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Ukraine war – latest: China’s top diplomat visits Russia; Putin plans massive rally in Moscow
Joe Biden has given a major speech in Poland to drum up support for Ukraine, hours after Vladimir Putin suspended Russia’s participation in a key nuclear treaty with the US at the end of a bitter two-hour speech filled with anti-Western rhetoric.
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Top Chinese diplomat in Moscow – meeting with Putin not ruled out View post
NATO more united than ever and Kyiv stands tall, Biden says in major speech from Warsaw View post
Dominic Waghorn: This was Biden the Cold War warrior View post
The most important moments from Putin’s major speech View post
Putin has ‘dismantled’ nuclear arms control, NATO says View post
On the ground in Ukraine: Six people killed and 12 injured in shelling View post
Live updates from Sky News reporters, with Deborah Haynes in Ukraine, Dominic Waghorn in Poland and Diana Magnay in Moscow
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22:34
Top Chinese diplomat visits Moscow – meeting with Putin not ruled out
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi is in Russia and has met the country’s security chief.
Both sides agreed that peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region should be resolutely upheld, and opposed the introduction of a Cold War “mentality”.
Mr Wang is due to meet Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov later today.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said he does not rule out a meeting between Mr Wang and President Vladimir Putin, saying: “There is lots to talk about.”
The US said on Sunday that it has intelligence suggesting China – which has mostly been on the sidelines of the Ukraine conflict – is considering sending military aid to Moscow.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this could create a “serious problem”.
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7m ago
22:27
Good morning and welcome to today’s live coverage
Yesterday saw historic speeches from the presidents of two major powers, with Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin both giving key addresses.
In his two-hour-long speech, Mr Putin announced Russia would withdraw from a landmark nuclear treaty with the US – which drew condemnation from the West.
While the Russian president made his speech in front of politicians at the Federal Assembly, Mr Biden was given a rockstar welcome in front of a huge crowd in Warsaw, Poland.
He said NATO was more united than ever and lauded the fact that Ukraine remains independent almost a year into the conflict.
Today is also set to be a big day. China’s top diplomat is in Russia and is set to meet the country’s defence minister – with Vladimir Putin expected to hold a rally in Moscow later.
China has been positioning itself as a peace broker, despite US claims Beijing could be planning to provide weapons to Russia.
Later in the day, Mr Biden and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will take part in a meeting of the Bucharest Nine (B9) countries from NATO’s eastern flank.
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5h ago
17:05
Ukraine could get ‘sizeable support’ from IMF
The director of the International Monetary Fund has said Ukraine could get “sizeable support” from a new, longer-term programme – and its economy could see a gradual recovery over the course of the year.
“Based on the performance of the Ukrainian authorities, we are confident that it could be a sizeable support from us,” managing director Kristalina Georgieva said.
She continued: “We are in the process of discussing with Ukrainian authorities what will be the components of the programme, the duration of the programme.
“We are certainly talking about the longer duration, because clearly Ukrainian policy challenges are not going to evaporate any time soon.”
Earlier this week, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said his country hopes to agree a $15bn multi-year program with the Fund – which would be the largest loan package for Ukraine since the war began.
Ms Georgieva visited Kyiv yesterday, where she met Mr Shmyhal and other Ukrainian officials.
Kyiv needs to cover a budget deficit of $38bn (£31bn) this year.
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5h ago
16:38
Situation has not changed on frontline, says Zelenskyy
The Ukrainian president has said his country’s forces are holding the line despite fierce battles.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged pressure on frontline forces, but said the situation has not changed.
Yesterday, he hinted that Ukraine could withdraw from the eastern city of Bakhmut after months of brutal fighting.
“It is important for us to defend it, but not at any price and not for everyone to die,” he said.
Russian forces have also been ramping up attacks in the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, which are also within the eastern Donetsk province.
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6h ago
16:06
Moscow denies limiting ammunition to Wagner forces
Tensions between Russia’s military and Wagner are heating up again after the mercenary group’s founder accused Moscow of starving his men of supplies and ammunition.
In an emotional message earlier, Yevgeny Prigozhin likened it to “treason” and said there was “direct opposition” to attempts to equip his fighters.
