Russia-Ukraine war live: UK and US back Dutch PM Rutte to be new Nato chief | Ukraine

The UK has added 50 new entities to its Russia sanctions list, with foreign secretary David Cameron saying “our sanctions are starving Putin of the resources he desperately needs to fund his struggling war.”

The government claims the targets of the sanctions are people and businesses supplying munitions such as rocket launch systems, missiles and explosives.

Among those sanctioned include manufacturers of weapons and of machine tools. Flight operator 224th Flight Unit State Airlines and its director have been targeted following reports it has been involved in the transfer of weapons from North Korea to Russia.

Firms deemed to be supporting Russia’s war efforts and included on the list include three from China.

It is the second set of new sanctions on Russian interests in days from the UK government, with measures applied yesterday by the UK on the heads of the Arctic penal colony where Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny was held.

Announcing the new sanctions in a statement, Cameron said:

Ukraine has shown that it can and will defend itself. Putin mistakenly thought that because Russia’s economy is bigger than Ukraine’s, he would gain a quick victory. But the economies of Ukraine’s friends are 25 times bigger than Russia’s. And two years on, we stand united in support for Ukraine.

Our international economic pressure means Russia cannot afford this illegal invasion. Our sanctions are starving Putin of the resources he desperately needs to fund his struggling war. Together, we will not let up in the face of tyranny. We will continue to support Ukraine as it fights for democracy – for as long as it takes

UK defence secretary Grant Shapps has announced the UK will send 200 more anti-tank missiles to Ukraine.

He told parliament:

Today I can announce a new package of 200 “Brimstone” anti-tank missiles in a further boost to defend Ukraine. These missiles have previously had significant impact on the battlefield, in one instance forcing Russian forces to abandon and retreat an attempted crossing of a river.

PA Media reports he added that the UK would train further Ukrainian troops alongside other allies, adding: “Together we will train a further 10,000 in the first half of 2024.”

Lili Bayer

Lili Bayer is in Brussels for the Guardian. Here is an excerpt from her report on the US and UK endorsing Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte’s candidacy to become the next secretary general of Nato:

Mark Rutte is one of Europe’s longest-serving heads of government, having been prime minister since 2010, and is considered a safe pair of hands who could be well positioned to grapple with the challenges of Donald Trump’s possible return to the White House.

After the collapse of his government last year, Rutte stepped down as leader of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and said he would leave politics. But over the past months he has served as caretaker prime minister while coalition talks drag on.

A senior diplomat, however, cautioned that Rutte’s candidacy was not a done deal and that his endorsement by big countries did not mean all allies were onboard.

One Dutch official said: “Rutte’s strength lies in three things: his people skills, his pragmatic mind and his Nokia”, a reference to Rutte being well connected with Europe’s leaders.

“A convinced Atlanticist and admirer of Churchill, his phone book by now spans two generations of world leaders beyond the confines of the western world and with whom he has forged bonds and maintains good contact – also in private, even after their departure. Merkel and Rutte still meet up,” the official said.

“He had a great bond with Obama but also maintained constructive ties with Trump. And while his domestic legacy is now perhaps called into question his international credentials are excellent.”

Read more of Lili Bayer’s report here: US and UK endorse Dutch PM Mark Rutte as next Nato chief

US president Joe Biden endorses Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte to be the next Nato head, a US official told Reuters.

The official said:

President Biden strongly endorses PM Rutte’s candidacy to be the next secretary general of Nato.

Rutte would be succeeding current Nato Chief Jens Stoltenberg, a Norwegian national.

The British Foreign Office on Thursday said it was backing Rutte to succeed Stoltenberg as the next secretary general of the Nato alliance.

At the Munich Security Conference last week, Rutte told European security leaders to “stop moaning and nagging and whining about Trump”.

His comments came after former US President Donald Trump caused outrage across Europe, saying that if re-elected in November, he would not defend Nato allies who fail to spend enough on defence.

Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen said she would turn down an offer to become Nato’s next secretary general.

Luke Harding

Russia has earned $653bn from the sale of fossil fuels, since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago, a new report says today, despite western sanctions.

The Kremlin has used loopholes and a “shadow fleet” of tankers to bypass an oil embargo by the US, EU and G7 nations, it says. Typically crude oil is shipped legally to countries such as India and China, It is then refined and sold internationally, Reuters reports.

The report by B4Ukraine – a coalition of more than 80 civil society groups – calls on western governments in 2024 to close down loopholes and to strengthen sanctions. It wants them to “defund” Russia’s war.

With Ukrainian cities under attack, the report said that Russian weapons recovered from the battlefield were made with foreign components. In 95 per cent of cases critical parts originated from coalition countries helping Ukraine, in particular the US. They reached Moscow via third party sellers, such as Hong Kong, Turkey and the UAE.

Some 358 multinational companies exited from the Russian market in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion. But 2138 corporations continue to operate in Russia. They have paid $40bn in taxes – cash used by the state to fund its war economy, the report says.

Natliia Popovych, B4Ukraine’s co-founder said:

The flow of Russia’s fossil fuel revenue combined with corporate taxes paid by foreign companies and the supply of western military tech explain Russia’s ability to continue to wage war and further militarise.

Closing the existing sanctions loopholes and issuing guidance on the risks of remaining in Russia for the non-sanctioned businesses are of paramount importance to defunding Russia’s war machine. Further actions by the West are the key to crippling Russia’s capacity to wage war in 2024 and beyond.

The Kremlin said Joe Biden’s remark about president Vladimir Putin debased the US and those who use such vocabulary, adding that it was a poor attempt to appear like a “Hollywood cowboy”.

