Issued on:
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky says investigators are examining several possible causes for Wednesday’s deadly helicopter crash near Kyiv in which the country’s interior minister and 13 others were killed. The deadly incident comes as Western countries are under pressure to deliver more weapons to Ukrainian forces battling Russia’s invasion, with the US and Germany at loggerheads over the supplying of tanks to Kyiv. Follow our live blog for the latest updates on the war in Ukraine. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
8:40am: Zelensky says ‘several theories’ investigated after helicopter crash
Ukrainian investigators are exploring several hypotheses to explain the helicopter crash that killed the country’s interior minister and 13 others in a suburb of Kyiv on Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
“The investigation is ongoing. There are several theories and I’m not authorised to talk about any of them until the investigation is finished,” Zelensky said in a video address to the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The Ukrainian leader said his country aimed to liberate all territories occupied by Russia, including the Crimean peninsula, as he called on his Western partners to provide him with more weaponry.
“Our objective is to liberate all of our territories,” he said, speaking in Ukrainian. “Crimea is our land, our territory, our sea, and our mountains. Give us your weapons and we will bring our land back.”
7:15am: US, German defence ministers meet amid differences over tanks for Ukraine
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will press Germany’s new Defence Minister Boris Pistorius to allow for the transfer of German-made tanks to Ukraine when they meet for talks later today – with the two countries still at loggerheads over the issue.
Germany will allow German-made tanks to be sent to Ukraine to help its defence against Russia if the United States agrees to send its own tanks, a German government source told Reuters.
But US officials publicly and privately insist that Washington has no plans to send US-made tanks to Ukraine for now, arguing that they would too difficult for Kyiv to maintain and would require a huge logistical effort to simply run.
US officials say supplying Ukraine with German-made Leopard tanks makes the most sense as a number of European countries already have them and are willing to transfer them quickly – pending approval from Berlin.
Read more: UK offers tanks in Ukraine’s hour of need, but will Germany follow suit?
4:45am: US to provide $125 million to Ukraine to support energy systems
The United States will provide $125 million to Ukraine to support its energy and electric grids, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.
Ukrainian cities have been hit by repeated power outages as a result of targeted attacks by Russian forces, leaving millions without power even as they contend with freezing winter temperatures.
10:56pm : US not ‘there yet’ on Abrams tanks for Ukraine
The United States is not currently prepared to provide advanced Abrams tanks to Ukraine, a senior Pentagon official said, citing difficulties in maintenance and training.
Ukraine has repeatedly pushed for modern Western tanks to help battle Russia’s invasion, and Germany has reportedly linked its decision on whether to do so to Washington’s willingness to provide Abrams.
“I just don’t think we’re there yet,” US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl told journalists when asked about providing Abrams to Ukraine, though he did not completely close the door on a shift in the future.
“The Abrams tank is a very complicated piece of equipment. It’s expensive, it’s hard to train on, it has a jet engine – I think it’s about three gallons to the mile with jet fuel. It is not the easiest system to maintain,” Kahl said.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
For all the latest Health News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! NewsBit.us is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
