Russia’s foreign minister Lavrov’s comments come as Germany faces growing pressure to allow Ukraine to obtain Leopard tanks – as the conflict enters its 334th day.
Monday, January 23, 2023
1150 GMT
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that conflict between Moscow and the West could no longer be defined as a “hybrid war”, but was closer to a real one, as he blasted the West for sending billions of dollars of arms to Kiev.
Lavrov made the comments at a news conference during a visit to South Africa, as Poland pushes for more tanks to Ukraine and Germany faces criticism for being too slow in helping Ukraine against Russia.
Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki said earlier that Poland is building a coalition of nations ready to send Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine. However, it needs the consent of Germany, which builds the tanks, to send them to a non-NATO country.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov reaffirmed Moscow’s claim that the Western supplies could lead to “unpredictable” consequences.
“We have said on numerous occasions that escalation is the most dangerous path, and the consequences may be unpredictable,” Ryabkov said. “Our signals are not listened to, and Russia’s adversaries keep raising the stakes.”
Ukrainian officials have been calling on Western allies to supply them with the modern German-made tanks for months, but Germany has held back from sending them or allowing other NATO countries to do so.
Leopard tanks are seen by defence experts as the most suitable for Ukraine.
Here are other developments:
1047 GMT – South Africa defends military drills with Russia, China
South Africa’s foreign minister Naledi Pandor has said after talks with her Russian counterpart Lavrov that joint military drills South Africa will hold with Russia and China next month were part of the “natural course of relations” between countries.
0947 GMT – Issues at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia concerning – WENRA head
Organisational and management issues at Ukraine’s Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are “of increasing concern,” Olivier Gupta, head of the Western European Nuclear Regulators’ Association (WENRA), said.
Brokering a deal on a safe zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is getting harder because of the involvement of the military in talks, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog Rafael Grossi said earlier this month.
The Soviet-era plant, Europe’s largest, was captured by Russian forces in March, soon after their invasion of Ukraine. It has repeatedly come under fire in recent months, raising fears of a nuclear disaster.
0951 GMT – Russia expels Estonia ambassador
Estonian Ambassador Margus Laidre was ordered to leave the country by February 7, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The statement said that Estonia’s diplomatic representation from now on will be downgraded to a charge d’affaires heading the European Union country’s mission in Moscow.
The ministry said that the move was made in retaliation for Estonia’s “new unfriendly step to radically reduce the size of the Russian Embassy in Tallinn”.
Estonia has reduced its bilateral relations with Moscow “to the absolute minimum” since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said in a January 11 statement.
0853 GMT – Poland to ask Germany’s permission to send tanks to Ukraine
The Polish prime minister didn’t specify when the request will be made, but said that Poland is building a coalition of nations ready to send Leopard tanks.
Without elaboration, Morawiecki added Warsaw will take its own decisions, even if there is no permission from Germany.
Regarding Baerbock’s comments, Morawiecki said that “exerting pressure makes sense” and that her words are a “spark of hope” that Germany may even take part in the coalition.
0807 GMT – Russia’s Lavrov visits ally South Africa
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has arrived in South Africa for talks with the country’s foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, in a trip some opposition parties and the small Ukrainian community in the country have condemned as insensitive.
He and Pandor are expected to hold a joint news conference around 1000 GMT.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government regards South Africa as neutral in the conflict and has expressed a desire to mediate.
Even as South Africa has proclaimed impartiality on the conflict and abstained from voting on United Nations resolutions, it has retained close relations with Russia, historically a friend of the governing African National Congress when it was a liberation movement against white minority rule.
0746 GMT – Russia: No date set for talks with US on nuclear arms treaty
Russia has said no new date had been set for talks with the United States on the New START nuclear arms treaty, accusing the US of ramping up tensions between the two sides.
Talks between Moscow and Washington on resuming inspections under the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty were due to take place in November in Egypt, but Russia postponed them and neither side has set a new date for a meeting.
Sergei Ryabkov, the deputy foreign minister, said the conditions were not right for new talks on the treaty, which caps the number of each side’s strategic nuclear warheads.
“The situation does not, frankly speaking, allow for setting a new date, … taking into account this escalation trend in both rhetoric and actions by the United States,” Ryabkov was quoted by Interfax as saying.
0800 GMT – Germany would not stand in the way if Poland wants to send its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine
In an apparent shift in Germany’s position, foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said her government would not block Poland if it were to send its Leopard 2 tanks without German approval.
