Live blog: More donor support will help end Russian war sooner - Zelenskyy

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Zelenskyy says increased donor support will help end Russian war sooner

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that increased financial support from international donors will help end Russia's devastating war in Ukraine more quickly, citing the need for $38 billion to close next year's estimated budget deficit.

"The more assistance Ukraine gets now, the sooner we'll come to an end to the Russian war, and the sooner and more reliably we will guarantee that such a cruel war will not spread into other countries," Zelenskyy said in Wednesday during a virtual address to a high-level forum during International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Washington.

Putin must 'return to the table' for Ukraine talks: Macron

Russian President Vladimir Putin must "return to the table" to discuss making peace in Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron has said.

"Today, first of all, Vladimir Putin must stop this war, respect Ukraine's territorial integrity and come back to the table for talks," Macron told broadcaster France 2, saying he aimed to avoid a "global war".

Russian nuclear strike likely to provoke 'physical response,' NATO official says

A Russian nuclear strike would change the course of the conflict and almost certainly provoke a "physical response" from Ukraine's allies and potentially from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a senior NATO official said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity on Wednesday, he said a nuclear strike by Moscow would "almost certainly be drawing a physical response from many allies, and potentially from NATO itself".

Any use of nuclear weapons by Moscow would have "unprecedented consequences" for Russia, the official said on the eve of a closed-door meeting of NATO's nuclear planning group on Thursday.

Western allies vow to get air defence to Ukraine 'as fast as can'

International backers of Ukraine vowed to deliver new air defences "as fast as we can", as Kiev pressed them to bolster protection against Russia's missile blitz.

A US-led group of some 50 countries held talks at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday with the focus on air defences after Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed a barrage across Ukraine following a blast at a bridge to the annexed Crimea peninsula.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said just three words when asked what he hoped for from the meeting: "Air defence systems." 

Putin says 'ball in EU court' on restarting Nord Stream deliveries

Putin has said his country was a reliable energy supplier and blamed the West for disruptions on the market at an energy forum in Moscow.

After the Nord Stream pipelines connecting Russia to Europe were damaged by explosions, Putin said on Wednesday "the ball was in the EU's court" to resume deliveries.

"If they want to, then the taps can be turned on and that's it," Putin said.

Putin calls oil price cap 'threat to billions of people'

Putin called an oil price cap discussed by European leaders "a threat to the well-being of billions of people", after saying Russia will not sell to countries implementing it.

"With their cavalier decisions, some Western politicians are destroying the global market economy and are in fact posing a threat to the well-being of billions of people," Putin told an energy forum in Moscow on Wednesday.

Russian strike kills seven at market in east Ukraine: governor

Russian strikes killed seven people and wounded another eight at a market in the east Ukraine city of Avdiivka near the frontline, said a regional governor.

"At least seven dead and eight wounded as a result of the shelling this morning on Avdiivka. The Russians struck the central market, where many people were at that time," the Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko wrote on the Telegram social media platform on Wednesday.

Dutch to give Ukraine 15M euros worth of air defence missiles -statement

The Netherlands will deliver 15 million euros worth of air defence missiles to Ukraine, the government said in a letter to parliament, in reaction to Russian air raids on Ukraine earlier this week.

"These attacks ... can only be met with unrelenting support for Ukraine and its people," wrote Defense Minister Kasja Ollongren on Wednesday. 

Russia-Germany oil pipeline partly shut after leak

The Druzhba oil pipeline linking Russia and Germany has been partly shut after a leak was discovered in Poland, the Polish operator PERN said.

"The cause of the incident is not known for the moment. Pumping in the affected line was immediately stopped. Line 2 of the pipeline is functioning normally," the operator said on Wednesday.

The German government said oil deliveries were continuing to two key refineries despite the leak.

Air defence for Ukraine 'top priority' - NATO chief

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has said that Ukraine's Western backers were looking to provide Kiev with more air defences to protect against Russia's "indiscriminate" missile attacks across the country.

"We will address how to ramp up support for Ukraine and the top priority will be more air defence for Ukraine," Stoltenberg said at the start of a meeting by Ukraine's allies on arms supplies to Kiev.

Ukraine says recaptured five settlements in Kherson region

Ukraine said it had retaken five more settlements in the southern region of Kherson as Kiev continues its counteroffensive despite mass Russian missile strikes that hit the country in the past days.

