We’re not providing rolling coverage today, so here’s a quick update on what’s happened over the past 24 hours.
The most significant progression off the battlefield came with Sir Keir Starmer’s wonderful stopover in kyiv, where he signed a historic 100-year partnership agreement to deepen security ties, as we report in the article 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 will play “its full role” in assisting Ukraine’s security and that discussions will continue in the coming months.
“We will work with you and all of our allies on steps that would be robust enough to guarantee Ukraine’s security,” 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 was greeted at Kyiv railway station by the UK ambassador to Ukraine, Martin Harris, and Ukraine’s envoy to London, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
Sir Keir plans to sign a new long-term partnership agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later today.
We won’t have a Ukraine blog today – instead you can follow live coverage of Starmer’s visit in our excellent Politics Hub…
For the moment we are postponing our war policy in Ukraine, please.
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, another 25 people are returning to their homes in Ukraine. Those are our military and civilians,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said of the exchange.
“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 mediating the deal.
Joe Biden will mark the end of his term this evening when his final major speech as president is broadcast.
Biden has consistently called on the new Donald Trump to invest in Ukraine after the Democrat leaves office, but the Republican has indicated that his position is to seek peace as temporarily 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 “took the time” to approve a series of new spending and sanctions on 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 president on 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 US has issued fresh Russia-related sanctions, according to the Treasury.
Multiple individuals, a China-based entity and a bank in Kyrgyzstan have all been named in the latest wave of sanctions – which come in the dying days of Joe Biden’s premiership.
Analysts noted that outgoing President Biden “took the time” to push through a series of new measures 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 setting up for a negotiation, and in a negotiation, you need leverage, and part of that leverage has to come from the kind of economic pressure that makes Putin see he’s going to continue to pay a significant price economically,” security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday.
The return to Kyiv of Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine as part of a potential peace deal “is not even subject to discussion,” a senior Putin official said.
Nikolai Patrushev rejected the suggestion that Russia could be persuaded to cede any parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson oblasts it currently holds.
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 the sham elections in September 2022 had turned them into Russian territory.
He also recommended that the foreign popularity of the territories, as well as Crimea, as Russian, could be at the heart of any long-term peace deal.
Over at the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been chairing a meeting of the Pobeda organising committee via videoconference.
The Pobeda (meaning “victory”) is the annual Russian parade celebrating Soviet good fortune against Nazi Germany in World War II.
More in Poland, where Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Tusk give 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 in Ukraine may be just one detail of security promises and would be enough 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 cover the occasion, starting with a Q&A session with our correspondents on Friday afternoon.
Do you have questions about how the returning Trump could affect the war in Ukraine?
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