KYIV, Ukraine/WASHINGTON Jan 30 (Reuters) – The United States is not going to present the F-16 fighter jets that Ukraine has sought in its combat towards Russia, President Joe Biden stated on Monday, as Russian forces claimed a sequence of incremental gains within the nation’s east.

Ukraine deliberate to push for Western fourth-generation fighter jets such as the F-16 after securing provides of principal battle tanks final week, an adviser to Ukraine’s defence minister stated on Friday. A Ukrainian air power spokesman stated it will take its pilots about half a yr to coach on such fighter jets.

Asked if the United States would offer the jets, Biden instructed reporters on the White House, “No.”

The transient trade got here shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated that Russia had begun exacting its revenge for Ukraine’s resistance to its invasion with relentless assaults within the east.

Zelenskiy has warned for weeks that Moscow goals to step up its assault on Ukraine after about two months of digital stalemate alongside the entrance line that stretches throughout the south and east.

Ukraine received an enormous enhance final week when Germany and the United States introduced plans to supply heavy tanks, ending weeks of diplomatic impasse on the problem.

“The next big hurdle will now be the fighter jets,” Yuriy Sak, who advises Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, instructed Reuters on Friday.

While there was no signal of a broader new Russian offensive, the administrator of Russian-controlled elements of Ukraine’s japanese Donetsk province, Denis Pushilin, stated Russian troops had secured a foothold in Vuhledar, a coal-mining city whose ruins have been a Ukrainian bastion for the reason that outset of the warfare.

Pushilin stated Ukrainian forces had been persevering with to throw reinforcements at Bakhmut, Maryinka and Vuhledar, three cities operating from north to south simply west of Donetsk metropolis. The Russian state information company TASS quoted him as saying Russian forces had been making advances there, however “not clear-cut, that is, here there is a battle for literally every meter.”

Pushilin’s adviser, Yan Gagin, stated fighters from Russian mercenary power Wagner had taken partial management of a provide highway resulting in Bakhmut, a metropolis that has been Moscow’s principal focus for months.

A day earlier, the top of Wagner stated his fighters had secured Blahodatne, a village simply north of Bakhmut.

Kyiv stated it had repelled assaults on Blahodatne and Vuhledar, and Reuters couldn’t independently confirm the conditions there. But the places of the reported combating indicated clear, although gradual, Russian gains.

Zelenskiy stated Russian assaults within the east had been relentless regardless of heavy casualties on the Russian aspect, casting the assaults as payback for Ukraine’s success in pushing Russian forces again from the capital, northeast and south earlier within the battle.

“I think that Russia really wants its big revenge. I think they have (already) started it,” Zelenskiy instructed reporters within the southern port metropolis of Odesa.

Mykola Salamakha, a Ukrainian colonel and navy analyst, instructed Ukrainian Radio NV that Moscow’s assault in Vuhledar was coming at enormous value.

“The town is on an upland and an extremely strong defensive hub has been created there,” he stated. “This is a repetition of the situation in Bakhmut – one wave of Russian troops after another crushed by the Ukrainian armed forces.”

WESTERN DELAYS

The a whole lot of contemporary tanks and armoured automobiles pledged to Ukraine by Western international locations in current weeks for a counteroffensive to recapture territory are months away from supply.

This leaves Kyiv to combat by way of the winter in what either side have described as a meat grinder of relentless attritional warfare.

Moscow’s Wagner mercenary power has despatched hundreds of convicts recruited from Russian prisons into battle round Bakhmut, shopping for time for Russia’s common navy to reconstitute models with a whole lot of hundreds of reservists.

Zelenskiy is urging the West to hasten supply of its promised weapons so Ukraine can go on the offensive.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated Western international locations supplying arms leads “to NATO countries more and more becoming directly involved in the conflict – but it doesn’t have the potential to change the course of events and will not do so.”

The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War think-tank stated “the West’s failure to provide the necessary materiel” final yr was the primary motive Kyiv’s advances had halted since November.

That allowed Russia to use strain at Bakhmut and fortify the entrance towards a future Ukrainian counter-attack, its researchers stated in a report, although they stated Ukraine may nonetheless recapture territory as soon as the promised weapons arrive.

Zelenskiy met Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Monday in Mykolaiv, a uncommon go to by a international chief near the entrance. The metropolis, the place Russia’s advance within the south was halted, had been below relentless bombardment till Ukraine pushed the entrance line again in November.

Russia’s invasion, which it launched on Feb. 24 final yr claiming it was crucial to guard itself from its neighbour’s ties with the West, has killed tens of hundreds of individuals and pushed hundreds of thousands from their houses.

Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Kevin Liffey, Ronald Popeski and Reuters bureaus; Writing by Peter Graff, Philippa Fletcher and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Gareth Jones, William Maclean and Cynthia Osterman

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PRAGUE, Jan 28 (Reuters) – Former military chief and excessive NATO official Petr Pavel gained the Czech Republic’s presidential election on Saturday with a pledge to maintain the nation firmly anchored within the West and bridge society’s political variations.

Pavel, a 61-year-old retired general working for workplace for the primary time, gained 58.3% of the vote with all voting districts reporting remaining outcomes, defeating billionaire ex-premier Andrej Babis, a dominant however polarising pressure in Czech politics for a decade.

Pavel, a social liberal who had campaigned as an impartial and gained the backing of the centre-right authorities, conveyed a message of unity when addressing his supporters and journalists at a Prague live performance venue on Saturday as outcomes confirmed he had gained.

“Values such as truth, dignity, respect and humility won,” he stated.

“I am convinced that these values are shared by the vast majority of us, it is worth us trying to make them part of our lives and also return them to the Prague Castle and our politics.”

Pavel has additionally absolutely backed continued help for Ukraine in its defence in opposition to Russia’s invasion.

Czech presidents don’t have many day-to-day duties however they choose prime ministers and central financial institution heads, have a say in international coverage, are highly effective opinion makers, and might push the federal government on insurance policies.

