Russia-Ukraine updates: UN demands Moscow withdraw troops

The UN General Assembly’s overwhelming vote to demand Russia “immediately” and “unconditionally” withdraw from Ukraine included a call for a “just and lasting” peace.

A day after China’s top diplomat visited Moscow and pledged a deeper partnership with Russia, Beijing abstained from the vote – the fourth time it has done so on such action since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 last year.

There were a total of 32 abstentions.

Although it is non-binding, the resolution in the UN’s largest body is seen as a global test of sentiment on the war.

The UN General Assembly has passed a non-binding resolution that calls for Russia to end hostilities and withdraw from Ukraine.

Of the UN’s 193 member nations, 141 voted to condemn Moscow’s invasion.

Seven countries – Belarus, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia and Syria – voted against the resolution. Other countries abstained.

On Friday Ukraine will be commemorating not the first anniversary of the Russian invasion but a year of successful resistance, Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska has said.

Remotely addressing an anniversary event in Vilnius, Lithuania, Zelenska said that Ukraine had suffered “a year of hell”.

“A year of full-scale war is a terrible date to mark. Because it is a year of attack, aggression, and murders,” she said. “Today we are not commemorating a year of war, but we are celebrating a year of resistance to aggression, a year of courage, a year of mutual assistance and rescue of each other, a year of humanity, and a year of friendship.”

“I am sure that soon we will be able to share with you the most valuable thing – the victory. Our common victory.”

Russia and Ukraine look ahead to what’s in store after a year of full-scale war between their countries.

Putin said the delayed Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile will be deployed this year in comments he made on the eve of the first anniversary of the war.

Zelenskyy insisted Ukraine “will prevail” over Russian forces.

Blinken says countries like India and South Africa, which have not joined the West in denouncing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are likely on a trajectory away from alignment with Moscow but that process would not happen “in one fell swoop”.

“There are countries that have long-standing, decades-long relationships with Russia, with the Soviet Union before, that are challenging to break off in one fell swoop,” the US secretary of state said in an interview with The Atlantic. “It’s not flipping a light switch. It’s moving an aircraft carrier.”

India has faced pressure from the West to distance itself from Moscow after Russia invaded Ukraine. New Delhi has thus far resisted that pressure, citing its longtime ties with Russia and its economic and oil needs. Russia has been India’s largest weapons supplier since the days of the Soviet Union.

Hungary plans to send a delegation to Sweden and Finland to resolve “political disputes” that have raised doubts among some Hungarian lawmakers of whether to support the two Nordic nations’ applications to join NATO, a senior Hungarian lawmaker says.

Mate Kocsis, the head of the nationalist Fidesz party’s parliamentary caucus, said during a news briefing that a “serious debate” had emerged within the caucus over the NATO accession of Sweden and Finland, according to the state news agency MTI.

Some ruling party lawmakers, he said, resented that “politicians from these countries have insulted Hungary in a crude, unfounded and often vulgar manner in recent years, and now they are asking for a favour”.

A parliamentary delegation will travel to Sweden and Finland seeking to clarify their positions, Kocsis said. The trip was not expected to delay the Hungarian parliament’s debate, set to begin next week, on ratifying the NATO applications, he said.

Hungary is the only NATO member country besides Turkey that has yet to approve Sweden’s and Finland’s bids to join the Western military alliance.

Tens of thousands of people have fled Russia since the start of its war in Ukraine. Putin’s partial military mobilisation meant many could have been conscripted to fight.

Georgia has provided an escape route for thousands of young Russians. But for many, the welcome has been far from warm. Al Jazeera’s Fintan Monaghan reports.

Ukraine has now faced one full year of war with Russia, suffering tragedies and celebrating triumphs.

Biden will meet virtually on Friday with G7 leaders and Zelenskyy and will announce a new wave of sanctions against Russia for its year-long invasion of Ukraine, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre says.

Germany would be fine with a Europe-wide ban on Russian gas, but other countries would not, meaning it would be better to focus on sealing gaps in the sanctions regime rather than expanding it, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck says.

