Live blog: Ukraine NATO membership would worsen global tensions — Putin

Thursday, July 13, 2023

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that if Ukraine were to be admitted to NATO, it would make the world more vulnerable after the bloc vowed closer integration with Kiev at its summit this week.

"I am sure that this will not increase the security of Ukraine itself, and in general will make the world much more vulnerable and lead to additional tension in the international arena," Putin said.

Preventing Kiev from joining the alliance was one reason President Vladimir Putin gave for launching the military operation in Ukraine.

Putin spoke to journalists a day after a summit in Lithuania in which NATO pledged its backing for Kiev but failed to offer it a timeline for membership.

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1730 GMT — EU bank unveils new fund worth nearly $447M to help rebuild Ukraine

The European Union's lending arm has unveiled a new fund worth $447 million (400 million euros) to spend on rebuilding Ukraine before the bloc's longer-term reconstruction plan kicks in.

Sixteen of the EU's 27 countries said they would chip in to the European Investment Bank's (EIB) Ukraine Trust Fund, which will provide grants and loans, as well as offering guarantees to Ukrainian banks and businesses.

France and Italy led with contributions worth 100 million euros each to the fund, which a deputy head of the EIB said could go towards repairing large infrastructure, providing financing to small and medium enterprises or public services.

"As the EU, we are financing the resilience of Ukraine," said EIB Vice-President Teresa Czerwinska. "We provide financing to build the resilience of the society and the economy."

1630 GMT — Putin has 'already lost' Ukraine war: Biden

US President Joe Biden has said that Putin already lost the war in Ukraine, expressing hope that Kiev's counter-offensive would force Moscow to the negotiating table.

"Putin's already lost the war. Putin has a real problem," Biden told a press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto. "There is no possibility of him winning the war in Ukraine."

Biden also used a visit to Finland, NATO's newest member, to pledge that Ukraine would one day join the alliance, despite NATO leaders failing to give Kiev a timeline at a key summit this week.

1600 GMT — Ukraine won military aid pledges worth over $1.68B euros this week: minister

Ukraine's foreign partners have pledged over $1.68 billion (1.5 billion euros) in military aid for Kiev while attending a NATO summit this week, Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said.

"Meetings in Vilnius were very productive," Reznikov wrote on Twitter following the summit on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Lithuanian capital.

"Ukraine will receive over €1.5 billion in military aid from its international partners," he said. "Stay tuned."

1515 GMT — Russia says Lavrov discussed Ukraine crisis with China's Wang

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed Ukraine with China's top diplomat Wang Yi on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting in Indonesia, Lavrov's ministry has said.

"An exchange of views took place on the current situation around the Ukrainian crisis. Attention was paid to assessing the efforts of the international community to launch a peaceful negotiation process on Ukraine," it said in a statement.

1328 GMT — Ukraine receives cluster munitions: military spokesperson

Ukraine has received cluster munitions, a military spokesperson said, less than a week after the United States announced it would transfer such munitions to Ukrainian forces.

Valeryi Shershen, a spokesperson for the Tavria military command in southern Ukraine, confirmed a CNN report citing the commander of the Tavria forces as saying Ukraine had just received cluster munitions but had not used them yet.

Cluster munitions are "in the hands of our defence forces," Shershen told Ukrainian television but giving few details.

0412 GMT — Russia fires general who gave reality check to top brass

Major General Ivan Popov, who commanded the 58th Combined Arms Army, said in a voice message published by Russian lawmaker Andrei Gurulyov that he had been dismissed after "telling the truth" to the top brass about the situation at the front.

"The Ukrainian army could not break through our ranks at the front but our senior chief hit us from the rear, viciously beheading the army at the most difficult and intense moment," Popov said.

Popov, who commanded Russian units in southern Ukraine, explicitly raised the deaths of Russian soldiers from Ukrainian artillery and said the army lacked proper counter-artillery systems and reconnaissance of enemy artillery.

Lawmaker Gurulyov is a hardline former army commander who regularly appears on state television.