Pavel will take workplace in March, changing outgoing Milos Zeman, a divisive determine himself throughout his two phrases in workplace over the previous decade who had backed Babis as his successor.

Zeman had pushed for nearer ties with Beijing and likewise with Moscow till Russia invaded Ukraine, and Pavel’s election will mark a pointy shift.

Turnout within the runoff vote that ended on Saturday was a report excessive 70.2%.

The results of the election will solely turn into official when printed in a authorized journal on Tuesday, however the consequence of the ballot was already clear on Saturday.

Babis, 68, a combative enterprise magnate who heads the largest opposition get together in parliament, had attacked Pavel as the federal government’s candidate. He sought to draw voters fighting hovering costs by vowing to push the federal government do extra to assist them.

Babis and Prime Minister Petr Fiala congratulated Pavel on his victory. Slovakia’s liberal President Zuzana Caputova appeared at Pavel’s headquarters to congratulate him, an indication of their shut political positions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy congratulated Pavel on his election on Twitter and stated he appeared ahead to shut cooperation.

EU AND NATO TIES

Pavel has backed protecting the central European nation of 10.5 million firmly within the European Union and NATO army alliance, and helps the federal government’s continued assist to Ukraine.

He helps adopting the euro, a subject that successive governments have saved on the again burner, and helps same-sex marriage and different progressive insurance policies.

A profession soldier, Pavel joined the military in Communist occasions, was embellished with a French army cross for valour throughout peacekeeping in former Yugoslavia within the Nineties, and later rose to guide the Czech general workers and turn into chairman of NATO’s army committee for 3 years earlier than retiring in 2018.

“I voted for Mr. Pavel because he is a decent and reasonable man and I think that the young generation has a future with him,” stated Abdulai Diop, 60, after voting in Prague on Saturday.

Babis had campaigned on fears of the conflict in Ukraine spreading, and sought to supply to dealer peace talks whereas suggesting Pavel, as a former soldier, may drag the Czechs right into a conflict, a declare Pavel rejected.

Reporting by Robert Muller, Jason Hovet and Jan Lopatka; Additional reporting by Jiri Skacel and Fedja Grulovic; Editing by Hugh Lawson, David Holmes and Helen Popper

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STOCKHOLM, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Protests in Stockholm on Saturday towards Turkey and Sweden’s bid to affix NATO, including the burning of a duplicate of the Koran, sharply heightened tensions with Turkey at a time when the Nordic nation wants Ankara’s backing to realize entry to the army alliance.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the vile attack on our holy book … Permitting this anti-Islam act, which targets Muslims and insults our sacred values, under the guise of freedom of expression is completely unacceptable,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry stated.

Its assertion was issued after an anti-immigrant politician from the far-right fringe burned a duplicate of the Koran close to the Turkish Embassy. The Turkish ministry urged Sweden to take needed actions towards the perpetrators and invited all nations to take concrete steps towards Islamophobia.

A separate protest befell in town supporting Kurds and towards Sweden’s bid to affix NATO. A bunch of pro-Turkish demonstrators additionally held a rally outdoors the embassy. All three occasions had police permits.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom stated that Islamophobic provocations had been appalling.

“Sweden has a far-reaching freedom of expression, but it does not imply that the Swedish Government, or myself, support the opinions expressed,” Billstrom stated on Twitter.

The Koran-burning was carried out by Rasmus Paludan, chief of Danish far-right political get together Hard Line. Paludan, who additionally has Swedish citizenship, has held various demonstrations in the previous the place he has burned the Koran.

Paludan couldn’t instantly be reached by electronic mail for a remark. In the allow he obtained from police, it says his protest was held towards Islam and what it known as Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s try to affect freedom of expression in Sweden.

Several Arab nations including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait denounced the Koran-burning. “Saudi Arabia calls for spreading the values of dialogue, tolerance, and coexistence, and rejects hatred and extremism,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry stated in an announcement.

Sweden and Finland utilized final yr to affix NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine however all 30 member states should approve their bids. Turkey has stated Sweden in specific should first take a clearer stance towards what it sees as terrorists, primarily Kurdish militants and a gaggle it blames for a 2016 coup try.

At the demonstration to protest Sweden’s NATO bid and to indicate help for Kurds, audio system stood in entrance of a giant crimson banner studying “We are all PKK”, referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party that’s outlawed in Turkey, Sweden, and the United States amongst different nations, and addressed a number of hundred pro-Kurdish and left-wing supporters.

“We will continue our opposition to the Swedish NATO application,” Thomas Pettersson, spokesperson for Alliance Against NATO and one among organizers of the demonstration, advised Reuters.

Police stated the scenario was calm in any respect three demonstrations.

In Istanbul, individuals in a gaggle of round 200 protesters set hearth to a Swedish flag in entrance of the Swedish consulate in response to the burning of the Koran.

SWEDISH MINISTER’S VISIT CANCELLED

Earlier on Saturday, Turkey stated that on account of lack of measures to limit protests, it had cancelled a deliberate go to to Ankara by the Swedish defence minister.

Jonson stated individually that he and Akar had met on Friday throughout a gathering of Western allies in Germany and had determined to postpone the deliberate assembly.

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar stated he had mentioned with Erdogan the dearth of measures to limit protests in Sweden towards Turkey and had conveyed Ankara’s response to Jonson on the sidelines of a gathering of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.

“It is unacceptable not to make a move or react to these (protests). The necessary things needed to be done, measures should have been taken,” Akar stated, in response to an announcement by Turkish Defence Ministry.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry had already summoned Sweden’s ambassador on Friday over the deliberate protests.

Finland and Sweden signed a three-way settlement with Turkey in 2022 aimed toward overcoming Ankara’s objections to their membership of NATO. Sweden says it has fulfilled its a part of the memorandum however Turkey is demanding extra, including the extradition of 130 individuals it deems to be terrorists.

