Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskyy addresses UK lawmakers, rare trip outside Ukraine

Germany's Scholz: Ukraine belongs to European family

Europe and the United States will support Ukraine in its war against Russia for as long as necessary, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday, adding Ukraine belongs to the European family. Speaking in Paris with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron, Scholz said leaders at an EU summit on Thursday would send a strong signal of solidarity with Kyiv. "I am taking a clear message to Brussels: Ukraine belongs to the European family," said Scholz.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy arrives in France on rare wartime trip to seek more European weapons and aid

Nato chief Stoltenberg: Moscow is preparing for new military offensives

UK's Challenger 2 tanks to be deployed in Ukraine 'next month', says UK PM Rishi Sunak

France's Macron has changed since comments on Russia: Zelenskyy

French President Emmanuel Macron has "changed" since the statements he made on Russia irritated Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview to a French newspaper ahead of a visit to Paris. "I think he has changed, and changed for real this time," Zelenskyy told Le Figaro newspaper, when asked if Macron had changed since he irritated him with his comments on the need to avoid "humiliating" Russia.

Zelenskyy seeks combat jets from West

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy began a tour of Europe on Wednesday in search of better aerial firepower to turn the war against Russia, winning a British pledge to train Ukrainian pilots on advanced NATO fighter jets.

UK lawmakers applaud Ukraine's Zelenskyy

UK lawmakers on Wednesday applauded Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he addressed the British parliament on a rare overseas visit.

Russia is now also trying to break through Ukrainian lines near the towns of Avdiivka and Marinka in Donetsk, as well as near Kreminna, a front-line town in the Luhansk region which lies along a key Russian supply route, the Ukrainian General Staff said.

The Russian-installed leader of the occupied Luhansk region said Wednesday the situation in some areas is “very difficult” because Kyiv is mustering forces for a counterattack.

Leonid Pasechnik told Russian state TV that the situation is “very difficult” in areas around a key Russian supply route. “Unfortunately, the enemy is accumulating sufficient reserves there, forces to counterattack, to return the lost territories,” he said.

Moscow believes Ukraine is preparing its own battlefield push.

Military analysts say that after a Ukrainian counteroffensive that started last summer and recaptured large areas from Russia, the war has been largely static in recent months.

Ukrainian authorities say the Kremlin’s goal is to complete full control of the Donbas, an expansive industrial area bordering Russia.

That would give Russian President Vladimir Putin a major battlefield success after months of setbacks and help him rally public opinion behind the war.

Seizing Bakhmut could severely disrupt Ukraine’s military supply routes.

It would also open a door for Moscow’s forces to drive toward key Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk.

Russian forces in Ukraine are focusing their efforts on “waging a counteroffensive” in the country’s industrial east, with the aim of taking full control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that make up the Donbas, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.

Russian forces over the past day launched major shelling attacks on areas near the front line in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, killing a 74-year-old woman and wounding a 16-year-old girl in the border town of Vovchansk, local Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said.

Russian forces blasted areas of eastern Ukraine with more artillery bombardments, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday, in what Kyiv authorities believe is part of a new thrust by the Kremlin’s forces before the invasion anniversary.

The EU's legislature has also slated a special plenary session in Brussels for Thursday in the hopes that Zelenskyy will come following his trip to Britain.

More than 10,000 Ukrainian troops have also been trained at bases in the U.K., some on the Challenger 2 tanks that Britain is sending.

The U.K. is one of the biggest military backers of Ukraine and has sent the country more than 2 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) in weapons and equipment.

“The United Kingdom was one of the first to come to Ukraine’s aid. And today I’m in London to personally thank the British people for their support,” Zelenskyy said on Instagram.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak greeted him on the tarmac, tweeting a photo of him embracing the Ukrainian leader.

The Ukrainian leader arrived on a Royal Air Force plane in London on Wednesday.

Zelenskyy's daring to visit Britain in a bid for more advanced weapons comes as Kyiv braces for an expected Russian offensive and hatches its own plans to retake land held by Moscow's forces.

Ukraine's Zelenskyy to ask EU summit for arms, quick accession

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will ask a summit of European Union leaders on Thursday for more arms to fight Russia and powering ahead with Kyiv's bid to join the EU, a senior Ukrainian official said on Wednesday

Sunak extends military training support as Ukraine President makes UK visit

In his first visit to the UK since Russia invaded Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak here on Wednesday, addressed Parliament and will also meet King Charles. The visit comes as Sunak extended the UK's ongoing support to train Ukrainian fighter jet pilots and marines to help upskill their defensive capabilities. Buckingham Palace said the surprise visit, not announced in advance due to security reasons, will also include a meeting with King Charles III.

'Russia will lose war:' Ukraine President Zelenskyy in historic address to UK lawmakers

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday predicted that Russia would lose the war against his country, and thanked the British people for their support from "Day One" since Moscow's military offensive. "I stand before you on behalf of our brave soldiers who are right now under artillery fire," Zelenskyy said in a rousing address to Parliament, during which he complimented the “strong British character”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has begun his historic address to the U.K. Parliament during a rare trip outside his country to seek more support

Zelenskyy, dressed in his usual green fatigues, was hugged by Sunak after landing on a military transport plane at Stansted airport north of London, before the pair met for talks at 10 Downing Street.

He will later also have an audience with King Charles III.

