Russia’s war on Ukraine latest: Zelenskiy says Russia suffers extraordinary losses

February 20 (Reuters) – Ukrainian forces inflict ‘extremely heavy’ losses on Russian invaders near the town of Vuhledar and defense of the besieged town of Bakhmut would continue, but ‘not at any cost,’ President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday. who commented on the fighting in the eastern Donbass region.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.

DIPLOMACY

* US President Joe Biden will visit Poland on February 20-22 to mark the first anniversary of Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he will talk to Biden about a possible increase in US troop presence in Poland and make it more permanent.

* Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will travel to Kiev on Monday to meet Zelenskyy, a political source in Rome said on Sunday. Meloni, who took office in October, said she plans to visit Kiev ahead of the anniversary of the Russian invasion.

* Zelenskyy said in an interview published by Italian daily Corriere della Sera on Sunday that French President Emmanuel Macron was wasting his time considering any kind of dialogue with Russia. The two presidents spoke to each other by phone on Sunday.

* Ukrainian officials have urged members of the US Congress to urge Biden’s administration to send F-16 jet fighters to Kiev, lawmakers said.

* The Biden administration plans to impose new export controls and a new round of sanctions targeting Russia’s defense and energy sectors, financial institutions and several individuals, Bloomberg News reported.

* The United States has concluded that Russia committed “crimes against humanity” during its nearly year-long invasion of Ukraine, Vice President Kamala Harris said. Moscow replied that Washington was trying to fuel a crisis with the accusation.

* Russia has charged 680 Ukrainian officials, including 118 members of the armed forces and defense ministry, with violating laws governing warfare, including the use of weapons against civilians, the TASS news agency reported on Monday.

* US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned China’s top Chinese diplomat, Wang Yi, at a conference in Munich of the consequences of China providing material support for Russia’s invasion, while Harris said Chinese support would reward aggression.

* Wang said China has “neither stood by nor threw fuel on the fire” regarding the crisis in Ukraine and continues to call for peace and dialogue.

* European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Sunday backed a call for members of the bloc to buy arms together to help Ukraine, but warned it would not solve Kiev’s urgent need for more ammunition now.

BATTLE

* Ukrainian troops conducting weekend exercises near the small town of Siversk said they are preparing to defend one of the possible targets of a new Russian offensive. The town, which had a pre-war population of 10,000, is 35 km (21 miles) north of Bakhmut – the scene of heavy fighting in recent weeks.

Compiled by Simon Cameron-Moore

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