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US president dismisses Chinese peace plan and rules out sending F-16 jets to Ukraine ‘for now’, saying other military support is needed first
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Joe Biden, has said it was “not rational” for China to be negotiating the outcome of the Ukraine war, when asked about Beijing’s peace plan for the conflict.
The first Polish Leopard tanks have arrived in Ukraine, with the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, confirming that four tanks had been delivered. “Poland and Europe stand by your side. We will definitely not leave you, we will support Ukraine until complete victory over Russia,” he said, standing alongside the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, during his visit to Kyiv to mark the the first anniversary of the Russian invasion.
Zelenskiy has declared victory to be inevitable as his country marked the anniversary of the moment it was invaded by Russian troops. In a national address earlier on Friday, Zelenskiy told Ukrainians they had been proven invincible over “a year of pain, sorrow, faith and unity”.
The US has announced that it will offer over $10bn in assistance to Ukraine. The secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said that the funds are crucial to Ukraine and ensure that the Ukrainian government can continue to meet “the critical needs of its citizens, including healthcare, education and emergency services”.
Washington has also announced an additional package of security assistance for Ukraine. In a statement, the Biden administration said it would include “several new unmanned aerial systems (UAS), counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) equipment to strengthen Ukraine’s air defences … and electronic warfare detection equipment to bolster Ukraine’s ability to repel Russia’s aggression”.
Sweden will send up to 10 Leopard tanks and anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine, the prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, and defence minister, Pål Jonson, said. “The Swedish tanks reinforce the Leopard 2 contribution that other European countries make. Coordination of support is ongoing with international partners donating Leopard 2 or other tanks,” the government said.
Canada will provide additional military support to Ukraine, prime minister, Justin Trudeau, announced. He said Canada will provide four additional Leopard 2 main battle tanks. The additional tanks will bring up the total number of tanks provided by Canada to eight.
The Group of Seven has announced a range of further economic, military and financial sanctions against Russia. It promised measures against Russian diamond exports, warning that third countries that help Russia evade sanctions would face “severe costs”. The G7 is understood to be setting up an “enforcement coordination mechanism” to stop evasion of its sanctions already imposed.
Zelenskiy has welcomed some elements of a Chinese proposal for a ceasefire in Russia’s war on Ukraine. China’s government called for peace talks while urging all parties to avoid nuclear escalation and end attacks on civilians. “China has shown its thoughts. I believe that the fact that China started talking about Ukraine is not bad,” Zelenskiy said.
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