0708 GMT — Russia says F-16 jets in Ukraine will be seen as 'nuclear' threat

Russia will regard Western F-16 fighter jets sent to Ukraine as a "nuclear" threat because of their capacity to carry atomic weapons, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

"We will regard the very fact that the Ukrainian armed forces have such systems as a threat from the West in the nuclear sphere," Lavrov was quoted as saying by the Russian foreign ministry.

0538 GMT — Ukraine says it downed Russian drones, cruise missiles

Ukraine has said it had downed 20 Russian attack drones and two cruise missiles in an overnight attack that killed one and wounded at least four in the capital Kiev.

"We have a successful air defence operation," air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat told national television.

"Twenty Shaheds were destroyed — all those flying were downed."

The 20 Iran-made Shahed attack drones were destroyed "mainly in the Kiev region", Ukraine's air force said in a separate statement on Telegram.

The drones had "entered the capital from different directions", Kiev's military administration said on Telegram earlier, adding air defences had destroyed "about a dozen" in the city's airspace.

Falling debris was reported in five city districts, it said, adding that a 19-year-old woman and a 23-year-old man had been hospitalised with shrapnel wounds.

Two people were wounded in Darnytsky district "as a result of falling debris", Sergiy Popko, head of Kiev's military administration, wrote on Telegram.

It was unclear if they were the same two people.

0203 GMT — NATO-Ukraine Council will lose its existence: Russian official

Dmitry Medvedev, the Deputy Secretary of Russia’s powerful Security Council, predicted that the newly created NATO-Ukraine Council will cease to exist because one of the parties will disappear.

"The NATO-Ukraine Council has been created. By way of reminder, in 2002, the NATO-Russia Council was established. How it all ended is well known. Now the Alliance and our country are on [or rather, beyond] the brink of war. This time, it’s going to end differently. The Council will cease to exist because one of the parties will disappear," Medvedev wrote on Twitter.

The NATO-Russia Council was established on May 28, 2002, at the NATO-Russia Summit in Rome.

At the time of the conclusion of the agreement, its participants believed that they were putting an end to the Cold War.

The last meeting of the NATO-Russia Council was held on January 12, 2022, in Brussels. Russia sought security guarantees from NATO, but the alliance rejected the request.

0201 GMT — Australia says 'complicated' to supply Ukraine with fighter jets

Australia's defence minister has cast doubt over a proposal to bolster Ukraine's military with retired fighter jets, saying Kiev's request for extra air power posed a "complicated question".

Australia ramped up its support for Ukraine on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Lithuania overnight, pledging to send an additional fleet of 30 armoured Bushmaster infantry vehicles at a cost of $67 million.

But Kiev has also asked Australia about the condition of dozens of retired F-18 fighter jets, which could provide a major boost against the might of the Russian air force.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said conversations about providing aircraft were "ongoing", but were much more difficult than other forms of military support.

"Aircraft become a much more complicated question," he told national broadcaster ABC.

"The situation around aircraft is pretty complicated, but we will keep having the conversation with Ukraine around that.

"What we give, and what we do, needs to be practical and needs to make a difference."

0020 GMT — One dead, four wounded in overnight strike on Kiev

Air strikes on Kiev has killed one person and wounded at least four others, authorities said, with explosions heard across the Ukrainian capital in the third night of attacks.

Emergency services were responding to calls in Solomyansky, Shevchenkivsky, Podilsky and Darnytsky districts following "explosions in the capital," Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

"In Podilsky district, during the firefighting in an apartment building, a body of one dead person was discovered," Klitschko posted on Telegram.

Two people were wounded in Darnytsky district "as a result of falling debris," Sergiy Popko, the head of Kiev's military administration, wrote on Telegram.

Klitschko said two people had been "hospitalised" in Darnytsky district after falling debris damaged a residential building.

It was unclear if they were the same two people.

Two others in Shevchenkivsky district had been treated at the scene, Klitschko said.

Fires broke out in an apartment building in Shevchenkivsky district and in a non-residential building in Podilsky district, he said, adding emergency services were on site.

For our live updates from Wednesday (July 12), click here.