February 13, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

The war in Ukraine is depleting allies' ammunition stockpiles and the meeting of defense ministers on Tuesday will focus on ways to increase stockpiles and defense industrial capacities, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday.

“For example, the wait for large caliber ammunition has increased from 12 to 28 months. Orders placed today will only be delivered two and half years later,” he said during a press conference in Brussels, adding that the depleted stockpile puts defense ministries under strain. “We need to ramp up our production and production capacity.”

Concerns around depleting stockpiles did not appear to sideline NATO's commitment to support Ukraine as Stoltenberg highlighted the need to send Kyiv more weapons.

“The reality is we are seeing the start” of new Russian offensive already, Stoltenberg told journalists. “It’s urgent to provide Ukraine with more weapons."

Russia continued a high pace of attacks in Ukraine’s Luhansk region ahead of what the Ukrainian leader of that region said is a prelude to “massive attacks.”

He said that he believed that Russia was preparing for a “full-scale offensive,” pointing to increased shelling and air strikes. “They have a lot of reserves in personnel and a lot of equipment,” he said. “So we are waiting for them to launch round-the-clock massive attacks in the coming days.”

Allies will “step up and sustain” support for Ukraine, NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday.

“Almost one year of the invasion, President Putin is not preparing for peace. He is launching new offensives,” Stoltenberg said at a press conference.

His comments come ahead of a meeting of NATO ministers of defense on February 14. 

Russian forces are pummeling parts of eastern Ukraine with heavy shelling, as the battle for control of the Donetsk region intensifies in a grinding war of attrition.

Here are the latest developments:

Russian government officials were not invited to this year’s annual Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Germany, where the war in Ukraine will be a top priority for global leaders attending the summit.

The conference is due to take place in the German city between February 17 and February 19 — five days before the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We don't want to give (Russian Foreign Minister Sergey) Lavrov a platform for his propaganda,“ the chairman of the MSC said Monday.

“He has deliberately not been invited," Christoph Heusgen added during a press conference in Berlin.

Guests who have confirmed their attendance at this year’s conference include US Vice President Kamala Harris, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish President Andrzej Duda and China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang.

“We deem China's participation very important,“ Heusgen said. “We are hoping that there will be sideline talks with the Chinese FM.”

Around 600 to 700 participants are expected to attend the MSC, according to Heusgen.

Some context: A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said earlier that top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi will visit Russia as part of a diplomatic tour of Europe, during which he will speak at the MSC.

Although Beijing has claimed impartiality in Russia's war on Ukraine, it has refused to condemn the invasion.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov laid out his agenda ahead of a meeting Tuesday with allied officials in Ramstein, Germany, where parties will discuss Ukraine-focused defense talks amid Russia's invasion.

“The main issues on the agenda are:

He said the Ukrainian delegation would “work intensively with partners in the coming days. The pace is extremely high.”

Some context: Russia's invasion of Ukraine is nearing its one-year anniversary, as clashes intensify in a grinding battle of attrition for control of the eastern Donetsk region.

In recent weeks, the possibility of the West sending more weapons — especially fighter jets — to bolster Kyiv's military might in the war has been high on the agenda in discussions between allies and Ukrainian officials.

The Ukrainian ambassador to the United Kingdom said Ukraine will "wait and see" if its allied partners will agree to the country's request to send fighter jets after Poland's president cast doubt on the prospect.

Heavy bombardment from Moscow in Kherson has left four people dead, as Russian forces targeted the liberated southern region of Ukraine over the weekend.

Five attacks since midnight killed one civilian, authorities said. That followed a Sunday in which Russian forces fired on Kherson 42 times with multiple rocket launchers, mortars, tanks, and a missile according to authorities, who said that three people were killed in the attacks.

“The enemy shells hit depots, a cinema and concert hall, the area near the regional administration building, and residential buildings,” the administration said.

Russian shelling has also damaged the rail line into Kherson city. Trains will terminate in Mykolaiv, to the west, for the next day or two while authorities fix the track, and passengers will be transferred to busses for the final stretch.

China’s top diplomat will visit Russia this month, according to its Foreign Ministry, in the first visit to the country from a Chinese official in that role since Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine began last year.

Wang Yi, who was named Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s top foreign policy adviser last month, will visit Russia during an eight-day international tour starting Tuesday that will also include visits to France, Italy, Hungary and a speaking engagement at the Munich Security Conference next weekend, which US Secretary of State Antony Blinken may also attend.

The foreign itinerary is Wang’s first after leaving his post as foreign minister and taking up his new role, and it could provide a test of the diplomat’s ability in balancing Beijing’s close ties with Moscow, while also attempting to boost China’s image and relations in Europe – and by extension the United States.

Read more here.

The United States has told its citizens in Russia to leave immediately due to the war in Ukraine and the risk of potential harassment and arbitrary arrest by Russian law enforcement agencies. 

Russian security services have increased the arbitrary enforcement of laws "to target foreign and international organizations they consider 'undesirable,'" the advisory added.

Some context: Several US citizens remain detained in Russia, including Paul Whelan, a former US Marine who US officials say is being wrongfully detained. He was arrested in Russia in December 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison. The US has repeatedly advised its citizens against travel to Russia and to leave the country immediately if there.