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British, Polish and Baltic defense ministers will meet
Dan Sabag
The British and Polish defense ministers will meet their Baltic counterparts in Estonia at a preliminary meeting in Ramstein today – ahead of a wider defense summit on Friday – designed to put further pressure on Germany to press ahead with the tank deployment Leopard 2 to Ukraine.
But there are signs that London’s maneuvering is irritating Berlin. A German government source told Reuters that the UK appeared to be ignoring Berlin’s recent decision to provide the Patriot missile defense system and 40 Marder combat vehicles.
Accusing the UK of acting in response to “domestic political pressure”, government sources added that leaning on allies was “not helpful”. They added: “Delivery of tanks to Ukraine is not taboo. But such questions will continue to be clarified in a transatlantic line”.
The disaster near Kyiv on Wednesday came as the head of NATO told the annual World Economic Forum in Davos that the allies were ready to provide “heavier weapons” to the war-torn country.
Ukraine has not claimed direct Russian involvement in the helicopter crash, but President Volodymyr Zelensky said the tragedy was a consequence of the war.
“There are no accidents during war. All these are results of the war,” Zelensky said in English, appearing via video link in Davos.
Kyiv is investigating the fatal helicopter crash
The helicopter carrying Interior Minister Denis Monastirsky crashed into a kindergarten and an apartment building in Brovary, a commuter town to the capital Kyiv that was the scene of fierce fighting with Russian forces last year, AFP reported.
Fourteen people were killed, including Monastirski, other ministry officials and a child, Zelenskiy said in his evening address to the nation. Another 25 people were injured, including 11 children. He added that an investigation had been launched “to clarify all the circumstances surrounding the disaster”.
“Minister Denis Monastirsky, (his deputy) Yevgeny Yenin and their colleagues who died in the crash are not people who can be easily replaced,” Zelensky said. “This is a really huge loss for the state. My condolences to the families.”
Dmytro Serbin, who was in his apartment when the helicopter crashed, rushed to help the children as soon as he saw flames curling above the kindergarten.
“They were looking for their parents, the children were crying… their faces were cut and covered in blood,” Serbin told AFP.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest over the next few hours.
Our top story this morning: Ukrainian authorities on Thursday were investigating the circumstances surrounding the helicopter crash that killed the country’s interior minister and 13 others.
And coming up today, the British and Polish defense ministers will meet their Baltic counterparts in Estonia, in a preliminary meeting in Ramstein designed to put further pressure on Germany to press ahead with the Leopard 2s.
Here are other key recent developments:
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Volodymyr Zelenskiy stepped up calls for the Ukrainian army to be equipped with heavy tanks and called on Western allies for “decisiveness and speed” in decision-making. Addressing a packed meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos via video link on Wednesday, Ukraine’s president warned that “tyranny is outpacing democracy”.
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NATO countries are ready to announce new “heavier weapons” for Ukraine, the head of the alliance said. Many of Ukraine’s allies will meet on Friday at the Ramstein military base in Germany, including all 30 NATO members. ting vehicles, while France offers its highly mobile AMX-10 RC.
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The head of the European Union also spoke in favor of the West providing tanks to Ukraine. “We, the EU, will continue to support them for as long as necessary,” Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, said on Wednesday. “The time is now – they urgently need more equipment and I personally support the delivery of tanks to Ukraine.”
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Germany’s Chancellor avoided a commitment to supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Olaf Scholz did not mention the Leopard tanks when a Ukrainian delegate asked him “why he hesitated” to sign off on their re-export at the Davos summit.
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Canada has announced that it will donate 200 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine. The move came during a visit to Kyiv by Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand. Zelensky thanked the Canadian people and their Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “on this difficult day”.
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Bulgaria helped Ukraine survive Russia’s early attack by secretly supplying it with large quantities of desperately needed diesel and ammunition, the politicians responsible said.
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Poland’s president has warned that Russia could be planning a new offensive in the coming months, urging countries to provide Ukraine with “weapons, weapons, weapons”.
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Volodymyr Zelensky wrote a letter inviting Chinese leader Xi Jinping for talks, which was handed over to the Chinese delegation in Davos, Ukrainian leader’s wife Olena Zelenska reported.
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Ukraine reported heavy fighting overnight in the eastern part of the country, where both sides have suffered heavy losses for little gain in intense trench warfare over the past two months.
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Vladimir Putin said he had “no doubt” that Russia’s victory in Ukraine was “inevitable”. He announced that Russia’s military-industrial complex is ramping up production during a factory visit in St. Petersburg.
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Four people were detained by Moscow police at a makeshift memorial dedicated to the victims of Saturday’s deadly rocket attack on an apartment building in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, according to a report.
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