Moldova dismisses Russian claims of Ukrainian plot to invade breakaway region

Moldova’s government has called for calm after Moscow claimed without evidence that an invasion of Transnistria was likely

Moldova’s government has dismissed an accusation by Russia’s defence ministry that Ukraine is planning to invade the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria after staging a false-flag operation.

“We call for calm and for information to be received [by the public] from official and credible sources of the Republic of Moldova,” the government said in a statement.

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UK politicians mark anniversary of war with renewed call to send arms to Kyiv

They stopped short of Boris Johnson’s demand for UK to ‘break the ice’ and supply Ukraine with fighter jets

UK political leaders have marked the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with a renewed call to support Kyiv with additional weaponry – but stopped short of the firm commitments on fighter jets demanded by Boris Johnson.

With James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, in New York for a meeting of the UN security council, Rishi Sunak hosted the Ukrainian ambassador at Downing Street, with a national minute’s silence planned for 11am on Friday.

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UN calls for immediate Russian withdrawal from Ukraine

Resounding vote before anniversary of war sees 141 countries condemning Russian invasion with seven against and 32 abstentions

The UN has overwhelmingly voted to call for Russia to immediately and unconditionally withdraw from Ukraine, marking one year since Moscow’s invasion by calling for a “comprehensive, just and lasting peace”.

Applause broke out when the result was announced, with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, calling the resolution “a powerful signal of unflagging global support for Ukraine” in a tweet late on Thursday.

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Defence review at risk of delay amid funding row

Original review published in 2021 but Ukraine war demonstrates need for investment

A planned refresh of the government’s integrated review of defence and foreign policy is at risk of being delayed until after the budget in mid-March amid a row over funding and a lack of clarity over its aims.

It had been expected that the fresh look at Britain’s geopolitical strategy, originally announced by Liz Truss and inherited by Rishi Sunak, would be released on 7 March – more than a week before the 15 March annual financial statement.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: UN votes to demand Russian troop withdrawal but China abstains – as it happened

Ukraine’s allies had been seeking to win over countries that have voted against or abstained in previous resolutions

The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has said the conflict in Ukraine could last another year, PA news reports.

When asked whether he could see the war continuing for another 12 months, Wallace told LBC:

I think we will. I think Russia has shown a complete disregard, not only for the lives of the people of Ukraine but for its own soldiers. We are sitting here 12 months in and 188,000, actually more now, Russian soldiers are dead or injured as a result of this catastrophic miscalculation and aggression by President Putin.

When someone has crossed the line and thinks it is OK to do that to your own people, running effectively a meat grinder for an army, I think he is not going to stop.

There is already talk, I think, of an eastern European country supplying MiG-29s … We’re not going to see Nato, we’re going to see countries that are members of Nato potentially put in air force equipment or MiG-29.

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Russian invasion ‘an affront’, says UN chief, as assembly meets on Ukraine

UN general assembly debates motion calling for unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine on anniversary of war

UN secretary general António Guterres has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an “affront to our collective conscience” as the 193-member General assembly meets ahead of a vote that the US said would “go down in history.”

Speaking on Wednesday during a special session of the general assembly, Guterres called the anniversary of Moscow’s attack “a grim milestone for the people of Ukraine and for the international community.”

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‘Big mistake’: Biden condemns Putin’s withdrawal from nuclear treaty

‘You’re the frontlines of our collective defense,’ Biden tells Bucharest Nine group of eastern European countries on last day of trip

Joe Biden on Wednesday night condemned as a “big mistake” Russian president Vladimir Putin’s decision to suspend his country’s participation in the last remaining US-Russia nuclear arms control treaty.

The comment came as the US president closed out his wartime visit to Europe, working to shore up partnerships with allies on Nato’s perilous eastern flank – even as Putin was drawing closer to China for help as his invasion of Ukraine neared the year mark.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Biden promises US will defend ‘every inch of Nato’; China will play ‘constructive role’ in crisis, says diplomat

Joe Biden speaks with leaders of Nato’s eastern European members in Poland after Vladimir Putin meets Wang Yi in Moscow

The UN general assembly meets today, two days ahead of the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Kyiv and its allies hoping to garner broad support for a resolution calling for a “just and lasting peace.”

The draft resolution, sponsored by 60 countries, is to be voted on after the close of debate – not expected until at least Thursday.

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EU states urge crackdown on Russia over sanctions-evading arms ploy

Moscow accused of attempting to source weapons parts through front companies in neighbouring states

A group of 10 EU member states have called for a crackdown on Russia’s attempts to source military parts through front companies in neighbouring countries, thereby evading western sanctions.

The 10 countries, which include France, Germany, Italy and the Baltic states, write that “2023 must be the year of success in countering circumvention”, warning that public support and international legitimacy of sanctions could wane if they are deemed ineffective.

