Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

Three vessels carrying 128,600 metric tons of grain and other food products have left Ukrainian ports, the organization overseeing the export of agricultural products from the country said.

The ships are destined for Spain, China and India and are carrying wheat, corn, barley and sunflower oil.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal brokered in July among Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations, eased Russia’s naval blockade and saw three key Ukrainian ports reopen.

So far, more than 667 ships have sailed from Ukrainian ports.

— Amanda Macias

The United Nations said that a three-truck convoy brought critical aid, including hygiene kits, food, medicine, bedding and shelter kits to more than 800 families in the besieged city of Soledar.

“As we all know, recent fighting in and around Soledar has caused massive destruction and left those who remain there in dire need of humanitarian assistance,” wrote Saviano Abreu, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office in Ukraine, in a statement to NBC News.

Abreu said that more humanitarian convoys are expected in the days ahead.

— Amanda Macias

The United Nations cultural organization is training law enforcement and judiciary officials from countries on Ukraine’s western borders, seeking to prevent the trafficking of looted cultural objects from Ukraine amid Russia’s war against its neighbor.

UNESCO partnered with Poland’s Culture Ministry to hold three days of workshops in Warsaw this week for the officials from Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Moldova. Representatives from Ukraine also attended the training that began on Wednesday.

The aim is for the officials to be able to identify and prevent any artistic treasures looted in Ukraine from crossing their borders.

Krista Pikkat, UNESCO’s director of culture and emergencies, said that more than 230 cultural sites have been damaged or destroyed in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country.

She said that UNESCO is working to document lost cultural objects, among them treasures from museums and archaeological sites.

— Associated Press

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to share an update about the nuclear watchdog’s work at various nuclear power plants across the war-torn country.

Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi told Zelenskyy he wants to set up a security protection zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. He said Russians have repeatedly fired upon the plant in recent months.

“This major nuclear power plant continues to face daily dangers. Our team there continues to hear explosions close to the site, including two on Thursday,” Grossi said in a press release.

Grossi said he would continue “intensive consultations” with both Ukrainian and Russian parties to create a protection zone around the nuclear power plant.

— Amanda Macias

Secretary Antony Blinken held two separate phone calls with his Swedish and Finnish counterparts to reaffirm U.S. support for their NATO membership.

“The secretary reaffirmed U.S. support for Sweden and Finland’s NATO accession and the importance of remaining allies quickly ratifying their accession,” the State Department wrote in a readout following the calls.

Earlier in the week, Blinken met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to discuss Ankara’s concerns about adding Sweden and Finland to the world’s most powerful military alliance.

In May, Sweden and Finland began the formal process of applying to NATO. All 30 members of the alliance have to ratify the countries’ entry into the group. In August, U.S. President Joe Biden signed ratification documents following a 95-1 Senate vote to bring Finland and Sweden into NATO.

— Amanda Macias

Ukraine’s military said that Russian troops are concentrating their efforts in the eastern cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka in the Donetsk region. There is also heavy fighting in Kharkiv and Kherson regions, according to an NBC News translation of the Ukrainian military update.

Yaroslav Yanushevych, the regional head of Kherson, said that the area has been hit with Russian shelling more than 90 times over the past 24 hours. One civilian was killed and another three were injured, according to an NBC News translation.

Ukraine’s military said that over the past 24 hours, Russian forces have launched approximately 23 air strikes and another 80 rocket attacks against Ukrainian targets.

— Amanda Macias

The United States is formally designating Russian private military company, the Wagner Group, as a “significant transnational criminal organization,” accusing the paramilitary group of helping Russia skirt sanctions in President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Kirby said U.S. intelligence estimates indicate the Wagner Group has at least 50,000 personnel in Ukraine, most of them recruited for the fight from Russian prisons.

“Our message to any company that is considering providing support to Wagner is simply this, Wagner is a criminal organization that is continuing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses,” Kirby added.

Kirby also slammed North Korean weapon deliveries to Russia used by Wagner, including infantry rockets and missiles. CNBC wasn’t able to immediately reach Wagner group.

— Amanda Macias

Russia said on Friday that relations with the United States were at an all-time low, dismissing the idea the two sides could turn things around halfway through U.S. President Joe Biden’s term in office.

“Bilateral relations are probably at their lowest point historically, unfortunately,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“There is no hope for improvement in the foreseeable future,” he said.

While there have been occasional diplomatic successes, including prisoner swaps involving U.S. Marine veteran Trevor Reed and basketball star Brittney Griner, high-level contact has been scarce.

U.S.-Russia talks on resuming inspections under the New START nuclear arms limitation treaty were called off at the last minute in November, while the Kremlin has played down the idea of face-to-face talks between Biden and President Vladimir Putin, who last met in person in Geneva in June 2021.

“The past two years have been, despite initial timid hopes related to Geneva … very bad for bilateral relations,” Peskov said.

— Reuters

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that his German counterpart has not yet made a decision on whether to provide Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

In recent weeks, Kyiv has reached an impasse with Berlin over its resistance of contributing German-made Leopard 2 tanks to the fight.

Austin added that he did not have an announcement to make on if the U.S. would provide M1A1 Abrams tanks.

“I think this will be a really capable package that we put together. I really do believe that it will enable the Ukrainians to be successful going forward. So this is not dependent upon a single platform,” Austin told reporters at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

— Amanda Macias

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley hosted another meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Germany.

The Ukraine Defense Contact group, a coalition of nearly 50 countries supporting Ukraine’s military needs, has met several times since it was formed in April.

Among the topics to be discussed at Ramstein Air Base will be Ukraine’s desire for main battle tanks and modern fighter jets for its fight against Russia.

— Amanda Macias

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the latest package of U.S. military equipment bound for Ukraine is valued at $2.5 billion and will help “meet Ukraine’s most urgent battlefield needs.”

