Russia's defence ministry has denied attacking Ukrainian cities - saying it was targeting military infrastructure, air defence and air forces with "high-precision weapons". NATO and the European Union have, to a large extent, responded effectively in the first months of the war. US leadership has once again proven essential in successfully mobilising international efforts, especially in coordinating military support to Ukraine. NATO’s response to the war, balancing increasingly strong support to Ukraine with a justified reluctance to avoid open conflict with Russia, has been more or less vindicated. The majority of European countries turned to the tried and tested protective security umbrella of NATO, backed by American military capabilities. There is no U.S. or NATO consensus to insert their own combat forces into Ukraine.
- Some military aid is arriving here in Poland by train too, including from the Czech Republic.
- Putin claimed in his end-of year news conference that 617,000 troops were currently active in Ukraine.
- Peter Szijjarto has arrived in Ukraine for talks with senior officials today.
- The Russian president has recognised the independence of two Russian-controlled territories in east Ukraine.
Mr Zelenskyy has called for public officials to disclose their incomes to increase transparency and eliminate corruption as Ukraine tries to meet the stringent requirements for its bid to join the European Union. Meanwhile, Indian thinktank Observer Research Foundation's Russia expert, Nandan Unnikrishnan, said India was unlikely to sign "any major military deal" with Russia because it would cross a red line with the US. Unnamed Indian government sources have suggested India wants to distance itself from Russia, according to Reuters news agency. "A frank and constructive dialogue is expected to improve relations between states," the Ukrainian president's office said on its official channel on the Telegram messaging app alongside a photo of Mr Szijjarto, Mr Kuleba and Mr Yermak. Mr Szijarto will be in the western Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak.
Russia-Ukraine War
Russia, meanwhile, is likely to focus on consolidating the territory it has already seized, particularly in eastern Ukraine. The United States and its allies may further reinforce NATO's eastern flank with major ground and air units. They might increase stocks of PGMs, such as the new medium-range ballistic Precision Strike Missile. Given Russia's potential mass use of long-range PGMs, NATO may have to improve its aerospace defenses.
That's what could happen if the United States cut off military aid to Ukraine and Europe followed suit, according to a prominent thinktank. Industrial-age warfare bends significant parts, or in some cases whole economies, towards the production of war materials as matters of priority. Russia's defence budget has tripled since 2021 and will consume 30% of government spending next year.
Ukraine will press Russia around Crimea
In this context, appropriate stockpiles of military equipment are essential. As current levels are eminently insufficient, procurement practices and defence industry production capacity must be adapted, and stocks augmented quickly. More structurally, it has broken the entire security architecture built patiently on the continent over many decades, including international commitments agreed in the last 30 years.
- Warnings of an expanded Russian invasion of Ukraine have a “High Noon” feel.
- Before the war, President Putin demanded Nato turn the clock back to 1997 and remove its forces and military infrastructure from Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Baltics.
- NATO and the European Union have, to a large extent, responded effectively in the first months of the war.
- BBC correspondents heard loud bangs in the capital Kyiv, as well as Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
The official added that budget talks are "ongoing" and have "always been based on finding a compromise" acceptable to all member states. A senior European Union official has denied member states are discussing financial coercion to force Hungary to agree on financing for Ukraine. Kara-Murza, who suffers from a nerve disorder after surviving two poison attacks, was jailed for 25 years last April for treason and spreading "false information" about the Russian war in Ukraine. The Dnieper river forms a natural barrier between east and west Ukraine.
Turkey had some success last summer with the UN in mediating a deal on resuming grain exports through the Black Sea but has had no success since. China is looking for a role in securing a political settlement, but its position is probably too close to Russia to be considered an honest broker. By annexing four regions Russia does not even fully control, Vladimir Putin has made it very hard for himself to give them up. Four months into Russia's 2022 invasion, the EU granted Ukraine candidate status and Kyiv is pushing to be accepted as soon as it can.
Occupying forces might be stretched thin and vulnerable to stay-behind insurgents. The United States and NATO allies worry that Russia may be planning an invasion. Washington has proclaimed an “ironclad commitment” to Ukraine's security. If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at Please include your name, age and location with any submission. Russia's long-time leader was also desperate to prevent Ukraine from entering Nato's orbit, but his attempt to blame the Western defensive alliance for the war is false.
- When announcing the military operation, Mr Putin warned other countries that interfering with the invasion would lead to "consequences you have never seen".
- Russia has captured the town of Soledar this year and has hopes of seizing the eastern city of Bakhmut on the road to key cities to the west, and of recapturing territory it lost last autumn.
- The admiral described Russia's military build-up on its border with Ukraine as "deeply worrying".
- The U.S. is not providing F-16s to Ukraine but has authorized allies to provide their own jets.
- He spoke of preventing Nato from gaining a foothold in Ukraine, then added another objective of ensuring Ukraine's neutral status.
- Forced into further retreats from Kharkiv in the north-east and Kherson in the south, that aim remains unchanged, but it has shown little success in achieving it.
A document signed by Putin on Monday also allows him to establish military bases or place missiles in the territories. The Russian president has recognised the independence of two Russian-controlled territories in east Ukraine. The territories have been armed, financed and politically controlled by Russia since 2014.
Russia wants assurances that Ukraine will never be allowed to join Nato; that Nato members will have no permanent forces or infrastructure based in Ukraine; and for a halt to military exercises near Russia's border. If Russia did decide to invade Ukraine, the senior Western intelligence official said large numbers of people would be displaced. Russian forces may try to push again along the entire front, at least to secure all of the Donbas region.
Alexei Kulemzin said Ukraine was behind the strike on the eastern Ukrainian city, which is currently under Russian occupation. Military doctrine for an invasion, he says, is usually "to go for overwhelming force". While Russia had massed between 150,000 and 190,000 troops on the border, so far it hasn't used them all. It's all going in through Ukraine's western border - principally Poland. Military flights have arrived here from as far afield as the US and Canada and it's then largely being driven across the border, due in part to the threat from Russian air power. The threats against Ukraine, and now the war against Ukraine have jolted the world.