Live blog: EU ministers back more Ukraine aid, but differ on other spending

Friday, July 14, 2023

European Union finance ministers unanimously backed extra funds for Ukraine through a top-up of its long-term budget, although differences persisted over other spending that threaten to delay or block proposed aid to Kiev.

Spanish Finance Minister Nadia Calvino told a news conference that EU finance ministers meeting had backed continued financial support for Ukraine.

"The Spanish presidency is committed to proceed swiftly to have a stable framework in place by January 2024," she said.

Calvino added that more technical work would be needed to support Ukraine, whose economy has been damaged by Russian attacks.

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1540 GMT — Accused Russian intelligence officer extradited to US from Estonia

An alleged Russian intelligence officer accused by the United States of smuggling US-origin electronics and ammunition to Russia to help its war against Ukraine was extradited from Estonia, federal prosecutors said.

Vadim Konoschenok is expected to make an initial appearance in federal court in Brooklyn on Friday. Prosecutors are requesting he be detained pending trial, calling him a flight risk.

Konoschenok, 48, was detained by Estonian authorities in October 2022 while trying to cross into Russia carrying 35 types of semiconductors and electronic components, some of which were subject to US export controls, prosecutors said.

1455 GMT — Wagner fighters training territorial defence forces in Belarus: ministry

Minsk said that members of the Russian mercenary force Wagner were acting as military instructors for Belarusian territorial defence forces, three weeks after the group's aborted mutiny in Russia.

"Near Asipovichy, units of territorial defence troops are undergoing training," the Belarusian defence ministry said.

The ministry said the forces were learning skills including tactical shooting, moving on the battlefield, engineering and tactical medicine.

"Fighters of the Wagner private military company are acting as instructors in a number of military disciplines, " the ministry said.

1445 GMT — Ukraine concedes troops advancing 'not so quickly'

Ukraine acknowledged that its troops were not making speedy headway in their counteroffensive to recapture territory in the east and south of the country from Russian forces.

"Today it's advancing not so quickly," the head of the presidency Andriy Yermak told reporters, conceding that battles were difficult and saying: "If we are going to see that something is going wrong, we'll say so. No one is going to embellish".

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has declared that he is in agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin that the Ankara-brokered deal allowing the Black Sea export of Ukraine grain should be extended.

Speaking to reporters, Erdogan said that the deal will hopefully be extended from its current July 17 deadline as results of the efforts by the United Nations and Türkiye.

The European Commission is helping the United Nations and Türkiye try to extend the grain deal and is open to "explore all solutions", a European Union spokesperson said.

1221 GMT — Russia's Lavrov 'aggressively' rejected call for troop withdrawal from Ukraine - EU's Borrell

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov responded aggressively to a request during the ASEAN Regional Forum to withdraw troops from Ukraine, calling it part of a Western conspiracy, the European Union foreign policy chief said on Friday.

Josep Borrell was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the forum in Jakarta.

1122 GMT — Ukraine jails man tasked by Russia with blowing up arms transport routes

A Ukrainian court has jailed a man for 10 years after finding him guilty of plotting with Russia to blow up transport infrastructure to disrupt foreign arms supplies, Ukraine's domestic security agency said

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) did not identify the man but said he had fought with Russia-backed militant groups in eastern Ukraine before and since the start of Moscow's military offensive against Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

The SBU said in a statement that it had detained the man in February before he had been able to carry out his mission.

After fighting against Ukrainian forces in southern Ukraine, he was tasked by Russian military intelligence with blowing up two infrastructure objects, it said.

It did not identify the intended targets but said they were in the Rivne region in western Ukraine, where there are several important road and railway links with Poland.

0957 GMT — Ukrainian drone aiming at Russian nuclear power plant shot down

A Ukrainian drone attempting an attack on a Russian nuclear power plant in the Kursk region was shot down, the region’s governor said.

The drone was blown up just several kilometers off the plant, near a residential building in the town of Kurchatov, built to accommodate the personnel working at the nuclear facility, Kursk Governor Roman Starovoit said in a statement on Telegram.

The explosion did not cause casualties but damaged the building, he noted.

In a separate statement, the governor of the Voronezh region, Aleksandr Gusev, said three Ukrainian drones were shot down by the air defense systems last night.

0805 GMT — Ukraine is exempted from EU's fiscal discipline: Germany

Eurozone countries need to reduce their spending after years of massive spending in response to the pandemic and the energy crisis, but an exception needs to be made to support Ukraine, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner has said.

"Ukraine can count on us in terms of financing," Lindner said in Brussels before the meeting of finance ministers.

0713 GMT — Ukraine's air force has said it had downed 16 Iranian-made drones launched by Russian forces overnight, in the fourth consecutive night of aerial attacks by Moscow.

"The Russians attacked Ukraine with 17 Iranian-made Shahed-136/131 attack drones from the southeast direction. As a result of military operations... 16 Shaheds were destroyed," the air force said in a statement online.

0340 GMT — Wagner not a key player in Ukraine says Pentagon

Wagner mercenaries are no longer participating in "any significant capacity" in combat operations in Ukraine, the Pentagon said on Thursday, more than two weeks after the group's aborted mutiny in Russia.

"At this stage, we do not see Wagner forces participating in any significant capacity in support of combat operations in Ukraine," Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder told a news briefing.

The armed group, which played a key role in the Ukraine offensive, sought to topple Russia's military leadership during the brief rebellion, before backing down.

The whereabouts of its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin are largely unknown in the wake of an agreement with the Kremlin that allowed for him to be exiled to neighbouring Belarus.

2123 GMT — Putin says he offered Wagner fighters chance to keep serving

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he had offered mercenary fighters with the Wagner group the opportunity to remain serving together in Russia after their revolt.

Putin, interviewed by the Russian daily Kommersant, said this was one of several offers he made at a meeting with around three dozen fighters and their founder Yevgeny Prigozhin late last month, five days after Wagner staged the abortive revolt against Russia's military hierarchy.

Under the offer, the fighters would stay under their current commander, who the newspaper identified only by his call sign of "Grey Hair." Putin also said it was up to Russia's government and parliament to work out a legal framework for private military formations.

Kommersant said Putin spoke of meeting 35 Wagner fighters and Prigozhin in the Kremlin and offering them options for the future, including remaining under their commander for 16 months.

"Many of them nodded when I said this," Kommersant quoted Putin as saying. But, Prigozhin disagreed, it reported.

"Prigozhin ... said after listening: 'No, the boys won't agree with such a decision," Kommersant quoted Putin as saying.

For our live updates from Thursday (July 13), click here.