“Our new package provides even more air defense capabilities to help Ukraine defend its cities and its skies, and that includes NASAMS munitions and eight Avenger air defense systems. This new assistance package also helps meet Ukraine’s urgent need for armor and combat vehicles, so we’re providing 59 more Bradleys, 90 Strykers, 53 MRAPS and 350 armored Humvees,” Austin announced ahead of a meeting with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Germany.

The latest security package, which does not include main battle tanks, brings the U.S. military commitment to Ukraine’s fight to $26.7 billion.

— Amanda Macias

Western forces agreed during a key meeting in Germany to increase their military support for Ukraine, but Berlin wavered on further EU tank deliveries despite mounting calls from Kyiv and fellow allies.

“Today, we can all not yet say when a decision will be made about Leopard and what this decision will look like,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said at the end of a meeting held at Germany’s Ramstein Air Base held with several defense leaders from across the world, including U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

He stressed that he intends for Berlin to be prepared if and when a decision is taken on Leopard 2 tanks. He added that he on Friday instructed an inspection of the German Leopard 2 inventories, both in military and in domestic industry stocks, ahead of a prospective decision.

German leaders, wary of provoking Russia, have faced mounting criticism for their apparent reluctance to send Ukraine more powerful weapons.

Read the full story here.

— Sophie Kiderlin and Hannah Ward-Glenton

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expects “strong decisions” from defense chiefs of NATO member countries, who are meeting at Germany’s Ramstein air base to reach a decision on whether to send powerful German Leopard tanks to Ukraine’s army.

Speaking to the leaders via video link, Zelenskyy stressed that “we must act fast,” saying that the Ukraine-Russia conflict is about “what kind of world we will live in” and that “the Kremlin must lose.”

“You are strong people of powerful countries,” he said to the audience. “I encourage you to make such decisions that can deprive Russian evil of any power. It is in your power to guarantee artillery and aircraft that will crush terror. It is in your power to make victory.”

— Natasha Turak

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged allies to “dig deeper” in their support for Ukraine, after Washington unveiled another $2.5 billion military aid package for the embattled country.

“This is a crucial moment. Russia is regrouping, recruiting and trying to re-equip,” Austin said from the U.S. military’s Ramstein air base in Germany. “This is not a moment to slow down. It’s a time to dig deeper.”

“But Ukrainian people are watching us,” he added. “The Kremlin is watching us, and history is watching us. So we won’t let up. And we won’t waver in our determination to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia’s imperial aggression.”

Austin said that some 50 countries have helped Ukraine to defend itself, adding that the new U.S. package gives “even more air defense capabilities to help Ukraine defend its cities and its skies.”

— Natasha Turak

Poland is ready to take “non-standard action” and send Ukraine two of its Leopard tanks if Germany opposes the move, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski said.

“I do not rule out that we are ready to take such a step,” Jablonski was quoted by Reuters as telling a private radio station.

“At the moment we are trying to make Germany not only agree these tanks being sent by Poland or other countries, but also to do so themselves.”

NATO allies are meeting at Germany’s Ramstein air base for a crucial decision on whether to send German Leopard 2 tanks from various European armies to Ukraine, a move that requires Berlin’s approval even for other countries because it is a German re-export.

Ukraine has long been pleading for the heavy weaponry it says is essential for pushing back against Russian forces, and its close ally Poland has echoed its calls. Germany has been slow to approve sending heavy weaponry to Ukraine for fear of provoking Russia.

“I think that if there is strong resistance, we will be ready to take even such non-standard action… but let’s not anticipate the facts,” Jablonski said.

— Natasha Turak

Russian mercenary firm Wagner Group now has tens of thousands of fighters deployed in Ukraine, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in its latest intelligence update.

The private military company formally registered as a legal entity in Russia just in December 2022, describing its core activity as “management consultancy,” despite years of documented combat activities in parts of Africa, the Middle East and now Ukraine.

“Wagner almost certainly now commands up to 50,000 fighters in Ukraine and has become a key component of the Ukraine campaign,” Britain’s Defense Ministry wrote in its update on Twitter.

“The registration likely aims to maximise Prigozhin’s commercial gain and to further legitimise the increasingly high-profile organisation.”

— Natasha Turak

Defense chiefs of NATO countries are meeting at Germany’s Ramstein air base to discuss providing Ukraine with main battle tanks.

The decision is a long time coming, as Kyiv has been requesting tanks for months but Western allies have shown reluctance to oblige as they fear provoking Russia.

Germany has veto power to stop any effort by the 30-country alliance to send Kyiv its Leopard 2 tanks, which would be exported by armies in a number of NATO countries. German Chancellor Olaf Sholz has so far been reserved in his willingness to send certain powerful weaponry to Ukraine, drawing criticism from other supporters of the country.

— Natasha Turak

Ukraine’s first lady called on businesses and politicians at Davos to keep funding humanitarian support for her war-weary country.

“First human, then capital. Humanity comes first. Values come first. And when we tell the world about protecting our country and rebuilding after hostilities, we mean, first of all, protecting people and restoring normal life for them as much as possible,” Olena Zelenska said during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Zelenska was joined by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.

— Amanda Macias

The State Department said it was aware of unconfirmed reports of an espionage investigation regarding a U.S. citizen in Russia.

“Generally, the Russian Federation does not abide by its obligations to provide timely notification, often detention of U.S. citizens in Russia,” deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said during a daily press briefing when asked about the matter.

“Russian authorities also don’t regularly inform the Embassy of the trials, sentencing or movement of U.S. citizens. We’re looking into this matter and we’ll continue to monitor,” Patel said, adding that the U.S. embassy in Moscow was engaging with Russian authorities.

— Amanda Macias