Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not “quite sure” that Russian President Vladimir Putin is still alive and let him make the decisions in Russia. The Ukrainian leader said this during his video link speech at the Davos Economic Forum. “I’m not sure who and what to talk to. I’m not sure if the Russian president who sometimes speaks out against chroma key is really him,” Zelenskyy replied when asked about the possibility of peace talks . The Kremlin immediately replied: “Russia and Putin exist and will exist,” and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should realize this as soon as possible for the good of his country, said spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
And while the West is supplying Kyiv with new weapons, the Russian embassy in Italy claims Italian anti-tank missiles have been captured. “Captured enemy Italian-made ‘Milan’ anti-tank missiles are helping the defenders of the Donetsk People’s Republic to fend off Ukrainian neo-Nazis. At least this gun is in good hands.” This is the new post from the Russian Embassy in Rome, which is posting some accompanying photos on Facebook, including a detail of a gun’s serial number reading “Oto Melara La Spezia – Italy”. “Meanwhile – the message adds in the Post – according to Europol data, many NATO weapons supplied to the Kiev regime end up on the black market and are resold to criminal organizations in Europe and elsewhere.”
The Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has meanwhile announced this Sweden will supply Kyiv with long-range artillery systems Archer, in the day since morning was shot all over Ukraine air raid alarm, according to reports of the head of the Lviv military administration Maksym Kozytskyi. Sweden’s announcement provoked a reaction from Moscow. Western shipments of new weapons to Ukraine could take the conflict to a new level, warned iPeskov, quoted by Tass.Britain sends 600 Brimstone missiles to Ukraine. This was announced by British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace during his visit to Estonia. “Today I can say that we will also send another 600 Brimstone missiles into the theater, which will be incredibly important in helping Ukraine dominate the battlefield,” he told reporters at the Estonian military base in Tapa. and the other NATO countries besides Kyiv is “long term”. “We are here today and we will be in Ramstein tomorrow to make it very clear to President Vladimir Putin that we will keep donating, keep training and keep supporting Ukraine,” said Wallace from Estonia, referring to tomorrow’s meeting of the Contact Group of Countries supporting Kyiv at the US military base Ramstein in Germany. “We will plan for this year, next year, the following year and beyond – added the minister – we are committed to the long term”. And he went on to say that the Kiev Armed Forces’ initiative to repel the Russian invasion in 2023 must be turned into territorial conquests with the aim of expelling Moscow’s troops from Ukraine and restoring its sovereignty.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, has arrived in Kyiv “to discuss all aspects of cooperation,” as he himself announced on Twitter, posting a photo of a hug with Olga Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration. “May 2023 be the year of victory and peace,” wrote Michel. “True leadership is about setting an example, not admiring others. There are no taboos. From Washington to London, from Paris to Warsaw, they say one thing: Ukraine needs tanks. Tanks: The key to ending warfare properly. It’s time to stop trembling at Putin and take the final step.”. This is what Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak writes on Twitter. “Ukraine is the EU and the EU is Ukraine. And we don’t have to spare any effort to turn this promise into reality as quickly as possible. I dream that one day, hopefully soon, a Ukrainian will fill my post as President of the European Council.” or President of the European Parliament or the Commission”. This was stated by EU Council President Charles Michel in an interview with the Ukrainian Rada in Kyiv. “The next few weeks and months will be crucial. You need more. More air defense systems, more long-range missiles and ammunition, and most importantly, you need tanks.” Right now. And we also support you internationally, beyond the borders of Ukraine.” Prime Minister Charles Michel said this in an interview with the Ukrainian Rada in Kyiv. “We are doing everything to isolate Russia. The European Union has passed nine very tough sanctions packages, and that’s not all. We are also working hard to gain the widest international support for your country. In Africa, Asia, China and Latin America, support for your country is the first topic we raise at every meeting with foreign leaders,” stressed Michel in the Ukrainian parliament.
#Kiev to discuss all strands of cooperation.
May 2023 be the year of victory and peace. pic.twitter.com/zgjdwv2sid
— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) January 19, 2023
Zelensky also explained in connection with Davos that there are such “Different” theories about the causes of the Ukrainian rescue helicopter tragedy which fell outside Kyiv yesterday, causing the deaths of 14 people, is under investigation. The investigation into the helicopter crash near Kyiv that killed Ukraine’s interior minister and 13 other people yesterday is “evaluating several theories,” Zelensky said. “The investigations are ongoing. Various theories are being investigated and I have no authority to speak about the various hypotheses until the investigation is complete,” added the President of Ukraine. Referring to the tragedy, Zelensky said yesterday, again in the Davos Forum, that “this is not an accident because it is due to war and war has many dimensions, not only on the battlefield. In war there are no accidents, they are all consequences of war”.
In his speech at the economic forum, Zelenskyy reiterated that he intends to retake Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, and called on Western partners to supply more weapons. “Our goal is to liberate all our territories,” he said via videoconference during a breakfast on the sidelines of the forum. “Crimea is our land, territory, sea and mountains. Give us your guns and we’ll get our land back,” he added.
The Ukrainian President has criticized Germany’s reluctance to supply its modern Leopard tanks in Kyiv that this is not the “right strategy”. “There are times when one should not hesitate or confront. If someone says ‘I’ll give the tanks if someone else shares them,'” Zelenskyy said via video link at the Davos Economic Forum. “I don’t think this is the right strategy,” he added. The Ukrainian leader referred to media rumors that Berlin would only deliver Leopard tanks if the United States sent their Abrams tanks.
Four civilians were injured in yesterday’s Russian shelling in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine: Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko announced this, the Kyiv Independent reported. According to Kyrylenko, the wounded were reported in Avdiivka, Chromovo, Ivanivskoye and Chasiv Yar. It is currently not possible to determine the number of people injured or killed in Russian-held Mariupol and Volnovakha, he added.
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council and a close ally of Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, on the eve of the Contact Group meeting at the Ramstein military base in Germany, once again raises the specter of a nuclear war in Ukraine. “Tomorrow at the NATO base in Ramstein, the major military leaders will discuss new tactics and strategies, as well as the delivery of new heavy weapons and attack systems to Ukraine,” the former Russian president and prime minister wrote on Telegram. “And that was right after the Davos Forum, where the patrons of underdeveloped political parties repeated like a mantra: ‘To win peace, Russia must lose.’ And it never occurs to any of them to draw the following elementary conclusion: the defeat of a nuclear power in a conventional war can lead to the outbreak of a nuclear war,” stresses Medvedev. “Nuclear powers have not lost any major conflicts on which their fate depends. But that should be clear to everyone. Even a Western politician who has retained at least a trace of intelligence.”
The new US mega-military aid package to Ukraine will be worth a total of about $2.5 billion, reports CNN, citing two well-informed sources. This is one of the largest packages announced by Washington since the war began last February. The package, which has not yet been finalized, will include Stryker combat vehicles for the first time. The new help, the American broadcaster writes on its website, could be completed by the end of the week.