Key events
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived in Germany this morning for a working visit and as part of a tour to drum up vital military assistance and sign bilateral security commitments as the war with Russia nears its third year.
After landing in Germany, Ukraine’s president posted an image to his Telegram account alongside Ukraine’s ambassador to Berlin and a German foreign ministry official, Reuters reports.
In the post, he said:
I am starting two important days. Meetings with partners in Germany and France, new agreements, and the Munich Security Conference.
A new security architecture for Ukraine, as well as new opportunities. We are making every effort to end the war as soon as possible on fair Ukrainian terms and ensure a lasting peace.
The trip comes as Kyiv’s troops are trying to hold back Russian forces closing in on the eastern town of Avdiivka. Ukraine faces a shortage of manpower and ammunition stockpiles, while US military aid has been delayed for months.
It will mark Zelenskiy’s first foreign trip since he replaced his popular army chief and reshuffled his military command, a big gamble at a difficult juncture in the war that he said was needed to face shifting battlefield challenges.
Germany and France are expected to sign bilateral agreements on security commitments with Ukraine today as Zelenskiy visits their respective capitals.
The details of the agreements to be signed with French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Olaf Scholz are not yet known, but Kyiv has said it wants to use the first deal signed with Britain in January as a framework.
He is also expected to attend the three day EU security conference in Munich.
Ursula von der Leyen is pushing the boundaries of the EU urging member states to consider a collective defence role, something never imagined when the first European community was established more than 50 years ago
Anthony Blinken, US vice president Kamala Harris and homeland security Alejandro Mayorkas along with EU leaders von der Leyen, Olaf Scholz descend on Munich today for the three day security conference to which Volodomyr Zelenskiy is also expected to attend.
Ahead of the conference Zelenskiy is expected to sign bi-lateral security deals with France and Germany while the European Commission president will call for potential subsidies or financial incentives for EU arms manufacturers to ramp up production.
In an interview in the Financial Times Von der Leyen warned:
We have to spend more, we have to spend better, we have to spend European.
The EU has struggled to persuade domestic producers to ramp up artillery production to meet its own targets of delivering 1m rounds of ammunition to Ukraine by spring.
Leaders recently admitted they are now at 50% of the target and hope to meet the 1m mark by the end of this year.
But the prospect of Donald Trump, who is threatening to refuse to defend any NATO ally that does not pay enough into the defence alliance, winning the US election in November has given a fresh urgency to EU’s debate about its security.
Manufacturers are said to be nervous that EU countries will not be long term customers and prefer to stick to the guaranteed orders from large defence buyers such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and India.
But the prospect of the EU subsidising defence will be a sea change of a new order for the trade bloc which has up to the Ukraine war has not involved itself in military operations bar peace keeping missions.
Good morning and welcome to the Ukraine live blog. We start with news that the US has warned that Russia could seize Ukraine’s key eastern town of Avdiivka.
Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from some positions in Avdiivka, as a grinding Russian assault on the town continues amid fears that it is a matter of time before Russian forces take over.
“Avdiivka is at risk of falling into Russian control,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, adding that Ukraine had a shortage of ammunition.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed to do everything to “save as many Ukrainian lives as possible”.
Capturing Avdiivka is key to Russia’s aim of securing full control of the two provinces that make up the industrial Donbas region, and could hand President Vladimir Putin a battlefield victory to hold up to voters as he seeks re-election next month, Reuters reports.
In other news:
US congressional delaying of fresh military aid for Ukraine is already having an impact on the battlefield, Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has warned at a defence ministers’ meeting. Jens Stoltenberg said he still believed Congress would eventually approve the stalled $60bn (£50bn) package.
Ukraine has said its economy should be rebuilt using frozen Russian assets after a report showed the cost of reconstruction increasing to almost $500bn. An estimated $300bn of Russian assets have been frozen since the war started. The EU, US and western allies are debating how they can be used to benefit Ukraine.
On Thursday, Ukraine said four people were killed in Kherson and Kharkiv following Russian air and missile attacks; while officials in the Russian border city of Belgorod said a Ukrainian rocket strike killed at least seven people.
France and Ukraine are due on Friday to sign a bilateral agreement on security. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is set to visit France and Germany.