Live blog: Switzerland to host Ukraine peace summit at Zelenskyy's request

Monday, January 15, 2024

1814 GMT –– Switzerland agreed to host a global peace summit on Ukraine at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Neutral Switzerland has previously acted as a broker to resolve conflicts and could now help find a resolution for the war that began when Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February

24, 2022.

"At the request of the Ukrainian president, Switzerland has agreed to host a summit on the peace formula," the Swiss government said. "Further details are now being worked out."

Speaking alongside his Swiss counterpart Viola Amherd at a press conference in Bern, Zelenskyy did not provide an extensive list of the participants of the planned peace summit but hinted about who he wanted to attend.

"We would like the Global South to be present ... it is important for us to show that the whole world is against Russia's aggression, and the whole world is for a just peace."

Neither Zelenskyy nor Amherd provided any details on when or where in Switzerland the summit might take place. They said their teams would begin organising it starting on Tuesday.

Zelenskyy was in Switzerland where he was due to meet other world leader s at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Among the dignitaries he could meet would be Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who is also in Davos this week.

Ukraine said on Sunday that it was vital that Beijing was involved in talks to end the conflict.

Zelenskiy said on Monday China, one of Russia's key allies, played "a big role" in the world, and he wanted Beijing to take part.

"We would very much like China to be involved in our (peace) formula, as well as in the summit," he said. "But not everything depends on our wishes."

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1601 GMT –– Russian air strikes focus on Ukrainian military industry for now: Kiev

Russia has focused its recent air attacks on the Ukrainian military-industrial complex although the threat to energy facilities remains high, a senior military spy official was quoted as saying by the RBC-Ukraine news site.

Ukrainian officials have warned for months that Russia may target its energy system with missile and drone strikes for a second winter. Last year air strikes heavily damaged power facilities, causing blackouts for millions.

Asked about a spate of major Russian air strikes since December 29, Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of Ukraine's military spy agency, said the same trend had not repeated so far and listed various targets Russia had aimed at.

"These are primarily objects of our military-industrial complex, headquarters, control systems and separate units that are located on the front line," he was quoted as saying.

Skibitsky said the weapons used for the strikes were far from accurate, resulting in civilian suffering.

1524 GMT –– Ukraine says hit two Russian command aircraft

Ukraine said it had downed one Russian military jet over the Azov Sea and seriously damaged a bomber.

The Azov Sea lies between Russia and Ukraine. Moscow controls its entire coast after seizing large swathes of southern Ukraine during its invasion and the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

Kyiv initially said it had downed both an A-50 Russian reconnaissance plane and an Il-22 bomber, but later said the latter made it back to base seriously damaged.

The A-50 is a Russian reconnaissance plane, equivalent to the AWACS (Airborne warning and control system) plane, used by NATO.

Moscow did not comment on the claims.

1448 GMT –– Romanian farmers, truck drivers protest near border with Ukraine

Hundreds of Romanian farmers and truck drivers protested near border crossings with Ukraine and near large cities across the country amid ongoing negotiations with the government over high business costs.

The demonstrations were mainly against the high cost of diesel, expensive insurance rates, European Union measures to protect the environment and pressures on the domestic market from imported Ukrainian agricultural goods.

Convoys of tractors and trucks began gathering six days ago on national roads, mainly near large cities in the EU and NATO states, slowing or blocking traffic.

The protesters' demands include a moratorium on loan repayments, faster subsidy payments and separate lines at border crossings and the Black Sea port of Constanta for EU lorries and trucks from outside the bloc, including Ukraine.

1322 GMT –– EU's eastern members demand import duties on Ukraine grains

The European Union's eastern states are demanding the EU impose import duties on Ukraine grains, citing unfair competition, Hungary's agricultural ministry said.

The ministry said the farm ministers from Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia had sent a letter to the European Commission requesting the measures, saying cheaper agricultural products from Ukraine are eating into their export markets.

The five signatories are among six EU member states that produce significantly more wheat and maize than they need, which is key for European food safety and the EU's strategic sovereignty, the ministers said.

"This is why Brussels needs to introduce measures that protect the markets of member states bordering Ukraine while helping them make use of their full export potential," the letter signed by the ministers including Hungary's Farm Minister Istvan Nagy, said. "One of these could be introducing import duties on the most sensitive agricultural products."

1318 GMT –– Putin, Modi discuss Ukraine, wish each other well in elections: Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, discussing Ukraine and wishing each other well in upcoming elections, the Kremlin said.

The two leaders "expressed interest in further intensifying mutually beneficial bilateral ties" and touched upon "the situation in Ukraine", according to a statement posted on the Kremlin's website.

They also wished each other success in upcoming parliamentary elections in India and a presidential poll in Russia, it said.

India has maintained its traditionally friendly ties with Russia since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, even as it has remained close to Western countries including the US, while occasionally criticising Moscow's military campaign.

1100 GMT –– US to discuss with allies use of new sanctions against Russia

US Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo will travel to Europe and Japan this month, where he will coordinate with partners on the use of a new Russia sanctions authority that takes aim at financial institutions, a Treasury spokesperson told Reuters news agency.

