Live blog: European allies vow more support for Kiev at security meet

Friday, February 17, 2023 

European powers have vowed to intensify support for Ukraine as it battles to repel Russia, with France's president underlining at a major security conference that the time was not ripe for talks with Moscow.

Days ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia sending its forces into Ukraine, Moscow chalked up a small gain in its grinding offensive.

The head of Russian mercenary group Wagner claimed the capture of a village near Bakhmut -- the eastern city that is the scene of the longest and bloodiest battle of Moscow's offensive. 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted that lives were at stake as he opened the Munich Security Conference with an impassioned plea for allies to speed up support. 

Here are the other updates:

1930 GMT - Zelenskyy urges allies to hasten military support

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Western allies to quicken their military support for Ukraine, warning at a major international security conference that delays would play into Russia’s hand as the war approaches its first anniversary.

“There is no alternative to speed, because it’s speed that life depends on,” Zelenskyy told the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday.

About 40 heads of state and government, as well as politicians and security experts from almost 100 countries are due to attend the three-day gathering amid fears that the fighting in Ukraine could invite a new Cold War. 

1809 GMT – German chancellor warns of long war in Ukraine

Only days from the first anniversary of the conflict, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned of a long war in Ukraine.

“I think it is wise to be prepared for a long war and it is wise to give Putin the message that we are ready to stay all the time together with Ukraine and that we will constantly support the country,” Scholz said during a question-and-answer session with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.

The chancellor stressed it was “not really a good idea” to set a target date for ending the war.

“The really important decision we should take all together is saying that we are willing to do it as long as necessary and that we will do our best,” said Scholz.

1745 GMT – Wagner chief claims capture of village near Bakhmut

The head of Russia's mercenary group Wagner has claimed the capture of Paraskoviivka village, near Bakhmut, the eastern Ukraine city that's the scene of the longest-running battle of Moscow's offensive.

"The settlement of Paraskoviivka is completely under the control of Wagner PMC units. Despite the blockade of ammunition, despite heavy losses and bloody battles, the guys completely occupied the entire territory of Paraskoviivka," Yevgeny Prigozhin said, quoted by his press service.

Paraskoviivka is a hamlet on the northern outskirts of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region that Moscow seeks to fully control.

For several weeks, Russian forces have been posting painstaking incremental gains north of Bakhmut and said they had cut off three out of four Ukrainian supply routes to the city.

1741 GMT – Kiev slams French retailer Auchan over Russia operations

French supermarket chain Auchan has been accused of being a "weapon of Russian aggression" by Ukraine after media reports that its shops had been used to supply goods to the Russian army.

The revelations in Le Monde newspaper in France and investigative websites Bellingcat and The Insider cast a fresh spotlight on the Mulliez family which owns Auchan as well as DIY chain Leroy Merlin and sports retailer Decathlon.

Estimated to be France's eighth wealthiest, the family has resisted public pressure to stop trading in Russia despite the risks of being linked to the Kremlin's military offensive on Ukraine.

The reports said employees at Auchan in Russia had collected store goods worth 2 million rubles ($27,000), including woollen socks and gas bottles, which were sent to soldiers marked as humanitarian aid.

1508 GMT – EU to date froze $23B in Russian assets

Since the start of the Ukraine war nearly a year ago, the European Union has frozen €21.5 billion ($23 billion) worth Russian assets, EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders announced.

“We had the opportunity to freeze €21.5 billion of assets from oligarchs and entities on the sanctions list,” Reynders told a joint press conference with Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin on Friday before a meeting of the Freeze and Seize Task Force.

The first step was to block these assets and the second “is to start a process about confiscation when there is a criminal offense,” he said.

European Commission experts are now working on the legal background to seize the assets of those who committed crimes, Reynders added, stressing: “We want to bring to justice all the perpetrators of all types of crimes.”

1340 GMT – NATO won’t allow Russia to win Ukraine war: Alliance chief

NATO will not allow Russia to win the war in Ukraine because that "would be a tragedy," Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said.

Talking to reporters on his way to the Munich Security Conference, Stoltenberg reiterated NATO’s support for Ukraine “for as long as it takes,” and stressed that the war highlighted the importance of the military cooperation between the US and Europe.

“We will not allow President (Vladimir) Putin to win this war. It would be a tragedy for Ukraine, but also very dangerous for us,” he said.

Stoltenberg explained that NATO “follows closely” the increased military cooperation between Russia and China as “they exercise together, they have naval patrols, air patrols together.”