Reporting by Omer Berberoglu, Ezgi Erkoyun and Bulent Usta in Istanbul and Niklas Pollard and Simon Johnson in Stockholm
Additional reporting by Moaz Abd-Alaziz in Cairo
Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun and Niklas Pollard
Editing by Toby Chopra and Frances Kerry

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LONDON/BRUSSELS, Jan 4 (Reuters) – Record-high winter temperatures swept throughout components of Europe over the brand new yr, bringing calls from activists for quicker motion in opposition to local weather change whereas providing short-term respite to governments scuffling with excessive gasoline costs.

Hundreds of web sites have seen temperature records smashed in the previous days, from Switzerland to Poland to Hungary, which registered its warmest Christmas Eve in Budapest and noticed temperatures climb to 18.9 levels Celsius (66.02°F) on Jan. 1.

In France, the place the evening of Dec. 30-31 was the warmest since records started, temperatures climbed to just about 25C in the southwest on New Year’s Day whereas usually bustling European ski resorts had been abandoned as a result of an absence of snow.

The Weather Service in Germany, the place temperatures of over 20C had been recorded, mentioned such a light flip of the yr had not been noticed in the nation since records started in 1881.

Czech Television reported some timber had been beginning to flower in non-public gardens whereas Switzerland’s workplace of Meteorology and Climatology issued a pollen warning to allergy victims from early blooming hazel vegetation.

The temperature hit 25.1C at Bilbao airport in Spain’s Basque nation. People basked in the solar as they sat outdoors Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum or walked alongside the River Nervion.

“It always rains a lot here, it’s very cold, and it’s January, (but now) it feels like summer,” mentioned Bilbao resident Eusebio Folgeira, 81.

French vacationer Joana Host mentioned: “It’s like nice weather for biking but we know it’s like the planet is burning. So we’re enjoying it but at the same time we’re scared.”

Scientists haven’t but analysed the particular methods in which local weather change affected the latest excessive temperatures, however January’s heat climate spell matches into the longer-term pattern of rising temperatures as a result of human-caused local weather change.

“Winters are becoming warmer in Europe as a result of global temperatures increasing,” mentioned Freja Vamborg, local weather scientist on the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

It follows one other yr of utmost climate occasions that scientists concluded had been instantly linked to world warming, together with lethal heatwaves in Europe and India, and flooding in Pakistan.

“The record-breaking heat across Europe over the new year was made more likely to happen by human-caused climate change, just as climate change is now making every heatwave more likely and hotter,” mentioned Dr Friederike Otto, local weather scientist at Imperial College London.

Temperature spikes may also trigger vegetation to begin rising earlier in the yr or coax animals out of hibernation early, making them susceptible to being killed off by later chilly snaps.

Robert Vautard, director of France’s Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute, mentioned that whereas temperatures peaked from Dec. 30 to Jan. 2, the gentle spell has lasted for 2 weeks and continues to be not over. “This is actually a relatively long-lived event,” he mentioned.

EMPTY SLOPES

French nationwide climate company Meteo France attributed the anomalous temperatures to a mass of heat air shifting to Europe from subtropical zones.

It struck in the course of the busy snowboarding season, resulting in cancelled journeys and empty slopes. Resorts in the northern Spanish areas of Asturias, Leon and Cantabria have been closed because the Christmas holidays for lack of snow.

On Jahorina mountain above the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, which hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics, it ought to have been one of many busiest weeks of the season. Instead, the chair-lifts hung lifeless above the grassy slopes. In one guesthouse a pair ate dinner alone in the restaurant, the one visitors.

A ski leaping occasion in Zakopane, southern Poland, deliberate for the weekend of Jan. 7-8 was cancelled.

Karsten Smid, a local weather skilled at Greenpeace Germany, mentioned whereas some local weather change impacts had been already unavoidable, pressing motion must be taken to forestall much more drastic world warming.

“What’s happening right now is exactly what climate scientists warned us about 10, 20 years ago, and that can no longer be prevented now,” Smid mentioned.

WEATHER EASES GAS STRAIN

The unusually gentle temperatures have provided some short-term aid to European governments who’ve struggled to safe scarce gasoline provides and preserve a lid on hovering costs after Russia slashed deliveries of the gas to Europe.

European governments have mentioned this power disaster ought to hasten their shift from fossil fuels to scrub power – however in the quick time period, plummeting Russian gas provides have left them racing to safe further gasoline from elsewhere.

Gas demand has fallen for heating in many international locations as a result of gentle spell, serving to to cut back costs.

The benchmark front-month gasoline worth was buying and selling at 70.25 euros per megawatt hour on Wednesday morning, its lowest stage since February 2022 – simply earlier than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The head of Italy’s power authority predicted that regulated power payments in the nation would fall this month, if the milder temperatures assist preserve gasoline costs decrease.

However, a be aware by Eurointelligence cautioned that this could not lull governments into complacency about Europe’s power disaster.

“While it will give governments more fiscal breathing room in the first part of this year, resolving Europe’s energy problems will taken concerted action over the course of several years,” it mentioned. “Nobody should believe this is over yet.”

Reporting by Kate Abnett, Richard Lough, Alan Charlish, Krisztina Than, Luiza Ilie, Susanna Twidale, Riham Alkousaa, Jason Hovet, Emma Pinedo, Kirsten Donovan, Federico Maccioni; writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Mark Heinrich

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KYIV/BAKHMUT, Ukraine, Dec 29 (Reuters) – Air raid sirens rang throughout Ukraine as Russia unleashed extra than 100 missiles on Thursday morning, in keeping with a Ukrainian presidential adviser, and blasts had been heard in a number of cities, together with the capital Kyiv.”A massive air raid. More than 100 missiles in several waves,” presidential workplace adviser Oleksiy Arestovych wrote on Facebook, and the top of Ukraine’s Mykolaiv area additionally reported Russian missiles in the air.