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Laibach to become first foreign band to perform in Kyiv since invasion

Subversive Slovenian quintet, who performed in North Korea in 2015, to play full concert at Bel Etage Music Hall

Subversive Slovenian industrial rock band Laibach are set to be the first foreign group to perform a full concert in Kyiv since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The group will play Bel Etage Music Hall on 31 March, under the concert title Eurovision – an arch reference to the fact the Eurovision song contest, won by Ukraine in 2022, will not be hosted in the country this year, but rather Liverpool in the UK.

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China and Russia reaffirm close ties as Putin meets top diplomat

On eve of Ukraine invasion anniversary Russian leader says China relations ‘proceeding as planned’

China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, has met Vladimir Putin in Moscow, as China and Russia reaffirm their close bilateral relationship just days before the first anniversary of the start of the Ukraine war.

In brief televised remarks Wang said China and Russia were ready to deepen their strategic cooperation. Earlier on Wednesday, Wang met Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, where he said he expected to reach a “new consensus” on advancing the relationship between the two allies.

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War in Ukraine defining new world order, says thinktank

Poll reveals west more united but gulf growing with countries such as India that do not subscribe to post-cold war view

Almost a year after Russia’s war against Ukraine started, it has united the west, according to a 15-country survey – but exposed a widening gulf with the rest of the world that is defining the contours of a future global order.

The study, by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) thinktank, surveyed opinions in nine EU member states, including France, Germany and Poland, and in Britain and the US, as well as China, Russia, India and Turkey.

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Republicans criticize Biden’s trip to Kyiv as Putin withdraws from nuclear treaty

Comments from right wing are business as usual – but could signal future political battles to come if US to keep sending aid to Ukraine

For Joe Biden to safely visit Ukraine, the White House spirited him out of the country in the middle of the night and made reporters traveling with him swear a temporary oath of secrecy – none of which could protect the president from attacks by Republicans.

The journey was only complicated further by an unexpected announcement. In a speech marking a year since he sent his armies over Ukraine’s borders in an ill-fated attempt to take Kyiv, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced his country would no longer participate in the last nuclear arms control treaty with the United States still standing, and accused the west of posing an existential threat to his country.

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Biden pledges more Moscow sanctions: ‘Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia’ – as it happened

Speaking before a crowd of thousands in the gardens of Warsaw’s Royal Castle, Joe Biden hailed the resilience of Ukraine’s people and the benevolence of Poland and other western allies in helping fend off the Russian invasion.

“Autocrats only understand one word: no.” Biden said. “No, you will not take my country. No, you will not take my freedom. No, you will not take my future. I’ll repeat tonight what I said last year at the same place. A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never be able to ease the people’s love of liberties. Brutality will never grind down the will of the free. Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, never.”

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Joe Biden says Russian forces in disarray after year of war in Ukraine

US president issues rallying cry in Warsaw but warns of ‘very bitter days’ ahead in defence of democracy

Joe Biden has claimed Vladimir Putin’s year of war against Ukraine has left behind “burned-out tanks and Russian forces in disarray” but he also warned of “very bitter days” ahead in the defence of democracy in eastern Europe.

Biden issued a rallying cry in a speech to mark the first anniversary of the full-scale invasion, addressing a crowd of 30,000, mostly Poles and Ukrainians, in front of the arches below Warsaw’s royal castleon Tuesday evening.

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Putin thought enemies would ‘roll over’ but he was wrong, says Joe Biden in major speech in Poland – as it happened

US president delivers speech in Poland on anniversary of Russian invasion of Ukraine after Putin says he will suspend participation in New Start treaty. This live blog is now closed

There have been at least 18,955 civilian casualties since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The OHCHR released the report citing the number of casualties as being 7,199 killed and 11,756 injured, but believes the actual figures are considerably higher.

From 24 February 2022, when the Russian Federation’s armed attack against Ukraine started, to 12 February 2023, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 18,955 civilian casualties in the country: 7,199 killed and 11,756 injured.”

The situation is not easy. I have said more than once: every man – and not only a man – should be able to at least handle weapons.

At least in order to protect his family, if needed, his home, his own piece of land and – if necessary – his country.”

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Putin says Russia will halt participation in New Start nuclear arms treaty

Russian president airs grievances against west in speech devoted to first anniversary of Ukraine invasion

Vladimir Putin has said Russia will halt its participation in New Start, the last major remaining nuclear arms control treaty with the US, in a speech devoted to the one-year anniversary of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“They want to inflict a strategic defeat on us and claim our nuclear facilities,” the Russian president said during a speech characterised by grievances against the west. “In this regard, I am forced to state that Russia is suspending its participation in the strategic offensive arms treaty.”

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Italian PM Meloni in Kyiv amid tensions over war within her coalition

PM to reassert support for Ukraine after coalition partner Silvio Berlusconi blamed Volodymyr Zelenskiy for Russia’s invasion

The Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has arrived in Kyiv to meet the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and reiterate Italy’s support for the war-torn country, as she navigates tensions on the issue within her rightwing alliance and divided public opinion.

Tuesday’s trip is seen as one of the most significant made by Meloni since she came to power in October and comes a week after her coalition partner Silvio Berlusconi, the Forza Italia leader, blamed Zelenskiy for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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