Sunak said he joined with main opposition Labour Party leader, Keir Starmer, in saying that the UK would "stand united with Ukraine until we ensure the defeat of Vladimir Putin's unprovoked unsanctioned aggression, and that we will make sure that Ukraine is not only victorious but that we bring peace to its people".

"(Russian President) Vladimir Putin's aggression cannot be seen in any way to have been successful and that's why we have accelerated and increased our support militarily for Ukraine," Sunak said ahead of an address to parliament by visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

UK supporting Ukraine to ensure victory 'this year': PM

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday told parliament the UK would continue "to support Ukraine to ensure decisive military victory on the battlefield, this year".

UK PM Sunak: We want a decisive military victory in Ukraine

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday his government wanted to see a decisive military victory on the battlefield this year in Ukraine.

UK sanctions more Russian entities and individuals

Britain set out a new round of sanctions on "Russian military and Kremlin elites" on Wednesday, including six entities providing military equipment such as drones for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

UK PM Sunak: Will continue to stand with Ukraine

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday assured Ukraine that its future lies in the European Union as he gave a speech to parliament ahead of the first anniversary of Russia's invasion.

Germany's Scholz criticizes 'public competition' to send arms to Ukraine

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday criticized the public competition among some countries over who can deliver more and better weapons to Ukraine, saying it harmed unity among allies.

Zelenskyy visits UK for first time since Russia's invasion

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives in UK: TV

Zelenskyy, who had close ties with ex-prime minister Boris Johnson, visits Britain at a time when Russia is bringing tens of thousands of recently mobilised troops to the battlefield to try to break through Ukrainian defences in eastern Ukraine. Since Johnson resigned last year, Sunak has pledged to continue to support Ukraine, visiting Kyiv in November to tell the Ukrainian leader: "We are with you all the way."

Meanwhile, a fire broke out at an oil refinery in Russia's southern Rostov region near the border with Ukraine, state media reported on Wednesday, citing the emergencies ministry. "In Rostov Region, Novoshakhtinsk city ... a message was received at 10.24am. Moscow time about a fire on the territory of an oil products processing plant," the ministry said. The fire, which had an area of about 100 square metres, was extinguished around an hour later, the Interfax news agency reported. The cause of the fire was not immediately clear. (Reuters)

"President Zelenskyy's visit to the UK is a testament to his country's courage, determination and fight, and a testament to the unbreakable friendship between our two countries," Sunak said in the statement. The UK PM will offer the UK's backing to Zelenskyy's plans to work towards a just and lasting peace for Ukraine, the statement added.

Sunak's office announced plans to expand training for the armed forces of Ukraine to sea and air - including fighter jet pilots and marines - and accelerate the supply of military equipment. The training would ensure pilots are able to fly sophisticated Nato-standard fighter jets in the future, the statement said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Britain on Wednesday, his first trip to the UK since the war began. The British government says Zelenskyy will meet with PM Rishi Sunak and address Parliament. (AP)

Russia has asked Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters to speak to the UN Security Council on Wednesday at a meeting that Moscow requested to discuss the delivery of weapons to Ukraine. "Russian diplomacy used to be serious. What next? Mr. Bean?" said a UN Security Council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. Waters was criticized by supporters of Ukraine when he published an open letter on his website in September to Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska. He argued against the Western supply of weapons to Kyiv.

After Russia failed to capture the Ukrainian capital Kyiv last year and lost ground in the second half of 2022, Moscow is now making full use of hundreds of thousands of troops it called up in the autumn in its first mobilisation since World War II.

The Ukraine armed forces said on Tuesday evening that more than 30 towns and villages in Kharkiv and 20 communities in Zaporizhzhia came under fire. Top Ukrainian officials including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have said Moscow will attempt to mount another major offensive with freshly mobilised troops in the coming weeks as the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion nears on February 24."They need to have something to show before their people, and have a major desire to do something big, as they see it, by this date," Danilov said.

Ukraine national security chief Oleksiy Danilov said in an interview on Tuesday that the Kremlin is expected to target the northeastern Kharkiv or southern Zaporizhzhia regions in a new thrust. "Attempts at an offensive in either the Kharkiv or Zaporizhzhia direction will of course be made," he told Reuters, speaking in his office in Kyiv. "How successful they'll be will depend on us."

Russian forces ramped up a winter assault in eastern Ukraine, bringing tens of thousands of freshly mobilised troops to the battlefield, while Kyiv expected Moscow to broaden its offensive as towns in the northeast and south came under fire. Ukraine's military said on Tuesday that 1,030 Russian troops were killed over 24 hours, the highest daily toll of the war. The figure could not be independently verified, and Russia has also claimed to have killed large numbers of Ukrainian troops in recent weeks. For its part, Russia said it had inflicted 6,500 Ukrainian casualties in the month of January. (Reuters)

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has been a test for the ages, and a test for the world, US President Joe Biden said as he slammed his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for his military aggression. "I spoke from this chamber one year ago, just days after Vladimir Putin unleashed his brutal war against Ukraine. A murderous assault, evoking images of the death and destruction Europe suffered in World War II," Biden said in his address to a joint session of the US Congress on Tuesday night. "Putin's invasion has been a test for the ages. A test for America. A test for the world. Would we stand for the most basic of principles? Would we stand for sovereignty? Would we stand for the right of people to live free from tyranny? Would we stand for the defence of democracy?” Biden posed a series of questions in his second State of the Union address.