Explosions had been heard in Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Odesa, in keeping with a Reuters correspondent and native media experiences.

Power cuts had been introduced in the Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk areas, aimed toward minimising potential injury to the power infrastructure.

The blitz got here exhausting on the heels of the Kremlins rejection of a Ukrainian peace plan, insisting that Kyiv settle for Russia’s annexation of 4 areas.

Moscow has repeatedly denied concentrating on civilians, however Ukraine says its every day bombardment is destroying cities, cities, and the nation’s infrastructrure from energy to medical.

On Wednesday, Russian shelling hit the maternity wing of a hospital in town of Kherson, although no-one was damage, in keeping with Kyrylo Tymoshenko, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s deputy chief of employees. Staff and sufferers had been moved to a shelter, Tymoshenko mentioned in a put up on Telegram.

“It was frightening … the explosions began abruptly, the window handle started to tear off … oh, my hands are still shaking,” Olha Prysidko, a brand new mom, mentioned. “When we came to the basement, the shelling wasn’t over. Not for a minute.”

Ukraine’s just lately liberated southern metropolis of Kherson has remained beneath fixed bombardment from Russian forces which had retreated to the east financial institution of the river when town was retaken in a serious victory for Ukraine final month.

Zelenskiy, in a video tackle, urged Ukrainians to hug family members, inform associates they respect them, help colleagues, thank their dad and mom and rejoice with their youngsters extra usually.

“We have not lost our humanity, although we have endured terrible months,” he mentioned. “And we will not lose it, although there is a difficult year ahead.”

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Kyiv and its Western allies have denounced Russia’s actions as an imperialist-style land seize. Russian President Vladimir Putin calls it a “special military operation” to demilitarize its neighbour.

Sweeping sanctions have been imposed on Russia for the struggle, which has killed tens of 1000’s of individuals, pushed tens of millions from their houses, left cities in ruins and shaken the worldwide economic system, driving up power and meals costs.

Russian gasoline exports to Europe through pipelines collapsed to a post-Soviet low in 2022 as its largest buyer reduce imports as a result of Ukraine battle and a serious pipeline was broken by mysterious blasts, Gazprom knowledge and Reuters calculations present.

‘TODAY’S REALITIES’

There continues to be no prospect of talks to finish the struggle.

Zelenskiy is vigorously pushing a 10-point peace plan that envisages Russia respecting Ukraine’s territorial integrity and pulling out all its troops.

But Moscow dismissed it on Wednesday, reiterating Kyiv should settle for Russia’s annexation of the 4 areas – Luhansk and Donetsk in the east, and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south.

There will be no peace plan “that does not take into account today’s realities regarding Russian territory, with the entry of four regions into Russia”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov mentioned Zelenskiy’s thought of driving Russia out of jap Ukraine and Crimea with Western assist and getting Moscow to pay damages to Kyiv is an “illusion”, the RIA information company reported.

TASS cited Lavrov as saying that Russia would proceed to construct up its combating energy and technological capabilities in Ukraine. He mentioned that Moscow’s mobilised troops had undergone “serious training” and whereas many had been now on the bottom, the bulk weren’t but on the entrance.

Zelenskiy instructed parliament to stay united and praised Ukrainians for serving to the West “find itself again”.

“Our national colours are today an international symbol of courage and indomitability of the whole world,” he mentioned in an annual speech held behind closed doorways.

KHERSON ATTACKS

On the battlefront, Russia shelled extra than 25 settlements round Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces mentioned on Wednesday. The Kherson area, on the mouth of the Dnipro, serves as a gateway to Russian-annexed Crimea.

Heavy combating endured across the Ukrainian-held metropolis of Bakhmut, in the jap province of Donetsk, and to its north, across the cities of Svatove and Kreminna in Luhansk, the place Ukrainian forces try to interrupt Russian defensive traces.

Britain’s defence ministry mentioned Russia had probably bolstered the Kreminna part of the frontline as it’s logistically essential and comparatively susceptible following Ukrainian advances additional west.

Kyiv-based navy analyst Oleh Zhdanov famous that Kharkiv metropolis and area had additionally come beneath heavy assaults which broken a regional gasoline pipeline.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov mentioned in a Telegram put up that town had come beneath assault twice, “presumably” from Iranian Shahed drones, 5 of which Ukraine’s jap air command individually reported downing over town of Dnipro.

Reuters was unable to confirm battlefield experiences.

Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Himani Sarkar; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Michael Perry

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MOSCOW, Dec 25 (Reuters) – Russia is ready to negotiate with all events concerned within the battle in Ukraine however Kyiv and its Western backers have refused to interact in talks, President Vladimir Putin mentioned in an interview aired on Sunday.

Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine has triggered probably the most lethal European battle since World War Two and the most important confrontation between Moscow and the West because the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

There is, to this point, little finish in sight to the battle.

The Kremlin says it can struggle till all its goals are achieved whereas Kyiv says it is not going to relaxation till each Russian soldier is ejected from all of its territory.

“We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved about acceptable solutions, but that is up to them – we are not the ones refusing to negotiate, they are,” Putin instructed Rossiya 1 state tv.

An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mentioned Putin wanted to return to actuality and acknowledge it was Russia which didn’t want talks.

“Russia single-handedly attacked Ukraine and is killing citizens,” the adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, tweeted. “Russia doesn’t want negotiations, but tries to avoid responsibility.”

‘NO OTHER CHOICE’

Russian assaults on energy stations have left thousands and thousands with out electrical energy, and Zelenskiy mentioned Moscow would purpose to make the previous few days of 2022 darkish and tough.

“Russia has lost everything it could this year. … I know darkness will not prevent us from leading the occupiers to new defeats. But we have to be ready for any scenario,” he mentioned in a night video deal with.