1240 GMT – Putin warns of efforts to ‘hinder’ Gazprom’s work

President Vladimir Putin has lashed out against "direct attempts" to hinder work of Russian gas giant Gazprom, at the centre of deteriorating ties between Moscow and Europe over the Ukraine conflict.

European countries were heavily reliant on the company for natural gas supplies but have since raced for other sources after Russia dispatched troops to Ukraine.

Speaking during an event, on Friday, celebrating the company's 30-year anniversary, Putin commended its "efficiency and sustainability". 

"Despite - frankly speaking - unfair competition and direct attempts from the outside to hinder and restrain its development, Gazprom is moving forward and launching new projects," Putin told a group of Gazprom employees via video link.

1055 GMT – Russia accuses United States of inciting Ukraine to escalate the war

Russia has accused the United States of inciting Ukraine to escalate the war by condoning attacks in the occupied Crimean Peninsula, warning that Washington was now directly involved in the conflict because "crazy people" had dreams of defeating Russia.

Moscow was responding to comments by US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland who said the United States considers that Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, should be demilitarised at a minimum and that Washington supports Ukrainian attacks on military targets on the peninsula.

"Now the American warmongers have gone even further: They incite the Kiev regime to further escalate the war," Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, told reporters when asked about Nuland's remarks.

1205 GMT – Leaders focus on Ukraine war at Munich Security Conference

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy planned to give the opening address on Friday at a major annual conference on international security policy, where Russia’s attack on Ukraine was expected to dominate the event after almost a year of war that has produced worldwide repercussions.

About 40 heads of state and government, as well as politicians and security experts from almost 100 countries, including the United States, Europe and China, were expected to attend the three-day Munich Security Conference in Germany. Zelenskyy is participating by video link.

For the first time in two decades, conference organisers did not invite Russian officials. Western countries have sought to isolate Russia diplomatically over its offensive in Ukraine that began on February 24 2022.

1035 GMT — Ukraine says no contracts on fighter jets deliveries so far

Kiev has not yet signed any agreements on the supply of fighter jets, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

"So far, no country has committed itself to the supply of fighter jets," Kuleba said in an interview with German media group Funke.

He said Kiev is most interested in aircraft from the US, UK, France, and Germany since these states have the largest production capacity and fleet.

0912 GMT —Talks on extending Black Sea grain deal to start in a week – Ukraine

Negotiations will start in a week on extending a Türkiye-brokered initiative that has enabled Ukraine to export grain from ports blockaded by Russia after its attack, a senior Ukrainian official said.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative brokered by Türkiye last July allowed grain to be exported from three Ukrainian ports.

The agreement was extended by a further 120 days in November and is up for renewal again in March.

0821 GMT — US diplomat says Ukrainian strikes on military targets in Crimea are legitimate 

The United States considers that Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, should be demilitarised at a minimum and Washington supports Ukrainian attacks on military targets on the peninsula, Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said.

Crimea, which includes the port of Sevastopol where Russia's Black Sea Fleet is based, is seen by Western and Russian diplomats as the biggest flashpoint of the Ukraine war.

"No matter what the Ukrainians decide about Crimea in terms of where they choose to fight etcetera, Ukraine is not going to be safe unless Crimea is at a minimum, at a minimum, demilitarised," Nuland told the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.

0001 GMT — Munich hosts world's largest global security conference 

Leading politicians, military officers and diplomats from around the world will gather in Munich to survey a European security landscape transformed by Russia's offensive in Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and US Vice President Kamala Harris are among many top officials attending the Munich Security Conference on Friday, a major annual global gathering focused on defence and diplomacy.

Senior Ukrainian officials are also expected to address the conference, which runs until Sunday at the luxury Bayerischer Hof hotel in the southern German city.

Ukraine probes 'Russian killing' of civilians in Bakhmut

Russian Grad rockets and barrel artillery slammed into a residential district in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, killing three men and two women and wounding nine more, Ukraine's prosecutor general alleged, adding it was being investigated as a war crime.

"Five dead and nine wounded due to shelling of Bakhmut by the invaders," read a caption under blurred images of the victims shared on Telegram by the office of the prosecutor general. "Criminal proceedings have been initiated."

An investigation had determined that Russia fired barrel artillery and Grad rockets at Bakhmut on February 16, the office said. "The occupiers' shells once again hit the city's residential quarter."

There was no immediate word from Moscow on the allegation that civilians were killed.

For our live updates from Thursday (February 16), click here