Live: Kyiv seeks more weapons after securing tanks from allies

Issued on: 27/01/2023 – 12:55

12:34pm: EU foreign policy chief Borrell urges S. Africa to use its Russia ties to help end war in Ukraine

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Friday said he hoped South Africa would use its good relations with Russia to convince it to stop the war in Ukraine.

“The EU isn’t asking South Africa to choose sides, just asking countries across the world to stand with the UN Charter,” said Borrell, speaking alongside South Africa’s foreign minister Naledi Pandor in the capital Pretoria.

The EU considers South Africa an important partner in the rules-based international order, he added. Pandor said: “It is not just South Africa and other African countries that must play a role at seeking peace.”

11:48am: Putin repeats claims regarding ‘neo-Nazis’ in Ukraine on Holocaust Remembrance Day

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday repeated a claim that neo-Nazis were committing crimes in Ukraine – an allegation Moscow has used to justify its military intervention – as the world marked Holocaust Remembrance Day.

“Forgetting the lessons of history leads to the repetition of terrible tragedies. … This is evidenced by the crimes against civilians, ethnic cleansing and punitive actions organised by neo-Nazis in Ukraine. It is against that evil that our soldiers are bravely fighting,” Putin said in a statement.

Supporters of Putin’s military operation allege Ukraine’s treatment of Russian speakers in the country is comparable with the actions of Nazi Germany.

11:46am: Kremlin says Biden has key to end Ukraine conflict but doesn’t use it

The Kremlin said on Friday that US President Joe Biden had the key to end the conflict in Ukraine by directing Kyiv, but that Washington had so far not been willing to use it.

In a daily briefing, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the US could end the conflict quickly if it wanted but was instead “pumping weapons into Ukraine”.

Moscow has in the past accused Ukraine of taking orders from Washington and says that the US is prolonging the conflict by supplying Kyiv with weapons. The US says that Moscow unleashed the war and it can only end if Russia withdraws its troops.

11:45am: Zelensky says ‘indifference kills along with hatred’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky marked Holocaust Remembrance Day Friday by urging the world to unite against “indifference” and “hatred,” nearly one year into Russia’s invasion of his country.

“Today, as always, Ukraine honours the memory of millions of victims of the Holocaust. We know and remember that indifference kills along with hatred,” Zelensky said in a video statement.

11:24am: Ukraine comes under Russian missile onslaught after securing tanks from allies

The Ukrainian military said fierce battles were under way, a day after Russian missiles and drones killed at least 11 people in what appeared to be a response to promises by Western nations to supply Ukraine with tanks.

After weeks of pressure from allies, Germany and the United States have promised Ukraine dozens of modern tanks to help push back Russian forces, opening the way for Canada, Poland, Finland, Norway and others to make their own pledges.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked allies for their support but renewed calls for tougher sanctions on Moscow and made clear his country needed more weapons to repel the invaders in the twelfth month of the war.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)