Russia-Ukraine war live: Kremlin warns of conflict with Nato if alliance troops fight in Ukraine | Ukraine

Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, told The Associated Press that the military alliance has no plans to send combat troops into Ukraine.

Stoltenberg said that “Nato allies are providing unprecedented support to Ukraine. We have done that since 2014 and stepped up after the full-scale invasion. But there are no plans for Nato combat troops on the ground in Ukraine.”

Ahead of a trip to Paris on Monday, where top officials from over 20 countries discussed options to increase help for Ukraine, Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, said that some are weighing whether to strike bilateral deals to send troops to Ukraine to help it fend off the full-scale Russian invasion.

Fico said that his government is not planning to propose to send Slovak soldiers, but did not provide details about what countries might be considering such deals, or what the troops would do in Ukraine.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday he refused to rule out sending ground troops to Ukraine, though he said no consensus existed on the step.

Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has ruled out suggestions that European countries and Nato alliance members would send ground troops to Ukraine, a day after Emmanuel Macron had left open the prospect of doing so (see earlier post at 08.37 for more details).

He said:

Once again, in a very good debate, it was discussed that what was agreed from the outset among ourselves and with each other also applies to the future, namely that there will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European countries or Nato states.

Scholz did, however, say that European leaders now appeared willing to procure weapons from third countries outside Europe as a way of speeding up military aid to Ukraine.

Hungary is not willing to send weapons or troops to Ukraine and this stance is “rock solid,” the country’s foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We hear and see the news about last night’s meeting in Paris. Hungary’s stance is clear and rock-solid: we are not willing to send either weapons or troops to Ukraine,” Szijjarto said.

Sweden’s prime minister has also ruled out sending troops to Ukraine, for now, as did the leaders of Poland and the Czech Republic.

Ukrainian forces shot down a Russian Su-34 fighter jet on the eastern front, air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk has said.

He wrote on Telegram:

Yesterday, Russian pilots managed to evade our missiles, but this will not always be the case.

The destruction of the jet is the latest in a recent uptick of downed Russian planes.

Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s commander in chief, said in mid-January that his air force had destroyed an A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft and an Il-22 control centre plane.

Ukraine’s intelligence agencies also said that month that they were behind an attack on an Su-24 jet, parked at an airbase outside the Russian city of Chelyabinsk. It was burned down. A teenager was later arrested.

In December, Russia’s own air defences shot down a Russian Su-25 jet. Earlier the same month Ukraine destroyed an Su-24M bomber.

One of Russia’s longest-serving and most respected human rights campaigners, Oleg Orlov, has been sentenced to two and a half years in jail for denouncing the war in Ukraine.

Orlov, who is 70, has served for more than two decades as one of the leaders of the Memorial human rights organisation, which won a share of the Nobel peace prize in 2022 a year after being banned in Russia.

He was accused by the Russian prosecutors of “discrediting” the Russian army in an opinion piece in French media in which he wrote that Russian troops were committing “mass murder” in Ukraine and that his country had “slipped back into totalitarianism”.

Orlov has been an outspoken critic of the war in Ukraine and, back home, the war on dissent.

In his closing speech to the court, Orlov maintained that he had committed no crime and regretted nothing, instead castigating the “totalitarian” and “fascist” Russian state.

Speaking to the judge and the prosecutor, Orlov said: “Isn’t it scary to watch what our country, which you probably also love, is turning into? Isn’t it scary that in this absurdity, in this dystopia, maybe not only you and your children will have to live, but also, God forbid, your grandchildren?”

You can read the full story by the Guardian’s Russian affairs correspondent, Pjotr Sauer, here:

The Kremlin has suggested that conflict between Russia and the US-led Nato military alliance would become inevitable if European members of Nato sent troops to fight in Ukraine, Reuters reports.

Sweden, Poland and the Czech Republic have distanced themselves from Emmanuel Macron saying on Monday that there was “no consensus” on sending western troops to Ukraine but “nothing should be excluded” (see post at 10am).

“The very fact of discussing the possibility of sending certain contingents to Ukraine from Nato countries is a very important new element,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about Macron’s remarks.