The Ukrainian armed forces’ common workers mentioned there was nonetheless a menace of air and missile strikes on important infrastructure throughout the nation.

Russian troops had shelled dozens of cities and positions alongside the entrance line, it mentioned in a Facebook submit.

Zelenskiy, referring to a strike on the southern metropolis of Kherson on Saturday that officers say killed a minimum of 10 individuals, vowed, “We will find every Russian murderer”.

Putin accused the West of attempting to cleave Russia aside.

“I believe that we are acting in the right direction, we are defending our national interests, the interests of our citizens, our people. And we have no other choice but to protect our citizens,” Putin mentioned.

Asked if the geopolitical battle with the West was approaching a harmful stage, Putin mentioned: “I don’t think it’s so dangerous.”

Putin mentioned the West had begun the battle in 2014 by toppling a pro-Russian Ukrainian president within the Maidan Revolution protests.

Soon after, Russia annexed Crimea and Russian-backed separatist forces started combating in jap Ukraine.

“Actually, the fundamental thing here is the policy of our geopolitical opponents which is aimed at pulling apart Russia, historical Russia,” Putin mentioned.

Putin casts the battle in Ukraine, which he calls a “special military operation,” as a watershed second when Moscow lastly stood up to a Western bloc that he says has been in search of to destroy Russia because the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

Ukraine and the West say Putin has no justification for what they solid as an imperial-style battle of occupation.

Putin described Russia as a “unique country” and mentioned the overwhelming majority of its individuals had been united in wanting to defend it.

“As for the main part – the 99.9% of our citizens, our people who are ready to give everything for the interests of the Motherland – there is nothing unusual for me here,” Putin mentioned.

“This just once again convinces me that Russia is a unique country and that we have an exceptional people. This has been confirmed throughout the history of Russia’s existence.”

Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv and David Ljunggren in Ottawa;
Editing by Gareth Jones, Diane Craft and Leslie Adler

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KYIV, Dec 5 (Reuters) – A Group of Seven (G7) price cap on Russian seaborne oil got here into power on Monday because the West tries to restrict Moscow’s capability to finance its battle in Ukraine, although Russia has mentioned it is not going to abide by the measure even when it has to lower manufacturing.

The G7 nations and Australia on Friday agreed a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil after European Union members overcame resistance from Poland which wished it even decrease. Russia is the world’s second-largest oil exporter.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak referred to as it a gross interference that contradicted the principles of free commerce and would additional destabilise the market.

“We will sell oil and petroleum products only to those countries that will work with us under market conditions, even if we have to reduce production a little,” Novak, the Russian authorities official in command of its oil, gasoline, atomic vitality and coal, mentioned on Sunday.

The G7 settlement permits Russian oil to be shipped to third-party international locations utilizing G7 and EU tankers, insurance coverage firms and credit score establishments, provided that the cargo is purchased at or under the $60 per barrel cap.

Industry gamers and a U.S. official mentioned in October that Russia can entry sufficient tankers to ship most of its oil past the attain of the cap, underscoring the boundaries of probably the most formidable plan but to curb Russia’s wartime income.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mentioned $60 was too excessive to cease Russia waging battle in Ukraine. “You wouldn’t call it a serious decision to set such a limit for Russian prices, which is quite comfortable for the budget of a terrorist state.”

The United States and its allies have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia and despatched billions of {dollars} in army help to Ukraine since Russia invaded on Feb. 24.

French President Emmanuel Macron, nonetheless, drew criticism from Ukraine and its Baltic allies on the weekend for suggesting the West ought to take into account Russia’s want for safety ensures if it agrees to talks to finish the battle.

Zelenskiy’s aide, Mykhailo Podolyak, mentioned the world wanted safety ensures from Russia, not the opposite manner round.

In an additional signal of Western unease at a standoff that has created vitality and refugee crises in Europe, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday warned in opposition to creating a brand new Cold War by dividing the world into blocs.

‘TRAGIC NIGHT’

Both sides reported casualties from assaults in a single day, on an industrial enterprise and one other location in southern Ukraine and on state-run lodging in Russian-held territory within the east.

Three dormitories of the Donbass State Institute within the japanese Luhansk area had been hit early on Monday by Ukrainian hearth, killing 9 individuals, the area’s Russian-installed governor and Russia’s state-run information company TASS mentioned.

Pro-Russian Governor Leonid Pasechnik mentioned the dormitories had been getting used to home refugees and building employees.

In Kryvyi Rih, among the many largest cities in southern Ukraine, Russian rockets killed one individual and wounded three simply after midnight, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk area, Valentyn Reznichenko, mentioned.

“They aimed at an industrial enterprise,” Reznichenko mentioned on the Telegram messaging app with out giving particulars.

“It was a tragic night,” he mentioned, whereas the Head of Kryvyi Rih Military Administration Oleksandr Vilkul mentioned: “The destruction is very significant.”

In the southern Kherson area, the place Ukraine has compelled Russian forces to withdraw throughout the Dnipro River, governor Yaroslav Yanushevych mentioned Russian shelling had killed two individuals previously 24 hours.

Inside Russia, three individuals had been killed and 6 injured on Monday after a gasoline tanker exploded at a Russian airfield close to the town of Ryazan, southeast of Moscow, the RIA Novosti information company reported, with out giving a trigger.

Reuters couldn’t independently confirm the reviews.

Zelenskiy mentioned Ukrainian forces had been holding positions alongside the entrance line, together with close to Bakhmut within the east, seen as Russia’s subsequent goal of their advance by way of Donetsk area.

About 16 settlements, together with Bakhmut and close by Avdiivka, had been shelled by tanks, mortars, barrel and rocket artillery, the General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces mentioned.

Russia’s defence ministry mentioned its troops had been conducting profitable operations round Bakhmut and had pushed again Ukrainian assaults in the direction of Donetsk metropolis, the place Russian-installed officers mentioned Ukraine fired a minimum of 10 Grad rockets. There was no phrase on casualties.

