, said that he wouldn’t comment on The Post’s report, but said that “it looks like another hoax.”

Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence service, would not comment on The Post’s report, either, but said on national television on Monday that Ukraine should “discuss such things when it is necessary and in line with Ukraine’s national interests.”

— Ivan Nechepurenko

State news media release a photo of Belarus’s leader amid speculation about his health.

Amid swirling rumors about the health of President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus, state news media on Monday released photographs of him, an apparent attempt to tamp down speculation that he was seriously ill.

Mr. Lukashenko, a key Kremlin ally who usually receives fawning daily coverage from state-controlled news media featuring photos and videos, had not been shown since last Tuesday, when he attended events in Moscow and the Belarusian capital, Minsk, celebrating the Soviet Union’s triumph over Nazi Germany in 1945.

He skipped an annual ceremony on Sunday in Minsk for Belarus’s flag day, an event at which he usually speaks, leaving his prime minister to read a statement.

Europe’s longest serving leader and an avid sportsman, Mr. Lukashenko, 68, has since 1994 ruled Belarus, a former Soviet republic that depends on Moscow for financial aid and security assistance, with a firm grip. In the past he has relished showing off his robust good health in public by rollerblading, playing ice hockey, and giving long speeches outdoors, regardless of the weather.

But the official Belarusian news agency, Belta, and state television had for the past week recycled old photographs and film clips of him.

Ukrainian officials and media fed a swirl of gleeful rumors around the health of Mr. Lukashenko, who is widely reviled in Ukraine for allowing Russia to use Belarus, which borders both nations, as a staging ground for its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

An opposition news outlet, Euroradio, reported that Mr. Lukashenko had been taken by motorcade to a Minsk clinic on Saturday, but the country has not officially commented on his health.

In what could be the most conclusive sign that he was ill, though perhaps not gravely, Russia’s tightly controlled news media — which rarely comment on leaders’ health — have in recent days reported that Mr. Lukashenko is unwell, citing Konstantin Zatulin, a senior Russian legislator who works closely with Belarus and other former Soviet republics.

Mr. Zatulin was quoted as saying of Mr. Lukashenko that “he just got sick but it is not Covid.” He gave no details and downplayed the severity of Mr. Lukashenko’s condition.

On Monday, Belta said that Mr. Lukashenko visited an air force command post and published what it said were photos of the leader that day. It was not immediately possible to independently confirm whether the photos were taken on Monday.

The intense secrecy of closed countries like Belarus and Russia allows wild rumors about their leaders to take flight. For instance, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is regularly rumored to have multiple fatal diseases.

The secrecy also makes it difficult to explain the deaths of apparently healthy officials, like Vladimir Makei, the veteran Belarusian foreign minister whose sudden death in November set off feverish speculation of possible foul play.

Nataliia Novosolova and Riley Mellen contributed reporting.

— Andrew Higgins

A Chinese official will visit Ukraine and Russia with hopes of starting talks.

A Chinese government envoy was scheduled to begin a trip on Monday that included visits to Ukraine and Russia, in an attempt to help negotiate an end to the war.

China had announced its intention to send the official, Li Hui — the government’s special representative for Eurasian affairs — after a phone call last month between its top leader, Xi Jinping, and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky. Beijing said that Mr. Li would “conduct in-depth communication with all parties” to try to reach a “political settlement.” His trip was confirmed last week by a government spokesman .

Beijing has been trying to position itself as a potential peace broker in the war, especially as Mr. Xi casts himself as a global statesman and China as an alternative to the United States for global leadership. In February, China issued what it described as a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine, though Western officials criticized it as lacking substance.

Mr. Li, the special representative, has his own long history in Russia. He served as China’s ambassador there for 10 years, and in 2019, Mr. Putin awarded him a Medal of Friendship.

Beijing has offered few details about what Mr. Li would do or whom he would meet with in Ukraine and Russia. Mr. Li will also be visiting France, Germany and Poland, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Wang Wenbin, said at a regularly scheduled briefing last week.

— Vivian Wang

Ukraine Diary: Under the threat of airstrikes, a film crew in Kyiv forged ahead to ‘tell a story.’

This is one in an occasional series of dispatches about life amid the war in Ukraine.

KYIV, Ukraine — Alice Biletska knew that it would be challenging to film in wartime Ukraine, where the threat of missile or drone strikes is constant, but when she was deciding how to tell the story of a Ukrainian singer torn between her career in the United States and her family in a war-torn country, she and her co-producer saw little choice.

