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LIVE UPDATES: Biden to Reportedly Meet Zelensky in Poland

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Russia started its special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, after the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian provocations.

2023-02-15T06:35+0000

2023-03-30T21:11+0000

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President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy walk along the Colonnade of the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022, in Washington. - Sputnik International

LIVE UPDATES: Biden to Reportedly Meet Zelensky in Poland

06:35 GMT 15.02.2023 (Updated: 21:11 GMT 30.03.2023)

Russia started its special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, after the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian provocations.

Since October 10, Russia has been targeting infrastructure which aids the Ukrainian military in retaliation for Ukraine's terrorist attacks, including an assault on the Crimean Bridge, performed by Ukrainian intelligence services.

Over the past months, air raid alerts have been sounded in regions of Ukraine every day, with many parts of the country experiencing power cuts.

The United States, Britain and the EU ramped up their military support for Ukraine after Russia started its special military operation.

Earlier, Germany pledged to send 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks to Ukraine, after being repeatedly urged to do so by some of its EU and NATO allies. Washington said it would send Ukraine 31 Abrams tanks and eight M88 recovery vehicles, noting that the delivery would take considerable time.

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04:11 GMT 16.02.2023

A Ukrainian artilleryman throws an empty 155MM shell tube as Ukrainian soldiers fire a M777 howitzer towards Russian positions on the frontline of eastern Ukraine, on November 23, 2022. - Sputnik International, 1920, 16.02.2023

Americas

US Orders Nearly $1Bln in Heavy Artillery Ammunition as Ukraine Burns Through Aid

16 February 2023, 03:20 GMT

02:20 GMT 16.02.2023

Air Raid Warnings Issued Across Ukraine - Online Map

18:21 GMT 15.02.2023

Biden to Meet Zelensky in Poland - Reports

US President Joe Biden is to meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, in Poland, newspaper Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reported on Wednesday.

According to the Polish news outlet, the two presidents are to have a meeting either in Warsaw, or in Rzeszow.

18:20 GMT 15.02.2023

Pentagon Lobbying Idea to Resume Top Secret Programs With Kiev - Senior Russian Diplomat

The Pentagon is actively lobbying in favor of resuming the financing of top secret programs concerning Ukraine, Konstantin Gavrilov, the head of the Russian delegation at the Vienna Negotiations on Military Security and Arms Control, said on Wednesday.

"According to available information, the Pentagon is now actively lobbying the idea to resume financing of a number of top secret programs connected with Ukraine. It is supposed that the [US] Defense Department will be authorized to recruit Ukrainian soldiers who will then receive the status of officers of US secret services," the diplomat said at a plenary session of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Gavrilov added that the United States and its allies spared no effort to try to harm Russia by all means available as it had done after World War II, when the Central Intelligence Agency had recruited Nazi criminals during the confrontation with the Soviet Union.

14:14 GMT 15.02.2023

US Planning to Train Ukrainian Troops to Use Less Artillery Munitions

The United States is planning to assist the Ukrainian military in adjusting the troops' maneuver on the battlefield and reduce the amount of munitions amid concerns over Kiev's excessive ammo expending, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

"We are working with the Ukrainian soldiers in various places throughout Europe to emphasize additional training on maneuver so that as they place more emphasis on maneuver and shaping the battlefield with fires and then maneuvering, there's a good chance that they'll require less artillery munitions, but that's left to be seen," Austin said during the Ukraine Defense Contract Group meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.

The defense secretary also said that "this has been a tough fight throughout" in terms of munitions and that Ukraine had used "a lot of artillery ammunition."

13:45 GMT 15.02.2023

Lloyd Austin Pledges US, Allies Will Give Ukraine Additional Capability So They Can be Decisive on Battlefield in Upcoming Offensive

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Wednesday that the US and its allies intend to provide Ukraine with the weapons capability and support for those systems to be decisive on the battlefield during the upcoming offensive.

"Our goal is to make sure that we give Ukraine additional capability so that they not only can be marginally successful, they can be decisive on the battlefield in their upcoming offensive," Austin said at a briefing following a NATO defense ministerial meeting.