Germany companies are no longer using any Russian gas, he said. “So as far as I’m concerned, we can cut the link completely,” he said.

But several countries in Eastern Europe are much more reliant on Russian energy, he added.

The West will continue to support Ukraine for as long as necessary, but it would not be “clever” for Ukraine to use weapons it receives to mount attacks on Russian territory, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says.

Interviewed by ZDF public television, Scholz said sending Ukraine warplanes to fight the Russian invasion “currently makes no sense”.

Putin has “already failed” in his fundamental objective of erasing Ukraine’s identity as an independent country, but the fighting should end in a “just and durable” way, Blinken says at an event held by The Atlantic magazine.

“By just, I mean an outcome that reflects the basic principles of the UN Charter when it comes to things like territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Blinken said.

“Durable in the sense that when this ends, it needs to end in a way that makes it much less likely – if not impossible – that Russia will simply repeat the exercise a year or five years later,” the US secretary of state said.

But the details of how to go about ending the war will be up to the Ukrainians, Blinken added.

Ukrainian Nobel Peace Prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk has called for the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute leaders in Moscow for the crime of aggression.

On the eve of the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Matviichuk, head of Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties, which jointly won the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, said the world cannot ignore mass violations of international humanitarian law in her country.

She said a special tribunal is needed to bridge an “impunity gap” that is preventing the International Criminal Court, which is investigating war crimes in Ukraine, from prosecuting the crime of aggression, which is the invasion of or attempt to gain control over another sovereign state.

“We have to establish this special tribunal on aggression now,” she told Reuters in an interview. “We have to work hard to convince a two-thirds majority of the [UN] General Assembly members to establish such a special tribunal.”

China’s deputy UN ambassador, Dai Bing, has told the UN General Assembly that one year into the Ukraine war, “brutal facts offer an ample proof that sending weapons will not bring peace.”

“Adding fuel to the fire will only exacerbate tensions,” he said.

Western powers have provided Ukraine with billions of dollars in weapons since Russia invaded. The US and NATO have accused China of considering supplying arms to Russia and warned Beijing against such a move.

Asked whether he thinks the US will succeed in its efforts to dissuade China from coming to Russia’s aid in Ukraine, Blinken said: “I certainly hope so, and ultimately, I believe so. But the proof will be in the pudding.”

The top US diplomat said Washington has conveyed warnings to Beijing against assisting Moscow in its war efforts on several occasions and many other countries have shared the same message.

“To the extent China is trying to engage in a charm offensive these days – to re-engage with other countries as it comes out of COVID – I don’t think it wants to be in the business of further alienating them by providing lethal support to Russia,” Blinken said at an event held by The Atlantic magazine. “The jury’s out. We’re watching it very, very carefully. We’ll see how they react.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that in October 2021, he personally shared with Zelenskyy Washington’s assessment that Russia would likely invade Ukraine.

“He took it very stoically, very seriously,” Blinken said.

The top US diplomat said he delivered the news to the Ukrainian president on the sidelines of an international summit in Europe. He added that while Russia was openly amassing forces on Ukraine’s border, the US had “exclusive” information about Moscow’s plans.

Blinken praised Zelenskyy’s leadership throughout the conflict, calling him an “extraordinary figure” on the world stage.

Estonia’s defence begins in Ukraine, the Baltic state’s prime minister, Kaja Kallas, says.

“We see clearly that our defence right now starts also from Ukraine because Ukraine is fighting with the same threat, … so as long as they are fighting there, they are weakening the same enemy as we have,” Kallas said in an interview with the AFP news agency.

European Union countries have failed to agree on their 10th set of sanctions against Russia, which they had planned to have in place for Friday’s one-year anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, diplomatic sources have told Reuters.

The 27 EU countries need to agree unanimously to introduce sanctions. The sources said Poland was blocking the package over proposed exemptions to a ban on EU imports of Russian synthetic rubber.

