Russia-Ukraine updates: Moscow’s troops pushing for Vuhledar – UK

Ukraine’s prime minister has announced that a summit with the European Union will take place in Kyiv on Friday and would send a “powerful signal” to Moscow and the world almost a year after Russia launched its invasion.

“The Ukraine-EU summit will be held in Kyiv on February 3,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told a government meeting, calling the event “extremely important” for Kyiv’s bid to join the European bloc.

“The fact that this summit will be held in Kyiv is a powerful signal to both partners and enemies.”

No details were provided on who would be attending on the EU side.

Shmyhal also said another key event will take place on Thursday: consultations between Ukraine’s government and the European Commission “for the first time in our history”.

Ukraine gained EU candidacy status in June last year.

Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has met Republican legislators, pressing the United States to sustain aid to Ukraine to help it fight off Russia’s assault.

Johnson spoke with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican, in his office and is scheduled to speak at a private Republican club in the evening.

On Wednesday, Johnson will discuss the need for “Western unity and support for Ukraine and what more can be done against the threat Russia poses” at the Atlantic Council think tank.

Republicans took over the House from the Democrats at the start of this year and some of the party’s hardline members have called for an end to the US military and other assistance to Ukraine, which amounts to tens of billions of dollars.

“I am here primarily to recognise and pay tribute to the immense US contribution to the security of the Ukrainian people,” Johnson said in a statement.

The US has put new trade restrictions on seven Iranian entities for producing drones Russia has used to attack Ukraine, the US Department of Commerce has said.

The firms and other organisations were added to an export control list for those engaged in activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy interests.

The additions to the Department of Commerce’s “entities list” were posted in a preliminary filing in the US Federal Register, the government’s daily journal, and will be officially published on Wednesday.

Since Russia launched its war against Ukraine in February 2022, the US and more than 30 other countries have sought to degrade its military and defence industrial base by using export controls to restrict its access to technology.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will try to revitalise some topics of discussion during an upcoming trip to China and will bring up the war in Ukraine, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby has said.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has insisted that the sporting sanctions on Russia and Belarus, imposed over the invasion of Ukraine, were “non-negotiable”.

The IOC said the rules banning Russians from competing in the Paris 2024 Games under the Russian flag, anthem or colours would remain in place.

From its own territory and that of Belarus, Russia invaded Ukraine three days after the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Games, in violation of the Olympic truce and charter.

The IOC duly sanctioned Moscow and Minsk.

However, the IOC said last week it was examining a “pathway” for Russians to take part in the Paris Olympics, probably as neutral athletes rather than under their national flag.

That announcement sparked an immediate backlash from Kyiv. Ukraine has threatened to boycott the Summer Games if Russians are allowed to compete.

From NATO’s secretary general to the Ukrainian president, the war in Ukraine dominates the publicly known names submitted by Tuesday’s deadline for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize.

The list of nominees submitted to the committee is kept secret for at least 50 years, in line with Nobel statutes.

But those eligible to nominate people – including former laureates, lawmakers and cabinet ministers from any country in the world, and some university professors – are free to reveal the name of the person or organisation they have proposed.

Most of the names that have been publicly disclosed so far are involved in the nearly year-long conflict that has been raging in Ukraine, or are opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Lawmaker Christian Tybring-Gjedde, from Norway’s populist Progress Party, hinted on Facebook shortly after Russia’s invasion on February 24 that he would nominate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He has also proposed fellow Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg, who he says “deserves the prize for his exemplary work as NATO secretary general at a difficult time for the alliance: a brutal and unprovoked offensive against a peaceful neighbouring country”.

Others known to have been nominated are jailed Putin opponents – anti-corruption activist Alexey Navalny, who was the victim of a poisoning attack, and journalist and political activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who says he has survived two poisonings.

Mykhailo Podolyak, Zelenskyy’s chief adviser, has urged western allies to provide more military support amid renewed calls from top Ukrainian officials for fighter jets.

Podolyak said on Twitter that some EU representatives “believe Ukraine shouldn’t be given weapons as the war will spread to Europe”. But, he said: “War is already in the center of Europe.”

He also warned that if Ukraine does not get weapons, the war will spread to the EU because Russia “won’t stop the expansion”.

The UK has trumpeted new legislation requiring property-ownership disclosure aimed at cracking down on Russian oligarchs and corrupt elites laundering illicit wealth.

Foreign companies holding UK property have until the end of Tuesday to identify their “beneficial owners” in a new public register, making the UK one of the first countries to mandate this disclosure.

Only four Russian nationals appeared on the register as of Tuesday morning. They were: Vladimir Potanin, one of Russia’s wealthiest businessmen; Russia’s former Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov and his wife; and Alexander Frolov, the former chief executive officer of Evraz, a Russian steel and mining company.

Absent from the register as of Tuesday morning were some sanctioned Russians who have been linked to UK properties, including billionaire businessman Roman Abramovich.

Transparency advocates, politicians and others have criticised the government for leaving loopholes that allow wealthy individuals to avoid making disclosures, such as through the use of trusts.

Companies that fail to make accurate disclosures could face restrictions over selling their property and fines of up to 2,500 pounds ($3,083) a day, while individuals could be jailed for up to five years.

US President Joe Biden says he will discuss Ukraine’s latest requests for advanced weaponry with Zelenskyy.

“We’re going to talk,” Biden told reporters, a day after he answered with an emphatic “no” when asked if he favoured sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

Last week, the US, Germany and the UK agreed to send battle tanks to Ukraine as both Kyiv and Russia are believed to be preparing for another offensive.

