Live blog: EU, UK agree on accelerating military support for Ukraine

Saturday, February 18, 2023

The British prime minister and the European Commission chief have agreed on the importance of accelerating military support to Ukraine.

In a joint statement, Ursula von der Leyen and Rishi Sunak reaffirmed the need to give Ukraine the “military momentum they need to secure victory" against Russia.

"The leaders welcomed the powerful alignment in EU and UK support for Ukraine over the past year, as exemplified both by our record military and economic aid to the country," the statement said.

“They agreed EU and UK efforts to train Ukrainian troops will make a real difference on the battlefield,” it added. 

Here are the other updates:

1757 GMT - Hungary's Orban accuses EU of prolonging war in Ukraine

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said the European Union is partly to blame for prolonging Russia’s war in Ukraine, adding that Hungary would maintain ties with Moscow. "This is what we propose to our allies as well," Orban said.

Speaking at an annual state of the nation address in Budapest, Orban said the EU had fanned the flames of the war by sanctioning Russia and supplying Ukraine with money and weapons, rather than seeking to negotiate peace with Moscow.

“When Russia launched its attack, the West didn’t isolate the conflict but elevated it to a pan-European level,” Orban said. “The war in Ukraine is not a conflict between the armies of good and evil, but between two Slavic countries that are fighting against one another. This is their war, not ours.”

1643 GMT - Russia must change for peace: Ukrainian FM

Russia must change for peace in Ukraine, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. 

Speaking at a panel session at the Munich Security Conference, Kuleba blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the war and said peace would not be possible as long as he leads the country.

“As long as Putin is in power, we will be in trouble, because Ukraine is his personal obsession, for various reasons,” he said.

1622 GMT - Kiev still standing, Russia weakened: US vice president

One year into the war in Ukraine, Kiev is “still standing,” while Russia is “weakened” and NATO “is stronger than ever,” US Vice President Kamala Harris has said.

"Many wondered, could Russia be stopped? Would NATO come together? Would NATO break apart? And would Ukraine be prepared? … today a year later, we know Kyiv is still standing.

Russia is weakened. The transatlantic alliance is stronger than ever," Harris said at the Munich Security Conference.

1513 GMT - EU 'can move mountains' to supply ammunition to Kiev

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has said she was confident the EU's joint interest in getting more ammunition to Ukraine will trump individual national interests when it comes to common European defence procurement programmes.

"As always in this atrocious war that Russia unleashed against Ukraine, we see that we can move mountains under pressure, and therefore here too," she said in an interview with media at the Munich Security Conference.

The bloc is urgently exploring ways for its member countries to team up to buy munitions to help Ukraine, following warnings from Kiev that its forces - which are firing up to 10,000 artillery shells daily - need more supplies quickly.

1320 GMT - UK's Sunak: It's time to double down on support for Ukraine

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called on world leaders to “double down” on support for Ukraine, saying additional arms and security guarantees are needed to protect the country and the rest of Europe from Russian aggression now and in the future. 

Sunak delivered the message in a speech to the Munich Security Conference, an annual meeting of heads of state, defence ministers and other world leaders.

Highlighting Britain’s recent commitment to provide battle tanks, advanced air defence systems and longer-range missiles to Ukraine, Sunak urged other nations to follow suit before Russia launches an expected spring offensive.

1251 GMT - Ukraine FM certain they will receive planes from allies

Ukraine's foreign minister has said he was certain that the country's allies would eventually supply fighter jets to help it fend off the Russian offensive.

"I will take a risk of saying that Ukraine will receive planes, it's a matter of time and procedure," Dmytro Kuleba told a news conference at the Munich Security Conference.

Kiev's allies have promised battle tanks, and talks are underway about securing longer-range missiles. But Ukraine's partners are hesitant about providing fighter jets.

1240 GMT - Russia claims village near key Ukrainian city 'liberated'

Russia has claimed to have taken control of a small village near the key city of Kupiansk in the northeastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv.

"The settlement of Gryanikovka... was completely liberated," the defence ministry said in a statement, referring to the Ukrainian village of Gryanykivka by its Russian name.

In September, Russian troops retreated from key cities in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, including the key rail hub of Kupiansk.

