Poland will file a request for German approval to send its Leopard tanks to Ukraine, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said, adding that it was a formality “because we will transfer the tanks without the nod”. 

European Union foreign ministers held talks in Brussels, with Germany facing pressure from several countries on tank deliveries. The EU ministers are expected to approve another €500-million in funding for weapons sent to Ukraine.

Key developments

• Baltic relations with Moscow deteriorate in diplomatic standoff
• Latvia slams Berlin over indecision on Leopard tanks for Ukraine
• Germany and France outline a new Europe that’s under threat
• How Europe needs freight trains to cross Russia from China
• Germany still years from replacing Russian gas capacity

On the ground

Russian forces continued their offensive around Bakhmut, conducted unsuccessful assaults on the Lyman, Avdiyivka and Zaporizhzhia axes, and are on the defensive in other areas, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Facebook.

It said Russian troops launched four missile and five air strikes on Ukraine over the past day and carried out more than 40 salvos from multiple rocket launchers, while the Ukrainian military repelled attacks near 11 settlements in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

One person was killed by Russian shelling in the Kherson region.

EU to prolong trade liberalisation with Ukraine

The EU is leaning toward prolonging full trade liberalisation with Ukraine to support its economy in spite of concerns raised by industries.

The bloc is “likely to expand those measures because they are providing tangible economic support to Ukraine” in a difficult moment, European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis said.

Last June, the EU adopted a temporary full trade liberalisation with Ukraine and the suspension of trade defence measures for one year as part of its response to Russia’s invasion of the country. Member states had noted the increased volume of some imports, including poultry and eggs.

Latvia says next two months are critical for Ukraine 

The next two months will be critical for Ukraine as Russia builds up forces and equipment near the border for an offensive, Latvian Defence Minister Inara Murniece told journalists.

Ukraine needed weapons now to defend itself, she said. 

Latvia, which has given weapons to Ukraine, is planning to rebuild its arsenal by buying air defence systems, Himars rocket launchers and a coastal defence system, Murniece said.

That way, Latvia can strengthen its defences over the next five years as Russia may be able to rebuild its forces.

Ukrainians show record support for joining Nato

Ukrainians support joining both Nato and the EU by record amounts — 86% and 87% respectively — according to a survey from the Rating Group agency.

Latvia to reduce diplomatic ties with Russia

Latvia will recall its ambassador to Russia in response to Moscow’s decision on Monday to expel Estonia’s top envoy, completing a diplomatic downgrade across the Baltics in response to the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. 

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said his country will recall its ambassador by 24 February due to the “ongoing brutal Russian aggression against Ukraine” and “in solidarity with Estonia”. 

Earlier this month, Estonia ordered the Russian embassy to reduce its staff by almost half, to 23 diplomats, bringing the number in line with its own team in Moscow.

Fellow Baltic state Lithuania recalled its ambassador from Russia and downgraded its diplomatic relations in April.

EU pushes ahead on reconstruction donor plan

The EU is planning to confirm its intention to play a “leading role” in the reconstruction of Ukraine through a donor coordination platform it plans to run with the Group of Seven and other partners, according to the text of a joint statement planned for an EU-Ukraine summit on 3 February.

Donors are setting up a steering committee with a meeting as early as this month, people said. A secretariat of the steering committee would be hosted in the EU’s executive arm in Brussels, with a small presence in Kyiv to be expanded in the future.

Any exceptions in sanctions on Russia are ‘inadmissible’, Kuleba says

The next EU sanctions package should be adopted as soon as possible, have no exceptions or relaxations, and include a wide range of powerful restrictions on the missile and drone industry, as well as on energy, banking, media and telecommunications, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a video linkup with EU counterparts on Monday. 

Russia tried to bypass restrictions, and all such attempts should meet with “strong resistance”, Kuleba said, according to a statement on his ministry website.

Russians heavily mine captured territories, says Ukraine

More than 800,000 hectares of Southern Kherson and Mykolayiv regions, occupied by Russian troops from the start of the full-scale invasion and liberated by the Ukrainian army last autumn, are heavily mined, the Ukrainian military media centre said, citing operational group “Tavria” commander Oleksandr Tarnavskiy. 

