Ukraine-Russia war: Ukraine support package worth $83bn agreed by EU leaders
After months of opposition from one leader, the European Union has struck a significant aid deal for Ukraine.
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European Union leaders overcame months of opposition from Hungarian leader Viktor Orban to agree 50 billion euros ($A83 billion) of aid for Ukraine, in a move they hailed as a strong message to Russia.
The deal to keep funds flowing to Ukraine comes as doubts over support from Kyiv’s Western backers have buoyed Russian President Vladimir Putin, nearly two years into his invasion of the neighbouring country.
“The message is clear,” said French President Emmanuel Macron after the Brussels summit wrapped up.
“Russia cannot count on any fatigue from Europeans in their support for Ukraine.”
Mr Macron said the deal likewise sent a message to Washington – where billions of dollars in aid are held up in Congress – “that the European Union is here, committed and delivers.”
In an abrupt about-face at the start of the gathering, Mr Orban agreed to drop his veto on the four-year package for Kyiv in the face of intense pressure from the EU’s other 26 leaders.
The Hungarian nationalist appeared to come away largely empty-handed – securing only the promise of a possible review on the spending in two years.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the deal in a video address to the EU leaders as “a clear signal that Ukraine will withstand and that Europe will withstand”.
Joe Biden called EU chief Ursula von der Leyen to thank her for the European Union’s approval in aid, the White House said.
The US President welcomed the “significant financial aid package” which will “go a long way to helping Ukraine as they continue to battle back against Russia’s aggression,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
Mr Biden called to “applaud the European Union’s historic decision,” the White House said, and “commended the European Union’s steadfast support for Ukraine as it continues to defend itself against Russian aggression and fulfil the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of its citizens.”
UKRAINE DESTROYS RUSSIAN WARSHIP
The Ukranian military has claimed that it destroyed another Russian warship in a sea drone attack.
Video footage has captured the moment the warship went down off the coast of Crimea, with the explosion erupting from the sea.
The warship reportedly fired back at the drones, however the damage ultimately saw the ship sink.
“As a result of a number of direct hits to the hull, the Russian ship received damage that was incompatible with further movement. The Ivanovets tilted to the stern and sank,” the Military Informant Telegram channel said.
It’s unknown whether the warship’s crew were killed.
Russia hasn’t confirmed the strike, however pro-Putin war Telegrams have reported on the attack.
“We must give credit to the crew. They fought to the last,” one said.
“Even after three hits on the ship, you can see how fire is being fired at the naval drone.”
UKRAINE TO GET GAME-CHANGING ‘GLIDE MISSILES
The US has successfully tested a new 100-mile (160km) range “glide missile” for Ukraine that is expected to arrive on the battlefield as soon as Wednesday local time.
Ukraine will receive its first batch of Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDM), a brand new long-range weapon made by aviation giant Boeing, that even the US doesn’t have in its supply.
An unnamed US official told Politico it is expected to be “a significant capability for Ukraine”, with the glide missile allowing Ukraine’s military to hit targets at twice the distance the country’s rockets can currently reach.
“It gives them a deeper strike capability they haven’t had, it complements their long-range fire arsenal,” the official told Politico.
“It’s just an extra arrow in the quiver that’s gonna allow them to do more.”
The weapon, co-developed by Boeing and Saab, is made up of a precision-guided 113kg bomb strapped to a rocket motor and fired from various ground launchers.
While the US military has a similar version of the bomb that is air-launched, a ground-launched version does not yet exist in US inventory.
Ukraine will be the first country to use the missiles in combat, making it a critical test case for other countries that have been snapping up long-range munitions since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
It was first revealed in November 2022 that the Pentagon was considering a Boeing proposal to supply Ukraine with bombs that would allow Kyiv to strike far behind Russian lines.
RUSSIA AND UKRAINE SWAP POWS
Russia and Ukraine traded hundreds of prisoners of war (POW) on Wednesday, just a week after Moscow said Kyiv had shot down a plane carrying captured Ukrainian soldiers to an exchange.
The crash of a Russian military cargo plane near the border with Ukraine, which Russia said killed 65 Ukrainian POWs, had thrown doubt on future prisoner swaps between the two sides.
President Vladimir Putin said it was “obvious” Ukraine shot it down, and on Wednesday claimed Kyiv’s forces used a US Patriot system to do so.
“This has already been established by forensics,” Mr Putin said in a televised appearance.
Despite the tension, both sides made simultaneous announcements hailing the latest agreement on Wednesday to free more than 400 people captured during the course of the two-year war.
Russia’s defence ministry said 195 of its soldiers were freed, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 207 people, both soldiers and civilians, had returned to Ukraine.
“Our people are back. 207 of them. We return them home no matter what,” Mr Zelenskyy said in a social media post.
The exchange was brokered by the United Arab Emirates, which has played a role in several previous swaps.
NATO COUNTRIES STRIKE DEAL AMID WW3 FEARS
Germany, Poland and the Netherlands have signed an agreement to facilitate the movement of allied troops and weapons.
As a result of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, both NATO and the European Union have started to speed up preparations in case a military conflict with Moscow erupts.