Biden called Putin a “crazy SOB” during a fundraiser in San Francisco on Wednesday, warning there is always the threat of nuclear conflict but that the existential threat to humanity remains climate, Reuters reports.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said:

The use of such language against the head of another state by the president of the United States is unlikely to infringe on our president, President Putin.

But it debases those who use such vocabulary.

Peskov said the remark was “probably some kind of attempt to look like a Hollywood cowboy. But honestly I don’t think it’s possible.”

He added:

Has Mr. Putin ever used one crude word to address you? This has never happened. Therefore, I think that such vocabulary debases America itself.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Below is a summary of the latest developments.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has spoken about the loss of the eastern city of Avdiivka to Russian forces in excerpts released from a Fox News interview to be aired later on Thursday.

He pointed to earlier gains, particularly in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, where the Fox interview took place. “During these two years we got [back] part of the Kharkiv region. Now we are in this region … and we unblocked the Black Sea. There are grain routes and we destroyed a lot of their ships of the Russian fleet,” Zelenskiy said. “That is what we did over two years. And what they could do? Only this one place. But what for?”

Zelenskiy also expressed new discontent with the slowdown in western aid, without singling out the US. “We have to be more quick. That means to lose all the bureaucracy. Otherwise we will not have any chance,” he said.

In other developments:

• Vladimir Putin remains intent on trying to defeat and dominate Ukraine two years after launching an invasion that has caused more than half a million casualties, western officials said in a fresh assessment of the war. However, Putin is not thought to have any clearcut medium-term strategy, the officials added. “We do not believe Russia has a meaningful plan beyond continuing to fight in the expectation that Russian manpower and equipment numbers will eventually tell,” they said. The officials also said they believed that “sanctions are hitting the Russian military complex hard”, causing severe delays and higher costs as Moscow scrambles to deal with shortages of western components.

• The EU on Wednesday approved its 13th package of sanctions against Russia. The new package, which will be formally approved in time for the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, will see nearly 200 entities and individuals added to the sanctions list. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the agreement would further cut “Russia’s access to drones”. “We must keep degrading Putin’s war machine,” she wrote on X.

• Three mainland Chinese firms were added to a list of companies that EU businesses were banned from dealing with, diplomats said. The firms – the first in mainland China to be targeted by the measures – were accused of involvement in supplying sensitive military technology to Russia. Firms in Turkey and India were also included, as the EU increasingly targets third countries for helping Moscow circumvent its sanctions. The EU also imposed an asset freeze and visa ban on North Korea’s defence minister, Kang Sun Nam, for supplying ballistic missiles to Moscow, diplomats said.

• Iran has provided Russia with a large number of surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, six sources told Reuters, deepening the military cooperation between the two US-sanctioned countries. Iran’s defence ministry and the Revolutionary Guards – an elite force that oversees Iran’s ballistic missile programme – declined to comment on Reuters’ report. Russia’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment either.

• Nato secretary-general Jens Stolenberg said he believes the best way to honour the memory of Alexei Navalny was to ensure a Russian defeat in Ukraine. Speaking to Radio Free Europe, Stolenberg said: “I strongly believe that the best way to honour the memory of Alexei Navalny is to ensure that President Putin doesn’t win on the battlefield, but that Ukraine prevails.”

• Ursula von der Leyen has ruled out working with Vladimir Putin’s “friends” in the next EU parliament. “Those who are defending our values against Putin’s friends, these are the ones with which I want to work,” von der Leyen said.

• Andrey Morozov, a prominent pro-war Russian blogger, has reportedly died by suicide following outrage over a post in which he claimed that the Russian army lost 16,000 soldiers during the capture of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka.

• Russia’s capture of Avdiivka has alarmed people in nearby towns and many are now leaving for safer areas after hunkering down for months from constant fire, Reuters reported. Most of those fleeing are elderly and in many cases barely mobile, but are being helped by a charity called East SOS. Russia’s top general, Valery Gerasimov, visited troops after the battle of Avdiivka, awarding medals to troops involved.

• Ukraine’s army on Wednesday denied it had lost Krynky, its bridgehead on the Russian-occupied side of the Dnipro river, a day after Russia’s defence minister said the area had been taken. It claimed Russian forces assaulted Krynky but suffered “significant losses” and retreated. AFP was not able to verify the claims. Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin on Tuesday that Krynky had been “cleared” of Ukrainian forces.

• Polish police are investigating a banner at a farmers’ protest calling on Putin to get Ukraine “in order”, which sparked anger in Kyiv. On Wednesday, Poland’s minister in charge of the secret services, Tomasz Siemoniak, denounced the “scandalous” banner as a “provocation”. In recent protests, Polish farmers have blocked roads to the border and dumped Ukrainian grain from trucks and freight cars.

• Finland has said it has launched almost 800 investigations into potential sanctions breaches on its border with Russia in the two years since Putin invaded Ukraine. The border with Russia has recently been closed because of irregular migration which the Finns believe was orchestrated by Russia from St Petersburg. It has meant train and shipping transport are now the focus of sanctions enforcement in Finland.

• The BBC Russian Service and news outlet Mediazona have confirmed the identities of about 45,000 Russian soldiers who died in Ukraine since the invasion began in February 2022. The issue of military casualties is extremely sensitive in both countries. Russia has banned criticism of the conflict and no official figures have been released since 2022.

• Barely 10% Europeans believe Ukraine can defeat Russia, even though support for Ukraine among Europeans remains broad, according to an EU-wide survey – with some form of “compromise settlement” seen as the most likely end point.

• The Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a key ally of Donald Trump, has been added to a list of “terrorists and extremists” kept by Russia’s state financial monitoring agency. Tass, the state-run news agency, first reported the move by Rosfinmonitoring, which allows authorities to freeze Russian bank accounts, though in Graham’s case is likely to be chiefly symbolic.