Allies pledge more weapons before Ramstein meeting; Russian attacks repelled in Donetsk and Luhansk

The Biden administration is planning to send about 100 Stryker armoured vehicles in its next package of military aid to Ukraine worth about $2.5-billion. The UK on Thursday said it will send a further 600 Brimstone ground- or air-launched missiles, and Denmark will send French-made howitzers. Ukrainian officials have urged allies to provide more battle tanks, artillery and longer-range missile systems.

The Biden administration is inclined to oppose any move to lower the price cap on exports of Russian crude oil. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to his Iranian counterpart for the second time in 2023.

Key developments

• US weighs sending Stryker vehicles in a Ukraine aid package


• US seen pushing for Russian oil price cap to stay at $60


• Nato’s lessons from war in Ukraine: More air defence, ammo


• Ukrainian interior minister killed in helicopter crash near Kyiv


• Ukraine seeks to expand steel exports, says minister

On the ground

Ukrainian troops repelled attacks near 14 settlements in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including Bakhmut and Soledar, over the past day, the General Staff said on Facebook. Russian forces conducted four missile strikes, 15 aviation raids and more than 30 salvos from multiple launch rocket systems over the past 24 hours, the General Staff said on Facebook. Several dozens of towns came under artillery fire.

Russia is considering deploying a small number of its new T-14 Armata main battle tanks in Ukraine, the UK defence ministry said. Any deployment of the T-14s, 11 years in development and dogged by delays and reports of manufacturing problems, “is likely to be a high-risk decision” for Moscow, the UK said, saying that using the tanks in Ukraine would be mostly for propaganda purposes.

USAid, Bayer partner on seed donations to Ukraine  

The US Agency for International Development (USAid) and Bayer announced a donation of vegetable seeds to Ukrainian farmers to help address the nation’s food crisis. The first shipment of carrot seeds is expected to supply up to 25,000 households and micro-farmers, with priority given to farmers in newly liberated areas.

Lithuania to give Ukraine weapons worth €125m

Lithuania will provide Ukraine with a new lethal package that includes dozens of L-70 anti-aircraft guns, ammunition and two Mi-8 helicopters, Lithuania’s Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas said on Twitter.

 

US pushing for Russian oil price cap to stay at $60 

The Biden administration is inclined to oppose any move to lower the price cap on exports of Russian crude oil, despite a push by some European countries to squeeze Moscow’s revenues even more.

Russia’s flagship oil Urals is trading far below international prices — and the Group of Seven’s $60 per barrel cap that came into effect on 5 December. The European Union agreed to review the price cap every two months, starting in mid-January, with an aim to keep the threshold at least 5% below the average market price.

Denmark donates howitzers

Denmark will give Ukraine its new French-made heavy artillery system, a total of 19 self-propelled Caesar class howitzers.

The donation has been the subject of debate in the Nordic country because without the artillery, Denmark’s defence won’t be able to meet its own Nato obligations. Denmark will therefore “quickly look into the possibility of procuring other new capacities,” its defence ministry said.

Russia’s Lavrov visits Minsk, meets Lukashenko 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Minsk on Thursday for talks with his Belarusian counterpart, Sergey Aleinik, and with President Alexander Lukashenko.

Lavrov said the meeting with Lukashenko “revolved around additional steps to implement a coordinated response to the actions that Nato and the EU are taking against Belarus and Russia,” according to the BelTA news agency.

Russian and Belarusian air forces continue joint “tactical exercises” to the north of the border with Ukraine, the Belarusian defence ministry said.

Ukraine to start talks on EU membership this year — Zelensky 

Ukraine hopes to start negotiations on full EU membership this year, President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a press conference in Kyiv with the EU’s president, Charles Michel.

“There are all the necessary preconditions, and we have a strong motivation,” Zelensky said. “We support your desire to become an EU member,” Michel responded.

Ukraine urges sanctions on Russian nuclear industry 

Zelensky urged Western sanctions against Russia’s nuclear and missile industries during a press briefing in Kyiv with Michel.

The measures could come as part of a 10th round of sanctions being discussed by the EU and allies, he said. Michel said that in general, sanctions should be strengthened and “more countries should be involved” in order to resist Russia.

