Ukraine war reside updates: European ground troops could be sent to Ukraine in foreseeable future, France says

French President Emmanuel Macron explained Monday that the sending of Western troops to Ukraine has not been “dominated out.”

Speaking following a conference of European heads of state and other Western officials in Paris, at which much more aid to Ukraine was reviewed, Macron explained the risk of sending ground troops to Ukraine experienced been brazenly mentioned but that no selections have been built.

“There is no consensus these days to officially, openly, and with endorsement, send out troops on the ground. But in terms of dynamics, almost nothing really should be ruled out. We will do every thing vital to make sure that Russia simply cannot earn this war,” Macron reported.

The president did not give any further aspects on which nations could take into account sending troops but stated France was “not from sending them.”

Macron said Ukraine’s allies experienced talked over the need to maximize and accelerate navy support and supplies to Kyiv, as nicely as a require to shut sanctions loopholes allowing Russian corporations to supply elements from nations that experienced imposed European or allied sanctions.

He stated the EU would “impose further more sanctions on companies and countries that facilitate this circumvention of sanctions.”

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that without new U.S. military aid his region would be unable to protect a Black Sea shipping corridor that has authorized Kyiv to export tens of millions of tons of grain to world wide marketplaces, Reuters noted Monday.

Ukraine released the shipping corridor hugging its western Black Sea coast near Romania and Bulgaria in August, a month just after Russia give up a yr-extended landmark offer – brokered by the United Nations and Turkey – that had permitted the safe Black Sea export of almost 33 million metric tons of Ukraine grain.

Ukraine is on monitor to export all grain from its 2023 harvest despite Russian assaults on Ukrainian ports and infrastructure, Britain’s overseas office environment said this thirty day period.

“We … developed the new route in the Black Sea,” Zelenskyy told CNN in an interview, describing the shipping corridor as a “major results” for so much letting the export of about 30 million tones of grain and other agricultural goods.

— Reuters

Hungary on Monday voted to approve Sweden’s NATO accession bid, ending months of diplomatic negotiations and finalizing Stockholm’s membership nearly two a long time following it initially applied to join the army alliance.

Members of the governing bash led by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban experienced been opposed to Sweden signing up for NATO amid the country’s criticism of Hungary’s democracy.

Sweden applied to be a part of NATO in Could 2022 pursuing Russia’s comprehensive-scale invasion of Ukraine, shifting away from its previous coverage solution of military non-alignment.

Read through the total tale listed here.

— Karen Gilchrist, Sophie Kiderlin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Bulgarian Key Minister Nikolai Denkov mentioned economic relations and aid in a conference on Monday, Zelenskyy claimed in a submit on social media platform X.

“I value Bulgaria’s assist for our initiatives to expand trade flows and restore regular shipping and delivery in the Black Sea and Danube areas,” Zelenskyy claimed. “We agreed with Bulgaria to accelerate the improvement of logistics and infrastructure in our region.”

Infrastructure on the Danube river in the south of Ukraine has been very important to the country’s grain trade considering the fact that a earlier offer that allowed secure passage for grain and other traded merchandise as a result of the Black Sea was halted by Russia past yr.

— Sophie Kiderlin

Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny was near to getting freed in a prisoner swap at the time of his loss of life, Maria Pevchikh, a Navalny ally, explained on Monday.

Speaking on YouTube, Pevchikh — who alleges the Russian authorities murdered Navalny, some thing they deny — stated Navalny and two U.S. nationals were in line to be exchanged for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian FSB protection support hit man who is serving a everyday living sentence in Germany.

— Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with his Turkish counterpart, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, soon after the Russian presidential election in mid-March, the Kremlin said Monday.

“Prior to the elections, no,” Kremlin Push Secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday, when asked when the meeting may possibly get location.

“But preparations for contacts at the greatest stage are underway, we have regularly said this,” he reported, news agency Interfax described.

Peskov defined that “these contacts will acquire spot at a time when it finest fits the schedules of the two presidents.”

Putin will journey to Turkey for the conference with Erdogan, a leader who has managed to manage cordial relations with Russia regardless of Turkey’s NATO membership.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine’s armed forces confirmed Monday the retreat from the village of Lastochkyne in jap Ukraine, marking yet another setback on the battlefield two yrs into the war.

“Ukrainian Armed Forces units withdrew from the village of Lastochkyne in buy to organise defences… and reduce the enemy from advancing further more in a western direction,” armed service spokesperson Dmytro Lykhoviy stated on tv, Reuters reported.

Russian forces have produced various important and minimal advancements in recent months, together with the seize of the industrial town of Avdiivka, as perfectly as a few of more compact settlements to the west of the metropolis.

— Holly Ellyatt