We publish a summary of events concerning the situation around Ukraine as of 10 p.m., January 30.
Political situation
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Speaking about the Pakistan Stream project, Lavrov said, “The issue is already at an advanced stage of elaboration. I am sure that in the very near future progress will be fixed later.”
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is lying about threats of a missile strike voiced by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a conversation before a special operation, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “It’s either a conscious lie, then I guess the question is, for what purpose he chose this version of the presentation, or it was unconscious and in fact, he did not understand what President Putin was talking to him about. Then it becomes a little uncomfortable for our president’s interlocutors,” Peskov added.
Statements by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee Tobias Ellwood are increasing military tensions on the continent, the press service of the Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom wrote. “We would like to emphasise that these and other similar statements, including today’s speculations by Chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee Tobias Ellwood on the need to “face Russia directly”, only lead to further escalation of the acute military and political tensions in the European continent, in which the UK is getting more and more involved by the day. It is high time for British citizens to raise the question of whether the representatives of the country’s ruling political establishment are aware of the level of responsibility they bear for their careless statements, and whether they realise their possible consequences. To us the answer is obvious.”
Western alleged pacifists want to drink other people’s blood, but without risk to themselves, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic told reporters. “Yesterday’s pacifists and peace activists in the West now want to drink other people’s blood, but without risk to themselves. This is deeply immoral, something we do as a collective West,” Milanovic said.
Western countries had previously torn Kosovo away from Serbia, so they must accept that Crimea will never belong to Ukraine again, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said at a press conference.
Hungary, as well as Austria, does not intend to supply weapons to Ukraine, Hungarian Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said during talks with his Austrian counterpart Claudia Tanner.
Ukraine
Zelensky, in his evening address, called the situation in Donbass “very tough.” In his opinion, Russia plans to prolong the conflict by exhausting the Ukrainian forces. Zelensky again appealed to international partners to supply necessary weapons faster.
The head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry acknowledged the difficult military situation in the east of the country. Citing Ukrainian generals, Reznikov said in an interview with the Canadian CBC television channel that the military situation was difficult but under control. He acknowledged that it would take some time to receive the tanks promised by the West and to train the Ukrainian militants. But the minister said he hoped they would be ready for use by March.
An air alert was declared at night in Dnepropetrovsk, Kirovograd, Nikolayev, Poltava, Sumy and Kharkov regions, as well as in the territories of Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, which are under the control of the Ukrainian armed units.
Western countries and their supporters
Italy will not supply offensive weapons to Ukraine, Foreign Minister Tajani said. “We are ready to supply defensive weapons, but we will never send offensive weapons. Because we are not at war with Russia, we only defend Ukraine’s independence,” he said.
Turkey could make a decision on Finland’s NATO membership that would “shock” Sweden – Erdogan.
France can supply 155mm shells to Ukraine in the first quarter of 2023, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said, after negotiations between the heads of defense and foreign ministries of France and Australia in the “2+2” format in Paris.
Australia and France have agreed to jointly produce and supply the Ukrainian army with thousands of artillery shells – The Guardian informed. The agreement worth several million (Australian) dollars was announced after bilateral talks in Paris aimed at resetting relations between the two countries, severely damaged by the AUKUS 2021 military alliance.
All Caesar artillery systems which were in Copenhagen’s possession had been sent to the Kiev regime, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at a joint press conference with Vladimir Zelensky.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is trying to secure additional lithium supplies from South America, Mining.com wrote. Scholz hopes his trip to Latin America this weekend will help Germany secure additional supplies of lithium, which automobile giants such as Mercedes-Benz Group AG and Volkswagen AG need to make batteries for electric cars.
Belgium sold its main battle tanks eight years ago, and now would like to buy them back, but cannot. The German newspaper Merkur wrote.
The Economist has spoken to a range of intermediaries in the oil market, and studied evidence from across the supply chain, to assess the effect of the sanctions against Russia’s oil and get a sense of what will happen next. We find, to the West’s chagrin and Russia’s relief, that the new “shadow” shipping and financing infrastructure is robust and extensive. Rather than fade away, the grey market stands ready to expand when the next set of sanctions is enforced.
NATO’s top military spokesman called for members of the US-led military alliance to transition to a “wartime economy” in order to “increase the production in the defense industry.” In the interview, aired Friday on Portugal’s public broadcaster RTP News, Rob Bauer, Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, said the US-led NATO alliance is prepared for a “direct clash with Russia.” At the start of the interview, Bauer stressed that NATO views the conflict with Russia as much broader than the war in Ukraine. Asked by RTP News, “You don’t believe that it’s only about Ukraine,” Bauer replied “no, it’s about turning back to the old Soviet Union.”
