Ukrainian forces are inflicting “extraordinarily significant” losses on Russian invaders near the town of Vuhledar, and the defence of the beleaguered town of Bakhmut would continue, but “not at any price”, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday, commenting on fighting in the eastern Donbas region.
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.
Diplomacy
- U.S. President Joe Biden will visit Poland over Feb. 20-22 to mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he would discuss with Biden possibly increasing U.S. troop presence in Poland and making it more permanent.
- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will travel to Kyiv on Monday to meet Zelenskiy, a political source in Rome said on Sunday. Meloni, who took office in October, has said she planned to visit Kyiv before the anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
- Zelenskiy said in an interview published by the Italian daily Corriere della Sera on Sunday that the French President Emmanuel Macron was wasting his time considering any sort of dialogue with Russia. The two presidents spoke by telephone on Sunday.
- Ukrainian officials have urged U.S. Congress members to press Biden’s administration to send F-16 jet fighters to Kyiv, lawmakers said.
- The Biden administration is planning to impose new export controls and a fresh round of sanctions, targeting Russia’s defense and energy sectors, financial institutions and several individuals, Bloomberg News reported.
- The United States has concluded that Russia has committed “crimes against humanity” during its nearly year-long invasion of Ukraine, Vice President Kamala Harris said. Moscow responded that Washington was trying to foment crisis with the allegation.
- Russia has charged 680 Ukrainian officials, including 118 members of the armed forces and defence ministry with breaking laws governing the conduct of war, including the use of weapons against civilians, TASS news agency reported on Monday.
- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned China’s top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi at a Munich conference of consequences should China provide material support to Russia’s invasion, while Harris said Chinese support would reward aggression.
- Wang said China has “neither stood by idly nor thrown fuel on the fire” regarding the crisis in Ukraine, and continues to call for peace and dialogue.
- European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Sunday backed a call for the bloc’s members to buy arms jointly to help Ukraine but warned it would not solve Kyiv’s urgent need for more ammunition now.
Fighting
Ukrainian troops conducting weekend exercises near the small town of Siversk said they were preparing to defend one of the possible targets of a new Russian offensive. The town, which had a pre-war population of 10,000, is 35 km (21 miles) north of Bakhmut – scene of fierce fighting in recent weeks.
(Compiled by Simon Cameron-Moore)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.
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