The head of U.S. intelligence mentioned on Saturday that preventing in Ukraine was operating at a “reduced tempo” as each side put together for deliberate army advances after the winter.

PLANNED BLACKOUTS

“To get through this winter, we must be even more resilient and even more united than ever,” Zelenskiy mentioned in an in a single day video tackle.

Russia has been pounding energy infrastructure since early October, leaving tens of millions with out heating and lightweight with temperatures now properly under zero.

Russia says the assaults don’t goal civilians and are meant to cut back Ukraine’s capability to combat. Ukraine says the assaults are a battle crime.

DTEK, Ukraine’s greatest non-public electrical energy producer, mentioned the nation was returning to scheduled energy outages from Monday reasonably than the emergency blackouts it has suffered since a widespread Russian assault on Nov. 23.

Residents expressed reduction.

“Power is dancing happily in the windows,” Yaroslava Antipina wrote on Twitter below {a photograph} of condo blocks in Kyiv with their lights on.

Reporting by Nick Starkov and Reuters bureaus; Writing by Himani Sarkar and Philippa Fletcher; Editing by Robert Birsel and Peter Graff

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WASHINGTON/KHERSON, Ukraine, Dec 2 (Reuters) – The presidents of the United States and France mentioned they might hold Russia to account for its actions in Ukraine and the European Union reached tentative settlement on an oil value cap to squeeze Moscow’s export earnings.

Joe Biden additionally mentioned he can be prepared to communicate immediately to Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the warfare however that there was no signal of that occuring. In March, a month into Russia’s invasion, Biden referred to as Putin a “butcher” over his actions and mentioned the Kremlin chief “cannot stay in power”.

Now, after greater than 9 months of combating and with winter tightening its grip, Western international locations are attempting to increase assist for Ukraine because it reels from missile and drone assaults which have left hundreds of thousands with out heating, electrical energy and water.

Russia accused the United States and NATO of taking part in a direct and harmful function within the warfare and mentioned Washington had turned Kyiv into an existential risk for Moscow which it couldn’t ignore.

Fighting continued to rage in japanese Ukraine, with the city of Bakhmut the principle goal of Moscow’s artillery assaults, whereas Russian forces within the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia areas had been on the defensive, Ukraine’s General Staff mentioned.

In a bid to scale back the cash accessible for Moscow’s warfare effort, the European Union tentatively agreed on Thursday on a $60 a barrel value cap on Russian seaborne oil, in accordance to diplomats. The measure would want to be permitted by all EU governments in a written process by Friday.

‘NEVER AGAIN’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a video posted on Thursday night time, mentioned that Dec. 1 was the anniversary of a referendum 31 years in the past when Ukraine – then nonetheless a part of the Soviet Union – voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence.

“Our desire to live freely … will not be broken. Ukrainians will never again be a tiny stone in some empire,” Zelenskiy mentioned.

Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned in a joint assertion after Oval Office talks on Thursday that they had been dedicated to holding Russia to account “for widely documented atrocities and war crimes, committed both by its regular armed forces and by its proxies” in Ukraine.

Biden advised reporters he was ready to communicate with the Russian president “if in fact there is an interest in him deciding he’s looking for a way to end the war,” including that Putin “hasn’t done that yet”.

Macron mentioned he would proceed to discuss to Putin to “try to prevent escalation and to get some very concrete results” akin to the protection of nuclear crops.

The International Atomic Energy Agency hopes to attain an settlement with Russia and Ukraine to create a safety zone on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant by the top of the yr, the top of the U.N. atomic watchdog, Rafael Grossi, advised Italian newspaper La Repubblica in an interview.

Repeated shelling across the Russian-held plant has raised concern concerning the potential for a grave accident simply 500 km (300 miles) from the location of the world’s worst nuclear accident, the 1986 Chornobyl catastrophe.

There aren’t any political talks beneath manner to finish the warfare, which Russia started on Feb. 24 as a “special military operation” claiming its goal was to disarm its neighbour and root out leaders it characterises as harmful nationalists.

Ukraine and the West name it an imperialist land seize, which has killed tens of hundreds of Ukrainian civilians and troopers on either side.

Ukraine’s armed forces have misplaced someplace between 10,000 and 13,000 troopers up to now, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak advised a Ukrainian tv community on Thursday.

“We will never urge the Ukrainians to make a compromise which will not be acceptable for them, because they are so brave,” Macron mentioned in Washington.

ATTACKS

Russia has not too long ago intensified a marketing campaign to knock out energy, water and warmth provides in Ukrainian cities. Ukraine and the West say the technique intentionally intends to hurt civilians, a warfare crime, one thing Moscow denies.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko on Thursday advised residents to replenish on water, meals and heat garments within the occasion of a complete blackout.

The assaults on infrastructure are possible to enhance the associated fee to hold Ukraine’s economic system going subsequent yr by up to $1 billion a month, and assist to the nation would want to be “front-loaded”, IMF head Kristalina Georgieva advised the Reuters NEXT convention on Thursday.

In the early hours of Friday, Russian forces shelled a constructing within the Ukrainian-held metropolis of Zaporizhzhia, setting it ablaze, metropolis official Anatoly Krutyev mentioned.

Russian forces, having deserted the strategic southern metropolis of Kherson in November, are attempting to set up defensive positions and are shelling a number of cities to the north, Ukraine’s General Staff mentioned in an announcement in a single day.

Reuters couldn’t independently verify battlefield reviews.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, talking throughout an annual information convention in Moscow, mentioned NATO and the United States had been taking part immediately within the battle by sending deadly weapons into Ukraine “to kill Russians”.

Lavrov additionally mentioned current missile strikes focusing on Ukraine’s civil infrastructure had been aimed toward stopping Kyiv from importing Western arms. He didn’t clarify how such assaults might obtain that goal.

