We’re offering rolling policy today, so here’s a fast update of what is happened over the last 24 hours.
The most significant development off the battlefield came during Sir Keir Starmer’s surprise visit to Kyiv, where he signed a landmark 100-year partnership agreement to deepen security ties – as we reported in the post below.
During his visit, Starmer said his government would supply Ukraine with a new cellular air defense system, which will be “developed to meet Ukraine’s needs. “
He added that the UK would play its “full role” in providing security assistance to Ukraine, and that discussions would continue in the coming months.
“We will work with you and all our allies on measures sufficient to keep Ukraine safe,” Starmer said.
“We will play our full part.”
Elsewhere:
Sir Keir Starmer has just arrived in Kyiv for his first visit to Ukraine as Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister received at the Kiev station through the British ambassador to Ukraine, Martin Harris, and the Ukrainian envoy in London, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
Sir Keir plans to sign a new long-term partnership agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later today.
Possibly today we would not write a blog about Ukraine; instead, you can stick to Starmer’s scale live politics in our ideal Policy Center. . .
We postpone our war policy in Ukraine for the moment, thank you for following us.
Before we go, here’s a round-up of the key events from today:
We can bring you some pictures of Ukrainian POWs returning home now, after an exchange with Russia we talked about earlier (see post 12:16).
“Today, 25 more of our people are returning home to Ukraine. These are our military and civilians,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said of the swap.
“The boys have serious injuries and illnesses. Each of them will receive all medical attention,” he said.
He also thanked the United Arab Emirates for its help in mediating the deal.
Joe Biden will mark the end of his term tonight when he broadcasts his final primary speech as president.
Biden has consistently called on the incoming Donald Trump to keep up funding for Ukraine after the Democrat leaves, but the Republican has signalled his stance is to seek peace as soon as possible.
During his tenure, the United States has committed about $200 billion in weapons, aid or ammunition to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022.
Analysts noted that outgoing President Biden has “taken the time” to push through a series of new spending and sanctions against the Russian regime.
A wave of sanctions hit Russian oil and manufacturers last week, and new sanctions were announced this afternoon (see previous article).
Donald Trump will be inaugurated as president next Monday.
You can read more about what this may mean in our 9:57 a. m. article. m. , or ask one of our experts by clicking the link in our 1:45 p. m. article. m. article.
The United States has imposed new sanctions on Russia, on the Treasury.
Several people, a China-based entity and a bank in Kyrgyzstan have been named in the latest wave of sanctions, which come in the final days of Joe Biden’s term.
Analysts noted that outgoing President Biden “took the time” to approve a series of new spending and sanctions against the Russian regime in anticipation of Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House.
Last week, a wave of sanctions hit Russian oil and manufacturers.
“The new team is preparing for a negotiation, and in a negotiation you need influence, and some of that influence has to come from the kind of economic tension that makes Putin perceive that he is going to continue paying a ‘significant’ impact. ” “security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday.
The return of Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine to kyiv as part of a possible peace deal “is not even up for discussion,” a senior Putin official said.
Nikolai Patrushev rejected the suggestion that Russia could be persuaded to cede all parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson provinces that it lately possessed.
In an interview published in the Russian media outlet Komsomolskaya Pravda, he said the concept was “not even a topic of discussion. ”
He reiterated long-standing Russian claims that sham elections in the regions in September 2022 turned them into Russian territory.
He also appeared to suggest that international recognition of the territories, as well as Crimea, as Russian may be central to any future peace deal.
In the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin chaired a video conference of the Pobeda organizing committee.
The Pobeda (meaning “victory”) is the annual Russian parade celebrating Soviet good fortune against Nazi Germany in World War II.
More so in Poland, where Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Tusk are holding a press conference.
The Ukrainian leader asked about reports that foreign troops could be sent to enforce a ceasefire line if a peace deal is reached.
Zelensky said the deployment of foreign troops to Ukraine could be just one component of security promises and would be sufficient on its own.
He also said he would discuss the issue with Sir Keir Starmer.
Donald Trump will be sworn in as president of the United States for now on Monday.
We’ll be covering the event live – starting with a live Q&A with our correspondents on Friday afternoon.
Do you have questions about the effect of Trump’s return to war in Ukraine?
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