Polish diplomats said the exemptions were so big they would render the sanctions ineffective. Other sources said the exemptions were proposed to accommodate Italy and were backed by Germany.

Representatives of the member states were due to meet again on Friday morning to try to seal a deal, according to the sources.

Since the war started, the profits of defence companies have increased significantly.

But as Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen reports from Brussels, it is proving to be a challenge for NATO and Europe to ramp up an industry that was scaled back after the Cold War.

Spain may increase the number of Leopard 2A4 tanks it will send to Ukraine to 10 from the six promised earlier and will discuss potential aircraft deliveries with its NATO and EU partners, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says during a visit to Kyiv.

The German-made battle tanks are part of more than 50 2A4s Spain had mothballed in reserve, and they require repairs and refitting.

“As the defence minister told parliament yesterday, we will send six Leopard 2A4s,” Sanchez told reporters after meeting Zelenskyy. “We intend to see in the coming weeks and months whether we can increase the total to 10.”

The UN General Assembly is expected to vote on a resolution demanding Russia withdraw its troops from Ukraine. While non-binding, the vote will lay out the extent of support for Kyiv around the world.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres opened the special session of the assembly by condemning Moscow’s February 24, 2022, attack on Ukraine.

“That invasion is an affront to our collective conscience,” Guterres said. He called the anniversary “a grim milestone for the people of Ukraine and for the international community”.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has lauded the “heroism of Ukrainians” in their war against Russia, which will see its first anniversary on Friday.

“Russia invaded a country neighbouring us, a country that wants to live in freedom and dignity,” Sandu said in a statement after meeting her Romanian counterpart, Klaus Iohannis, in Bucharest. “Ukraine withstands the invasion thanks to the heroism of Ukrainians and the help of friendly countries.”

Noting that Moldova has been subject to energy “blackmail” by Russia, Sandu said some elements wanted her country to fall and “establish a puppet government” subservient to the interests of the Kremlin.

“The Republic of Moldova remains standing, dignified, determined on its way to the EU, thanks to the firmness and solidarity of people and help from friends,” she said. “In this complicated period, Romania is with us, sincerely and disinterestedly. While some blackmail us, others embrace us.”

Zelenskyy has expressed confidence in his country’s victory over invading Russian forces as fears mount over attacks on the war’s first anniversary.

“We have not broken down, we have overcome many ordeals and we will prevail,” Zelenskyy said on social media. “We will hold to account all those who brought this evil, this war to our land.”

Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi, reporting from the United Nations, says the General Assembly is voting on a draft resolution written by the EU and Ukraine.

“It’s a very simple resolution; they’ve kept it to the basics. The US, the EU and Ukraine want as much unity against Russia as possible. What the resolution says is that it is incontrovertible that the UN Charter forbids other countries to invade other countries, and therefore, Russia must leave Ukraine immediately,” Rattansi said.

“We know from previous UN General Assembly resolutions, anything more coercive, anything strongly worded, anything that includes more of the rhetoric we normally hear from the US, the EU and Ukraine, is unlikely to garner huge amounts of support.”

Global trade grew more than expected last year despite the upheaval caused by the Russia-Ukraine war as badly affected countries managed to switch suppliers or products, the World Trade Organization (WTO) says.

The global trade watchdog had forecast just 3 percent growth for 2022 as the conflict caused major disruptions to exports, including wheat and fuels. However, WTO Chief Economist Ralph Ossa, presenting its latest analysis of the war’s impact on trade, said global trade had “held up well”.

“We have not seen the worst predictions foreseen at the onset of the war,” he said in a statement.

The WTO did not give the global trade figure for last year, saying the data would be made available in April.

The US wants to see tougher and more effectively enforced sanctions against Russia and additional support for Ukraine, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says during meetings of the Group of 20 leading economies in the Indian technology hub of Bengaluru.

“We are seeking to strengthen sanctions and make sure that we address violations of sanctions,” she said, noting that the Russians were seeking alternative ways to “backfill” parts and equipment to replace and repair weapons damaged in the war.

