The latest developments in Russia’s war on Ukraine. All times EST.
9:34 p.m.: Berlin and Washington are coordinating a “qualitative new step” in their weapons deliveries to Ukraine, German government sources told Agence France-Presse Thursday, following growing calls on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to act.
“We are constantly looking at what more we can do in terms of military support,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said at a news conference with her British counterpart James Cleverly in London.
This included both “defensive weapons” and arms needed to “free occupied territory” from Russia, she added.
7:33 p.m.: The United States is of the view that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is the founder of Russia’s most powerful mercenary group, is interested in taking control of salt and gypsum from mines near the Ukrainian-held city of Bakhmut, Reuters reported, citing a White House official said on Thursday.
There are indications that monetary motives are driving Russia’s and Prigozhin’s “obsession” with Bakhmut, the official added. Prigozhin is the owner of private Russian military company Wagner Group.
The United States has previously accused Russian mercenaries of exploiting natural resources in the Central African Republic, Mali, Sudan and elsewhere to help fund Moscow’s war in Ukraine, a charge Russia rejected as “anti-Russian rage.”
6:06 p.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected out of hand on Thursday a Russian order for a truce over Orthodox Christmas, Reuters reported, saying it was a trick to halt the progress of Ukraine’s forces in the eastern Donbas region and bring in more of their own.
Speaking pointedly in Russian and addressing both the Kremlin and Russians as a whole, Zelenskyy said Moscow had repeatedly ignored Kyiv’s own peace plan. The war would end, he said, when Russian troops left Ukraine or were thrown out.
“They now want to use Christmas as a cover, albeit briefly, to stop the advances of our boys in Donbas and bring equipment, ammunitions and mobilized troops closer to our positions,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.
Zelenskyy said that ending the war meant “ending your country’s aggression … This continues every day that your soldiers are on our soil … And the war will end either when your soldiers leave or we throw them out.”
He urged Russians to challenge President Vladimir Putin’s premise of portraying the war as necessary to safeguard Moscow’s interests against the West and root out nationalists.
“But in order to end the war more quickly, we need something completely different. We need Russian citizens to find the courage in themselves, albeit for 36 hours, albeit during Christmas, to free themselves of the shameful fear of one man in the Kremlin.”
5:02 p.m.: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday pressed Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to declare a unilateral cease-fire in Ukraine, Agence France-Presse reported.
Erdogan spoke to both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his latest attempts to broker an end to the 10-month war.
He told Putin that “calls for peace and negotiations should be supported by a unilateral cease-fire and a vision for a fair solution,” Erdogan’s office said.
But he made no mention of a unilateral cease-fire in his subsequent talks with the Ukrainian leader.
“Erdogan stated that as Turkey, we are ready to facilitate and mediate the establishment of a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine,” the Turkish presidency said after the call
4 p.m.: A new U.S. weapons package for Ukraine will include about 50 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, two U.S. officials said on Thursday, with one of the officials saying the package will be worth roughly $2.8 billion, Reuters reported.
On Wednesday President Joe Biden said that sending Bradley Fighting Vehicles, a U.S. Army staple, to Ukraine was being considered to help fight Russia’s invasion.
The latest security package for Ukraine is expected to be unveiled on Friday, the officials said.
Of the roughly $2.8 billion package, around $800 million of the funds came from Foreign Military Financing to help Ukraine procure weapons, the one official said. The balance of the funds came from Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) for Ukraine, which allows the United States to transfer defense articles like Humvees, trucks and munitions from stocks quickly without congressional approval in response to an emergency.
The armored vehicle with a powerful gun, which is manufactured by BAE Systems Plc (BAES.L), has been used as a staple by the U.S. Army to carry troops around battlefields since the mid-1980s.
12:02 a.m.: Australia announced Thursday it will boost its defense capabilities by spending more than 1 billion Australian dollars ($700 million) on new advanced missile and rocket systems, including U.S.-made HIMARS, which have been successfully used by Ukraine’s military.
In Ukraine, the mobile, truck-mounted HIMARS have proved crucial in enabling Ukrainian forces to hit key targets, including a recent strike on a single building that killed at least 89 Russian soldiers.
The Australian government said the HIMARS it was buying included launchers, missiles and training rockets and would be in use by 2026. It said the system had a current range of 300 kilometers, which was expected to increase with technological advances.
The government said it had also signed a contract with Norway-based Kongsberg to buy Naval Strike Missiles for navy destroyers and frigates, which would replace aging Harpoon anti-ship missiles from next year.
Source: Voice of America