“There was never any question of where we would film,” Ms. Biletska said. “You have the soul of the people here. It’s very hard to fake that. Our Ukrainian crew all have their personal experiences of this war, and have gone through all of this, and everyone has a story.”

Ms. Bileska’s film, “Our House Is on Fire,” is wrapping up this week in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, after a two-month shoot under the specter of Russian airstrikes that has been an extremely personal journey for everyone involved.

Filmed entirely in Ukraine, and mainly in the Kyiv region, the movie follows a young Ukrainian singer named Sofia — played by Anastasiya Pustovit — who is trying to make it in Los Angeles when she returns to Kyiv for her brother’s wedding.

While she’s home, the war breaks out, and she is forced to make an hard choice between career, and home and love. The film was co-written and directed by Ms. Biletska, who was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and the story is loosely based on her own experience of leaving her country and trying to make it in Hollywood. Her co-writer and producer is an American, Brian Perkins.

In one scene, Sofia is seen fleeing in a car on the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, traveling through the forest near Hostomel, a Kyiv suburb where some of the heaviest fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces occurred in the early days of the war. The word “children” is seen taped to the car, but Russian soldiers open fire on the vehicle anyway, injuring a passenger.

Another scene offers an eerily realistic depiction of the panic at train stations across Ukraine at the time, with a crush of people shouting and pushing to board a train in Kyiv as a lone soldier tries to control the crowd.

Ms. Biletska, who studied at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles and who spent weeks volunteering and helping with evacuations in the first few weeks of the war, said she asked herself what more could be done.

“I’ve always dreamed of making a film about Ukraine because I’m eternally in love with this country and the people, and home,” she said. “When you’re an immigrant, you really re-evaluate and understand what home is.

“And when this war happened, it was also another way of coping with the horrible feeling of uselessness: What can one person do when the entire country is facing evil? Well, I can tell a story.”

“We wanted to make this film now,” Ms. Biletska continued, “even while the war is still going on, because it’s really subjective. It’s a love story; it’s a story about home; it’s about all those choices we make — whether you leave or stay.”

Mr. Perkins recalled one instance in particular when the filming hit especially close to home for someone on the set.

“We shot one scene in the Kyiv Metro, and one of the extras had actually spent time sheltering in that exact Metro station with her kids,” he said.

Kyiv remained relatively calm until the last week of filming, when air-raid sirens rang out over the capital. On one night, a Ukrainian drone lost control and was shot down by an air defense system, sending its parts flying down close to where the film’s crew was. The next night, at least 30 drones targeted Kyiv .

For many in the film and theater industry in Ukraine, this is their first production since the war began. Viktor Shava, the film’s location manager, said he juggled his time between working on the set and being a part of an air defense unit that shoots down drones.

The filmmakers won’t have to wait long to share their work with the world. A preview of a scene from “Our House” is scheduled to be shown this month at the Cannes Film Festival, where the creators will be discussing the filmmaking process.

— Nicole Tung

To work around sanctions, cars, electronics and more get to Russia through Dubai.

On a dusty roadside on the outskirts of Dubai, Sohrab Fani is profiting from the West’s response to the war in Ukraine: His shop installs seat heaters into cars being re-exported to Russia.

Twelve thousand heating pads languished in his warehouse for years, he said, until Russia’s invasion and the resulting Western sanctions drove American, European and Japanese automakers out of the Russian market. Now, Russians import those cars via Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates — and because cars shipped to the Middle East tend to be made for warm climates, accessories shops like Mr. Fani’s are doing a brisk business outfitting them for winter weather.

“When the Russians came, I sold out,” Mr. Fani said, so he ordered several thousand more seat-heating pads. “In Russia, they have sanctions. Here, there is not. Here, there is business.”

More than a year into President Vladimir V. Putin’s invasion, Western sanctions have damaged Russia’s economy but not crippled it. The web of global trade has adjusted, allowing the Russian leader to largely deliver on a key promise: that the war would not drastically disrupt the lifestyle of consumption for Russian elites.

Russia is still importing coveted Western goods, enabled by a global network of middlemen.

In Moscow, the latest iPhones are available for same-day delivery for less than the retail price in Europe. Department stores still stock Gucci, Prada and Burberry. Car-sales sites list new Land Rovers, Audis and BMWs.

Just about all of the West’s leading electronics, automobile and luxury brands announced last year that they were pulling out of Russia. Not all of their goods technically violate sanctions, but commerce with Russia became very difficult in the face of public outrage, pressure from employees and restrictions on semiconductor exports and financial transactions.

