Live blog: Zelenskyy urges EU to send more air defences, financial support

Thursday, March 21, 2024

1659 GMT — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged European Union leaders to send more air defences to his country and to use billions of euros in profits from frozen Russian financial assets and the assets themselves to support Ukraine.

In his video address to the two-day summit in Brussels, he also called on allies to provide more artillery for his outgunned troops.

More updates 👇

1652 GMT — Zelenskyy tells EU 'unrestricted' access for Russian grain is 'unfair'

Zelenskyy told a summit of EU leaders that allowing unfettered access to Russian grain while capping imports from Ukraine was "unfair".

"Russian access to the European agricultural market is still unrestricted," Zelenskyy said by video link.

"When Ukrainian grain is thrown on the roads or railway tracks, Russian products are still being transported to Europe, as well as goods from (Vladimir) Putin's controlled Belarus — this is not fair."

EU member states and lawmakers on Wednesday reached a deal to cap duty-free imports of a range of Ukrainian farm goods. They have been allowed in the wake of Russia's invasion but have drawn fierce protests from farmers in the bloc.

Under World Trade Organization rules, Russian agricultural imports have until now been exempt from EU import duties.

1448 GMT — US backs $50B debt for Ukraine: Bloomberg reporter

The United States has suggested allies create a special purpose vehicle to issue at least $50 billion of bonds for Ukraine, a Bloomberg reporter posted on X social media platform.

1339 GMT — Russia has begun mass production of FAB-3000 aerial bombs: defence ministry

Russia began the mass production of FAB-3000 high- explosive aerial bombs in February of this year, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu inspected a defence industrial plant in Nizhny Novgorod region which manufactures FAB-3000 bombs and other types of ammunition, including artillery rounds.

Shoigu said that the output of ammunition for artillery increased almost 22 times. This ensured the delivery of a sufficient amount of projectiles to the zone of the "special military operation" (in Ukraine), he said.

1332 GMT — Russian missile kills one, injures four in Ukraine's Mykolaiv: official

A Russian missile attack on Ukraine's southern city of Mykolaiv killed at least one person and injured four others, a local official said. It was not immediately clear what was being targeted. The regional governor Vitaliy Kim said that rescue work was continuing at the site.

Сity mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych added that a ballistic missile was used. Residential buildings were not damaged, he said.

The afternoon strike on the southern region follows a massive overnight attack on Ukraine's capital Kiev and the surrounding region that injured at least 17 people and damaged civilian and industrial facilities.

1221 GMT — Poland to give logistical support to Czech ammunition plan for Ukraine

Poland will contribute logistically as well as financially to a Czech-led plan to boost ammunition supplies to Ukraine via purchases outside Europe, the Polish foreign minister said.

After more than two years of war with Russia, the most pressing need for Ukraine has become artillery ammunition, which is running low as both sides use heavy cannon fire to hold largely static, entrenched positions along the 1,000-km (620-mile) front line.

"We are very happy to contribute, not only financially but to a very efficient logistical operation so that the ammunition can get to where it's needed on the front," Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told a press conference in Prague.

Poland has become a key distribution hub for supplies to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

1201 GMT — Profits on Russian assets should be used to buy weapons for Ukraine: Scholz

EU countries should decide to use windfall profits from frozen Russian assets to buy weapons and ammunition for Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

"These should first of all be used to buy those weapons and ammunition that Ukraine needs to defend itself," Scholz said before a summit of EU leaders in Brussels.

Scholz added he was optimistic about the chances of the leaders uniting on the subject.

"I am quite sure that we are sending a very clear signal to Putin here. He has made a miscalculation if he believes that we are not able to support Ukraine for as long as it is necessary. And the use of windfall profits is a small but important component," he said.

1057 GMT — Russian army captures another village in eastern Ukraine

Moscow said that it had captured another village in east Ukraine, around 10 kilometres (six miles) from the city of Avdiivka, which fell to Russian forces last month.

It was the second village west of Avdiivka that Moscow claimed to have seized this week, with Russia seeing some recent successes on the battlefield as Kiev suffers from a shortage of ammunition.

"The Russian armed forces liberated the village of Tonenke," Russia's defence ministry said in its daily briefing, naming a small village along a river with several streets.

Russia seized Avdiivka last month after one of the bloodiest battles in the two-year conflict, which Moscow touted as a turning point.

0913 GMT — Russia hands over six children to Ukraine with Qatar's mediation: TASS

Russia has handed over six Ukrainian children to Ukraine with the mediation of Qatar, the Russian state news agency TASS reported.