“For the moment the question has not been asked, but if we were asked we would not stand in the way,” she told France’s LCI TV, when asked about her government’s reaction to any such Polish decision.
0717 GMT – Russia says weapons deployed at nuclear power stations in Ukraine
Russia’s foreign intelligence service (SVR) has accused Ukraine of storing Western-supplied arms at nuclear power stations across the country.
In a statement, the SVR said US-supplied HIMARS rocket launchers, air defence systems and artillery ammunition had been delivered to the Rivne nuclear power station in the northwest of Ukraine.
“The Ukrainian armed forces are storing weapons and ammunition provided by the West on the territory of nuclear power plants,” it said, adding that an arms shipment to the Rivne power station had taken place in the last week of December.
The claims cannot be independently verified.
0409 GMT – Potanin says sanctions constrain Nornickel
Nornickel boss Vladimir Potanin, one of Russia’s richest men, said the metals giant was reworking its strategy and building closer ties with countries such as China, Türkiye and Morocco because of Western sanctions on the Russian economy.
Potanin told Russia’s RBC television that the impact of sanctions “does not directly affect the life of the company, its survival, but of course it limits its capabilities, including financial ones, and development of those markets in which it has traditionally been present”.
0355 GMT – Russia-backed admin visits Soledar
The top Moscow-supported official in the occupied parts of the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine said that he had visited the town of Soledar that Russia claimed to had captured earlier this month.
Denis Pushilin, a Russian proxy official in eastern Ukraine, published a short video on the Telegram messaging app that showed him driving and walking amidst uninhabited areas and destroyed buildings.
“I visited Soledar today,” Pushilin said in an accompanying statement, noting Soledar mines were damaged and “difficult” to descend into.
Ukraine has never publicly said that the town was taken by Russian forces. On Sunday, the general staff of its armed forces said in a daily update that Russian forces had fired on Ukrainian positions in the area.
Russia’s army declares that the bodies of the Ukrainian soldiers who died in the battles for Soledar will be handed over to Ukraine’s army for funerals. In this report by media reportedly owned by Prigozhin, he appeared on the video of the loading of the bodies. pic.twitter.com/hbL7GxlWo3
— Ruslan Trad (@ruslantrad) January 21, 2023
0310 GMT – Britain’s former PM visits Ukrainian president
Britain’s former Prime Minister Boris Johnson made an unannounced visit to Ukraine’s capital to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Johnson also met with students and lecturers of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev and answered their questions, according to the Ukrainian Presidency,
Despite the fact that his country is still at war with Russia, Zelenskyy said he believes that victory can be achieved in 2023 with international assistance.
For his part, Johnson said: “The only way to end this war is for Ukraine to win – and to win as fast as possible. This is the moment to double down and to give the Ukrainians all the tools they need to finish the job.”
0300 GMT – Hundreds and thousands dead or wounded: Norway
Russia has suffered 180,000 killed or wounded in Ukraine so far, while the figure for the Ukrainians is 100,000 military casualties and 30,000 dead civilians, according to estimates released by Norway’s army chief.
“Russian losses are beginning to approach around 180,000 dead or wounded soldiers,” Norwegian Chief of Defence Eirik Kristoffersen said in an interview with TV2, without specifying how the numbers were calculated.
Norway, a country bordering Russia, has been a member of NATO since its founding in 1949.
“Ukrainian losses are probably over 100,000 dead or wounded.
In addition Ukraine has about 30,000 civilians who died in this terrible war,” said the Norwegian general.
Moscow and Kiev have not provided reliable accounts for their losses for months.
In November, US army joint chiefs of staff chairman Mark Milley said the Russian army had suffered more than 100,000 dead or wounded, with a “probably” similar toll on the Ukrainian side.
These figures cannot be independently verified by TRT World.
0020 GMT – Germany ready to let Poland send Leopard tanks to Ukraine
Germany is ready to authorise Poland to send German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine to help Kiev fight the Russian forces if Warsaw makes such a request, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said.
“If we are asked the question, then we will not stand in the way,” Baerbock told LCI television after a Franco-German summit meeting in Paris.
“We know how important these tanks are and this is why we are discussing this now with our partners. We need to make sure people’s lives are saved and Ukraine’s territory liberated.”
Baerbock said that Poland had yet to make a formal request.
Her comments come as Berlin resists pressure from Kiev to send some of its own stocks of the Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
For live updates from Sunday (January 22), click here
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
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