War in Ukraine
Updated on January 23, 2024, 5:34 a.m
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addresses delegates during a meeting of the UN Security Council at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
© picture alliance / ASSOCIATED PRESS/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez
Russia and the West have made serious accusations against each other in the UN Security Council. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Zelensky is looking forward to further arms aid. An overview of what happened at night and a look ahead to the day.
Ukraine and dozens of other countries like Germany have once again accused Russia of hypocrisy and diversionary tactics before the UN Security Council. Russia wants to distract from its own war of aggression against Ukraine by convening more and more meetings on arms deliveries from Western states to Kiev, representatives of these states said on Monday in New York before a Security Council meeting on the situation in Ukraine that was held at Moscow’s request.
At the meeting of the most powerful UN body, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who had traveled there, sharply criticized these arms deliveries again. Lavrov also said that his country was fundamentally ready to negotiate – but not with the aim of keeping the current government in power in Kiev.
“I remind you that we have never refused to negotiate and have always maintained our willingness to do so. Not to negotiate about how to preserve the power of the leaders of the Kiev regime and encourage their fantasies, but about how to deal with the legacy of decades of plundering of the country and violence against the people can be overcome,” Lavrov said.
Civilians under fire
The reason for the debate convened by Moscow was the shelling of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk at the weekend, in which, according to the occupiers, at least 28 people were killed and 30 injured. Russia wanted to have this shelling condemned without addressing its own military’s attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Western countries of misrepresenting the situation in Ukraine in the propaganda program “60 Minutes” on Russian state television. She criticized the call not to listen to Russia as a restriction on freedom of expression. After the start of its war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia has once again tightened censorship in its own country. Russian state television has been considered loyal to the authorities for years.
Difficult situation for Ukrainian troops at the front
According to the military leadership in Kiev, the Ukrainians are exposed to heavy Russian attacks in the north of the country and around Bakhmut. “The situation is extremely tense and characterized by intense fire from artillery, mine throwers and combat drones as well as storming actions by the enemy,” wrote the commander in chief of the Ukrainian army, Olexander Syrskyj, on his Telegram channel on Monday evening. He coordinated further defense with the brigade commanders on site.
In northeastern Ukraine, the defenders have been on the defensive for months. Russia has reported several small gains in terrain in recent weeks.
Zelensky speaks of a new Polish arms package for Ukraine
The situation has recently worsened for Kiev due to the lack of Western military aid. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has now announced new arms deliveries from Poland for his country in its defensive fight against Russia. “There will be a new arms package from Poland,” he said in his daily video address on Monday evening. In addition, during the visit of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, there was discussion about the joint production of weapons in order to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capability. The third point the head of state mentioned was the training of Ukrainian soldiers on Polish weapon systems.
Zelensky did not provide any information on the scope of the arms deliveries or the content of the arms package. Warsaw is considered one of Kiev’s closest and most important allies. Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression, Poland has supplied Ukraine, among other things, with battle tanks such as the Leopard and MiG fighter jets.
Further aid for Ukraine was also the topic of a telephone conversation between US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. However, the White House did not release any details.
What will be important on Tuesday
In Ukraine, the heavy fighting is likely to continue unabated, particularly in the east and northeast of the country. Meanwhile, Russia is also looking at Turkey, where parliament is debating whether Sweden should join NATO. In the past, Moscow has repeatedly justified its war of aggression against Ukraine by wanting to prevent the neighboring country from joining NATO. Sweden applied to join the military alliance after the war began. (dpa/tas)
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