Ukrainian President Zelenskyy urges European leaders visiting Kiev to pile more sanctions on Russia while President Putin evokes a famous WWII victory over Nazis to rally his nation as fighting enters its 345th day.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy was hosting top European Union officials, who were
visiting Kiev with promises to support Ukraine "as long as it takes" but denying the country at war with Russia a quick path to joining the Western bloc. (Reuters)
Friday, February 3, 2023
0848 GMT
Air raid alerts have sounded in Kiev and across Ukraine as a summit of European Union and Ukrainian leaders were due to begin in the country's capital.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was hosting top European Union officials, who were visiting Kiev with promises to support Ukraine "as long as it takes" but denying the country at war with Russia a quick path to joining the Western bloc.Zelenskiyy was hosting EU chairman Charles Michel and the bloc's chief executive, Ursula von der Leyen, ahead of the one-year anniversary of Moscow's attack that has devastated cities, killed tens of thousands of people, forced millions from their homes and shaken global food and energy supplies.
Zelenskiyy was hosting EU chairman Charles Michel and the bloc's chief executive, Ursula von der Leyen, ahead of the one-year anniversary of Moscow's attack that has devastated cities, killed tens of thousands of people, forced millions from their homes and shaken global food and energy supplies.
China's President Xi Jinping has been a little sobered by the fighting in Ukraine but it would be a mistake to underestimate Beijing and Moscow's commitment to partnership — CIA Director William Burns pic.twitter.com/xFbS7v9eMd
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) February 2, 2023
0950 GMT – Russia rejects reports that US offered Moscow secret Ukraine peace plan
The Kremlin has rejected as a "hoax" reports that US CIA Director William Burns had offered Moscow a secret peace deal that involved ceding Ukrainian territory to Russia.
The claim, reported by the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, has also been dismissed by Washington.
0957 GMT – Ukraine opens criminal case against head of mercenary group Wagner
The office of Ukraine's prosecutor general says it has launched a criminal case against Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the private military company Wagner.
Prigozhin is accused of "encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine" and "waging an aggressive war," according to a statement shared by the office on Telegram.
It also said two Wagner fighters located on the EU territory were interrogated, and another fighter in Norway is being checked for the involvement in Wagner's activities.
0906 GMT — Russian-backed Crimea authorities nationalise properties of Ukrainian politicians and businessmen
Moscow-supported authorities in occupied Crimea said that they had nationalised around 500 properties in the peninsula including some belonging to senior Ukrainian politicians and business figures.
In a statement on Telegram, Vladimir Konstantinov, speaker of the Russian-backed Crimean parliament, said that the decree targeted "accomplices of the Kiev regime" and that the nationalised properties included banks and tourist and sport infrastructure.According to a document published on the Kremlin-backed Crimean government website, properties belonging to former Ukrainian prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and businessmen Igor Kolomoisky, Rinat Akhmetov and Serhiy Taruta were among those confiscated.
0508 GMT — Ukraine’s allies push IMF to approve $14 bln-$16 bln loan
Ukraine's allies are pushing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to finalise plans for a multibillion-dollar lending programme, the Financial Times reported.
IMF representatives are planning to meet Ukrainian officials in mid-February to advance discussions over a loan that could range from $14 billion to $16 billion, the report said, citing officials familiar with the talks.president, said Xi was likely surprised and unsettled by what he described as the poor performance of Russia's military.
Burns added that Russia and China's friendship is not totally without limits.
Speaking on Moscow's invasion, Burns said the next six months will be "critical" for Ukraine, where Moscow has been making incremental gains in recent weeks.
CIA Director William Burns says intelligence agency assesses that next six months will be "critical" for Ukraine in its fight against Russia pic.twitter.com/iVbZMKyRvs
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) February 2, 2023
Source: Reuters
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