The agreement between these countries gets rid of just one of the many red tapes, differing regulations and issues NATO troops would face should they need to fight a war in Europe.
Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz said: “Red tape often limits the effectiveness of operations.
“This letter of intent will make the movement and transport of troops much more effective thanks to better co-ordination and harmonisation of procedures. This will help bolster the security of the entire European Union and all NATO allies.”
The agreement comes as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nears its second anniversary.
RUSSIA USES ‘WWI CHEMICAL WEAPON’
Russia has been accused of using a WWI-era chemical weapon in an attempt to dislodge Ukraine’s defenders from the frontline.
It comes as Vladimir Putin claimed Russian forces had made a breakthrough to the outskirts of Avdiivka, an embattled industrial hub where fighting has been at its fiercest.
The K-51 grenades “with chloropicrin”, a substance commonly used during the trench warfare of the early 1900s, were deployed by Russian troops attacking along the southeast of Ukraine, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
“Russian forces appear to be continuing to violate the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) to which Russia is a signatory” the group alleged.
“Chloropicrin is primarily used as a soil fumigant that can be fatal when inhaled, and it is sometimes classified as a riot control agent (RCA) due to its harmful and irritant effects. The CWC prohibits the use of RCAs in warfare.”
Ukrainian Tavriisk Group of Forces Spokesperson Col. Oleksandr Shtupun reported that Russian forces conducted at least 5 strikes using likely K-51 grenades carrying chloropicrin against Ukrainian positions in the Tavriisk direction (Avdiivka through western Zaporizhia Oblast).… https://t.co/lQ8ximNKTJ
— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) January 31, 2024
Tavria Ukrainian military group spokesman Colonel Oleksandr Shtupun the commonly used agricultural chemical was used in “at least 5 strikes” against defensive positions.
“These are probably K-51 grenades with chloropicrin,” Shtupun told Ukraine’s ArmyInform website, adding that the substance is most effective in dugouts if soldiers are not wearing gas masks. “Each such case is investigated separately, appropriate analyses are made, and then it is submitted to international institutions.”
The Institute for Study of War previously accused Russia’s 810th Naval Infantry Brigade of using the gas grenades in December, 2023 and claimed their use has dated back to as early as November 2022.
The Soviet-era grenade have been adapted for drones to drop the chemical onto Ukrainian positions, ISW said.
PUTIN SAYS RUSSIA BROKE THROUGH TO AVDIIVKA ‘OUTSKIRTS’
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russian troops were holding ground on the around the east Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, an embattled industrial hub.
Russia launched a costly bid in October to seize the town, that has been caught up in fighting since 2014 after it briefly fell to Moscow-backed separatists.
Putin said in a televised event that Moscow’s forces “broke through the enemy’s defences and reached the outskirts of Avdiivka.” “They captured 19 houses and are holding them,” he added, without elaborating. The mayor of Avdiivka told AFP last week that Russian forces entered the war-battered town for the first time, but were pushed back.
PUTIN SAYS US PATRIOT MISSILE SHOT UKRAINE POWS
Russian President Vladimir Putin said a US-made Patriot missile was used to shoot down a plane that Moscow says was carrying captured Ukrainian soldiers.
A Russian Il-76 cargo plane crashed on January 24 with Russian authorities saying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war were on board.
“The plane was shot down, it has already been established for certain, by an American Patriot system. This has already been established by forensics,” Putin said in a televised appearance on Wednesday.
There was no immediate response from Kyiv or Washington to Putin’s remarks.
UKRAINE STRIKES RUSSIAN OIL REFINERY
Ukraine carried out another drone attack on an oil facility deep inside Russian territory, a military intelligence source in Kyiv told AFP on Wednesday.
Kyiv has ramped up strikes on Russian oil and gas facilities over the past two months, part of what it has called “fair” retaliation for Russian strikes on its own energy infrastructure.
The claim comes after the governor of Saint Petersburg said there had been a loud blast at an industrial site outside the northern city.
Local media meanwhile reported that S-400 missiles systems had shot at a drone that crashed on an oil storage facility in the Nevsky district.
“It was a GUR operation,” the source told AFP referring to Ukraine’s military intelligence services. The source said the target was used for “military purposes”.
NORTH KOREA TESTS MISSILES HEADED TO UKRAINE
North Korea said it successfully test-fired a strategic cruise missile, part of a selection of recently launched weapons that analysts warn could be destined for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The North’s state-run news agency KCNA said the missile, a “Hwasal-2”, was fired into the West Sea on Tuesday.
The launch was first noted by Seoul’s military, which said it had detected several cruise missiles.
KCNA said the drill was meant to check the army’s “rapid counter-attack posture” as well as improve “its strategic striking capability”.
It added that the launch had “no adverse effect on the security” of neighbouring countries.
This month, Pyongyang has conducted tests of what it called an “underwater nuclear weapon system”, a solid-fuelled hypersonic ballistic missile, and a new generation of strategic cruise missiles.
The Hwasal-2 strategic cruise missile has been test-fired before by the North. Unlike their ballistic counterparts, the testing of cruise missiles is not banned under current UN sanctions on Pyongyang.