“We have deprived them of many channels they can obtain material that is critical for their defense efforts,” Yellen told reporters. “That is a particular focus we have in mind in respect to enforcement of existing sanctions and perhaps with respect to further sanctions.”

A Russian arbitration court has ordered a subsidiary of Swiss commodities trader Glencore to pay about $125m to Russian state lender Sberbank in a row over unpaid oil supplies.

Sberbank took legal action against Glencore Energy UK Ltd last year after it alleged the company did not pay for two oil consignments supplied by a subsidiary of Sberbank in March due to sanctions.

Glencore declined to comment on the court’s ruling, which was issued on Tuesday but made public on Thursday. Sberbank was not immediately available to comment.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has accused the West of using Ukraine to try to break up Russia but said he thought the attempt would fail.

“Using Ukraine, the collective West is seeking to dismember Russia to deprive it of its independence,” Shoigu said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies. “These attempts are doomed to fail.”

Zelenskyy says he has not seen any Chinese peace plan but would welcome a meeting between Ukraine and China.

“We would like to meet with China,” he said during a news briefing in Kyiv with visiting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says the alliance has seen signs China is considering supplying arms to Russia and warns Beijing against taking any such step.

“We haven’t seen any supplies of lethal aid from China to Russia, but we have seen signs that they are considering and may be planning for that,” Stoltenberg told Reuters in an interview.

“That’s the reason why the United States and other allies have been very clear, warning against that. And China should of course not support Russia’s illegal war.”

The sanctions introduced by G7 nations against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine should be implemented by all G20 countries, Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti says.

The sanctions “must be applied not only by the G7 countries but also by the G20 countries”, Giorgetti said in a statement issued at a meeting of G20 finance leaders in Bengaluru, India.

“Otherwise, Russia circumvents the sanctions system and the effects risk falling short of our expectations,” the minister added.

Three ambulance workers trying to evacuate people from their homes in the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine have been killed by Ukrainian shelling, a Russian-installed official in the region says.

The medical team had gone in to rescue civilians after an initial wave of Ukrainian shelling when Kyiv’s forces started firing again and they were hit, the Russian news agency TASS reported, saying a number of other medical workers had been injured in the same attack.

Dmitry Gartsev, the Russian-installed head of the local health ministry, said on his Telegram channel that doctors were fighting to save the life of a fourth ambulance worker. There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian authorities.

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven have urged the International Monetary Fund to deliver a new aid package to Ukraine by the end of March, according to a statement.

“[We] urge the IMF and Ukraine to deliver a credible, ambitious, fully financed and appropriately conditioned IMF program by the end of March 2023,” said the G7 statement, released after a meeting in India.

Four people have been arrested after the campaign group Led By Donkeys painted a Ukrainian flag on the road outside the Russian embassy in London.

The Metropolitan Police said three men and one woman were arrested.

“At 08:45 today officers attended Kensington Palace Gardens, where paint had been thrown on the highway,” the Met said in a tweet. “Four people, three males and one female, were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and obstructing the highway.”

Germany will propose measures to close loopholes in EU sanctions against Moscow that are letting embargoed goods flow into Russia and feed its “war machine”, its economy ministry says.

Export data have shown that embargoed goods are still arriving in Russia through third-party states despite the sanctions, the ministry said. Under its proposal, companies would have to submit declaration forms detailing the end use of exports to third-party nations of goods that are key for the “Russian war machine”.

“We are working together with our partners to ensure that deliberate violations of the obligation to submit truthful end-use declarations would in future be a criminal offence throughout Europe,” according to the proposal seen by the AFP news agency.

Western European countries should be faster and more generous in supplying Ukraine with weapons, Polish Premier Mateusz Morawiecki says in Copenhagen after meeting his Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen.

“I would like them to be exactly like Denmark and Poland. A longer version is to be more generous in terms of weapon delivery and more quick,” Morawiecki told reporters.