“After liberating our territories, we immediately begin clearing them from explosives,” Tarnavskiy said, adding that Ukrainian sappers and engineers risk their lives every day “to make the liberated territories safe again”.

Ukraine needs several hundred tanks, Zelensky’s office says 

Ukraine needs not 10 to 20 tanks, but several hundred, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said on Telegram. 

Yermak said the priority was to restore the borders of 1991 and “punish the enemy”. 

He added: “This is not only a Ukrainian front, it is a front of civilisation against backwardness and barbarism.”

Earlier, Ukrainian officials said that the 1991 borders include the territories occupied by Russia since 2014 – the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and Crimea.

Poland calls on Germany to transfer Leopard tanks to Ukraine

Poland has called on Germany to transfer its Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, Premier Mateusz Morawiecki said on Monday.

Warsaw is piling pressure on the German government to ship its tanks to Ukraine, according to the prime minister, and is also building an alliance of countries that will hand over their own tanks to Ukraine without German approval.

“We will file a request for German approval, but it is a secondary issue because we will transfer the tanks without the nod,” Morawiecki told reporters.

Estonia, Lithuania press for more weapons for Ukraine

Estonia and Lithuania’s foreign ministers urged allies to send Ukraine all the weapons they could, including main battle tanks, both to help the country defend itself from Russia before another possible large-scale offensive and to reclaim territory.

Speaking to reporters before a meeting of EU foreign affairs chiefs in Brussels, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said he hoped there wouldn’t be “ambivalency, purgatory” over whether Germany sends its Leopard 2 tanks, adding that allies “need to give Ukrainians a shield, but also a sword to liberate territory”.

Asked if he was frustrated by Germany’s approach on tanks, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said: “I wish I would not have to wait one more day for tanks to be delivered.”

He proposed sanctioning Russia’s nuclear company, Rosatom, and called for more sanctions on Belarus to close the existing loopholes that allow goods to reach Russia via the country.

Latvia raps Germany over Leopard talks indecision 

Latvia’s top envoy criticised Germany over its indecision on whether to send Ukraine the Leopard 2 tanks, saying there are no longer any “good arguments” not to give Kyiv the heavier weapons it demands. 

The three Baltic nations — Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania — will reiterate calls for Germany to send the tanks when the bloc’s foreign affairs chiefs gather in Brussels on Monday, after the countries issued a joint statement over the weekend. 

“At this point there are no good arguments saying why battle tanks, why air defence systems, can’t be provided,” Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics told reporters before the meeting.

EU to begin work on more Russia sanctions 

The EU is eyeing a 10th package of sanctions targeting Russia’s war in Ukraine, a year next month after Moscow’s invasion, according to people familiar with the matter.

Proposals for the new measures had yet to be circulated, but the sanctions could include expanding restrictions on Russia’s drone sector and dual-use goods used by Russia’s military-industrial complex, the sources said. 

A group of nations, including Poland and the Baltic countries, would be pushing for a strong package, the sources added.

The EU was also working on new measures targeting Belarus for its role in providing ongoing support to Russia, the people said.

Zelensky announces ‘powerful’ steps after dismissal of deputy minister 

Decisions to restore fair governance “have already been prepared”, Zelensky said in his daily video statement on Sunday night.

The decisions concerned officials involved in procurement in the energy sector and for the military, Zelensky said, without elaborating.

The Ukrainian government on Sunday dismissed deputy minister of communities, development and infrastructure, Vasyl Lozynskyi, who is suspected of abuse of office and bribery.

EU foreign ministers to discuss tank deliveries to Ukraine 

EU foreign ministers will discuss tank deliveries to Ukraine in Brussels, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, told reporters before Monday’s meeting.

“From my personal opinion, these kinds of arms should be provided to the Ukrainian army, but it’s a member state decision and we’re here to discuss it,” Borrell said. 

The EU foreign policy chief added that he hoped the bloc would reach a political consensus on a new tranche of €500-million in funding for weapons sent to Ukraine.

Russia says no grounds yet for arms treaty talks with US 

Russia said it sees no grounds yet for holding a fresh round of talks under the New START treaty postponed since November.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the atmosphere was not conducive to these negotiations, Interfax reported.

The meeting, originally planned for Cairo, would have marked the first such discussions since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February. Resuming suspended inspections of US and Russian nuclear weapons sites was to have been on the agenda. DM