Cruise missiles tend to be jet-propelled and fly at a lower altitude than more sophisticated ballistic missiles, making them harder to detect and intercept.
Already on Sunday, North Korea launched from a submarine two Pulhwasal-3-31s, a type of new strategic cruise missile, during a test overseen by leader Kim Jong-un.
Despite rafts of UN sanctions, Seoul and Washington say Kim has been shipping weapons to Russia, possibly in exchange for Moscow’s technical assistance in Pyongyang’s budding spy satellite program.
Kim made a rare overseas trip to Russia in September to meet President Vladimir Putin at a cosmodrome, with Putin now set to pay a visit to Pyongyang in return.
The North successfully put its first spy satellite into orbit in November.
“It is believed that North Korea has commenced mass production of cruise missiles ordered by Russia,” Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told AFP.
The test launches also come as relations between the two Koreas have sharply deteriorated, with Kim declaring Seoul his principal enemy.
In recent weeks, Kim has additionally jettisoned agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach with the South, and threatened war over “even 0.001mm” of territorial infringement.
Pyongyang’s latest launch comes after South Korea conducted a 10-day special forces infiltration drill off the country’s east coast, “in light of serious security situations” with the North, which ended on January 25.
US WARNING OVER UKRAINE FUNDING
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Monday that Ukraine’s gains over two years of fighting were all in doubt without new US funding, as NATO’s chief visited to lobby Congress.
Tens of billions of dollars in US aid has been sent to Ukraine since the invasion in February 2022, but Republican politicians have grown reluctant to keep supporting Kyiv, saying it lacks a clear end game as the fighting against President Vladimir Putin’s forces grinds on.
As NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg made the case on a visit to Washington, Blinken offered an increasingly dire picture of Ukraine’s prospects without US approval of the so-called supplemental funding.
“Without it, simply put, everything that Ukrainians achieved and that we’ve helped them achieve will be in jeopardy,” Blinken told a joint news conference with Stoltenberg.
“Absent that supplemental, we’re going to be sending a strong and wrong message to all of our adversaries that we are not serious about the defence of freedom, the defence of democracy,” he said.
“It will simply reinforce for Vladimir Putin that he can somehow outlast Ukraine and outlast us,” he said.
President Joe Biden has asked Congress to approve $61 billion in new aid to Ukraine.
But the talks have bogged down as Republican politicians – furious over record flows of migrants over the US border with Mexico – demand major changes in immigration and border control policy in exchange for approving more money for Ukraine.
Stoltenberg said he would meet US politicians on Tuesday and make the case that support for Ukraine was “in our own security interest.”
“It will be a tragedy for Ukrainians if President Putin wins but it will also make the world more dangerous and all of us more insecure,” Stoltenberg said.
“It will embolden other authoritarian leaders – not only President Putin, but also North Korea, Iran and China to use force,” he said.
With many Republicans focused on opposing China, Stoltenberg said: “Today it’s Ukraine; tomorrow it could be Taiwan.” US and NATO officials have acknowledged limited gains in a counteroffensive launched by Ukraine last year.
But Stoltenberg said that Ukrainians in the longer term have defied expectations, taking back half of the territory seized by Russia which had expected a swift takeover.
“This idea that it doesn’t help to help them – actually, the Ukrainians have proved the opposite,” Stoltenberg said.
Stoltenberg earlier met at the Pentagon with Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and top US military officer General Charles “CQ” Brown and later at the White House with Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser.
He also appeared on Fox News, a favourite network of Republicans, and made the case that US weapons help US workers as they are made in the United States.
Donald Trump, the likely Republican candidate in the November presidential election, and who has often praised Putin, is urging Republican politicians to reject the immigration accord being negotiated in Congress – which would also torpedo aid for Ukraine.
EU ACCUSES HUNGARY OF ‘BLACKMAIL’
Tempers flaring and accusations of blackmail: sparks flew again Monday between Hungary and its EU partners, three days before a summit meeting aimed at freeing up billions in aid for war-torn Ukraine.
Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has maintained close ties to the Kremlin since Russia invaded its pro-Western neighbour, vetoed a four-year, 50 billion euro ($54 billion) EU aid package for Kyiv back in December.
Orban’s stance has left the European Union scrambling to secure a financial lifeline for Ukraine, made even more crucial with the US Congress deadlocked over future funds for the war effort, which is about to enter its third year.
In Brussels, officials have all but run out of patience with Orban and his brinkmanship over issues ranging from Ukraine and NATO to EU-mandated reforms at home.
EU politicians have repeatedly likened his demands to “blackmail”.
“It’s no coincidence that the EU member state that most often violates our shared values, that violates the rule of law, meaning Hungary, is also the member state that is consistently outside the EU consensus over aid to Ukraine,” Anna Luehrmann, Germany’s minister for Europe, told reporters.
Luehrmann called it “absolutely unacceptable” that Hungary was also holding out on ratifying Sweden’s membership in NATO, having suggested the fellow EU state should “negotiate” to win its backing.
She urged the European Union to “harden” the tools at its disposal to bring Hungary into line.
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Originally published as Ukraine-Russia war: Ukraine support package worth $83bn agreed by EU leaders
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