Zelenskiy calls for western unity to stop Russia Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said the west should show unity and called for more support for Ukraine to ensure that Russia does not prevail, Reuters reports. In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Zelenskiy said that the west’s fears about escalation had lost Kyiv time in its struggle against Russia. “In fact, Putin embodies war … He will not change … We must change. We all must change to the extent that the madness that resides in this man’s head or any other aggressor’s head will not prevail,” Zelenskiy said. He also said that he had received “positive signals” on financial support from the EU, and that he hoped that the US would approve further aid within weeks. US Congress last month failed to approve $50bn (£39bn) in security aid for Ukraine as negotiators fell short of a deal. Ukraine is separately waiting to receive a €50bn (£43.5bn) package from the EU, delivery of which has looked uncertain after Hungary blocked the EU from approving the aid. Closing summary Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, said it was “impossible” to take away from Russia the military gains it had made in Ukraine. Ukraine’s parliament has passed a law creating an electronic registry for the purposes of mobilisation, Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a member of parliament, said. Helping Ukraine as it fights Russia’s invasion should be done in a way that doesn’t harm the EU’s budget, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said. He told a news conference: “If we want to help Ukraine, which I think we need to do, we have to do it in a way that doesn’t harm the EU’s budget.” Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said the west should show unity and called for more support for Ukraine to ensure that Russia does not prevail, Reuters reported. In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Zelenskiy said that the west’s fears about escalation had lost Kyiv time in its struggle against Russia. Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said in Davos today that Europe needs to continue backing Kyiv, citing the need for “predictable” funding. “We must continue to empower their resistance. Ukrainians need predictable financing throughout 2024 and beyond,” she said. Authorities in Ukraine’s north-east region of Kharkiv urged residents of more than two dozen villages near the frontline to evacuate because of worsening Russian attacks in the area. Putin will receive North Korea’s foreign minister, Choe Son-hui, on Tuesday evening, the Kremlin said. Pyongyang’s top diplomat is in Russia for a three-day visit and is holding talks with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, on Tuesday during the day. The mayor of the southern Russian city of Voronezh declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after what officials said was a Ukraine-launched drone attack, the Reuters reported this morning. Putin: It is "impossible" to take away military gains made in Ukraine from Russia Vladimir Putin said it was “impossible” to take away from Russia the military gains it had made in Ukraine, Reuters reports. Talking about possible peace talks, the Russian president also said in televised comments that ideas put forward by Ukraine were “prohibitive formulas for the peace process”. Ukraine says it will not rest until every Russian soldier is ejected from its territory. Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s 10-point peace plan calls for the withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities and the restoration of Ukraine’s state borders with Russia. Reuters has some comments given by Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, who met Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, earlier today (see post at 14.43 for more details). Fico said Slovakia supported Hungary in fighting for its interests and that his government would not support any measures limiting Budapest’s rights inside the EU. He said Orbán had a “legitimate” fight in his opposition to EU budget changes and signalled support at the upcoming summit. “The Slovak government will support proposals the premier of Hungary has already put forward or will put forward,” Fico said. Ukraine"s parliament passes law to create electronic conscription registry Ukraine’s parliament has passed a law creating an electronic registry for the purposes of mobilisation, Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a member of parliament, said. The Kyiv Independent reports: As the military seeks to replenish its ranks amid the full-scale war with Russia, the government submitted a draft law on mobilisation and military service to the parliament on 25 December, outlining plans for further conscription and tightening restrictions on draft evaders. ‘ The bill passed on 16 January does not address the larger issue of mobilization but aims to improve the digitalization of Ukraine’s army. The new legislation will create a single digital registry for conscription purposes that will have all the relevant information easily accessible to those overseeing mobilisation. Orbán: helping Ukraine should be done in a way that doesn"t harm EU"s budget Helping Ukraine as it fights Russia’s invasion should be done in a way that doesn’t harm the EU’s budget, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said. He told journalists at a news conference: If we want to help Ukraine, which I think we need to do, we have to do it in a way that doesn’t harm the EU’s budget. But to give away 50 billion euros from the EU budget for four years in advance is a violation of the EU’s sovereignty and national interests. We do not even know what will happen in a quarter of a year. Orbán said any financial facility for Ukraine should be separate from the EU budget, adding that Hungary’s proposal for creating such a mechanism was based on allocating aid on the basis of gross national income. “If Brussels accepts this, then there’ll be help for Ukraine, outside the budget,” he was quoted by Reuters as saying. “If not, then I’ll be sad to halt this process,” Orbán added. Orbán was speaking after meeting Slovakia’s populist prime minister, Robert Fico, who like his Hungarian counterpart has said there is no military solution to the war in Ukraine. The Hungarian prime minister has been accused of holding European backing for Ukraine hostage over billions of euros of EU funding for Hungary frozen over a range of rule-of-law disputes. Ukraine’s state customs service said that Polish truck drivers who had been blocking several crossings on the Polish-Ukrainian border lifted their blockade at one of them on Tuesday. “Today, Polish strikers unblocked the Korczowa-Krakowiets checkpoint. As of this hour, about 300 trucks are queueing to enter Ukraine from the Polish side,” the service wrote on Telegram. Some Polish drivers had been demanding that the EU reinstate a system whereby Ukrainian companies need permits to operate in the bloc (and the same for European truckers entering Ukraine). The truckers also want empty trucks from the EU to be excluded from an electronic queueing system in Ukraine. Zelenskiy calls for western unity to stop Russia Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said the west should show unity and called for more support for Ukraine to ensure