Russia is clearly developing into a war economy, with spending on defence increasing and state revenues shrinking, the German Economic Institute (IW) has said in a report.

Russia will this year hike spending on internal and external security by 25 percent to 124.7 billion euros ($132.1bn), according to the report, to which Reuters had exclusive access and which cited projections that Russia’s state Duma signed off on in October.

Until 2025, this amount of defence spending is expected to remain constant, representing more than 14 percent of the budget, the IW said.

While defence spending rises, revenues are falling. Compared with 2022, revenues from oil and gas exports will decline by more than 20 percent due to Western sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine, the IW said. Russia had a budget deficit of almost 4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022, and in 2023 this percentage is likely to increase along with spending.

Ukraine’s parliament has imposed sweeping 50-year sanctions on Russian financial institutions including the central bank, all commercial banks, investment funds, insurers and other enterprises.

“It is a complete block on financial institutions of the Russian Federation accessing markets and assets in Ukraine. A complete block,” Andriy Pyshnyy, governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, said on Facebook. “We should weaken it with all available means. It is the financial sector which is a strategic ‘donor’ of this war.”

An overwhelming majority of 325 deputies voted to support the measures, intended to be in place for half a century. Economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko said the sectoral sanctions would affect hundreds of banks and tens of thousands of financial institutions registered in Russia.

The measures include a ban on transactions with assets owned by the Russian Federation’s financial institutions, a ban on establishing business relations and a ban on transactions and investments in Russian financial institutions, Svyrydenko said.

Activists have painted a 500 square metres (about 5,400 square feet) Ukrainian flag outside the Russian embassy in London.

The Led By Donkeys group said it “safely halted cars” before pouring about 320 litres of yellow and blue paints onto the street.

“Contrary to what the Russian dictator and his apologists claim, Ukraine is an independent state and a people with every right to self-determination. The existence of a massive Ukrainian flag outside his embassy in London will serve to remind him of that,” the group said.

Russian Embassy, London pic.twitter.com/99mFy6Gx5k

— Led By Donkeys (@ByDonkeys) February 23, 2023

Ukraine “will prevail” over Russian forces, President Zelenskyy has said, a day before the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of his country.

“We have not broken down, we have overcome many ordeals and we will prevail. We will hold to account all those who brought this evil, this war to our land,” Zelenskyy said on social media.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Samantha de Bendern, an associate fellow at Chatham House, said that “Western weapons have been decisive” in Ukraine’s ability to reclaim territory from Russia.

De Bendern noted that the majority of territory in eastern Ukraine claimed Russia had been taken in 2014 and 2015. She added Ukraine has since “taken back 50 percent of the territory that Russia had conquered, including some of the territory that had been conquered in the 2014, 2015 attacks”.

She said weapons deliveries have “allowed the Ukrainians to miraculously regain territory that would have been impossible to do without these Western weapons”.

Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksiy Gromov has told a briefing that Russia is stepping up fighting to wear down Ukrainian units.

“The enemy, having an advantage in the resource of human mobilisation, is deliberately intensifying hostilities in an effort to deplete the units of the armed forces of Ukraine,” Gromov said.

He said the fiercest fighting was taking place on Thursday around the eastern city of Bakhmut, as Russia seeks to reach its goal of capturing the whole of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions by summer.

“In the short term, it is important for the Kremlin to capture the key settlements in the Donetsk region, and in the future to capture (all of) the Donetsk and Luhansk regions before the summer,” he said.

Kyiv has said Russia is suffering heavy casualties as it throws recently mobilised troops into battle, but Gromov said Moscow was using better-prepared soldiers from regular units in the already months-long battle for Bakhmut.

President Vladimir Putin has said the delayed Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile will be deployed this year, in comments made on the eve of the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.

The RS-28 Sarmat liquid-fuelled missile — dubbed Satan 2 by Western analysts — was first announced by Putin in 2018 and was supposed to have been deployed last year.