Still, Russian demand for luxury items remains strong, and traders in Dubai and elsewhere are meeting it.

“The wealthy people always stay wealthy,” said Ecaterina Condratiuc, the director of communications at a Dubai luxury car showroom who recently shipped a $300,000 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT to a Russian dealership. The war, she added, “did not affect them.”

Anton Troianovski reported from Dubai and Jack Ewing from New York. Reporting was contributed by Vivian Nereim from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Ahmed Al Omran from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Oleg Matsnev from Berlin.

— Anton Troianovski and Jack Ewing

Ukraine Diary: A rebuilding effort brings together Ukrainians from across generations.

LUKASHIVKA, Ukraine — The young, mostly urban youth came to clear rubble and rebuild the destroyed homes of villagers, many of them in their 70s and 80s. In turn, the elders hosted the volunteers in their temporary shelters, and cooked them meals as they worked.

Repair Together, a volunteer organization, has been helping civilians rebuild since areas in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions were retaken from Russian forces last year. The group says that 120 houses in over a dozen villages have been cleared of debris over the past year, and with the weather warming, the pace has picked up.

The effort has brought together Ukrainians from different generations who, under normal circumstances, would rarely interact with each other. They said they have grown closer in their shared experiences during the war.

In addition to its core work, the organization also hosts DJs, as well as holding cultural events with local residents of the villages where they work.

As the sun beat down on Saturday in Lukashivka, the aroma of savory pastries and soup filled the area, near where cinder blocks were stacked up, ready to become walls for Olga Varenyk’s new home. She called over about a half-dozen volunteers to take a lunch break. Bowl after bowl of food came out of her temporary kitchen, and she busily ensured they all sat down and ate.

Tamara Kryvopala, 66, was watching over a pot of stew and washing dishes as she recalled how her daughter-in-law was so terrified by the shelling last year as they sheltered in the cellar that she was not able to breastfeed her 8-day-old son. Ms. Kryvopala said they had to sneak out to get cows’ milk, which they would mix with water, to keep the child alive. She said she was grateful that her new house was nearly completed, and for the company of the volunteers.

In Baklanova Muraviika, a village near Lukashivka, Zeena Mezin, 73, climbed up a rickety set of stairs into where she was living temporarily, and made a large bucketful of cherry compote — a sweet beverage made from cooked cherries, water, and sugar to give to the helpers clearing rubble from the lot where her house once stood.

Ms. Mezin had been sheltering in the basement with her husband last March when a shell hit their house, setting the roof on fire and destroying everything they had.

“I’m very thankful to all these children, it’s very hard work,” she said.

At a time of heightened scrutiny, Ukraine works to get the weapons to the battlefield, not the black market.

Rocket launchers, precision-guided missiles and billions of dollars’ worth of other advanced American weapons have given Ukraine a fighting chance against Russia ahead of a counteroffensive. But if even a few of the arms wind up on the black market instead of the battlefield, a Ukrainian lawmaker gloomily predicted, “We’re done.”

The lawmaker, Oleksandra Ustinova, a former anti-corruption activist who now monitors foreign arms transfers to Ukraine, does not believe there is widespread smuggling among the priciest and most sophisticated weapons donated by the United States over the past year.

“We’ve literally had people die because stuff was left behind, and they came back to get it, and were killed,” she said of Ukrainian troops’ efforts to make sure weapons were not stolen or lost.

But in Washington, against a looming government debt crisis and growing skepticism about financial support for Ukraine, an increasingly skeptical Congress is demanding tight accountability for “every weapon, every round of ammunition that we send to Ukraine,” as Representative Rob Wittman, Republican of Virginia, said last month.

By law, U.S. officials must monitor the use, transfer and security of American weapons and defense systems that are sold or otherwise given to foreign partners to make sure they are being deployed as intended. In December, for security reasons, the Biden administration largely shifted responsibility to Kyiv for monitoring the American weapons shipments at the front, despite Ukraine’s long history of corruption and arms smuggling .

Yet the sheer volume of arms delivered — including tens of thousands of shoulder-fired Javelin and Stinger missiles, portable launchers and rockets — creates a virtually insurmountable challenge to tracking each item, officials and experts caution.

All of which has heightened anxieties among Ukrainian officials responsible for ensuring weapons get to the battlefield.

Thomas Gibbons-Neff contributed reporting.