Adeyemo will travel to Rome, Berlin, Frankfurt and Tokyo from January 16-23, where he will meet with G7 partners as well as key private sector representatives, including financial institutions, academics and other industry leaders, to discuss the executive order, the spokesperson said.

"The Deputy Secretary will coordinate with key G7 partners in Italy, Germany, and Japan on using this new tool to crack down on Russian attempts to evade sanctions and obtain critical goods for its military from G7 economies," the spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.

The order also gave Washington the ability to broaden import bans of certain Russian goods, such as seafood and diamonds.

Adeyemo's trip to Europe and Japan comes ahead of the two-year anniversary of Russia's February 2022 invasion, which has killed or wounded tens of thousands and reduced cities to rubble.

0944 GMT –– Russia to build on Putin-Kim agreements as DPRK minister visits Moscow

The Kremlin said Russia was developing relations with "our partner" North Korea in all areas and would build on agreements reached between their leaders when they met at a Russian space launch centre last year.

In September, President Vladimir Putin welcomed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to the Vostochny space launch facility in Russia's far east and promised to help North Korea build satellites.

"North Korea is our closest neighbour and partner, with whom we are developing and intend to further develop partnerships in all areas," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said as North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui began a visit to Moscow.

"The visit is a development of the agreements that were reached at the Vostochny cosmodrome when Kim visited it, and based on the results of the negotiations that he had with Putin. Dialogue at all levels will continue...We look forward to intense and fruitful negotiations."

0912 GMT –– Kremlin says Davos talks on Ukraine will achieve nothing

The Kremlin said that talks in Davos on Ukraine's peace proposal would achieve nothing as Russia was not participating in the discussions.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that without Russia's participation there could be no result from the discussions.

0734 GMT — UN appeals for $4.2B to address Ukraine's humanitarian crisis

The United Nations has said it needs $4.2 billion to provide humanitarian aid in Ukraine in 2024 and to help millions of refugees who have fled the war-torn country.

"A recent wave of attacks underscores the devastating civilian cost of the war, while a bitter winter is ratcheting up the urgent need for life-saving humanitarian aid," the UN said on Monday.

The UN hopes to reach 8.5 million people within Ukraine and 2.3 million refugees and their host communities in Eastern Europe.

"Hundreds of thousands of children live in communities on the front lines of the war, terrified, traumatised and deprived of their basic needs," UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said in a statement.

"That fact alone should compel us to do everything we can to bring more humanitarian assistance to Ukraine."

0915 GMT — Russia says sentenced more than 200 Ukrainian POWs

Russia has sentenced more than 200 Ukrainian prisoners of war to lengthy sentences, with some getting life in prison, almost two years into the Kremlin's offensive.

"More than 200 Ukrainian military personnel have been sentenced to long prison sentences for committing murder of civilians and mistreating prisoners (of war)," Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia's Investigative Committee, said in an interview to state news outlet RIA Novosti.

He vowed Moscow will "continue" its efforts to prosecute Ukrainian military staff, including "high-level officials."

Russia holds an unknown number — believed to be in the thousands — of Ukrainian captive soldiers, many of whom were taken during the siege of the port city of Mariupol in 2022.

0836 GMT — Zelenskyy says Ukraine’s initiatives being acknowledged globally

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his country’s initiatives on peace, particularly the 10-point formula he proposed at the G-20 summit in Indonesia last year, are gradually becoming initiatives on a global scale.

“The rulers of Russia think that with violence and terror, with their lies and cruelty, they can impose some other, predatory world order – a world order without rules, without any security guarantees.
It is precisely their confidence … that we are now collectively reducing … Ukrainian initiatives are gradually becoming global initiatives,” Zelenskyy said in an evening address on Sunday.

0833 GMT — Russia jails student for planning attacks on army

Russia has handed a five-year sentence to a 20-year-old student in the centre of the country for allegedly working with Ukrainian special services and planning sabotage attacks on military bases, local authorities announced Monday.

The branch of the FSB security services in the central Russian city of Kurgan said the man had earlier been detained on suspicion of working with a foreign state.

"The defendant planned to commit sabotage at military and social infrastructure facilities," the statement distributed to Russian news agencies said, announcing the five-year sentence.

The FSB also claimed the student, whom it did not identify, had planned to distribute pro-Ukrainian propaganda online and hand over details of troop and law enforcement activity in the region.

Russia criminalised criticism of its military after launching large-scale hostilities in Ukraine and has detained or fined thousands for speaking out against the fighting.

0654 GMT — Gazprom to ship 40.5 mcm of gas to Europe via Ukraine

Russia's Gazprom will ship 40.5 million cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Monday, a volume broadly in line with recent days.

0454 GMT — Ukraine launches missile attack on Russia's Kursk -Russia's defence ministry

Russian air defence systems have destroyed three Ukraine-launched Tochka-U missiles over southwest Russia's Kursk region, the Russian defence ministry said on its Telegram messaging app.

The ministry did not say whether there was any damage or injuries due to the attack. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine about the attack.

The Tochka-U missile, which carries the NATO reporting name Scarab B, is a short-range tactical ballistic missile.

For our live updates from Sunday, January 14, click here.