The Ukrainian army said earlier that Russian troops were "conducting offensive actions" in several cities including Kupiansk and the eastern city of Bakhmut, where the longest and bloodiest battle of the war has been taking place.

1242 GMT - WFP: Renewing Black Sea grain deal critical for Africa

Failure to renew a Türkiye and UN-brokered initiative that has enabled Ukraine to export grain from ports blockaded by Russia would be catastrophic as millions in Africa are on the cusp of famine, head of the UN food agency has warned.

"It's critical," World Food Programme (WFP) Director David Beasley told Reuters news agency in an interview on the sidelines of the Munich Security Forum.

"With all the crises we are facing around the world with climate change, droughts, flash floods, we can't afford the Black Sea Grain initiative to fall through at all," Beasley added.

1239 GMT - US accuses Russia of 'crimes against humanity' in Ukraine

US Vice President Kamala Harris has accused Russia of committing "crimes against humanity" in Ukraine, saying Moscow's forces had conducted "widespread and systemic" attacks on the country's civilian population.

"The US has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity," she said addressing the Munich Security Conference, marking the first time that the US has formally designated Russia's actions in Ukraine as crimes against humanity.

"Their actions are an assault on our common values and our common humanity. Russian forces have pursued a widespread and systemic attack against a civilian population," Harris added.

1138 GMT - China's top diplomat reiterates calls for dialogue over Ukraine crisis

China has "neither stood by idly nor thrown fuel on the fire" regarding the crisis in Ukraine, and continues to call for peace and dialogue, top diplomat Wang Yi said at the Munich Security Conference.

"I suggest that everybody starts to think calmly, especially friends in Europe, about what kind of efforts we can make to stop this war," said Wang, on Saturday, the director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

China will set out its position on settling the Ukraine crisis in a document that will state all countries' territorial integrity must be respected, Wang said.

1128 GMT - Blasts hit west Ukraine after Russia fires four missiles- officials

Two explosions were heard in a west Ukrainian city as the country faced a new Russian missile salvo, local government officials said, with several regions limiting electricity supply as a precaution for potential strikes on the grid.

Two explosions could be heard in the city of Khmelnytskyi, which lies 274 km west of Kiev, the regional governor said. 

Shortly after air raid alerts were issued nationwide on Saturday morning, authorities in several southern and eastern regions of Ukraine warned of possible precautionary power outages to limit damage to the grid in case of a strike.

1050 GMT - EU's von der Leyen urges allies to 'double down' for Ukraine

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen told a security forum that allies must "double down" on military support for Ukraine, as it fights back against Russian forces. 

"We have to double down and we have to continue the really massive support that is necessary (so) that these imperialistic plans of (President Vladimir) Putin will completely fail," she told the Munich Security Conference.

1045 GMT - Russia says it remains open to cooperation with Moldova -TASS 

Russia is unlikely to change its policy towards Moldova and remains open to developing constructive dialogue, the TASS news agency cited Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying. 

Moldova's parliament this week approved a pro-Western government led by new Prime Minister Dorin Recean after he pledged to revive the economy and chart a course towards the European Union.

Russia has rejected claims made by Moldova's president that Moscow is plotting to destabilise the situation in the former Soviet republic.

1033 GMT - Macron says France ready to sustain ‘longer conflict’ in Ukraine

President Emmanuel Macron said that France is ready to sustain "a longer conflict" in Ukraine.

Russia has become a "power of instability and disorder" whose projects in Ukraine must fail, the French president said during a speech at the Munich Security Conference.

"The hour of dialogue has not come yet" with Russia, he said, since Moscow decided to intensify the war.

0600 GMT - US claims Wagner Group suffered heavy casualties in Ukraine

The Russian mercenary company Wagner Group has suffered more than 30,000 casualties since Russia's offensive in Ukraine on February 24, with about 9,000 of those fighters killed in action, the White House said.

The United States estimates that 90 percent of Wagner group soldiers killed in Ukraine since December were convicts, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at a regular briefing.

Half of the overall deaths occurred since mid-December, as fighting in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut intensified, Kirby said, citing newly downgraded intelligence.

Kirby said mercenary group had made incremental gains in Bakhmut in and around Bakhmut over the last few days, but those had taken many months to achieve and came at a "devastating cost that is not sustainable."

For our live updates from Friday (February 17), click here