0853 GMT — EU leaders to discuss using profits from Russian assets to arm Ukraine

European Union leaders will discuss a plan to use billions of euros in profits from frozen Russian financial assets to buy arms for Ukraine as they try to bolster Kiev in its fight against Moscow.

The bloc's 27 national leaders will also debate how Europe can do more to defend itself and boost its arms industry, reflecting fears that Russia may not stop at Ukraine and the US may not be such a staunch protector of Europe in future.

"For decades, Europe has not invested enough in its security and defence," Charles Michel, president of the European Council of EU leaders, wrote in his invitation letter for the summit.

"Now that we are facing the biggest security threat since the Second World War, it is high time we take radical and concrete steps to be defence-ready and put the EU's economy on a 'war footing'."

0838 GMT — Zelenskyy urges air defence after Russian missiles target Kiev

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the West to deliver air defence systems to Kiev after an overnight Russian missile attack injured 17 in the capital and surrounding region.

Ukraine's air force said it shot down 31 Russian missiles targeting Kiev, an attack that comes after Moscow vowed to respond to an escalation in Ukrainian strikes on its border regions.

"Such terror continues every day and night," Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram.

"It is possible to put an end to it through global unity... Russian terrorists do not have missiles capable of bypassing Patriot and other leading world systems," he said.

"This protection is required in Ukraine now."

0818 GMT — US unlikely to agree to Ukraine's proposal for lower Russian oil price cap: Lavrov

The United States is unlikely to agree to lower the price cap on Russian oil, as Ukraine has asked them to do, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said, adding the proposal by the Ukrainian authorities "steps over the bounds".

0540 GMT — Ukraine downs all 31 Russian missiles targeting Kiev: air force

Ukraine's air defence shot down all 31 Russian missiles targeting the capital Kiev, the country's air force commander has said.

Mykola Oleschuk said two ballistic missiles and 29 cruise missiles were downed.

Explosions rang out in the centre of Ukraine's capital, following air alerts prompted by Russian missiles and drones.

Around ten loud blasts were heard by AFP journalists from 05:00 am (0300 GMT) in Kiev, as well as air defence fire.

Earlier, the city's military administration said on Telegram said that the raid had lasted three hours, adding that 10 people were wounded, including an 11-year-old girl and a 38-year-old man, with two taken to hospital.

Rocket fragments fell onto a kindergarten in the Sviatoshynskyi district of the capital, according to Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko, while an apartment building and a car caught fire in other areas of the city.

0322 GMT — Ukraine's capital Kiev under Russian missile attack — mayor

Ukraine's capital, Kiev, is under a Russian missile attack, Mayor Vitali Klitschko has said.

Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app that air defence units were engaged in repelling the attack.

He said missile debris fell in different parts of the city.

Dozens of loud blasts and air defence fire could be heard starting from 5:00 am [0300 GMT].

0121 GMT — Australia joins drone coalition to support Ukraine

Australia has said it would join an international drone coalition to aid Ukraine's war effort, uniting with allies like Britain and Latvia.

"It's an important way to make our contribution to the effort to have Ukraine stay the course and be able to resolve this conflict on its own terms," Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said.

2348 GMT — EU leaders to discuss using 'profits from Russian assets' to arm Ukraine

European Union leaders will discuss a plan to use billions of euros in profits from frozen Russian financial assets to buy arms for Ukraine as they try to bolster Kiev in its fight against Moscow.

The bloc's 27 national leaders will also debate how Europe can do more to defend itself and boost its arms industry, reflecting fears that Russia may not stop at Ukraine and the US may not be such a staunch protector of Europe in future.

"Into the third year of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, we face a pivotal moment," Charles Michel, president of the European Council of EU leaders, wrote in his invitation letter for the summit.

"Urgency, intensity and unwavering determination are imperative."

The European Commission, the EU's executive body, proposed taking "profits from Russian assets" frozen in Europe after Moscow's assault and transferring some 90 percent to an EU-run fund used to finance arms for Kiev.

On Wednesday, Russia described the EU plan as banditism and theft.

2235 GMT — US national security advisor visits Ukraine amid halt to military aid

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has paid an unannounced visit to Ukraine, the White House announced, amid an ongoing impasse with the Republican-controlled House of Representatives over sending Kiev's forces more military assistance.

During his meetings with senior Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sullivan "stressed the urgent need for the US House of Representatives to pass the national security supplemental to meet Ukraine’s critical battlefield needs," National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

"Sullivan discussed ongoing efforts with allies and partners to hold Russia accountable for its aggression and mitigate the economic impacts of Russia's war on Ukraine and around the world, and progress on anti-corruption and other key reforms needed to further Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration," added Watson.

For our live updates from Wednesday, March 20, click here.