January 23, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

John Kirby, US national security council coordinator for strategic communications, on Monday downplayed the notion that Germany’s indecision on providing advanced military tanks to Ukraine is dividing NATO.

Some Western allies continue to pressure Germany to authorize the delivery of its modern Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine.

No decisions have been made “one way or another,” Kirby told CNN.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said earlier on Monday that a decision would be taken “soon,” as EU Foreign Ministers meet in Brussels for talks on Monday. 

Kirby affirmed that “NATO has never been more staunchly united than it has been over the last year with this war in Ukraine,” but acknowledged the alliance is “not going to ever agree on every single aspect of every decision”. 

“What’s really important to remember is that these are national decisions, they’re sovereign decisions,” he said. 

“I certainly can't speak for the Germans on what’s going into their calculus about the Leopard tanks. The Leopards are very good and there [are] a lot of them on the European continent, and certainly, they could be effective on the battlefield. But again, what Germany does, they’ve got to decide," Kirby added. “They have to work through this in a sovereign way.”

The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday outlined the bloc's plans to continue supporting Ukraine, saying it reached an agreement to provide an additional 500 million euros ($543.03 million) and additional military training assistance worth 45 million euros ($48.87 billion), dedicated to a military training mission for Ukrainian forces. 

That brings the EU's total amount of military support for Ukraine, coming via the European Union's intergovernmental fund, to 3.6 billion euros ($3.9 billion), Borrell told reporters in Brussels on Monday. 

Borrell added that the total figure of the bloc's support to Ukraine, including military, financial, economic and humanitarian aid, now stands at 49 billion euros ($53.21 billion). 

"Russia continues its systematic barbaric attacks on Ukrainian cities, killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructures," Borrell said. "We have not seen any genuine willingness from Russia regarding a fair and sustainable peace." 

Correction: This story has been updated to show that the total figure of EU support for Ukraine is $53.21 billion.

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a member of the House Foreign Affairs committee, dismissed the Russian threat that Ukraine “will pay” if Germany sends tanks, saying they’ve heard that threat before.

“The actions of the Russians are inexplicably aggressive, and I think that they should totally expect that we would answer with these kinds of weapons systems," the Pennsylvania Democrat said in an interview with CNN.

Asked what is driving the United States’ hesitancy to send its tanks – which Germany demanded in exchange for it doing the same – Houlahan said, “It really does sound as though there is some work to be done in terms of the conversations between those allies, both the United States and Germany.”

She added that she’s “heartened” by House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul, a Texan Republican, who said the United States must answer Ukraine’s call for everything it needs, and she echoed McCaul’s call for greater education of Congress, the administration, and the Department of Defense “to make it possible for us to be able to do that.” 

“And then I believe that Germany will follow along or follow suit. That has been sort of the pattern since the beginning of the war,” she said.

Houlahan praised McCaul’s leadership on the House Foreign Affairs committee and said she was hopeful, now that a Republican was chair of the panel and holds the majority in the House, that Republicans “will start really listening to the chairman, as he articulates, I think very, very well, what’s at stake here."

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."