Delegates at a 66-nation summit in Malta to discuss the Ukraine Peace Formula, October 28, 2023

Tuesday’s Coverage: Russia Kills 5, Injures 45 in Latest Missile Strikes

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1519 GMT:

Lithuania has approved a €200 million ($219 million) package of long-term military assistance to Ukraine, including M577 armored personnel carriers, ammunition, generators, and detonation systems.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda announced the assistance during a joint press conference in Vilnius alongside visiting Ukraine counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

UPDATE 1411 GMT:

At a press conference in Lithuania, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said, “We have proven that Russia can be stopped. Now we need to prove that we are capable of wresting a just peace.”

Zelenskiy said it was essential that Ukraine and Lithuania do “not become hostages of geography and will not allow Russia to destroy our and your statehood.

Together we must determine what decisions this year will bring us. These must be decisions in favour of our freedom.

The President spoke of the necessity of bolstering air defenses and of 2024 as a decisive year, with action on Ukraine gaining NATO membership.

[Putin] is not going to stop. He wants to occupy us completely. And sometimes, the insecurity of partners regarding financial and military aid to Ukraine only increases Russia’s courage and strength.

He won’t finish this, until we all finish him together. We must understand that Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova may be next if we do not withstand [Russia].

UPDATE 1405 GMT:

Ukraine exported 4.8 million metric tons through its “protected corridor” in the Black Sea in December, surpassing the highest monthly total of 4.2 million tons during a UN-brokered grain deal between July 2022 and July 2023.

The output is testament to the success of the corridor — and thus the failure of Vladimir Putin to reimpose Russia’s blockade of three Ukrainian ports when he ripped up the grain deal in mid-July.

UPDATE 0916 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, and will later travel to fellow Baltic States Latvia and Estonia.

Zelenskiy says discussions will include “security, EU and NATO integration, cooperation on electronic warfare and drones, and further coordination of European support”.

The CEO of Lithuanian Airports, Simonas Bartkus, posted a photo of Zelenskiy’s arrival.

UPDATE 0723 GMT:

On Tuesday, a Moscow court extended the detention until March 10 of director Zhenya Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk, accused of “justifying terrorism” because of their play “Finist Yasny Falcon”.

Berkovich and Petriychuk have been behind bars since May 2023.

At yesterday’s hearing on January 9, Berkovich addressed the court in verse:

Your Honor, we did not choose this path ourselves.
And our road cannot be called comfortable.
You see, when the essence remains unchanged,
The artist remains to work with the form.

But the essence will not change. There cannot be different essences here.
Any child will tell you this, no matter whose.
As citizens, we expect fair judges.
It’s still a little early for the executioners.

UPDATE 0632 GMT:

The UN says more than 14.6 million people in Ukraine — 40% of the population — will need humanitarian assistance this year.

The figure does not include 6.3 million Ukrainians forced to flee abroad.

Jens Laerke of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said as he presented the Ukraine Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for 2024.

The first week of January brought a wave of attacks to Ukraine, starting on December 29 and continuing to this day.

On top of the violence, Ukraine is now in the grip of a deep winter. A continued, large-scale humanitarian operation is as urgent today as it ever was.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Senior officials from Ukraine, the G7 nations, India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and other countries met secretly in Riyadh on December 16 to build support for Kyiv’s conditions to end Russia’s 22 1/2-month invasion.

“Individuals familiar with the meeting” told Bloomberg that Brazil submitted a written statement. China and the UAE did not attend.

Secrecy was maintain so participants could speak candidly at the session, the sources said.

Ukraine and the G7 members — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US — emphasized that Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty must be respected. The other participants reportedly agreed with the need to uphold territorial integrity and the right to self-defense.

Turkey’s Erdoğan Government has pursued the role of broker throughout the invasion, including over the lifting of Russia’s blockade on Ukrainian ports. Saudi Arabia has moved toward a position supporting Kyiv’s political stance, including the hosting of a 43-nation meeting in Riyadh last August.

However, India’s participation — if confirmed — is a significant shift. The Modi Government has refused to call Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine an “invasion” and to give public backing of Kyiv’s position.

The first summit over the Peace Formula was held in Denmark in June. In October, 66 countries gathered in Malta. Another conference is planned for Switzerland before the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 15-19.

The Peace Formula, first presented by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the G20 summit in November 2022, calls for:

  • Withdrawal of Russian troops and the cessation of hostilities with the restoration of Ukraine’s state borders with Russia;
  • Restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity, with Russia reaffirming it, in accordance the UN Charter;
  • Prevention of an escalation of conflict and building security architecture in the Euro-Atlantic space, including guarantees for Ukraine;
  • Radiation and nuclear safety, including the restoration of security around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest;
  • Food security, including protecting and ensuring Ukraine’s grain exports;
  • Energy security;
  • Release of all prisoners and deportees;
  • Justice, including the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes;
  • Prevention of ecocide, and the protection of the environment, with a focus on demining and restoring water treatment facilities.