Latest: Japanese PM backs Ukraine as Putin, Xi pledge friendship

The US will deliver Abrams tanks to Ukraine by autumn – significantly faster than expected – while Patriot air defence missile systems will also arrive on an “expedited timeline”, the Pentagon says.

In coordination with Kyiv, Washington “made the decision to provide the M1A1 variant of the Abrams tank” already in its arsenals instead of having new tanks built, Brigadier General Pat Ryder told journalists.

This “will enable us to significantly expedite delivery timelines and deliver this important capability to Ukraine by the fall of this year”.

“We’re confident that we’ll be able to get the Patriots there on an expedited timeline,” Ryder said, noting that training for Ukrainians on the system “went faster than expected, just given their propensity and their eagerness to do the training”.

The administration of United States President Joe Biden has said in a news conference on Tuesday that China cannot be considered “impartial” in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking at a news conference, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby avoided calling China’s relationship with Russia an alliance, instead describing it as a “marriage of convenience” for the countries’ two leaders, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.

“In President Putin and Russia, President Xi sees a counterweight to American influence and NATO influence certainly on the continent and elsewhere around the world,” Kirby said.

“In President Xi, President Putin sees a potential backer here. This is a man who doesn’t have a whole lot of friends on the international stage.”

Still, Kirby denounced China’s unwillingness to condemn the Russian invasion, accusing President Xi of “parroting the Russian propaganda that this is somehow a war of the West on Russia”.

“That’s just a bunch of malarkey,” Kirby added.

The US has inaugurated its first permanent army base in Poland, which the ambassador to Warsaw said was a sign of NATO unity in the face of Russian aggression.

More than 10,000 US soldiers are currently stationed in Poland, which has become the main transit country for international aid and equipment to neighbour Ukraine.

The US garrison – the eighth in Europe – was established in the western city of Poznan.

“This is historic. And it signals that we are here to stay,” Mark Brzezinski, the US ambassador, said at the inauguration ceremony.

“It signals to the world that the United States is committed to Poland, and to the NATO alliance. That we are united in the face of Russian aggression,” he added.

Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said, “We highly appreciate the permanent US presence in Poland, especially nowadays in Europe when Russia has invaded Ukraine and is trying to rebuild its empire.”

Four Republican members of the United States Congress have urged US President Joe Biden to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, alleging in a letter to the White House that the administration fears doing so would be seen as an escalation by Russia.

Ukraine is seeking the MK 20, an air-delivered cluster bomb, to release its individual explosives from drones, and 155mm artillery cluster shells. Kyiv had urged members of Congress to press the White House to approve sending the weapons.

The letter criticised Biden for “reluctance to provide Ukraine the right type and amount of long-range fires and maneuver capability to create” a breakthrough against Russian forces.

The letter was signed by Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee; Mike McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; and Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Russia and China have reached an agreement on the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, which will connect Siberia to northwest China, President Vladimir Putin has said following talks with China’s leader Xi Jinping.

“All agreements have been reached,” Putin said after talks with Xi, adding that economic cooperation between Moscow-Beijing was a “priority” for Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed he will participate in the upcoming Group of Seven (G7) summit in Japan via video link.

“I accepted the prime minister’s invitation and will participate in the G7 summit in Hiroshima in an online format,” Zelenskyy said during a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Japan is due to host a G7 summit in Kishida’s hometown of Hiroshima in May. Tokyo has continually voiced support for Ukraine and joined sanctions against Russia.

Russian security forces raided the homes of former employees of the Nobel Prize-winning human rights group Memorial and took some of them in for questioning, the group has said.

Founded to document political repression in the Soviet Union, Memorial was officially banned in late 2021 after the authorities claimed it supported terrorism and extremism, charges that it called absurd.

Since invading Ukraine in February 2022, President Vladimir Putin has accelerated Russia’s drive to suppress dissenting voices, including independent media, non-governmental rights groups and political opponents.