"Ukrainian armed forces have liberated five more settlements in Beryslav district (of Kherson region): Novovasylivka, Novogrygorivka, Nova Kamyanka, Tryfonivka, Chervone," the presidency said in its daily report.

"The enemy continues shelling the positions of our units to deter the counteroffensive along the entire contact line," the presidency said.

Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant lost all external power for 2nd time - IAEA chief

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has lost all of its external power for the second time in five days, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said, decrying the “worrying” news at Europe’s largest nuclear plant.

“This repeated loss of #ZNPP’s off-site power is a deeply worrying development and it underlines the urgent need for a nuclear safety & security protection zone around the site,” Rafael Grossi said on Twitter.

Its backup diesel generators are now providing electricity for its nuclear safety and security functions, he added – both vital for preventing possible accidents at the plant, which is now surrounded by Russia troops.

Russia says eight suspects detained over Crimea bridge blast

Russia has detained eight suspects over the deadly explosion of the bridge linking annexed Crimea to Russia, the FSB security service said in a statement quoted by news agencies.

The suspects include five Russians and "three Ukrainian and Armenian citizens", it said, without providing more details.

"The explosives were hidden in 22 plastic film rolls weighing 22,770 kilograms (50,200 pounds)," it said. 

Ukraine asks France to prove its love with weapons

Ukraine's defence ministry posted a video on social media aimed at giving France a gentle nudge to show its love through weapons' supplies after repeated criticism that Paris has not been doing enough.

The 41-second clip on twitter comes hours after a French security cabinet meeting held by President Emmanuel Macron decided that France had taken new decisions to "support Ukraine militarily" after speaking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

France has delivered Caesar howitzers, portable air defence systems and heavy armoured vehicles primarily.

Explosions heard in Russia-held Kherson, Melitopol

Five blasts were heard in the city of Kherson early morning, Russian media reported, adding that according to unofficial information air defence systems were launched.

Kherson, the administrative centre of the broader Kherson region, was one of the first cities to fall to Russian forces after they launched their offensive in Ukraine in February.

Ivan Fedorov, the exiled mayor of Russian-controlled Melitopol in the south of the Zaporizhzhia region, said on the Telegram messaging app that there was a powerful explosion in the city.

Russian troops running out of weapons in Ukraine: British spy chief

Russian troops in Ukraine are running out of weapons and the Russian people now realise that the offensive in Ukraine was a badly judged move, the head of Britain’s cyber intelligence unit GCHQ said.

“We know, and Russian commanders on the ground know, that their supplies and munitions are running out,” Sir Jeremy Fleming said in a speech at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think-tank in London.

“Russia’s forces are exhausted. The use of prisoners to reinforce, and now the mobilisation of tens of thousands of inexperienced conscripts, speaks of a desperate situation,” he said.

Biden on prospect of meeting Putin at G20 'would depend'

US President Joe Biden has said he "does not think" Russia will use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, in an interview with US broadcaster CNN.

Biden left the door open to diplomacy with Moscow to end the assault on Ukraine, refusing to rule out talks with President Vladimir Putin at the meeting of G20 nations in Bali in November.

"Look, I have no intention of meeting with him," Biden told CNN in a rare televised interview. "But for example, if he came to me at the G20 and said I want to talk about the release of (detained basketball star) Brittney Griner, I'd meet with him. I mean, it would depend."

Biden: Putin thought Ukraine will welcome his troops 'with open arms'

Biden has said that Putin "totally miscalculated" when he chose to begin his onslaught against Ukraine.

"I think he [Putin] is a rational actor who has miscalculated significantly," he said.

"I think he thought he was going to be welcomed with open arms, that this was the home of Mother Russia in Kiev, and that where he was going to be welcomed, and I think he just totally miscalculated."

US calls on allies to speed aid to Ukraine

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has called on American allies to accelerate financial disbursements to Ukraine as she received her Ukrainian counterpart, Sergii Marchenko.

Yellen said speedier and greater aid would help Ukraine, which is fighting off a Russian onslaught, maintain essential government services and "begin to build and recover."

Yellen stressed that the United States will begin "to provide the Ukrainian government in the coming weeks with the $4.5 billion in budget assistance passed by Congress on September 30" -- part of a larger $12.3 billion aid package to Ukraine, contained in a stopgap spending bill to avert a shutdown of federal services.

For live updates from Tuesday (October 11), click here