Asked by reporters what the risks of a direct Russia-Nato conflict would be if Nato members sent their troops to fight in Ukraine, Peskov said:

“In that case, we would need to talk not about the probability, but about the inevitability (of a direct conflict).”

French officials have become worried there has been no single galvanising western force responding to Vladimir Putin putting his economy on such an effective war footing, and insufficiently clear practical responses had emerged from the west.

Ukrainian forces report shortages of weapons and ammunition, as a grinding stalemate gives way to Russian gains.

Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, has ruled out sending troops to Ukraine for now – saying it is “not relevant at all right now” – putting a clear marker down between himself and Emmanuel Macron.

Kristersson, who on Monday hailed a “historic day” as Sweden’s Nato membership was finally approved by Hungary, clearing the historically neutral country’s path to the western military alliance, said while he respects “France’s will to help Ukraine,” Sweden was following its own path.

His comments, on Tuesday morning, came after the French president initiated the first open discussion of nations collectively considering sending troops to Ukraine.

He said on Monday: “There is no consensus to officially back any ground troops. That said, nothing should be excluded. We will do everything that we can to make sure that Russia does not prevail.”

But asked about the possibility of Swedish involvement, Kristersson said the question of Sweden sending troops to Ukraine “is not relevant at all right now”.

He told Swedish broadcaster SVT: “Right now we are fully occupied with sending advanced materials to from Sweden to Ukraine in many different ways, like many other countries are. So that is a whole other thing.

“There are not any requests from Ukraine’s side either for that. That question is not relevant.

“However, you could say that different countries have different traditions of engaging themselves in other countries. And France’s tradition is not the Swedish tradition. So I have respect for France’s will to help Ukraine. We are now helping Ukraine in a different way with a lot of advanced material.”

Asked whether he could exclude Sweden from sending troops if the request came, he conceded: “We live in very special times now, so a general exclusion of things …”

But, he added: “It is not relevant at all right now. There is no discussion like that ongoing in Sweden. We are participating by sending resources, materials and money to Ukraine and that is appreciated very much.”

Sweden, Poland and the Czech Republic have said they are not considering sending troops to Ukraine, after being asked about comments made by France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, not ruling out the option for European nations.

Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said this morning he will not be sending troops to Ukraine, saying it is not a relevant question for Nato at the moment.

He told Swedish broadcaster SVT: “Right now we are fully occupied with sending advanced materials to from Sweden to Ukraine in many different ways, like many other countries are. So that is a whole other thing.

“There are not any requests from Ukraine’s side either for that. That question is not relevant.

The comments come a day after Hungary’s parliament approved Sweden’s Nato accession nearly two years after the historically neutral country applied to join the western military alliance.

On Tuesday morning, the Czech prime minister, Petr Fiala, said he is not considering sending any troops to Ukraine, with Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, saying the same about Poland.

Speaking at a meeting of 20 mainly European leaders in Paris on Monday, Macron said “there is no consensus to officially back any ground troops. That said, nothing should be excluded. We will do everything that we can to make sure that Russia does not prevail.”

France’s prime minister, Gabriel Attal, said on Tuesday that nothing was off the table in western efforts to prevent a Russian victory in Ukraine.

Speaking a day after France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, said that sending western ground troops was not excluded, Attal said that “you can’t rule anything out in a war”.

He told the RTL broadcaster that there was “no consensus” on any “official” deployment of ground troops.

“But no dynamic can be ruled out. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that Russia cannot win this war,” he said.

After initial successes in pushing back the Russian army, Ukraine has suffered setbacks on eastern battlefields, with its generals complaining of shortages of arms and soldiers.

The EU promised last year to send Ukraine 1m artillery shells before the end of March 2024, but then said it would only be able to deliver just over 50% of that amount.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has suggested that the EU had not been able to meet even its reduced target. Kyiv has blamed the deficit in shells for its failure to hold positions, let alone make advances.

North Korea has shipped about 6,700 containers carrying millions of munitions to Russia since July to support Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, South Korean media reported on Tuesday.

South Korea’s defence minister, Shin Won-sik, said the containers might carry more than 3 million 152mm artillery shells, or 500,000 122mm rounds.

“It could possibly be a mix of the two, and you can say that at least several million shells have been sent,” Shin said, according to the Yonhap news agency.