Memorial chairman Yan Rachinsky, who collected the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the group when it won in 2022, was also subject to a raid on his home, the group said.

The raids were condemned by rights groups internationally, as well as what remains of Russia’s domestic opposition.

“By raiding the homes of members of Memorial, the Russian authorities are continuing their witch hunt against human rights defenders and activists,” Amnesty International’s Russia Director Natalia Zviagina said in a statement.

Kyiv suggested to China that Beijing join a Ukrainian peace formula to end Russia’s war, but that it was still waiting for an answer, according to Zelenskyy.

The Ukrainian president made the remark during a joint briefing in Kyiv with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Beijing has proposed a 12-point peace proposal, but Kyiv insists on a full Russian troop withdrawal and has been promoting its own plan in recent months.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has urged member countries to speed up increases in defence spending as Russia’s war in Ukraine continues and as new figures showed fewer than a quarter of them meeting the alliance’s target.

Stoltenberg said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year showed the world had become more dangerous, and NATO allies had to respond by setting and meeting more ambitious military spending goals.

Only seven of the alliance’s 30 countries met the current goal of spending 2 percent of GDP on defence in 2022, according to estimates in the NATO secretary-general’s annual report, released on Tuesday.

Russia and China have issued a joint statement after talks between Putin and Xi. Here is the section of the statement that relates to the war in Ukraine as translated by Reuters:

“The Russian side positively assesses the objective and unbiased position of the Chinese side on the Ukrainian question. The parties are opposed to any states and their blocs damaging the legitimate security interests of other states in order to obtain military, political and other advantages. The Chinese side positively assesses the willingness of the Russian side to make efforts to restart peace talks as soon as possible.

“Russia welcomes China’s readiness to play a positive role in a political-diplomatic settlement of the Ukrainian crisis and the constructive ideas set forth in the document drawn up by the Chinese side, ‘China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukrainian Crisis’.

“The parties note that in order to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, it is necessary to respect the legitimate concerns of all countries in the field of security and prevent the formation of bloc confrontation and halt actions that further fuel the conflict.

“The parties stress that responsible dialogue is the best way for a sustainable resolution of the Ukrainian crisis, and the international community should support constructive efforts in this regard.

“The parties call for an end to all steps that contribute to the escalation of tension and prolongation of hostilities to avoid further degradation of the crisis to the point where it could cross over into an uncontrollable phase. The parties oppose all unilateral sanctions imposed in circumvention of the UN Security Council.”

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has met Zelenskyy in a rare visit to Kyiv by a Japanese leader that underscores Tokyo’s support for Ukraine as it fights Russia’s offensive.

Kishida had been the only leader of a Group of Seven (G7) nation who had not visited Ukraine, which has seen an outpouring of popular support in Japan following the full-scale Russian invasion more than a year ago.

Kishida toured the town of Bucha outside Kyiv, where the mayor has said more than 400 civilians were killed last year by Russian forces and which has since become synonymous with Russian brutality during the war.

He laid a wreath outside a church there before observing a moment of silence and bowing.

Japan is due to host a G7 summit in Kishida’s hometown of Hiroshima in May.

Putin and his Chinese counterpart have cautioned against any steps that might push the Ukraine conflict into an “uncontrollable phase”, adding that there could be no winners in a nuclear war.

In a joint statement issued at the end of Xi’s state visit to Moscow, Putin accused Western powers of fighting “to the last Ukrainian”, while Xi reiterated China’s “neutral position” on Ukraine and called for dialogue.

The US has pushed back on Russian demands that Western sanctions be eased before it allows Ukrainian Black Sea grain exports beyond mid-May, saying there are no restrictions on sales of Russian agricultural products or fertiliser.

Moscow’s demands include allowing the Russian Agricultural Bank to return to the SWIFT banking system and unblocking the accounts and financial activities of Russian fertiliser companies.