Russia’s Defence Ministry has now denied limiting ammunition shipments, calling this “absolutely untrue”.
“Attempts to create a split within the close mechanism of interaction and support between units of the Russian [fighting] groups are counter-productive and work solely to the benefit of the enemy,” it said.
It hit out at what it called “overexcited statements” and said military officials were doing all they could to supply fighters – although did not mention Wagner by name.
For context: Private military group Wagner has been fighting alongside conventional Russian forces in Ukraine, particularly in the fiercest battles in the east.
After the group raised its profile in recent months, Russia’s military leadership has sought to sideline Wagner and Mr Prigozhin.
It is no longer making direct references to Wagner in military reports, and there have been news reports that Mr Prigozhin was told to cut back on his criticisms of Russia’s military leadership.
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6h ago
15:42
Zelenskyy says he didn’t watch Putin’s speech
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has revealed he did not spend time watching Vladimir Putin’s two-hour speech today.
“I didn’t watch his address due to the fact that at that very time there were terrorist attacks in Kherson,” he said.
“21 people were injured, six were killed.”
The Russian president was giving his annual speech in front of the Federal Assembly earlier, in which he announced Moscow would pull out of a key nuclear treaty with the US.
At the time he was making his speech, a deadly attack was launched on the city of Kherson – in an area that Ukraine said was residential.
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6h ago
15:35
Listen to the Sky News Daily podcast: Has Putin’s ‘special operation’ in Ukraine failed?
On 24 February 2022, Vladimir Putin sent up to 200,000 soldiers into Ukraine, sparking Europe’s biggest movement of refugees since World War Two. The Russian president declared his goal was to “demilitarise and denazify” Ukraine and not occupy it by force.
With Ukraine forming closer ties to the West and an estimated 180,000 Russian soldiers killed or wounded, we look back at the changes of the last 12 months and what may come next.
On the Sky News Daily, Sally Lockwood talks to Sky’s security and defence correspondent Deborah Haynes, who is in Kyiv, and Ed Arnold, a research fellow for European security at the military think tank RUSI, about how Russia’s aims have changed.
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7h ago
15:23
Italy rules out sending fighter jets to Ukraine
Rome currently has no plans to offer fighter jets to Ukraine – a line that is also being taken by some other European countries.
Asked about the possibility of supplying modern jets to Kyiv, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said: “At the moment the supply of planes is not on the table.”
It followed a report by Italian daily la Repubblica that suggested Italy could supply five AMX bomber jets.
A majority of Italians oppose sending arms to Ukraine and would rather achieve peace by making concessions to Russia, surveys have shown.
However, Ms Meloni has firmly ruled out making concessions – something Ukraine has also refused to do.
The UK government has similarly said it will not supply fighter jets to Ukraine for now.
However, it has said it will train Ukrainian fighters on modern jets.
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7h ago
15:04
One of the fiercest battles of the conflict is intensifying as volunteers work to evacuate civilians
The Ukrainian soldiers fired an American round from a French mortar at a common enemy.
They said the target was a storage site for Russian munitions close to the city of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, where one of the fiercest battles of the war is intensifying.
“Fire!” yelled one of the troops.
A soldier, kneeling down, pulled a metal cord that triggered the MO-120 rifled towed mortar – a Cold War-era weapon with a new purpose.
It blasted the round into the cloudy sky and over snow-covered fields.
A third soldier stepped forward holding a second M1101 mortar round – shaped like a mini green rocket.
He dropped it down the barrel so the weapon could be fired again.
They launched three rounds in total before quickly moving to a more sheltered position – all too aware of the risk of Russian forces firing back.
An officer from the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, said his troops would win despite being pitched against much larger numbers of mercenaries as well as Russian soldiers along this frontline.
Read more on this from our security and defence editor Deborah Haynes below…
Ukraine war: One of the fiercest battles of the conflict is intensifying as volunteers work to evacuate civilians
Sky News
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8h ago
14:24
Putin submits draft law on pulling out of nuclear treaty
Russian politicians will tomorrow consider a draft law put forward by Vladimir Putin on suspending participation in the New START treaty.
The Russian president today announced his intention to pull out of the nuclear treaty with the US.