UK bolsters Ukraine’s military punch with 600 Brimstone missiles

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the UK will send a further 600 Brimstone ground- or air-launched attack missiles to Ukraine.

The UK has already announced this month it’s sending 14 Challenger 2 main battle tanks, long-range artillery and more armoured vehicles. Wallace made the announcement about the missiles at a news conference in Estonia.

Ukraine wants single market agreement with EU 

Ukraine seeks to sign a seven-year single market agreement with the EU, its economy ministry said in a statement on its website. The programme envisages a €4.2-billion budget and will allow Ukraine to strengthen cooperation with the EU as part of its aspiration to join the union, Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.

The goal is to simplify access to markets and promote a favourable business climate and competitiveness and resilience of businesses.

Putin speaks to Iran’s Raisi for second time this month 

Putin discussed energy and transport cooperation with his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, in a phone conversation, the leaders’ second call for 2023 to date, the Kremlin said.

The two also spoke about the situation in Syria. Iran and Russia have boosted cooperation in a range of spheres since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Stormy seas and inspection delays slow grain exports 

The number of grain ships leaving Ukrainian ports has fallen in January due to delays in inspections in Bosphorus and bad weather, Ukraine’s agriculture ministry said on its website.

An average of 2.7 ships per day have left Ukrainian ports this month, down from a high of 5.9 ships daily in September and the lowest since the Black Sea Grain Initiative was agreed upon in late July. A total of 17.7 million tonnes of agriculture products has been sent from Ukraine as part of the grain deal.

Russian embassy in Tallinn stops taking bids to renounce citizenship 

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said a move by the Russian embassy in Tallinn to stop processing requests to renounce Russian citizenship was meant to “harass” those opting to switch to Estonian passports.

A notice posted on Russia’s Tallinn embassy website says it’s temporarily not processing requests to renounce Russian citizenship. Around 700 Russian nationals have applied for Estonian citizenship since February last year in a country with more than 80,000 Russian nationals. In response, the embassy blamed staffing shortages and said normal operations would resume in February.

Estonia decided last week to cut the number of Russian diplomats based in Tallinn roughly in half, so that staff numbers would be equal to those at Estonia’s embassy in Moscow.

Poland may send tanks without German nod

Poland may send German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine without gaining permission from the government in Berlin, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.

“Approval is a secondary issue,” he told Polsat News late on Wednesday. “Either we get this approval soon or we will do ourselves what has to be done.”

Poland has earmarked 14 of its Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine and is waiting for other EU nations to also commit.

Sweden to send armoured combat vehicles 

Sweden will send as many as 50 armoured combat vehicles, known as CV90s, and has initiated a process to transfer the Archer artillery system to the country, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said.

The package, which also includes anti-tank weapons, comprises the heaviest arms yet to be sent from Sweden to Ukraine.

The Archer is a truck-mounted artillery system that Ukraine has repeatedly requested from Sweden. The CV90s could be on the battlefield “within a couple of months”, while the transfer of Archers will take longer, according to Defence Minister Pal Jonson.

Ukraine seeks Leopard 2 tanks from allies 

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba appealed to nations that have Leopard 2 tanks to pass them on, according to an emailed statement.

“We guarantee that we will use these weapons responsibly and exclusively for the purposes of protecting the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” he said. Armoured vehicles are greatly needed as the threat of a new full-scale offensive by the Russian forces is “very real”, according to the statement.

Boris Johnson calls for more weapons for Ukraine  

Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told an audience in Davos that allies should increase their support of Ukraine and focus on that rather than trying to analyse Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plans.

Zelensky pressures allies for weapons

Without naming Germany directly, Zelensky said it was wrong for countries to say they would only supply his government with battle tanks if an ally outside the European Union, such as the US, did the same. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has indicated the ruling coalition in Berlin won’t move unilaterally to supply Leopard 2 tanks.

Speaking via video link, Zelensky told a World Economic Forum event in Davos that additional artillery and missile systems would not be used to strike inside Russia, but to target occupied territories from where Russian forces were launching attacks.

Asked whether Ukraine would target Russian-occupied Crimea, he said: “This is not our intention, it is our land. Give us your weapons and we’ll bring our land back.” DM