US President Joe Biden said he doubted whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would use a tactical nuclear weapon as Ukraine pleaded for a rapid increase in western military aid to defend against missile strikes on its cities.
Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now
Diplomacy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy plans to continue his appeals for more military aid to Western leaders in Brussels on Wednesday as they meet for on the sidelines of a NATO defence meeting.
NATO told Moscow it would meet any attacks on allies’ critical infrastructure with a “united and determined response” and was monitoring Russia’s nuclear forces closely as the country was “losing on the battlefield” in Ukraine.
NATO members and allies meeting in Brussels on Wednesday are likely to focus on providing additional air defence systems to Ukraine, the US ambassador to NATO said.
The United States is speeding up the shipment of sophisticated NASAMS air defenses to Ukraine, the White House National Security Council spokesperson said.
Ukraine on Tuesday received the first of four IRIS-T air defence systems Germany promised to supply, a German defence ministry source said, confirming a report by Der Spiegel magazine.
The Group of Seven (G7) nations committed to support Ukraine for as long as it takes, adding in a statement after a leaders’ call that any use by Russia of nuclear weapons would bring severe consequences.
A Kremlin spokesman said US promises to supply advanced air defence systems to Ukraine will only extend the conflict and inflict more pain for Ukraine.
European arms manufacturers have urged the European Union to help coordinate weapons procurement as they scramble to boost production to meet soaring demand for the war in Ukraine, after cutbacks in defence spending during decades of peace in Europe.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow will not turn down a meeting between Putin and Biden at a forthcoming G20 meeting and would consider the proposal if it receives one.
Conflict
Russia’s defence ministry said it had hit “all designated targets” in Ukraine on Monday in what it called an attack on military, communications and energy infrastructure. Putin earlier blamed Ukraine for an attack on a bridge linking Russia to annexed Crimea.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba accused Russia of committing war crimes by deliberately targeting energy facilities to create “unbearable conditions for civilians”.
Ukraine urged civilians not to use domestic appliances like ovens and washing machines to save electricity as millions faced blackouts after the biggest Russian attack on its energy network since war broke out.
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said on Tuesday more than 2,000 people had been left without power after Ukraine shelled an electricity substation in the town of Shebekino, on the border with Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.
Economy
Zelenskiy called for the G7 to back a tough cap on Russian oil and gas exports, and again ruled out talks with Putin.
Already blighted by Western sanctions, Russia’s economy now faces a more self-inflicted blow, with Putin’s military mobilisation drive threatening to undermine productivity, demand and recovery.
The current energy shock, especially in Europe, is not transitory, and the geopolitical realignment of energy supplies occurring in the wake of Russia’s war in Europe is both “broad and permanent”, the IMF said.
Quotes
“(Putin) thinks that if he scares the population, he can ask for concessions, but he is not scaring us. He is pissing us off,” said Viktoriya Moshkivski, 35, as she, her husband and their two sons waited for the air raid all-clear in Kyiv’s Zoloti Vorota underground station.
“We warn and hope that they realise the danger of uncontrolled escalation in Washington and other Western capitals,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by RIA news agency.