January 23, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Poland is "more than determined" to send Western battle tanks to Ukraine whether or not other countries join in the scheme, the Polish foreign minister said in Brussels on Monday evening.

Rau had been asked whether Poland would send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, and whether there are "any other states in the EU” that would join Poland.

The foreign minister said that “regardless of the decisions of other countries, we are more than determined, as we promised the Ukrainian side, to send the tanks.”

That appeared to contradict a statement earlier Monday by Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, who said that a “condition” for Poland was the assembly of a “small coalition” of states willing to send battle tanks to Ukraine.

Rau said Monday that it “remains to be determined” whether other countries will join Poland in sending Western battle tanks to Ukraine, and that “there are negotiations underway.”

What Germany is saying: A spokesperson for the German government, Steffen Hebestreit, told journalists Monday that Germany had not received a request from Poland or any other country for permission to transfer Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine – as would be required, because it is German-manufactured.

When asked whether Poland would seek such permission, Rau said “we will do it, certainly.”

When asked for his opinion on the German government’s approach to the issue, the Polish foreign minister said: “The German reactions could be more determined and more dynamic.”

CNN's Jo Shelley in London, Claudia Otto and Inke Kappeler in Berlin contributed reporting to this post.

Pressure is growing on Germany to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, with Kyiv stepping up its pleas and a spat brewing between Berlin and some of its NATO allies.

The German-made Leopard 2 tanks are seen as a vital, modern military vehicle that would bolster Kyiv’s forces as the war with Russia approaches the one-year mark.

On Friday, Germany failed to reach an agreement with its key Western partners on sending the vehicles, ahead of a potential Russian spring offensive in Ukraine.

But countries are continuing to press the issue this week, while Poland is seeking to build its own coalition to help bolster Ukraine’s military with all-important Leopards.

Here’s what you need to know about the Leopard 2 tanks — and why they’re so important to the war in Ukraine:

 CNN's Mick Krever contributed reporting to this post.

A Tanzanian national has died while fighting with the mercenary group Wagner in Ukraine, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti has reported. 

RIA Novosti cited a fellow fighter as saying that 31-year-old Nemes Tarimo had come to Russia to study at the Russian Technological University MIREA. He had later been jailed. “While serving in the colony, he wished to volunteer in the special operation zone,” the report, published on Wednesday, said. 

Last Monday, Russian media outlet RIA FAN, part of a media holdings company run by Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, published what it said was video of a memorial service for Tarimo in Goryachiy Klyuch, a town in the Krasnodar region of Russia. 

CNN cannot independently verify the video’s authenticity. 

The accompanying article on RIA FAN said that Tarimo “fought near Bakhmut as part of the Wagner PMC and died while performing a combat mission” on Oct. 24.

Tarimo’s cousin, Rehema Makrene Kigoga, told CNN that he had got a scholarship to study abroad. She confirmed that he had died but said the family had “no idea that he was ever arrested” and did not know whether or not he had fought in Ukraine. 

Some context: The private military contractor has heavily recruited from Russian prisons over the last nine months. Previously it has deployed contingents to Syria and several African countries. 

The founder and head of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has visited Wagner fighters on the front line and met former convicts who have completed their six-month tour of duty with Wagner. Prigozhin had promised them that in return for fighting they would be pardoned and be able to return home, rather than to prison.

CNN's Mariya Knight contributed reporting to this post.

A former commander in Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, who fled to Norway to seek asylum after crossing the country’s arctic border, has been arrested by Norwegian immigration authorities. 

Andrei Medvedev said he feared for his life after refusing to renew his service with Wagner, according to an interview with Vladimir Osechkin, head of human rights advocacy group Gulagu.net, earlier in January. 

Medvedev said he was afraid of being executed in the same manner of Yevgeny Nuzhin – a defector from Wagner who was killed on camera with a sledgehammer.

"Beyond that, we have no comments," Johansen said. 

On Monday, Gulagu.net head Osechkin said in a new statement posted on YouTube that Medvedev called him from the detention center and told him authorities arrested him on Sunday. 

Osechkin said Medvedev is appealing to the prime minister of Norway and journalists for protection and to stop the deportation process. 

More on the Wagner group: The mercenary group is headed by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin and has emerged as a key player in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – recently doing much of the fighting in the small eastern town of Soledar.

The group is often described as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s off-the-books troops. It has expanded its footprint globally since its creation in 2014, and has been accused of war crimes in Africa, Syria and Ukraine.

Just last week, the US announced it would designate the Russian mercenary organization as a “transnational criminal organization” and impose additional sanctions against the group and its support network across the world.

CNN's Mick Krever and Katharina Krebs contributed reporting to this post.

The Netherlands will send eight F-35 fighter jets to Poland at the end of this month, that country’s defense ministry said in a statement on Monday.

The defense ministry said that the warplanes would be able to respond within minutes to intercept an airplane.

“Two F-35s permanent guard NATO airspace, the other two are reserves," the statement noted.

Poland is a NATO member and shares a border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

The Netherlands has also stepped up its support for Ukraine, with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announcing plans to join the US and Germany in sending a Patriot missile defense system to Kyiv during a meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House.

Latvia will downgrade its diplomatic ties with Russia, Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said on Twitter Monday.

This decision was made in solidarity with Estonia, and it will go into effect on Feb. 24, he added.

The move comes after Moscow downgraded its diplomatic relations with Estonia and expelled the Estonian ambassador over allegations of "Russophobia."

Pressure continues to mount on Germany to authorize the delivery of Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, with Poland pushing for other countries to join it in a "small coalition" willing to transfer the German-made tanks to Kyiv.

Elsewhere, Russia has expelled the Estonian ambassador over accusations of "Russophobia," and the Kremlin has refused to be drawn on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will run for re-election in 2024.

Here are the latest headlines:

Germany has not received a request from Poland or any other country for permission to transfer the German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, a government spokesman said Monday.

"To this hour we have not received a request,“ Steffen Hebestreit told a news conference. “And if they ask, then there is a certain procedure. I can't tell you whether that will take a few days or several months.“

He promised that any application would be “processed with the necessary speed that is required, but of course also with the necessary thoroughness that such procedures demand.” 

Poland is one of 13 European countries with German Leopard 2 tanks in its inventory, according to the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank.

It has offered to send them to Ukraine and is trying to convince other countries to do the same, but Germany’s permission is typically required to re-export them.

On Sunday, the Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawieckic said that Europe was “wasting time” on the discussions.

However Hebestreit defended Berlin against such accusations.

“Maybe it's good to weigh and consider a lot of things before you go recklessly into a step that you bitterly regret later,“ he said, adding that other countries, such as Spain, also have qualms about the potential tank transfer.

The Polish government will send Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine if it manages to “build at least... a small coalition of states” who would do the same, according to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. 

If that “condition” is met, Poland would be willing to transfer the German-made tanks with or without Berlin’s approval, Morawiecki told reporters. Any transfer of Leopard 2 tanks would typically require permission from Germany.

“We will apply for such consent, but this is a secondary topic,” Morawiecki said.

“Even if we do not get this consent in the end, as part of a small coalition – (and even if) the Germans were not in this coalition – we will still hand over our tanks, together with others, to Ukraine," he added.

"The condition for us at the moment is to build at least such a small coalition of states and on this issue... we are contacting our partners in Western Europe.” 

Ukraine's repeated calls for more tanks have been the subject of high-level diplomatic talks in recent weeks, and Germany has so far resisted the increasing pressure to authorize a tank transfer.