Hundreds of North Korean munitions factories are running at about 30% of their capacity due to a lack of raw materials and electricity, but those producing artillery shells for Russia were operating “at full swing,” he said.

Russia and North Korea have been moving closer since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meeting Vladimir Putin in Russia’s far east in September.

US and South Korean officials say that Russia, long a pre-eminent military power, has become so desperate to replenish its arsenal that it has turned to North Korean and Iranian imports.

The US state department, in a fact sheet released on Friday, said that North Korea has delivered more than 10,000 containers of munitions or related materials to Russia since September.

In exchange, North Korea has received 9,000 containers mostly containing food supplies, which Shin said has helped stabilise prices there.

France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, said on Monday he refused to rule out sending ground troops to Ukraine, but said no consensus existed on the step, at a meeting of 20 mainly European leaders in Paris.

Protecting France’s strategic ambiguity he said “there is no consensus to officially back any ground troops. That said, nothing should be excluded. We will do everything that we can to make sure that Russia does not prevail.”

It is the first time there has been such open discussion of nation states collectively looking at providing troops to support the depleted Ukrainian military manpower.

Macron also announced that a new coalition will work to supply Ukraine with “medium- and long-range missiles and bombs”.

France and other allies of Ukraine will “create a coalition for deep strikes and therefore medium- and long-range missiles and bombs,” Macron was quoted as saying at a press conference.

Monday’s crisis meeting in support of Ukraine was attended by heads of European states, including Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and top government officials such as the UK’s foreign secretary and former prime minister, David Cameron.

You can read more on the story in this piece by the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour:

Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Here are the latest developments:

• France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has not ruled out sending ground troops to Ukraine. He said: “There is no consensus to officially back any ground troops. That said, nothing should be excluded. We will do everything that we can to make sure that Russia does not prevail.” Macron spoke after he led a meeting of 20 mainly European leaders in Paris on Monday to ramp up the European response to Russian military advances inside Ukraine. It is the first time there has been such open discussion of Ukraine’s allies providing troops. Macron said past shibboleths against sending long-range missiles and planes to Ukraine had been cast aside. “People used to say give them just sleeping bags and helmets … We must do whatever we can to obtain our objective.”

• Macron was clear a consensus existed that Russia would seek to attack other countries in a few years. He said Russia “must not and cannot win this war” and that Europe’s own security was at stake. “We are in the process of ensuring our collective security, for today and tomorrow.”

• The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has reiterated his reluctance to send Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, pointing to a risk of Germany becoming directly involved in the war if Taurus is used to hit targets deep within Russia. “This is a very long-range weapon, and what the British and French are doing in terms of targeting and supporting targeting cannot be done in Germany,” Scholz said. France and Britain have supplied Kyiv with Scalp/Storm Shadow missiles that go about 250km (155 miles). Taurus can reach targets up to 500km away.

• Russia has made confirmed advances near Kreminna, Bakhmut, and Avdiivka while continuing to fight for positions along the entire frontline, according to the Institute for the Study of War. The thinktank also assessed that Russia holds the initiative on the battlefield generally, and for as long as that remains the case its troops can undertake offensives at a time and place of their choosing.

• Ukraine has received less than a third of the one million artillery shells the European Union promised to deliver by now, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said. The Netherlands will contribute €100m to a Czech initiative to buy ammunition for Ukraine from countries around the world, the Dutch PM, Mark Rutte, said on Monday.

• Mike Johnson, the US House speaker, will be to blame if US aid for Ukraine is blocked and Russia advances on the battlefield, Poland’s foreign minister has said. Radoslaw Sikorski urged Johnson to allow a vote on US$95bn funding bill containing US$60bn in security aid for Ukraine that has already passed the Senate in a 70-30 bipartisan vote.

• Russia claims its troops have captured the Ukrainian village of Lastochkyne, about five kilometres north-west of Avdiivka. On Monday, Ukraine’s military said it had retreated from the village, in eastern Ukraine, to help it better contain Russian troops’ attempts to advance westwards.

• Hungary’s parliament has approved Sweden joining Nato after months of delay. The formerly neutral country joining is a direct result of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, hailed the news, calling it a historic day and said Sweden was ready to take up its responsibility in the alliance.