CNN reported that the United States believes Russia carried out a test of the Sarmat just before US President Joe Biden visited Ukraine earlier this week, but that the test failed. The Russian defence ministry has not commented on that report.

The 35-metre (115-foot) missile, which Putin says will make Russia’s enemies “think twice”, has a range of 18,000km (11,185 miles), although some estimates put that number higher. It can carry at least 10 multiple targetable re-entry vehicles — each with a nuclear warhead — which can each be aimed at a different target. It can also deliver hypersonic Avangard glide vehicles that can travel further and faster, flying in an unpredictable path to spoof missile defences.

Read more here.

The Ukraine war has begun to visibly affect international relationships in the 52nd week of the conflict, as Washington declared Russian President Vladimir Putin a failure, Moscow revived nuclear threats, and China assumed a more assertive posture towards the United States.

Read more: Ukraine war shifts global power relations as China asserts role

Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi said the city is on edge as it anticipates a possible attack ahead of the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

“This is certainly a city that is especially cautious of what’s happening around it at the moment,” he said. “We’ve heard reports of an unidentified aerial vehicle of some kind, possibly a drone or a surveillance or reconnaissance balloon. It is unclear still exactly what it was. Air defences were operational. There were explosions heard around the Kyiv region, most likely air defences at work.

“This morning, we heard from the operational commander of forces in the north saying that his units had observed some worrying developments across the border in Belarus,” he added. “A mobilisation of troops, large convoys of unmarked vehicles carrying equipment and soldiers wearing uniforms with the pixel pattern that they say is typical of Russian troops.”

“They say that this is the clearest indication so far, that Russia may be preparing another full-scale or some kind of invasion ahead of the anniversary of the war tomorrow.”

Ahead of the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, Mansur Mirovalev, who has covered Ukraine for Al Jazeera for years, reflects on his most difficult year as a journalist, father and son.

He writes: “How often do you get a chance to witness the birth of a new world order? To chronicle not just a war – but a Darwinian fight for survival between a cunning little mammal and a cold-blooded, slow-thinking tyrannosaur?

To see how an entire nation unites to decolonise itself, to remake its identity and mindset, to stand up to a Goliath they once mistook for a ‘brother’?

There’s a price to pay for a ticket to an emotional roller coaster that will one day make your shrink rich.”

Read more: Emotional paralysis, hopes, and horrors: Covering the Ukraine war

Sweden and Turkey plan to resume discussions in March on Sweden’s membership of NATO, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has said.

“We have already been given a date for this discussion,” Kristersson told the SVT broadcaster, without giving an exact date. Sweden, together with Finland, applied for NATO membership in May, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

All 30 existing members of the defence alliance must ratify the accession of any new country, but Turkey has been blocking the procedure for a long time, accusing Sweden, in particular, of not taking enough action against Kurdish groups and individuals Ankara classifies as “terrorists”.

At the end of January, Turkey cancelled planned consultations with Sweden and Finland scheduled for February, according to media reports. The move came after a far-right politician set fire to a Quran in front of a mosque in Stockholm.

Reporting from Moscow, Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid said China has not revealed any details of a purported peace plan for the conflict.

Bin Javaid added that officials have said a peace plan was not discussed as Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted China’s top diplomat Wang Yi in Moscow.

“This morning, we’ve heard from the Russian foreign ministry that it was not part of the discussions between China’s top diplomat and the Russian foreign minister, but it does not rule out whether this plan has been given to both capitals – Moscow and Kyiv – for them to have a reaction ready before China unveils it,” he said.

“This is where China wants to be,” he added, “an arbiter, which sits in the middle and tries to negotiate between these two sides, which remain far apart when it comes to how to end the war.”

Finland will send three Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, the Finnish defence ministry has said.

The announcement makes Finland the latest European country to send the German-made tanks to Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Spain announced it would send six Leopard battle tanks to the country.

Ukraine’s foreign minister said last month he expected to receive 120 to 140 Western tanks – including the German Leopard 2 – in a “first wave” of deliveries from a coalition of 12 countries.

