Zoran Milanovic/German Leopard 2 tank. TT
The Russian invasion. The outside world's response
Croatian President: The support from the West is prolonging the war
Croatian President Zoran Milanovic criticizes the decision of several Western countries to help Ukraine with advanced tanks, AP reports.
According to Milanovic, the supplies will only prolong the war. He also says that it is "madness" to think that Russia can be defeated in a conventional war.
Milanovic won the 2019 presidential election as a liberal left-wing candidate, but has since become increasingly populist, according to the news agency. He has previously, among other things, expressed opposition to Sweden and Finland being allowed to join NATO and to Ukrainian soldiers being trained in the West.
The presidency in Croatia is mainly ceremonial. Unlike Milanovic, the country's government has expressed its full support for Ukraine.
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the President's wife Olena Zelenskyj. Markus Schreiber / AP
The Russian invasion. The outside world's response
Ukraine wants to join the EU "within two years" - puts pressure on historic Kyiv meeting
Ukraine's plan is to join the EU within the next two years, Prime Minister Denys Sjmyhal told Politico. The time frame is significantly narrower than the one that the EU establishment sees ahead.
French President Emmanuel Macron has said it could take "decades" for Ukraine to join the EU. Even EU leaders who have supported Ukraine as a candidate country have admitted that in practice it may take several years before an entry is relevant.
Later this week, an EU meeting will be held in Kyiv, the first of its kind in an active war zone. The EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel are to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj and one of the purposes is probably to keep expectations at a realistic level, writes Politico.
Boris Johnson and wife Carrie Johnson. Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP
The Russian invasion. The outside world's response
Johnson: Putin threatened me with a robot attack
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson with a robot attack, Johnson says in a new BBC documentary.
According to Johnson, Putin must have made the statement in connection with a long telephone conversation last February, before Russia entered Ukraine. Johnson is said to have warned Putin that a war would be a "total disaster".
- He directed a kind of threat at me at one point and said "Boris, I don't want to hurt you, but with a robot it would only take a few minutes" or something like that, he says.
Johnson states that Putin had a relaxed and familiar tone during the conversation.
On Monday, the Kremlin hit back against Johnson's statement and called it a lie.
The sanctions package further tightens the possibilities for trade. Jurek Holzer/TT
The Russian invasion The sanctions
Norway complicates Russian war with new sanctions package
Norway imposes new sanctions against President Putin and the Russian regime. It is necessary to react against Russia's brutal warfare in Ukraine and make it more difficult to finance the war against international law, says Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt in a press release.
The Norwegian sanctions package contains in practice the same measures against Russia that the EU approved in the ninth sanctions package in mid-December. But since Norway is not a member of the EU, decisions must be made nationally.
The package primarily contains restrictions on goods and services that are important to Russia.
Norway has already banned larger Russian ships from calling at Norwegian ports, and the ban has been tightened for fishing vessels. The Norwegian government does not want Norway to become a transit country for the transport of illegal goods to and from Russia.
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