Summary
The time in Kyiv is 8pm. Here is a round-up of the day’s news:
- Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson has made a surprise visit to Ukraine, where he said that it was “the moment to double down and to give the Ukrainians all the tools they need to finish the job”. Downing Street said Rishi Sunak is “supportive” of Boris Johnson’s visit, despite warnings that it would undermine the current prime minister’s authority.
- German chancellor Olaf Scholz, under pressure to allow the shipment of German-made tanks to Ukraine, said on Sunday that future decisions on weapons deliveries will be made in coordination with allies, including the United States. Scholz, when asked at a news conference about providing tanks to Ukraine, said that all weapons deliveries to Ukraine so far have taken place in close coordination with western partners.
- French president Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday he does not rule out the possibility of sending Leclerc tanks to Ukraine. He was speaking at a summit with German chancellor Scholz.
- The UK foreign secretary said the UK wants to see Ukraine equipped with Leopard 2 tanks. “I would like to see the Ukrainians equipped with things like the Leopard 2, as well as the artillery systems that they’ve been provided by us and by others,” he said. “I will keep having those conversations with our NATO allies and friends.”
- Russia has claimed to have made advances in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. After months of stalemate in the south-eastern region, Moscow-installed officials say the front is now “mobile” while the Ukrainian army reported that 15 settlements had come under artillery fire.
- Talks between government representatives from France and Germany took place in Paris, as officials mark the 60th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty and the relationship between the two nations. It comes as the two countries seek to overcome differences exposed by differing attitudes about how the continent should proceed and whether Germany will agree to send tanks to Ukraine.
- German chancellor Olaf Scholz promised that Germany will “continue to support Ukraine – for as long and as comprehensively as necessary”, adding: “Together, as Europeans – in defence of our European peace project.”
- Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, criticised Germany’s failure to supply tanks to Ukraine. “Germany’s attitude is unacceptable. It has been almost a year since the war began. Innocent people are dying every day,” Morawiecki said.
- An adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that caution and slow decision making over whether to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine is costing lives. Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted on Saturday his frustration at “global indecision” over arms supply to Ukraine: “Today’s indecision is killing more of our people. Every day of delay is the death of Ukrainians. Think faster.”
- Baltic countries have told Germany to send the tanks “now” to Ukraine after perceived heel-dragging by the government in Berlin. The Latvian foreign minister, Edgars Rinkēvičs, tweeted they are “needed to stop Russian aggression”. The same tweet was put out by his counterparts in Estonia and Lithuania.
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German chancellor Olaf Scholz, under pressure to allow the shipment of German-made tanks to Ukraine, said on Sunday that future decisions on weapons deliveries will be made in coordination with allies, including the United States.
Scholz, when asked at a news conference about providing tanks to Ukraine, said that all weapons deliveries to Ukraine so far have taken place in close coordination with western partners.
“We will do that in the future,” he said.
France does not rule out sending Leclerc tanks to Ukraine – Macron
French president Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday he does not rule out the possibility of sending Leclerc tanks to Ukraine.
He was speaking at a summit with German chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The speaker of Russia’s parliament warned that countries supplying Ukraine with more powerful weapons risked their own destruction.
The message followed Ukraine’s supporters pledging billions of pounds in military aid to the country on Friday, including armoured vehicles, air defence systems and other equipment, but not including the battle tanks Kyiv had requested, the Associated Press reported.
State Duma chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said:
Supplies of offensive weapons to the Kyiv regime would lead to a global catastrophe.”
If Washington and Nato supply weapons that would be used for striking peaceful cities and making attempts to seize our territory as they threaten to do, it would trigger a retaliation with more powerful weapons.
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A soldier prepares his vehicle near the Bakhmut frontlines on 22 January in Chasov Yar, Ukraine.
Ukraine’s government has praised the former UK prime minister Boris Johnson following his visit to the country, saying: “Friends like this are worth more than a squadron of tanks.”
Kyiv has dismissed deputy minister Vasyl Lozynskiy who allegedly received a $400,000 (£322,870) bribe, reports the Kyiv Independent.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau detained Deputy Minister Vasyl Lozynskiy on 21 January.
The Kyiv Independent reports that the deputy minister allegedly accepted $400,000 in bribes for the procurement of electricity generators.
The Guardian’s chief reporter, Dan Boffey, has filed this dispatch from Kyiv on the fierce fighting in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, where Russia claims it has made advances, and the developments of the day.
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Here are a few more pictures from Johnson’s visit to the Ukraine. The former prime minister visited a church in Bucha after his appearance in Borodianka.
Johnson says Ukrainians should get ‘all the tools theay need’ to beat Russia
Boris Johnson has weighed in on the row over whether Ukraine will get more tanks to fight back against Russian forces.
The former UK prime minister, who said he was invited to Ukraine by Volodymyr Zelenskiy, was on a walkabout of Borodyanka.
In a statement carried by PA Media, he hinted at his support for more tanks to be sent to Kyiv, saying: “This is the moment to double down and to give the Ukrainians all the tools they need to finish the job.”
Johnson also said: “It is a privilege to visit Ukraine at the invitation of President Zelenskiy. The suffering of the people of Ukraine has gone on for too long.
“The only way to end this war is for Ukraine to win – and to win as fast as possible … The sooner Putin fails, the better for Ukraine and for the whole world.”
Russian forces are improving their positions in the Zaporizhzhia region, the country’s defence ministry has claimed.
“During offensive operations in the direction of Zaporizhzhia, units of the Eastern Military District took up more advantageous ground and positions,” the defence ministry said.
Reuters writes that the Russians claim to have inflicted casualties and destroyed equipment including Ukrainian fighting vehicles, howitzers and two US-made Himars rockets.
Reuters was not able to independently verify Russia’s claims. Ukraine on Saturday saidthe accounts were exaggerated.
Fighting in recent weeks has centred around the town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, where Russia’s Wagner mercenaries and Ukrainian forces have been locked in a battle of attrition.
Neither side has claimed major movements on the southern front since November, when Russia pulled out of the city of Kherson.
With the war now 11 months old, Ukraine has said it believes Moscow is likely to attempt a new offensive in the coming months.
Boris Johnson visits Ukraine
The former UK prime minister Boris Johnson has been seen on a visit to Ukraine. Johnson was photographed walking through Borodyanka, which was destroyed in the early part of Russia’s invasion.
Johnson, who is facing questions about his financial dealings back home, was awarded an honorary ‘Citizen of Kyiv’ medal from the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko at Davos last week.
He has been treated as a hero by many Ukrainians thanks to his support after Russian troops invaded the country in February 2022.
Germany: ‘We will continue to support Ukraine’
Meanwhile, in Paris, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has promised that Germany will “continue to support Ukraine – for as long and as comprehensively as necessary”
Speaking at an event to celebrate friendship between Germany and France, he said:
“We will continue to support Ukraine – for as long and as comprehensively as necessary. Together, as Europeans – in defence of our European peace project.”