The deal allowing the safe wartime export of Ukrainian grain from its Black Sea ports, initially brokered in July by Turkey and the United Nations, was renewed on Saturday for at least 60 days, half the intended period.

The US strongly supports UN efforts to get Ukrainian and Russian agricultural products to world markets, a Department of State spokesperson said, adding that it has “gone to extraordinary lengths to clarify that we have carved food and fertiliser out from our sanctions imposed on Russia”.

“The only prohibitions on food and fertiliser exports from Russia are those imposed by the government of the Russian Federation,” the spokesperson said. “Russia is the one restricting its exports. It imposed export quotas on certain fertilisers and recently extended them through the spring.”

Russia has condemned British plans to send ammunition that contains depleted uranium to Ukraine, a move Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu says leaves fewer and fewer steps before a potential “nuclear collision” between Russia and the West.

“Another step has been taken, and there are fewer and fewer left,” Shoigu said in remarks reported by domestic news agencies.

On Monday, British Minister of State for Defence Annabel Goldie said some of the ammunition for Challenger 2 battle tanks includes armour-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.

This type of ammunition is a health risk around impact sites, where dust can enter people’s lungs and other organs.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said that Beijing had an “impartial position” on the conflict in Ukraine and that it supported peace and dialogue, RIA news agency said.

Xi, who was speaking through a translator after talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, said talks with the Kremlin leader had been “open and friendly”.

Putin said China’s peace proposals could be used as the basis for peace negotiations.

China’s state media report that Xi and Putin stress that “responsible dialogue” is the best way to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

The Russian side reaffirmed its commitment to resuming peace talks after the conclusion of discussions between Xi and Putin in Moscow.

The two sides pointed out that to resolve the Ukraine crisis, all countries’ “legitimate security concerns” must be respected and confrontation should be avoided.

The Football Association in the United Kingdom invited more than 1,000 Ukrainian refugees and their host families to attend England’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Ukraine at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.

Sports Minister Stuart Andrew said, “Over the past year, the UK has stood shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine.”

“Thousands of people have played their part by generously welcoming Ukrainians into their homes. We continue to do all we can to support all those displaced because of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s illegal war.

“This Euro 2024 qualifier will be a poignant and emotional occasion and I applaud the FA and the team at Wembley Stadium for their kind gesture.”

The invitations have been made to people involved in the British government’s Homes for Ukraine Scheme, launched last year.

Russia’s foreign ministry condemned a British plan to send ammunition that contains depleted uranium for use in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram, “Yugoslav scenario. These shells not only kill, but infect the environment and cause oncology in people living on these lands.

“By the way, it is naive to believe that only those against whom all this will be used will become victims. In Yugoslavia, NATO soldiers, in particular the Italians, were the first to suffer. Then they tried for a long time to get compensation from NATO for lost health. But their claims were denied,” she said.

Zakharova added, “When will they wake up in Ukraine? […] Their benefactors poison them.”

Putin says Russia is ready to help Chinese businesses replace Western firms that have left Russia over the war in Ukraine during formal talks with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

The Russian president also said he had discussed the proposed Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, which would ship Russian gas to China, with the Chinese leader.

Xi also said in the meeting that he wanted to “strengthen coordination and cooperation with Russia”.

The Ukrainian parliament voted to amend the 2023 state budget, raising spending as Kyiv seeks additional funds for arms and military salaries amid Russia’s invasion.

The finance ministry said that lawmakers voted to increase budget spending by 537.2 billion hryvnias ($14.6bn) this year.

“In line with the proposed changes, total funds for the security and defence sector will reach 1.67 trillion hryvnias [$45.2bn]. That’s 26.6 percent of GDP,” Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said.

“Approval of the draft law will allow Ukraine to continue to counter Russia’s armed aggression effectively.”

Government officials have previously said Ukraine spent 1.48 trillion hryvnias [$40.1bn] on its defence sector last year.

The ministry said 518.2 billion hryvnias ($14bn) would go towards military wages and special equipment, including drones.