The Czech government has approved a further military aid shipment to Ukraine and will continue to send equipment from stocks, defence minister Jana Cernochova has said.

Cernochova did not disclose any specific equipment being shipped but said the country, from its army reserves, has so far sent 38 tanks, 55 armoured vehicles, four aircraft and 13 self-propelled howitzers, alongside larger shipments from the private sector.

The global economy is “in a better place” than predicted a few months ago in the wake of the COVID pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said.

The “global economy is in a better place than many predicted a few months ago” she said ahead of a G20 finance ministers’ meeting in India.

“In the fall many were worried about a sharp economic slowdown across the world. The challenges we face are real and the future is always uncertain but the outlook has improved.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has arrived in Kyiv, becoming the latest world leader to visit the war-torn country’s capital ahead of the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

“Returning to Kyiv today, one year since the start of the war,” Sanchez tweeted with a video of him stepping off the train in the Ukrainian capital. “We will stand with Ukraine and its people until peace returns to Europe.”

Sanchez was set to meet with Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy later in the day on what is his second visit to Kyiv since the war began on February 24, 2022, his office said.

The visit comes shortly after US President Joe Biden made a surprise trip to Kyiv, his first since the invasion began. Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also arrived in Kyiv a day after Biden.

Sweden is open to sending some of its Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, its defence minister told local news agency TT.

The statement comes as the Nordic country was preparing to present another package of aid to Ukraine.

The latest instalment includes armoured infantry fighting vehicles, which defence minister Pal Jonson told the news agency would be the country’s main contribution in terms of equipment for ground warfare.

Sweden was also preparing to send Ukraine the advanced Archer artillery system. However, support in the Swedish parliament has been growing to additionally contribute some of the country’s 120 or so Leopard tanks.

“We are open to that and we are in close dialogue with above all Germany about it,” Jonson was quoted by TT as saying.

The United Nations General Assembly is set to vote on a resolution stressing “the need to reach, as soon as possible, a comprehensive, just and lasting peace” in line with the founding UN Charter.

The vote is the latest opportunity for world governments to stake a clear position on the conflict.

“We will see where the nations of the world stand on the matter of peace in Ukraine,” US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the General Assembly.

Read more about where your country stands on the war here.

A Russian SU-25 fighter plane has crashed in Russia’s Belgorod region near the border with Ukraine, the regional governor said.

The cause of the incident was not yet known, but the RIA state news agency said the pilot was still alive after ejecting himself from the plane, citing emergency services.

In a post on the Telegram messenger app, Belgorod’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said  investigators were on the scene near the town of Valyuki, and that the reason for the crash was being established.

Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, has repeatedly come under fire since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

Ukrainian forces have repelled 90 Russian attacks in the northeast and east over the past 24 hours, the military has said.

Russian troops attacked near Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region and around Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Shakhtarsk in the Donetsk region, where Russia is concentrating its offensive efforts, according to the Ukrainian military.

Russian forces are possibly preparing for another offensive around the town of Vuhledar in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, the UK said in an intelligence bulletin.

The bulletin said the town had experienced heavy shelling in the last 48 hours.

It added that fighting has also continued in the eastern city of Bakhmut over the last two days.

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 23 February 2023

Find out more about Defence Intelligence: https://t.co/wfwm9P2xXK

🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/kJnDtbypjV

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) February 23, 2023

Moldova has dismissed claims by Russia’s defence ministry that Ukraine planned to invade the breakaway region of Transnistria – and instead called for calm.

Russian news agency RIA said Ukraine, which borders Moldova, planned to stage a false flag operation in which they would claim Russian troops had attacked from the breakaway Moldovan region as a pretext to invade.

TASS news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin as saying separately that the West had instructed Moldova’s government in Chisinau to stop all interaction with Transnistria’s Moscow-backed authorities.

The Moldovan government issued a statement on Telegram, saying state authorities “do not confirm” the Russian defence ministry’s allegations.

“We call for calm and for information to be received [by the public] from official and credible sources of the Republic of Moldova,” it said.