The Russian Duma, the lower house of parliament, will make an immediate decision on the draft law tomorrow before sending it to the Federation Council upper house.
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8h ago
14:10
Biden’s speech aims to push back against creeping war fatigue
By James Matthews, US correspondent
The setting and the timing amplified his message.
Joe Biden revisited familiar themes in his speech but they were elevated by the circumstances. This was the leader of the free world, on the front line, leading a fight for freedom.
The set-piece nature of events over the past 48 hours will resonate in Moscow, in NATO capitals and, importantly, at home.
This president is conscious of creeping war fatigue in the United States amidst an evolving political landscape.
The politics of Congress has changed here in a way that doesn’t necessarily strengthen US backing for continued aid and support.
The aid packages passed so far have been the product of a Democrat-controlled Congress. Ukraine has been told by the US to make best use of it while it can.
The Republicans now control the House of Representatives and, within the right-wing of that party, there is a vocal minority against continued funding.
The key influencers still fall on the side of continued support, but there’s no guarantee that can last.
Then there’s the public mood.
Although the majority are still in favour of continuing support, opposition to it has risen steadily – that’s reflected in public opinion polls.
There are questions about economic priorities. Hard times in the here and now are more tangible than notions of democracy versus autocracy that, however critical, are perhaps more distant.
Ukraine is one of the defining issues for Mr Biden’s presidency and the fight he styles as ‘democracy versus autocracy’ will be a central plank of his campaign for a second term in the White House.
If he ends up in a contest with Donald Trump, he will frame that in a similar fashion.
The night before Mr Biden gave his speech in Warsaw, Mr Trump was giving a nod to his regard for Vladimir Putin in a speech of his own.
If Mr Biden announces he’s running for the presidency again, he will doubtless frame a run-off against Mr Trump as the defender of democracy versus the man who would enable the autocrat.
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8h ago
13:58
Russia will continue to observe limits on nuclear warheads
Earlier, Moscow said it would suspend participation in a landmark nuclear treaty with the US – but it has confirmed it will continue to observe limits on the number of nuclear warheads it can deploy, in a slight dial-down of its rhetoric.
Under the New START treaty, which was signed in 2010 and extended until 2026, the US and Russia agreed to deploy no more than 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads and a maximum of 700 long-range missiles and bombers.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement today: “In order to maintain a sufficient degree of predictability and stability in the sphere of nuclear missiles, Russia intends to adhere to a responsible approach and will continue to strictly observe the quantitative restrictions provided for by the New START treaty within the life cycle of the treaty.”
It also said it would continue to notify the US of planned test launches of inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
Moscow’s decision to pull out of the treaty was condemned by the US, NATO and the UK.
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9h ago
13:27
Zelenskyy thanks Biden for ‘leadership’ – and says he wants war to end this year
The Ukrainian president has responded to Joe Biden’s speech from Warsaw this evening, thanking him for his “leadership in rallying the world in support of freedom”.
“Together we are heading towards a common victory, and we must ensure it this year already!” he said in a tweet – highlighting Ukraine’s hopes the war can be ended swiftly.
As we mentioned earlier, former US ambassador Michael McFaul commented that Mr Biden’s trip to Kyiv yesterday would have been an opportunity for Volodymyr Zelenskyy to push for more weapons to be provided swiftly to Ukraine.
While the West has said it will support Ukraine for as long as it takes, Ukrainians are hoping it will not be a drawn-out war – and that instead they can get enough support to drive out Russia in the much shorter term.
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9h ago
13:17
World without nuclear arms control would be ‘dangerous’, UN says
The United Nations has expressed concern over Russia’s decision to pull out of a landmark nuclear arms control treaty.
In a major speech today, Vladimir Putin said he would suspend Russia’s participation in the New START treaty.
Responding to the news, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said: “A world without nuclear arms control is a far more dangerous, unstable one, with potentially catastrophic consequences.
“Every effort should be taken to avoid this outcome, including an immediate return to dialogue.”
The British government earlier urged Mr Putin to go back on what it called his “rash” decision, while the US said it was “deeply unfortunate and irresponsible”.
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9h ago
13:07
Analysis: How two presidents appealed to their nations
By defence analyst Professor Michael Clarke
Two big speeches today from presidents of two big powers.