Germany plans to ship seven Gepard tanks to Ukraine subsequent spring, including to 30 already getting used to battle in opposition to Russian forces, Spiegel journal reported on Friday.

In an indication that some channels of communication stay open, Russia’s Defence Ministry and the top of Ukraine’s presidential administration mentioned the 2 international locations swapped 50 service personnel on Thursday.

Reporting by Reuters bureaux; writing by Stephen Coates and Gareth Jones; modifying by Simon Cameron-Moore and Nick Macfie

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PRAGUE/WARSAW, Nov 24 (Reuters) – Eastern Europe’s arms industry is churning out weapons, artillery shells and different navy provides at a tempo not seen for the reason that Cold War as governments within the area lead efforts to help Ukraine in its struggle in opposition to Russia.

Allies have been supplying Kyiv with weapons and navy gear since Russia invaded its neighbour on Feb. 24, depleting their very own inventories alongside the way in which.

The United States and Britain dedicated essentially the most direct navy support to Ukraine between Jan. 24 and Oct. 3, a Kiel Institute for the World Economy tracker shows, with Poland in third place and the Czech Republic ninth.

Still cautious of Russia, their Soviet-era grasp, some former Warsaw Pact nations see serving to Ukraine as a matter of regional safety.

But practically a dozen authorities and firm officers and analysts who spoke to Reuters stated the battle additionally offered new alternatives for the area’s arms industry.

“Taking into account the realities of the ongoing war in Ukraine and the visible attitude of many countries aimed at increased spending in the field of defence budgets, there is a real chance to enter new markets and increase export revenues in the coming years,” stated Sebastian Chwalek, CEO of Poland’s PGZ.

State-owned PGZ controls greater than 50 corporations making weapons and ammunition – from armoured transporters to unmanned air techniques – and holds stakes in dozens extra.

It now plans to take a position as much as 8 billion zlotys ($1.8 billion)over the following decade, greater than double its pre-war goal, Chwalek advised Reuters. That consists of new amenities situated farther from the border with Russia’s ally Belarus for safety causes, he stated.

Other producers too are rising manufacturing capability and racing to rent employees, corporations and authorities officers from Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic stated.

Immediately after Russia’s assault some japanese European militaries and producers started emptying their warehouses of Soviet-era weapons and ammunition that Ukrainians have been aware of, as Kyiv waited for NATO-standard gear from the West.

As these shares have dwindled, arms makers have cranked up manufacturing of each older and fashionable gear to maintain provides flowing. The stream of weapons has helped Ukraine push again Russian forces and reclaim swathes of territory.

Chwalek stated PGZ would now produce 1,000 transportable Piorun manpad air-defence techniques in 2023 – not all for Ukraine -compared to 600 in 2022 and 300 to 350 in earlier years.

The firm, which he stated has additionally delivered artillery and mortar techniques, howitzers, bulletproof vests, small arms and ammunition to Ukraine, is more likely to surpass a pre-war 2022 income goal of 6.74 billion zlotys.

Companies and officers who spoke to Reuters declined to provide particular particulars of navy provides to Ukraine, and a few didn’t wish to be recognized, citing safety and business sensitivities.

HISTORIC INDUSTRY

Eastern Europe’s arms industry dates again to the nineteenth Century, when Czech Emil Skoda started manufacturing weapons for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Under Communism, large factories in Czechoslovakia, the Warsaw Pact’s second-largest weapons producer, Poland and elsewhere within the area saved folks employed, turning out weapons for Cold War conflicts Moscow stoked around the globe.

“The Czech Republic was one of the powerhouses of weapons exporters and we have the personnel, material base and production lines needed to increase capacity,” its NATO Ambassador Jakub Landovsky advised Reuters.

“This is a great chance for the Czechs to increase what we need after giving the Ukrainians the old Soviet-era stocks. This can show other countries we can be a reliable partner in the arms industry.”

The 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and NATO’s enlargement into the area pushed corporations to modernise, however “they can still quickly produce things like ammunition that fits the Soviet systems”, stated Siemon Wezeman, a researcher on the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Deliveries to Ukraine have included artillery rounds of “Eastern” calibres, such as 152mm howitzer rounds and 122mm rockets not produced by Western corporations, officers and corporations stated.

They stated Ukraine had acquired weapons and gear through donations from governments and direct business contracts between Kyiv and the producers.

NOT JUST BUSINESS

“Eastern European countries support Ukraine substantially,” Christoph Trebesch, a professor on the Kiel Institute, stated. “At the same time it’s an opportunity for them to build up their military production industry.”

Ukraine has obtained practically 50 billion crowns ($2.1 billion) of weapons and gear from Czech corporations, about 95% of which have been business deliveries, Czech Deputy Defence Minister Tomas Kopecny advised Reuters. Czech arms exports this 12 months would be the highest since 1989, he stated, with many corporations within the sector including jobs and capability.

“For the Czech defence industry, the conflict in Ukraine, and the assistance it provides is clearly a boost that we have not seen in the last 30 years,” Kopecny stated.

David Hac, chief govt of Czech STV Group, outlined to Reuters plans so as to add new manufacturing strains for small-calibre ammunition and stated it’s contemplating increasing its large-calibre functionality. In a decent labour market, the corporate is attempting to poach employees from a slowing automotive industry, he stated.

Defence gross sales helped the Czechoslovak Group, which owns corporations together with Excalibur Army, Tatra Trucks and Tatra Defence, practically double its first-half revenues from a 12 months earlier, to 13.8 billion crowns.

The firm is rising manufacturing of each 155mm NATO and 152mm Eastern calibre rounds and refurbishing infantry preventing autos and Soviet-era T-72 tanks, spokesman Andrej Cirtek advised Reuters.

He stated supplying Ukraine was extra than simply good enterprise.

“After the Russian aggression started, our deliveries for Ukrainian army multiplied,” Cirtek stated.