Now, Ukraine is pressing its allies for fighter jets and long-range missiles that could hit Russian targets far behind the front lines.

The Dutch government has called on semiconductor makers in the Netherlands to do more to prevent their chips from ending up in Russia in violation of international sanctions.

A report by the national broadcaster NOS found that millions of Dutch-made chips have made their way to Russia since it invaded Ukraine, mostly by way of intermediate traders in China.

Chipmakers active in the Netherlands include NXP Semiconductors and Nexperia, owned by Wingtech Technology of China.

“I’m convinced that the companies do a lot but also that more can be done,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Wopke Hoekstra told the Dutch parliament.

Lithuania’s foreign minister has urged EU states not to have Russian ambassadors in their countries as diplomatic tensions between the Baltics and Moscow rise.

“There is little use in having an ambassador, a Russian ambassador, in any European capital,” Gabrielius Landsbergis said at a news conference in Riga.

“In most cases it’s no longer a diplomatic institution,” he said. “It’s an institution of propaganda, covering up crimes of war and in general promoting a genocidal agenda.”

Lithuania expelled Moscow’s ambassador in April when it downgraded diplomatic relations with Russia. It made the move after the mass killings of civilians and prisoners of war in the Ukrainian town of Bucha was discovered following Russia’s retreat from the Kyiv area.

Ukraine has protested to Hungary’s ambassador against what it called “disparaging” comments by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and urged Budapest to stop its anti-Ukrainian rhetoric.

“The Hungarian side was urged to stop this negative trend in order to avoid irreparable consequences for the relations between the two countries,” Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said after summoning the ambassador.

A draft document shows that the EU and Ukraine intend to increase cooperation in renewable energy and hydrogen after Russian attacks severely damaged Ukraine’s energy system.

The draft memorandum of understanding, seen by the Reuters news agency, is due to be signed at a summit between Zelenskyy and top EU officials in Kyiv later this week.

The draft says the EU and Ukraine would improve the regulatory, financial and environmental conditions to “significantly accelerate the deployment of renewable energy in Ukraine” and attract investment to the sector.

Government officials have said about 40 percent of Ukraine’s energy system has been damaged by Russian strikes and the country needs investment in reconstruction.

Moscow has welcomed moves by the International Olympic Committee to allow Russian athletes to compete in the Olympics after the world’s top sport body looked at options for their return to international events.

“Certainly, there is some attempt by the International Olympic Committee to allow our athletes to participate in international competitions,” Stanislav Pozdnyakov, head of Russia’s Olympic Committee, told reporters.

“Maybe in the future Olympic Games as well, of course, we welcome it entirely,” he added while cautioning against what he said were “additional conditions” imposed on Russian athletes.

Zelenskyy said that allowing Russia to compete at the 2024 Paris Games would be equal to showing that “terror is somehow acceptable”.

The US Department of the Treasury has said there is no indication US funds have been misused in Ukraine but that it would continue to work closely with authorities to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place.

This is the Treasury’s first comment after several senior Ukrainian officials were dismissed last week following corruption allegations.

“We have no indication that US funds have been misused in Ukraine,” Treasury spokesperson Megan Apper said in response to a query from the Reuters news agency.

“We welcome the ongoing efforts by the Ukrainian authorities to work with us to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place so that US assistance reaches those for whom it is intended.”

France will send 12 additional Caesar howitzers to Ukraine, French defence minister Sebastien Lecornu said.

He added that France would also send 150 army staff to Poland to train up to 600 Ukrainian soldiers a month.

Adding to 18 already delivered, the artillery pieces would be financed from a 200 million euro ($217m) fund France set up to fund arms for Kyiv, Lecornu said in a joint Paris news conference with his Ukrainian counterpart.

French defence minister Sebastien Lecornu has said “there is no taboo” when asked about supplying fighter jets to Ukraine.

Lecornu reiterated France’s position regarding supplying arms to Ukraine, saying it should not weaken France’s defence capacity, that it should help Ukraine and that the weapons should be used only by Ukraine to defend itself.

Lecornu was speaking after meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov in Paris.

Ukraine hopes to secure widespread international support for banning Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Paris Olympics, the sport minister said.

Last week, the International Olympic Committee backed a proposal by the Olympic Council of Asia to allow Russia and Belarus to compete in Asia, which could potentially include Olympic qualifying events.

“This is unacceptable for us,” Ukrainian sport minister and former Olympic champion Vadym Huttsait told the Reuters news agency.

“It is impossible for us at a time when the full-scale war is going on, when our athletes, our soldiers are defending our homeland, our land, defending their homes, their families, their parents.”

According to a posting by the US Department of Commerce, seven Iranian entities were added to its trade blocklist for contributing to Russia’s military efforts by helping with the production of drones.

The entities are Design and Manufacturing of Aircraft Engines, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Research and Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organisation, Oje Parvaz Mado Nafar Company, Paravar Pars Company, Qods Aviation Industry, and Shahed Aviation Industries.

The posting added that the Iranian uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) produced are being transferred to Russia for use in Ukraine, contrary to US national security and foreign policy interests.

A former Wagner Group member seeking asylum in Norway has apologised to Ukrainians living in the Scandinavian country, who object to his presence there.

“I’m a scoundrel to you but I only ask you to take into account that I have come to realise that, albeit belatedly, and I spoke against all that,” Andrey Medvedev said in an interview with Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

“I ask you not to condemn me and, in any case, I apologise.”

Medvedev, who has said he fears for his life if he returns to Russia, lives in a centre for asylum seekers in Oslo.