There were interesting stylistic differences, with Joe Biden speaking in Castle Square in the open air for about 20 minutes on a cold night.
You could tell how cold it was just from looking at the audience, but he stood there in his overcoat and delivered quite a passionate speech.
An important point: he used an autocue, and that meant that he could free his hands and look up.
He was passionate when he talked about Poland and democracy. He was angry when he talked about what Russia was doing. And he was determined when he talked about the way NATO was here to stay.
His audience, standing in the cold for 20 minutes, certainly looked more enthused than the audience in the Federal Assembly that Mr Putin addressed earlier in the day.
Mr Putin didn’t use an autocue. He was using his lectern and he was reading so he was looking down a lot.
He was not terribly enthused and his audience certainly didn’t look enthused either.
In terms of substance, they were both talking about big historical moments.
Mr Putin talked about the place of Russia in history. Mr Biden talked about the place of the world in history.
While Mr Biden was making a play for the Western world, Mr Putin was making a play for the defence of Russia.
The US president is playing to his own domestic audience just as much as the Russian president is playing to his, but Mr Biden was saying “this is not about America, this is about freedom”.
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9h ago
12:40
US warning to China ‘substantially reduced’ chances of weapons being sent to Russia
American officials are closely watching the relationship between Russia and China, after they warned over the weekend that Beijing is considering sending weapons to Moscow.
At the time, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it would be a “serious problem” if Beijing provided arms and ammunition.
Former US ambassador to Ukraine John E Herbst has now said this was a “clever” warning as it “reduces substantially the chances of that actually happening”.
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Herbst said he is not convinced the relationship between Russia and China is “tightening”.
“China has been very cautious about standing with Russia once it became clear [the war] was a fiasco,” he said.
He added that Beijing has avoided crossing the West’s red lines that would lead to sanctions.
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10h ago
12:22
A tale of two speeches…
Dancing onstage to the song Freedom by Kygo, Joe Biden was given something of a rockstar welcome in Warsaw.
The Biden administration might have said the US president’s speech wasn’t a “head-to-head” with Vladimir Putin’s, but the clear divide between the two addresses won’t have gone unnoticed.
Mr Putin’s rambling two-hour address took place in front of the Federal Assembly in Moscow, and was interrupted only by the occasional applause from politicians.
The US president opted for a different approach with a high-end stage set-up and crowds waving Polish, American and Ukrainian flags.
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10h ago
12:09
This was Biden the Cold War warrior
By Dominic Waghorn, international affairs editor
As billed by White House officials, this speech was about Ukraine but also “the larger contest at stake between those aggressors who are trying to destroy fundamental principles and those democracies who are pulling together to try to uphold it”.
This was Joe Biden the Cold War warrior and statesman whose lifelong belief in those principles of freedom and democracy took him all the way to war-torn Kyiv this week.
He recalled the Second World War struggles for freedom in this city and vowed its example would inspire the West’s battles today.
“The appetites of autocrats must not be appeased. They must be opposed,” he said.
His mission now is building on that stunning surprise visit and to rally allies and maintain solidarity and unity as we pass the grim milestone of the first anniversary of Russia’s unprovoked invasion.
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10h ago
12:05
Biden: ‘There is no nobler goal than freedom’
Joe Biden is now rounding up his address in Warsaw, insisting that there is “no nobler goal” than freedom.
He adds all that “we do now must be done so our children and grandchildren know it as well”.
In a memorable moment, Mr Biden says: “Freedom, the enemy of the tyrant and the hope of the ages.
“Freedom, stand with us, we will stand with you. Let us move forward with faith and conviction and a binding commitment to be allies.”
He then leaves the podium to applause from the audience as children waving flags come out to greet him and Coldplay blares over the speakers.
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10h ago
12:00
US to announce more sanctions this week, Biden says
The US and its Western allies are set to impose more sanctions on Russia this week, Joe Biden confirms.
He says they will “hold accountable those responsible for this war”.
The president also says he will host “every member of NATO” at a summit in the US next year.
Mr Biden says America’s commitment to the Western military alliance is “rock solid”.
“An attack against one is an attack against all,” he says.