“The majority of the Czech population still remember times of a Russian occupation of our country before 1990 and we don´t want to have Russian troops closer to our borders.”

($1 = 4.5165 zlotys)

($1 = 23.3850 Czech crowns)

Reporting by Michael Kahn and Robert Muller in Prague and Anna Koper in Warsaw; Editing by Catherine Evans

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KYIV, Nov 22 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed to Ukrainians to preserve vitality amid relentless Russian strikes which have halved the nation’s power capacity, as the United Nations well being physique warned of a humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine this winter.

Authorities stated thousands and thousands of Ukrainians, together with within the capital Kyiv, may face power cuts not less than till the top of March because of the missile assaults, which Ukraine’s nationwide grid operator Ukrenergo stated had wreaked “colossal” injury.

Temperatures have been unseasonably gentle in Ukraine this autumn, however are beginning to dip under zero and are anticipated to drop to -20 Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit) and even decrease in some areas through the winter months.

Russia’s focusing on of Ukrainian vitality amenities follows a sequence of battlefield setbacks which have included a pullout of Russian forces from the southern metropolis of Kherson to the east financial institution of the mighty Dnipro River that bisects the nation.

“The systematic damage to our energy system from strikes by the Russian terrorists is so considerable that all our people and businesses should be mindful and redistribute their consumption throughout the day,” Zelenskiy stated in his nightly video deal with.

Ukrenergo’s chief Volodymyr Kudrytskyi stated on Tuesday that virtually no thermal or hydroelectric stations had been left unscathed, although he dismissed the necessity to evacuate civilians.

“We cannot generate as much energy as consumers can use,” Kudrytskyi instructed a briefing, including that after a short chilly snap on Wednesday temperatures had been anticipated to rise once more, offering a possibility to stabilise the power producing system.

‘DARKEST DAYS’

The World Health Organization (WHO) stated tons of of Ukrainian hospitals and healthcare amenities lacked gasoline, water and electrical energy to fulfill individuals’s primary wants.

“Ukraine’s health system is facing its darkest days in the war so far. Having endured more than 700 attacks, it is now also a victim of the energy crisis,” Hans Kluge, WHO’s regional director for Europe, stated in an announcement after visiting Ukraine.

Workers are racing to restore broken power infrastructure, in line with Sergey Kovalenko, the pinnacle of YASNO, which supplies vitality for Kyiv.

“Stock up on warm clothes, blankets, think about options that will help you get through a long outage,” Kovalenko stated. “It’s better to do it now than to be miserable.”

In a Telegram message for Kherson residents – particularly the aged, ladies with kids and people who are ailing or disabled – Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk posted various methods residents can specific curiosity in leaving.

“You can be evacuated for the winter period to safer regions of the country,” she wrote.

Russia’s strikes on vitality infrastructure are a consequence of Kyiv being unwilling to barter, the state information company TASS quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying final week.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak stated Russia was bombarding Kherson from throughout the Dnipro River now that its troops had fled. “There is no military logic: they just want to take revenge on the locals,” he tweeted late on Monday.

Ukraine’s Suspilne information company reported contemporary explosions in Kherson metropolis on Tuesday.

Moscow denies deliberately focusing on civilians in what it calls a “special military operation” to rid Ukraine of nationalists and defend Russian-speaking communities.

Kyiv and the West describe Russia’s actions as an unprovoked, imperialist land seize within the neighbouring state it as soon as dominated inside the former Soviet Union.

The nine-month warfare has killed tens of hundreds of individuals, uprooted thousands and thousands and pummelled the worldwide economic system, driving up meals and vitality costs. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) stated on Tuesday the world’s worst vitality disaster because the Seventies would set off a pointy slowdown, with Europe hit hardest.

Meanwhile Ukraine on Tuesday acquired a brand new 2.5 billion euro ($2.57 billion) tranche of economic help from the European Union, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko stated.

RAID ON MONASTERY

Ukraine’s SBU safety service and police raided a 1,000-year-old Orthodox Christian monastery in Kyiv early on Tuesday as a part of operations to counter suspected “subversive activities by Russian special services”, the SBU stated.

The sprawling Kyiv Pechersk Lavra complicated – or Monastery of the Caves – is a Ukrainian cultural treasure and the headquarters of the Russian-backed wing of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that falls underneath the Moscow Patriarchate.

Russia’s Orthodox Church condemned the raid as an “act of intimidation”.

Battles continued to rage within the east, the place Russia has despatched among the forces it shifted from round Kherson within the south, urgent an offensive of its personal alongside a stretch of frontline west of town of Donetsk held by its proxies since 2014.

“The enemy does not stop shelling the positions of our troops and settlements near the contact line (in the Donetsk region),” Ukraine’s armed forces General Staff stated on Tuesday.

“Attacks continue to damage critical infrastructure and civilian homes.”

Four individuals had been killed and 4 others wounded in Ukraine-controlled areas of the Donetsk area over the previous 24 hours, regional governor Pavlo Kyryleno stated on the Telegram messaging app.

Russian shelling additionally hit a humanitarian help distribution centre within the city of Orihiv in southeastern Ukraine on Tuesday, killing a volunteer and wounding two ladies, the regional governor stated.

Orihiv is about 110 km (70 miles) east of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station which has been shelled once more up to now few days, with Russia and Ukraine buying and selling blame for the blasts.

Experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) toured the location on Monday. The company, which has repeatedly referred to as for an instantaneous cessation of hostilities within the space to keep away from a significant catastrophe, stated the specialists discovered widespread injury however nothing that compromised the plant’s important techniques.

The Kremlin stated on Tuesday that no substantive progress had been made in the direction of making a safety zone across the nuclear reactor complicated, Europe’s largest.

Reporting by Oleksandr Kozhukhar and Maria Starkova in Kyiv, Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and Ronald Popeski in Winnipeg; Writing by Shri Navaratnam and Gareth Jones; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Alex Richardson and Mark Heinrich

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