that Russia does not prevail, Reuters reports. In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Zelenskiy said that the west’s fears about escalation had lost Kyiv time in its struggle against Russia. “In fact, Putin embodies war … He will not change … We must change. We all must change to the extent that the madness that resides in this man’s head or any other aggressor’s head will not prevail,” Zelenskiy said. He also said that he had received “positive signals” on financial support from the EU, and that he hoped that the US would approve further aid within weeks. US Congress last month failed to approve $50bn (£39bn) in security aid for Ukraine as negotiators fell short of a deal. Ukraine is separately waiting to receive a €50bn (£43.5bn) package from the EU, delivery of which has looked uncertain after Hungary blocked the EU from approving the aid. Estonia’s internal security service has detained a Russian citizen accused of spying for Moscow, according to an official statement. “On 3 January, the internal security service detained Russian citizen Viacheslav Morozov, suspected of carrying out and supporting espionage against Estonia,” the security service and state prosecutors said in the joint statement. Here are some of the latest images from the news wires, with a focus on the World Economic Forum in Davos: Europe needs to continue backing Kyiv, Ursula von der Leyen tells Davos Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said in Davos today that Europe needs to continue backing Kyiv, citing the need for “predictable” funding. We must continue to empower their resistance. Ukrainians need predictable financing throughout 2024 and beyond. They need a sustained supply of weapons to defend Ukraine and regain its rightful territory. They need capabilities to deter future attacks by Russia. And they also need hope. They need to know that, with their struggle, they will earn a better future for their children. And Ukraine’s better future is called Europe. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy discussed defence cooperation between Ukraine and the US with secretary of state Antony Blinken in Davos on Tuesday. In a statement published on the presidential Telegram channel, Zelenskiy said: Air defense and long-range capabilities are particularly important for our state. Polish truckers who have blockaded some border crossings with Ukraine since November will suspend their protest until 1 March after signing an agreement with the government, the infrastructure minister has said. Polish drivers had been demanding that the EU reinstate a system whereby Ukrainian companies need permits to operate in the bloc and the same for European truckers entering Ukraine, Reuters reports. The truckers also want empty trucks from the EU to be excluded from an electronic queueing system in Ukraine. The infrastructure minister, Dariusz Klimczak, said: We’ve signed an agreement. The outcome of the agreement will be the discontinuation of protests at road border crossings in three towns: Korczowa, Hrebenne, Dorohusk. The protest will be stopped till 1 March. Tomasz Borkowski of the Committee to Protect Transporters and Transport Employers told Reuters before the signing ceremony that the protest would be suspended from 11am on Wednesday. “We agreed certain conditions, we will give the government time to work as it is a new government,” he said. The main points of the agreement include monitoring of solutions worked out jointly by Poland and Ukraine to ease the situation of EU-registered drivers in Ukraine, talks with the bloc regarding its agreement with Ukraine and talks with the European Commission on financial support for Polish haulage companies. The deal provides for more road checks to stop Ukrainian truckers from carrying out services not provided for under the EU-Ukraine agreement. Edyta Ozygala, one of the leaders of the truckers’ protest in Dorohusk, said the action could be renewed at any time if the agreed conditions were not met fully. “If the effects are unsatisfactory, we will come back,” she said. Ukraine says the blockade has caused serious economic losses and hampered its war effort. It says cross-border transportation has increased because of the war and the fact that its main export and imports routes through the Black Sea were blocked. “The key reason for the growth in the number of transportations by Ukrainian hauliers is the response to the consequences of the Russian armed aggression,” the deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said in a social media post on Monday. “Transportations of fuel, humanitarian and military cargo take up about 20% of total traffic.” Volodymyr Zelenskiy has met JP Morgan executives and other international investors to discuss Ukraine’s economic status and to encourage investments to help rebuild the country at the World Economic Forum. The German economy minister, Robert Habeck, said on Tuesday he aimed to convince policymakers in Davos to join Germany’s efforts to provide companies with investment guarantees in Ukraine as part of reconstruction efforts. With a view to helping rebuild the war-battered country, Germany is providing guarantees that back the capital of German companies investing in Ukraine, according to Reuters. If factories were to be damaged or destroyed in missile attacks, for example, the German state would be liable for those investments. On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Habeck, who also serves as vice-chancellor, told reporters: I have decided to explain this again in detail today and perhaps ask my colleagues from the other countries to do the same. The Green politician described the scheme as a “tremendously successful step”, which showed that Germany believed and trusted Ukraine to successfully survive this difficult situation. Investment guarantees for 14 companies with a total cover volume €280m ($305m) have been granted so far, according to the Economics Ministry. Applications of further companies were being processed, it said. Meetings with Volodymyr Zelenskiy and members of his cabinet as well as representatives of the business community would take centre stage during his visit to Davos, Habeck said. Habeck also said he welcomed a global peace summit on Ukraine hosted by Switzerland at the request of Zelenskiy. Talking is always good, and if Switzerland has created a forum for this then I can only welcome it. If Vladimir Putin were to “successfully conclude the war against Ukraine from his point of view”, Ukraine’s closest neighbours would be threatened in the coming years, Habeck said. Here is European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen’s special address at the World Economic Forum. The west must not let up supplying Ukraine with weapons and money if it wants Kyiv to succeed in its war against Russia, the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, warned on Tuesday. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, she told business leaders: Ukraine can prevail in this war but we must continue to empower their resistance. She urged Kyiv’s western allies to continue their arms deliveries and financial support of Ukraine, Reuters reports. Ukrainians need predictable financing throughout 2024 and beyond. They need a sufficient and sustained supply of weapons to defend Ukraine and regain its rightful territory.