We offer a rolling policy today, so here’s a quick update on what’s happened in the last 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 will 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 of our allies on steps that would be robust enough to guarantee Ukraine’s security,” Starmer said.
“We will play our part. “
Elsewhere:
Sir Keir Starmer has just arrived in Kyiv for his first visit to Ukraine as Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister greeted at the kyiv exercise station through the UK 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.
We may not have a blog about Ukraine today; Instead, you can follow the live politics of the Starmer scale in our fair Politics Centre. . .
For the moment we are postponing our war policy in Ukraine, please.
Before we continue, a summary of today’s key events:
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 guys have serious injuries and illnesses. Each of them will receive all the necessary medical care,” 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 this evening when his final major speech as president is broadcast.
Biden has asked the new Donald Trump to withhold investments for Ukraine after the Democrat leaves, but the Republican has indicated that his position is to seek peace as temporarily as possible.
Under his premiership, the US has committed nearly $200bn in weapons, aid, or ammunition for Ukraine since Russia’s 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 that may mean in our 9.57am post, or ask a question for one of our experts by clicking on the link in our 1.45pm post.
The US has issued fresh Russia-related sanctions, according to 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, she said that the concept was “not even under discussion. ”
He reiterated long-standing Russian claims that sham elections in the regions in September 2022 turned it 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 in opposition to Nazi Germany in World War II.
More in Poland, where Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Tusk give a press conference.
The Ukrainian leader was asked about reports that foreign troops could be sent to enforce a ceasefire line should some sort of peace deal be reached.
Zelensky said the deployment of foreign troops to Ukraine may be just one detail of security promises and would be enough on its own.
He also said he would discuss the factor with Sir Keir Starmer.
Donald Trump will be inaugurated as US president for the second time on Monday.
We will cover the occasion, starting with a question and answer session with our correspondents on Friday afternoon.
Do you have questions about how the returning Trump could affect the war in Ukraine?
Submit a question by clicking the link below.