"We're laser focused on making sure that we provide a capability and not just platforms," he added. "So for every system that we provide, we're going to train troops on that system, but we’re also going to give them additional training on maneuver, on the integration of fires, on sustainment, and on maintenance."

13:42 GMT 15.02.2023

13:01 GMT 15.02.2023

International Fund for Ukraine to Send Kiev First Assistance Package - UK Defense Ministry

The United Kingdom, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark agreed to send ammunition, intelligence equipment, and tank spare parts to Kiev under the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU), UK Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

"Ukraine will receive capabilities worth millions including tank spares, uncrewed air systems, electronic warfare, and air defence, from the first package of multi-million pound funding from the International Fund for Ukraine," the statement read.

IFU's first support package is expected to amount to over 200 million pounds ($240 million) and strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities.

"With an expected value of more than £200m, the first package will include vital capabilities in the form of artillery ammunition, maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and spare parts for equipment, including Ukraine’s current tanks," the statement read.

11:28 GMT 15.02.2023

Switzerland Confirms There Are No Legal Grounds for Transferring Russia's Frozen Assets to Ukraine

Flag of Switzerland - Sputnik International, 1920, 15.02.2023

Economy

No Legal Ground for Transferring Russia's Frozen Assets to Ukraine: Swiss Gov't

15 February 2023, 11:56 GMT

11:06 GMT 15.02.2023

EU Ambassadors OK Creation of Group to Use Russian Assets for Ukraine - Swedish Presidency

EU permanent representatives have approved the creation of a special working grope on the use of Russia's frozen assets in the interests of Ukraine, Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU said on Wednesday.

"EU ambassadors today approved the establishment of an ad hoc working party on the use of frozen and immobilised Russian assets to support Ukraine´s reconstruction," the Swedish presidency wrote on Twitter.

10:55 GMT 15.02.2023

Kremlin Spokesman Says Russia Drawing Int'l Attention to Kiev's Flouting of Legal Norms

The Russian authorities have been consistently drawing attention of the international community to the Ukraine's violation of legal norms, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, after reports that Russian medics were shot dead by Ukrainian troops.

"Of course, Commander-in-Chief [Vladimir Putin] receives all the information from the military constantly, regularly and online. You know that in general on international platforms our diplomats consistently pursue a line to draw the attention of international organizations to violations by the Ukrainian regime and the Ukrainian military of all possible and impossible international rules and norms," Peskov told reporters when asked if the president had been informed about the shooting of Russian medics and if Russia would raise the subject on the UN platform.

Earlier in the day, media reported that the Ukrainian military shot dead a group of medics near the city of Vuhledar who were on their way there to evacuate the injured.

09:59 GMT 15.02.2023

West Too Late in Assisting City of Artemovsk Forcing Kiev to Evacuate Civilians, Reports Say

The Ukrainian allies have been too late in helping the city of Artemovsk , also known as Bakhmut, forcing Kiev to step up efforts to evacuate remaining 5,000 civilians, including 140 children, from the embattled city ahead of a possible withdrawal of Ukrainian troops, US media reported.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said ahead of the defense ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday that the current rate of Ukraine's ammunition expenditure was "many times higher" than the current rate of production, which put NATO defense industries "under strain," the newspaper reported.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that Washington had expected Kiev to conduct a new counteroffensive in the spring as Russia was presumably preparing a major offensive in eastern Ukraine, as cited by the newspaper.

On Tuesday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that Artemovsk may fall to Russia's military group Wagner, but it would not have a strategic impact on the overall conflict.

The hotly contested Artemovsk, located north of the city of Donetsk, has been the center of the hostilities in Donbass for months now. It is an important transport hub for supplying Ukrainian troops stationed in Donbass amid the military operation launched by Russia in Ukraine a year ago.

08:46 GMT 15.02.2023

Russia's Armed Forces Fire at Ukrainian Targets Using Grad Multiple-Launch Rocket Systems

08:34 GMT 15.02.2023