(Bloomberg) – Decisions on training Ukrainian pilots in F-16 fighter jets and joint EU ammunition purchases are expected to be made after the Munich Security Conference, where Ukraine and its allies grappled with the likelihood of a prolonged war.
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US President Joe Biden’s administration plans to impose new export controls and a new round of sanctions on Russia targeting key industries, a year after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion.
At more than a dozen meetings in Munich, including with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has urged faster arms and ammunition supplies and new sanctions.
(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)
Important Developments
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Ukraine’s allies are working their way through the aftermath of the long war ahead
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US plans new export controls for Russia, sanctions against key industries
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Joint purchases of ammunition for Ukraine are gaining in importance among EU members
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Blinken blames China for balloons and warns against arming Russia
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G-7 and EU explore ways to track and trace Russian diamonds
On the floor
Russia has carried out nine rocket attacks, 11 plane strikes and more than 20 rocket launcher attacks in the past 24 hours, killing and injuring civilians, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Facebook. According to the report, Russian forces continued their offensive towards Kupyansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Shakhtarske. Ukrainian aviation attacked Russian troop concentrations and anti-aircraft missile systems, downing a Russian Su-25 fighter jet and two drones.
(All times CET)
Macron supports Zelenskyy peace plan (11:30 p.m.)
French President Emmanuel Macron renewed his support for Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace plan during talks with the Ukrainian leader, according to an Elysee statement.
The plan calls for a withdrawal of Russian troops, a cessation of hostilities, and the full restoration of Ukrainian sovereignty and territory.
The AMX-10 armored fighting vehicles promised by Macron will arrive in Ukraine in the coming days, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said earlier Sunday.
Biden’s trip to Poland to reaffirm support for Ukraine (4:31 p.m.)
President Joe Biden will ensure Ukraine’s partners and allies remain committed to military support when he visits Poland this week, said John Kirby, White House spokesman for the National Security Council.
“It is important that solidarity moves forward and we expect it will,” Kirby told Fox News Sunday.
He said: “We are in step with the Ukrainians and talk to them almost every day about what they need.”
Graham Views US Decision on F-16 Pilot Training (4:03 p.m.)
US Senator Lindsey Graham said he was confident the Biden administration would decide to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. Among US lawmakers attending the Munich Security Conference, support for the measure was “virtually unanimous,” he said.
“I believe a decision will be imminent when we return to Washington, that the government will begin training Ukrainian pilots on the F-16,” Graham, a South Carolina Republican, told ABCs in an interview from Munich “This week. ”
President Joe Biden’s administration has declined to supply Ukraine with F-16s or offer training, though it hasn’t ruled out the possibility.
Defense companies discuss cooperation (4 p.m.)
Ukrainian and German Defense Ministers Dmytro Kuleba and Annalena Baerbock co-chaired a meeting of the two countries’ top defense contractors, Kuleba said on Twitter. The meeting was organized “to directly connect our manufacturers,” Kuleba said.
Macron says he wants to defeat Russia, not crush it (12:30 p.m.)
Emmanuel Macron reiterated the need to defeat Russia but warned against letting the country be “crushed”.
“I don’t think, as some think, that Russia needs to be totally defeated, that it needs to be attacked on its own soil. That was never France’s position and never will be,” Macron told the Sunday newspaper JDD in an interview on the way back from Munich. He reiterated that he did not believe the conflict could be resolved militarily.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister on a diplomatic sprint in Munich (12 p.m.)
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has held 15 meetings at the Munich Security Conference, including with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and foreign ministers of Pakistan, Iraq, Brazil and Japan, according to the State Department’s Facebook page. The sides agreed to speed up supplies of arms and ammunition, new sanctions against Russia, support for important UN votes and promotion of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s peace formula.
EU pushes for joint purchase of ammunition (11:40 a.m.)
European Union members could agree to pool ammunition purchases for Ukraine as early as next month.
Estonia has proposed investing around 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion) to jointly procure one million rounds of ammunition. The Netherlands and Romania are among countries backing the idea, which EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss at their meeting in Brussels on Monday.
Kyiv mayor steps up call for fighters (9:30 a.m.)
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko called on NATO allies to provide Ukraine with fighter jets, citing the urgent need for more weapons and ammunition to repel invading Russian forces.
“I don’t understand why there are always new red lines,” Klitschko was quoted as saying by the German newspaper “Bild am Sonntag”. “One thing is clear: we must take back our country, and for that we need everything necessary.” NATO members, including the US and Britain, have said it is not possible to send fighters to Ukraine for the time being, but have not excluded.
Ukraine Needs Palantir Technologies for War Crimes Analysis (9am)
Ukraine will benefit from expanded access to Palantir Technologies Inc. products to collect and analyze evidence of war crimes, prosecutors said on Telegram. Attorney General Andriy Kostin spoke to Palantir CEO Alex Karp in Munich about expert support and training. The Ukrainian military and law enforcement agencies use the company’s technologies, and Karp visited Ukraine over the summer and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Blink Says China Weighing Deadly Support (11:30 p.m.)
“The concern we have now is based on information we have that they are considering providing lethal support,” Blinken said in an interview with CBS’s Face the Nation shortly after meeting Wang. “And we made it very clear to them that this could cause a serious problem for us and in our relationship.”
Dutch order Russian diplomats to leave (7:30 p.m.)
The Dutch government ordered about 10 Russian diplomats to leave the country and said Moscow used diplomatic cover for espionage.
The cabinet will also temporarily close the consulate general in St. Petersburg, Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said in a statement. The government has decided that there should be no more Russian diplomats in the Netherlands than Dutch diplomats in Russia, Hoekstra said.
Orban says Europe is indirectly at war with Russia (16:14)
“Europe is sinking into war, in fact they are already indirectly at war with Russia,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in his annual state of the nation address.
Orban, the EU leader with the closest ties to Russia’s Vladimir Putin, reiterated that Hungary will not supply arms to Ukraine and does not see Russia as a security threat.
Estonia to Prod EU to protect Moldova (3:53 p.m.)
Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said EU sanctions should be imposed on oligarchs accused of helping to destabilize Moldova and possibly toppling its pro-European government.
Reinsalu said he would address the application to the bloc in Brussels next week. However, such a measure could encounter “legal” obstacles, he said in an interview during the Munich Security Conference.
Sunak sees conflict at turning point (1:35 p.m.)
Sunak said the war in Ukraine had reached a “tipping point” and that it was crucial for allies to deploy more advanced weapons.
Ukraine “has the ability to gain a decisive advantage on the battlefield,” Sunak said during an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Maria Tadeo. “It can’t just be about defence.” Talks on a new security guarantee for Ukraine should start now so that they can be completed by July’s NATO summit in Vilnius, he said.
–Assisted by Kateryna Choursina and Nate Lanxon.
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