(Reuters) – Ukrainian troops, on the defensive for four months, will launch a long-awaited counterassault “very soon” now that Russia’s huge winter offensive is losing steam without taking Bakhmut, Ukraine’s top ground forces commander said on Thursday.
DIPLOMACY/ECONOMY
* Hungary would not arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he entered the country, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff said on Thursday, adding that it would have no legal grounds.
* Any attempt to arrest Putin after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the Kremlin chief would amount to a declaration of war against Russia, his ally Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.
* Russian leaders should be put on trial for the invasion of Ukraine even if they cannot be arrested and brought to court in person, Kyiv’s top prosecutor said on Thursday.
* EU leaders will discuss the war in Ukraine with U.N. chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday, including food security and sanctions, and also endorse a plan to ramp up the supply of artillery shells to Kyiv, diplomats and officials said.
* Turkish President Erdogan said he will have phone call in two to three days with Putin to discuss the Black Sea grain export deal for Ukraine and Russia, Anadolu news agency reported.
* Rebuilding Ukraine’s economy is expected to cost $411 billion, 2.6 times Ukraine’s expected 2022 gross domestic product, an international study found.
* The spiritual head of the world’s Orthodox Christians said Russia’s powerful Orthodox Church shared responsibility for the conflict in Ukraine.
FIGHTING
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has visited the southern region of Kherson, where he toured local infrastructure and promised to “restore everything” following Russia’s invasion.
* British military intelligence said on Thursday that Russia had partially regained control over the approaches to the eastern Ukrainian town of Kreminna, after its troops were pushed back from the region earlier this year.
* The Russian-backed administration in Sevastopol suspended ferry routes around the Crimean port, shortly after its governor said air defences repelled a Ukrainian drone attack.
* Reuters could not immediately verify battlefield reports.
RUSSIA-CHINA
* Peace plans and pipelines: What came out of the Putin-Xi talks?
* Putin and China’s Xi Jinping discussed a major new infrastructure project, Power-of-Siberia 2, to deliver gas to China via Mongolia. However, Russia is still waiting on a deal and China has powerful leverage to secure advantageous price terms. China is not expected to need additional gas supply until after 2030.
* During his two-day visit, Xi barely mentioned the Ukraine conflict beyond saying China had an “impartial position”.
* U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said China is “very carefully” watching the global response to the invasion but has not yet crossed the line of providing lethal aid to Moscow.
(Compiled by Reuters editors)
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